vilehoopster

Anyone else think that with Martin going against a lefty tomorrow that you really have to like the chances of a Sox sweep. He better pitch well because not much chance of the Sox getting any innings from Taylor or Dominguez tomorrow.

Wow, wow, wow! That really is great for you both. I hope they turned your son into a life-long White Sox fan.

Okay, that makes sense. Thank you.

A couple things: One, I think Acuna should be the centerfielder, all the time, every time he plays. It would be easier for him to learn the position and give him a feeling of confidence knowing he's there everyday. Establish him as the centerfielder and don't mess with him in the infield. The Sox have a TON of infielders; they can't even find a way to get Sosa's bat in the lineup, let alone the fact that Antonacci needs to come up soon. To have Acuna continue to practice and work at an infield position when the Sox are overloaded there seems silly. Also, I am generally not as anti-sacrifice bunting as some posters are on here and think it does have its time and place; but I do not think Acuna sac bunting is not a good idea. Let him swing the bat and see what he can do. I have to believe he is tough to get a double play on with his speed to first. Okay, sometimes Venable makes me shake my head at what he's doing, but today, he has me stumped completely. Last year Quero batted .357 right-handed and .234 left-handed, and 4 of his 5 home runs were right-handed last year. Every time he bats, he batting lefty, and I say to myself, "When does Teel get back? I'm so sick of watching Quero bat left-handed." So today, Toronto is starting a left-handed pitcher, and Quero can finally bat right-handed. So what does Venable do? He sits Quero down so he can start McGuire, a left-handed bat?? What are we doing here? This seems so stupid, especially for a manager who seems overly obsessed with the pitching matchups to the point we keep seeing Benitendi's bat over Sosa's because of the lefty/ rightly matchup. I just don't get it. And also by that logic, shouldn't Pereira (if he's healthy) be in right field over Peters? I don't get Venable at all sometimes.

Is he their best reliever? That is certainly up for debate. What are you basing that opinion on?

How is the weather and the rain up there? Are we going to be able to get this one in? It's 11:25 (your time) down here in Lafayette, Indiana and absolutely pouring with no sign of a let up. I checked the radar up there where you guys are, and it looks like the rain clouds and moved past your guys. Is is clear and relatively sunny up there? Can they play? Does the field drain well enough?

Thank you for saying this. Get Sosa’s bat in the lineup.

Add me to the people who don’t stand this move at all!

Anybody else think that if Paez throws a good/ solid game, that he makes the 26 man? I think there’s too much potential there to lose him.

I can’t remember which thread it was in, but somebody was complaining about the $17 million Sox spent to get Jordan Hicks and Sandlin. I think that will be money well spent, at least, for Hicks. I believe he will be a very valuable late-inning/ high leverage reliever. And as for Sandlin, we’ll have to see.

Hmmm . . . . I wasn’t confident about Fedde as the 5th starter. Feeling less good after today. I wonder how much runway he will get. I would guess with all those young arms in Charlotte, not much.

Just waiting for a chance to make that 1st statement. People see what they want to see. As to the “not much difference statement”, I guess if everything went wrong, they could lose 90 or so, but not realistic.

100% True!

That stat is about teams, not individual players. Completely apples to oranges.

Again, if Meidroth hits .250 with only two doubles this spring; and Sosa and Antinocci both hit five home runs this spring, Meidroth will still be the starting 2nd baseman for opening day and week. But he better have a good March and early April or he will be replaced. Not that long runway. I guess that’s what I’m saying: A couple doubles would help secure Meidroth a longer runway for the start of the season.

Yes, ST is a small sample. I have to admit that is a strong argument against ST’s value. But still, it is still a sample, and whatever you may say, it is considered. Plus there are sooo many stats now taken during ST, especially for pitchers. Again Shane Smith last year.

Zero correlation. . . ? That is too simple to possibly be true. Certainly for a secure veteran, you can somewhat say that, but only somewhat. Your one example Rollins means pretty much nothing; there are many examples that show spring does matter. A super easy example is Shane Smith last spring. He was a rule 5 pickup, no reason to pay him any attention for opening day. But (to anybody paying attention) it was pretty obvious, long before spring training over, that he was something special. Again, based on what the Sox already knew about Antonicci, his three EVs this spring of over 100 mph, have probably taken, at least a couple months off how soon he is brought up to the majors this year.

Spring training means nothing. You really don’t know a lot about a player just from his spring training results. Everyone knows and understands this. Except, when spring training is added on to other things, then we start to think that, maybe, spring training is telling us something. It has been understood that Meidroth is a big part of the core, and he’s gonna be the starting 2nd baseman, even to the point that he has a bobble head this summer. But Antonicci has killed the ball this spring. Add that to his minors performance last year, and add on his AFL results. Hmmmm. Sosa led the team in home runs last year. He seems to be pounding the ball this spring. Hummmm. Again spring training means nothing, but there are starting to be discussions. I think it would help Meidroth to get a couple hits today, maybe one for extra bases.

If you watch the replays of Sox home runs on MLB.com, which are a little longer than the videos shared on this forum, you get to hear more and more interesting comments from the Cub announcers. Pretty much whenever a Sox hit a home run, we were told “that the ball is really flying out today” or reminded that “the air is light here in Arizona today”. It was pretty funny. Hmmm, it seemed that the air was lighter for one team a lot more often than for the other.

They have Sosa. He led the team in home runs last year, but so many people here seem to ignore him or forget about him. I don’t think he’ll lead the Sox in HRs this year, but if he gets enough at bats, I feel confident he’s good for 25 to 30. That’s why I think he should be the main person at 2nd over Meidroth. That power goes a long way. With Quero and Benitendi, there are not enough DH at bats to take advantage of Sosa’s power. A example of my point about people forgetting about Sosa is that I was listening to a podcast saying that Sam A, with his EVs, should replace Meidroth because he is good for 12 to 15 homers a years, clearly more than Chase can hit. I listened to that realizing that Sosa could double that amount.

I don't understand what is behind this post. It has like no credibility at all. Did you pay attention to what Smith did for Birmingham in the playoffs last year. This is copied and pasted off google AI. In the 2025 Double-A Southern League playoffs, Chicago White Sox pitching prospect Hagen Smith was dominant for the Birmingham Barons. Key Playoff Performance: On September 18, 2025, Smith threw 5 hitless innings against the Chattanooga Lookouts, racking up 10 strikeouts and allowing two walks, leading to a 4-0 victory. Total Playoff Stats: Across two Southern League playoff starts, Smith threw 9 innings, striking out 16 batters while allowing only 2 hits. Did you pay attention to how he pitched in the AFL last fall. According to MLB.com, (I remember seeing it last fall and it was easy to find) again copied and pasted off google. Astros right-hander James Hicks was named the 2025 Arizona Fall League (AFL) Pitcher of the Year after throwing 14 scoreless innings for the Scottsdale Scorpions. Other top pitchers in the 2025 AFL included top prospect Hagen Smith (Glendale) and dominant reliever Cade Denton (Salt River), both named to the 2025 All-AFL Team. MLB.com +1 Key pitchers in the 2025 AFL included: James Hicks (Scottsdale/HOU): 2025 AFL Pitcher of the Year, 14 scoreless innings, dominated with a versatile arsenal. Hagen Smith (Glendale/CWS): Top prospect selected for the All-AFL team. Cade Denton (Salt River/COL): All-AFL Team reliever. Emiliano Teodo (Surprise/TEX): Tied for the AFL lead in saves (2) with a 2.25 ERA. Karson Milbrandt (MIA): Featured one of the hardest fastballs in the league at 99 mph. I listen to so many White Sox podcasts that I don't remember which one, but one of the guys predicted that Hagen would leave spring training as the Sox's 5th starter. So, wherever you're getting your information or opinion from, I don't know what to say.

Or . . . it's a game in this upcoming late September and Hagen Smith enters in the 8th inning and gets 3 out (two by strikeouts), and then turns the game over to Seranthony Dominguez, who nails down the win in the 9th and the White Sox clinch the final Wild Card spot. I think this is very possible; I will admit unlikely, but it is possible NOW. I expect the Sox to win, at least 75 games, and I believe will be serious contenders for a wild card spot. I expect . . . The SS/ 2B duo of Colson and Sosa to hit 60 homeruns this year. 60 home runs from the combination of Teel, Vargus, and Baldwin. Shane Smith to win 14 games, doubling his total from last year (this right off the latest FutureSox podcast) Davis Martin to be very solid, and Sean Burke to surprise with how good he will be. 30 home runs from the Benintendi/ Hays combo - that's a easy one to pull my hair out at times from the outfield defense of Baldwin and Acuna, while pitchers pull their hair out as Acuna steals, at least, 25 bases this year. (This also off the FutureSox podcast) - Something like, "Johnny Cueto, Erik Fedde, Clevenger his first year, and last year Adrian Houser, every year they find a veteran who is a nobody and make him really good. Who's it gonna be this year. You know it's going to be someone." I'm not confident enough in predict 35 HRs for Murakami, but it's very possible. It's also possible he could hit .190 with 17 home runs. But my main point is I expect the Sox to be competitive, so it's time to use our best players and start winning game, not keep saving players, flipping players, and hoping for the future. So, if he will help win games this year, let's put Hagen in the bullpen.

I do not start to understand this fear or displeasure of having Hagen Smith in the bullpen this year. Why would it be bad or terrible? It turned out great for Garrett Crochet and Chris Sales, just great. According to MLB.com, along with Skubal, those two, who both started out in the White Sox bullpen, are two of the top three left-handed starters in baseball right now. Really, an argument could be made, using those two as examples, that starting out a young talented left-hander in the bullpen is a great developemental move. Why is it a bad idea? Give a reason why Hagen in the bullpen is not good. Now, I don't think it's a great idea to leave Hagen there long. In fact, when Squimen Yermen (however he spells it) suggested putting Hagen in the bullpen a couple months ago, and I agreed with him; one of my reasons for agreeing with Hagen in the bullpen was so the Sox could start making Taylor a starter, or move Taylor to a starter in the minors.

I know I keep saying this over and over, but I can't see how Sosa, the returning team leader in HRs, RBIs, and hits, is going to end up out of the lineup. Now, I don't think he will lead the team in any of those categories this year, but I still think he can/ will hit 25 to 30 HRs this year. I am really stumped how everyone can just continue to ignore that (Not all ignore that; some podcasters agree with me). Some people on this board don't even have him as the DH. How can a team that struggles for power and runs just sit a guy who, if healthy, is going to hit, at least, 25 HRs. I also say this over and over: his defense at 2nd was not that bad; it's his 1st base defense that hurt his D-stats. But I am realistic, and I get this vibe from White Sox management that Meidroth is, right now, set at 2nd. When people like Merkin and Garfien are listing Meidroth at 2nd in their preseason predictions, they're hearing that from Sox management. But this will be the 3rd season in a row that Sosa has been dismissed/ underestimated by Sox management. I think/ predict that starting with spring training and into May, Sosa, with his bat and improved glove, will force management to open their eyes and put Sosa full time at 2nd base. I also have said this over and over: not that I think Meidroth is bad or even average; I just think it's easier to believe that Sosa will improve his defense and walk rate (which he already was improving in 2nd half of season), then ever believe Miedroth will hit more than 10 home runs in a season. Also, back on the topic of the opening day 26 roster, I would like to add vote to the people who predict that Vasil will be the Sox's 5th starter. And let me state a 2nd surprising prediction: I think that Hagen Smith will leave spring training as a member of the bullpen. The right handers in the bullpen look very, very solid. I know, I know relievers are volatile and all that. But you have to be impressed with the quality of RH arms in the Sox bullpen. But the left side, even if Sean Newcombe is not starting but in the pen, the rest of the left handers look well below average, at best. That's why I see Hagen leaving spring training as a lefty in the bullpen.

I'm sorry but I have to use some serious sarcasm here: You're right, starting out in the bullpen just destroyed Chris Sale and Garrett Crochet. Oh my God! It ruined both of them and their careers! I am surprised that so many people are against this. Do the fans here have no sense of history, no memory of Sale and Crochet? I've been thinking the Sox should move him up for the bullpen since watching him in the AFL. He is a strikeout machine, and since the Barons' playoff run and in the AFL, his walk problem has really improved (or become less bad). Plus the White Sox really need help from the left side in the bullpen. Plus, with a quality bullpen (Get a closer, Getz), I think there is a very real possibility that the White Sox will be competitive next year. (My definition of competitive is to win around 75 games and be able to claim you're in the hunt for the last wild card spot into early September) Plus, I want to go one step further: After you put Hagen in the bullpen, now you can start working on making Grant Taylor the starter that he wants to be and should be. Are we not worried about Taylor's psychological makeup at this point in his career? Only Hagen's?