mac9001

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 16, 2017 -> 07:40 PM) It's been a real rough WSox career so far for V. Diaz. Have to wonder how healthy he is. I saw him on TV a few days ago and there isn't anything visibly wrong. There were no gun readings but he looked like a power pitcher. Was throwing strikes and the fastball had decent life.

Most importantly he's doing it in Charlotte. You gotta spot a starter at least two runs, maybe three for a day game.

Lopez looks fantastic. This will be his four straight start with good (or great) command. He might have the occasional off day and get lit up, but it definitely seems like there's enough consistency in his command to see if it plays in the bigs.

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Jul 16, 2017 -> 01:56 AM) I don't want to be overly negative, but it boggles my mind people can look at him and still see one of the best prospects in baseball. Law had him (I believe) at 15 and that seems impossible to justify. Skoug went 3-5 and is hitting a cool .529. When you watch him pitch on a night with solid command you begin to understand the hype. You just have to sit back and hope the consistency comes, even if it takes a few more years.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Jul 15, 2017 -> 10:46 PM) A little soon to be calling a 20 yr. old a bust, don't you think? Just because he was relatively highly rated doesn't mean it was justifiable. There's nothing I can find that makes me think he gets any further than AA. Flete might never see the bigs but at he'll at least provide solid organizational depth. This kid just put up a 1.8% BB rate in A ball (where every second pitcher struggles to throw strikes). He gets to AA and he'll never see a hitable pitch with his lack of discipline. If he wasn't a SS he may have never moved past rookie ball.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 15, 2017 -> 09:47 PM) I would not. When I posted a small little update in the Sox transactions catch-all, I expected him to be a nothing. This kid has a shot at being a respectable player, as in the type of player the Sox should be looking for when it comes to returns on Swarzak, Frazier, Melky, Holland, and Gonzalez. Instead, they got him for international slot bonus money. I hope they make about 4 or 5 more deals like that. Also, it really says something about the Sox system when he's 17 in Texas and 30 in Chicago. Give it 3-4 years, and this Sox team is going to be looking awesome. There is literally nothing encouraging about his career so far. If he moves off short he'll probably be out of baseball shortly.

I'd rate Bryant Flete and Matt Rose ahead of this kid.

QUOTE (JLarucci23 @ Jul 14, 2017 -> 10:38 PM) Chavis and Beeks please.. Probably a bit optimistic.

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Jul 14, 2017 -> 06:32 PM) Yeah, this is definitely an option year. I think I was wrong and he's down to 1 after this season. My mistake if so. You only use up an option if he's called up. At this point I wouldn't even give him a Sep call up.

QUOTE (oneofthemikes @ Jul 14, 2017 -> 02:32 PM) He's not. They are absolutely not trading a consensus top 10 prospect for relievers, regardless of how many you throw at them. We, better than anyone, should realize what it takes to get a top 10 OF. We just did it. It took 3+ years of a cost controlled All Star SP. Harper is gone in a couple years and they know that they will need a replacement. Refocus on Soto and/or Kieboom. They are a hell of a lot more realistic than Robles. I agree, I expect they'll do a bunch of small deals and if the Nats fall short of making the playoffs due to their bullpen I expect Rizzo to lose his job.

If Robles is on the table it's time to cash in on Kahnle. The Nats bullpen deficiencies require multiple moves, we're the only team out there that can address it in one deal and do it in a way that adds no financial burden to their books. If Rizzo's plan is to go out and find three Swarzak's he'll likely come up short than overpay for a lesser option after the trade deadline. At some point including Robles in a deal like this might actually make more sense from an asset standpoint than doing multiple smaller deals and gutting their farm depth. The Sox offer the added benefit of immediate relief and longer term asset control. It puts the Nats in a better position to resign a guy like Swarzak and you have multiple years of control on Kahnle and at least one more year of Robertson. But from Rizzo's perspective you figure there's a certain level of hesitance to pull another big deal with the same team in the course of such a short window. The perception that he gave away the farm to the Sox would be a fairly accurate judgment.

Given the Nats bullpen woes I wonder what the haul would be if we send them Robertson, Kahnle & Swarzak. If I'm Rick Hahn I'd be calling Rizzo and planting the go big idea over the next few weeks.

I know a person who had nerve transportation surgery on his elbow (I'm guessing same thing?), he was an avid volleyball player and was back on the court in under 4 months. From what he told me it was just a small incision and he had to take it easy for a few months.

I was putting together some data for a project I'm working on and and was blown away by the disparity in performance between the Home/Road splits of some of the Knights most notable players. With the exception of Danish all the pitchers have pitched considerably better on the road, while all their hitters are hitting significantly better at home. I'm encouraged the pitching has been far more respectable away from Charlotte, but equally discouraged any of these guys will be able to hit at the major league level given their potentially inflated home production. Anyway, thought I'd share: Hitters: Pitchers:

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Jul 11, 2017 -> 07:00 PM) http://mlbfarm.com/index.php?team=CWS Spencer with 7 K's through 4 With no hits and a single walk. The Barons have the absolute worst TV viewing angle out of any team I've watched this year. They might as well not even bother with the TV feed.

QUOTE (bjm676 @ Jul 7, 2017 -> 06:05 PM) Fulmer getting shelled again, also. Mostly soft singles. He's throwing strikes, if he can get his command back (and it looks a lot better today) there's still reason for a little hope. I'm starting to think they might be better off putting him in the pen and just have him concentrate on throwing strikes for a single inning. When you watch him pitch the stuff doesn't look bad, but I've watched a few of his starts this year where he's really struggled to find the plate.

Frazier just put up a 8 HRs and a .932 OPS in the month of June. He might not fetch a lot, but there probably won't be any shortage of low ball offers. If the Sox eat a chunk of his remaining salary his odds of getting traded are probably 99%. A better question might have been what are the odds each of those guys gets traded? I'd put Frazier's odds above Quintana and Robertson.

The Birmingham feed has a terrible behind home plate angle, but I'm watching both Stephens and Dunning and both have been very impressive. There hasn't been a single hard hit ball of Stephens all night and Dunning works about as fast Buehrle. The kid catches and throws.

Fulmer looked really good yesterday. Did a great job changing speeds (88-95 on fastball) and threw some nasty sliders. Looked like he got squeezed at times. First time I've seen him pitch in a while, but left me feeling optimistic on him.

Lopez looking good so far, 96-99 on just about every fastball. Got hit hard on a HR, but stuff looks great.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 18, 2017 -> 08:51 AM) Lopez has been good since a rough start, I think he deserves a call-up as soon a long-term spot opens. Moncada could use a little more development time, but I can't envision any scnenario where we keep him down in AAA until May of next year. And once Frazier & Melky are gone, I'd definitely like to see Delmonico in the major league mix. Guys I could see keeping down in Charlotte until next year Giolito & Fulmer. And Burdi is another guy I'm ok taking it slow with. His control has been pretty bad and I see no reason to rush him at this point. At this point I wouldn't say Lopez has earned a promotion. He might get the call, but that will likely be to fill an open rotation spot more than him earning the spot and forcing the Sox to open a spot for him.

No one has really earned a promotion out of Charlotte. If these guys were lighting the world on fire you'd figure they'd get the call by now. At this point I'm starting to think if keeping these guys down until next May might not be bad idea. I'd be OK throwing a guy like Cooper out there before starting the service clocks on some of the higher profile arms.

Giolito hitting 94-95 on the Charlotte gun. The fastball does seem to have a bit more pop today and with the exception of a couple at bats he's commanding it well.

QUOTE (daggins @ Jun 5, 2017 -> 08:16 PM) Some guys on the board have said the Charlotte gun is always slow, so that's probably closer to 91-92. He was 92-94 earlier in the game, looks like he may have lost a little on the fastball but I don't remember seeing a single decent swing at any of his curve balls. Most hitters looked completely over matched with feeble attempts.

Strikes out the side in the 6th and his fastball was around 88 on the gun. But that curve ball was just untouchable today. He threw a couple decent change ups that inning too.