Chisoxfn

This is the inning I said we'd score.

QUOTE (TitoMB @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 07:18 PM) Was he a good hitter? Nope, that is why he moved. He was a former 1st round pick by the Dbacks out of Mater Dei High.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 07:17 PM) This has been the offensive MO for the last few years. They can not have good at bats for the life of them. Now the pen can give up a pair and call it a night. This team is not scoring late and bullpens make them look like morons. No matter who is pitching. Last night I didn't have a problem with the clubs at bats. Clearly the results weren't there, but the batters worked walks even though they weren't seeing the ball and there were a few balls that were rockets right at guys. Beckham had a shot, Rios had a couple shot, even AJ's at bat where he was the last out of the game was a rocket that took a great play by Marte to retire him. I can't comment as much tonight cause my hotel connection isn't working that great for MLB.tv. I can comment on the Bulls s***ting themselves though.

Hinrich really is kicking ass.

Come on Lexy...I want some Sexy!!!

Wow, Warrick with another horrible play. You freaking bum. Basketball IQ = 0

Teahen, time for your 1st Sox hit and RBI!!!

U f***ing blow Warrick.

Bulls crapping the bed. But man this has been a fun Bulls game.

Ozzie, why not a hit and run. Andruw can run and steal if the hit and run fails and AJ is a good person to run the hit and run with cause he's got some of the best bat control on the team.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 06:59 PM) you been watching the twins/angels? I'm impressed with the twins staff and how they just keep pumping first pitch strike in there. Ya. Twins have a damn good offense. Rotation, meh, pen, meh. Offense is sick. But there pitchers are very well coached and throw the strike. That said, I'll take our pitching to neutralize there offense and I love the fact that as of now they don't have a lights out pen. I really love the Twins middle of the order though.

Ozzie...get off your ass and call a hit and run with AJ.

Alright pen, alright offense...pen you hold it, offense you get this thing tied, than get us the lead, bullpen you than finish the game off too and get us the WIN!!! Plan created....Sox go out and execute it!!!

Hakeem Warrick is terrible. Him and Flip Murray can go the hell somewhere else once this season ends. Garbage.

Nice opening start by Gavin. Win or lose, I'm happy with the first couple days. I think the offense will do better than it has and I know our pitching is real good.

Offense is going to put up a crooked number in the next inning.

Hinrich is playing awesome tonight.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 05:17 PM) Limited government, strict adherence to the Constitution, lower taxes, and deficit reduction. Basically a conservative boilerplate of goals, really none of it is actually new. I went over the difference between Republicans being disciplined and Democrats being a disorganized clusterf*** and why that is a couple of weeks ago Ya, it is basically what the republican party should be and goes back to all of the basic fundamental principles that I support and feel are best for our country to prosper!! I'm excited that my republican party is finally back.

Come on Beck's, get em in.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 06:27 PM) Can we give this man some support? Can't blame it on the cold and early in the season pitchers having an advantage because Indians seem to be doing just fine. The Indians were shut out in game 1, put up 5 in game 2 (the majority of which came on dunk hits) and Sizemore (who is one of the better players in baseball) has carried them to 2 runs. I wouldn't go as far as saying the Indians are raking. Texeira is 0-11 entering today too.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 06:25 PM) The thing with our lineup is that it depends on a lot "ifs". Honestly, if everyone were to reach their potential, this lineup would be a downright pain in the butt for opposing pitchers. The other side of that is though, you have so many variables and not enough constants. You don't really know who's going to show up on a given day, week or month. Other than Beckham, Konerko, and AJ, I have no idea what the lineup is going to give you. I think you have a good idea what Pierre will do (slight below average leadoff hitter who will get a lot of hits, no power, a few walks, tons of steals). Quentin will put up really good power numbers when healthy (no denying the guy will have at least an .830 OPS...with the potential for a 1.000 OPS). Alexei even based upon his past 2 seasons is at least league average offensively at short (he could be better). I don't see as bad of a lineup as you guys do. That said, clearly, whenever you don't have a lineup with proven studs (see Yankees) you are going to have issues. But at the same time, I could even go down the Yankees lineup and talk about how Swisher and Gardner are below average and mention how Swisher could be slightly above average too and that Gardner could develop). Every team has issues and question-marks, but the Sox have a good deal of talent on this team and if the Jones/Kotsay thing is our biggest issues we will be pretty damn good, imo (because it means the big names stayed healthy and our rotation is doing its thing).

QUOTE (TitoMB @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 06:22 PM) But if we based everything on that, then you'd have to say all these guys are above average offensively. Someone in this organization thinks all of these guys are good, or else they wouldn't be around, and that's more of the problem I have with it. Well Quentin has shown (albeit a small sample size) that when he's healthy he's an elite run producer (or near elite). The guy has ass-loads of power and will put up a High OPS over a full season. Even last year when he was completely injured he had a respectable OPS. Quentin also looked healthy and raked this spring (and I mean he looked real good). He might be a little off this second, but again, this is the time where the bats tend to slow down and the pitchers have the advantage. The Sox have things to be worried about, but not this early. If this team is healthy, they will win the division (it might take an acquisition to put them over the top) but mark my words, a healthy White Sox team wins this division. The front 4 is just so f***ing good (partly because I like Gavin as much as I do).

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 06:21 PM) I wish i had your optimism, Chisoxfn. I'm not about to abandon all hope, but we have problems, and they're pretty obvious to the discerning eye. I'm not saying it is all going to work out perfectly, but you guys are acting like we have the worse offense ever. We have what should be an elite pitching staff and if you combine an elite pitching staff with a league average offense we will be a playoff team. And if we are in that position, I think we will see Kenny tweak the roster. That might mean Berkman, it might mean Adrian Gonzalez, it might mean someone else (Manny??). Who knows. But as of now, we have one of the better teams in the AL and a team that should contend for a title. And we have a GM who will ensure we make the necessary pickups when we can. I might not have done everything the way Kenny has, but it is a lot easier to find a bat to put in your order than it is to find a rotation like we have. And lets be honest, this offense will be heavily reliant on some of our young guys (Beckham/Rios/Quentin/Ramirez). And all of those guys have the potential to be pretty good major league players at there respected positions.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 06:15 PM) The lineup is weak on paper, struggled by most accounts in Spring Training, and aren't putting good swings on the ball at all. Someone like Rios, I'm actually encouraged with him as he's looking good at the plate. Teahen's swing is so awful, I can't see how he'll ever square the ball up. Teahen looked real good at the end of spring. Everyone was talking about how he was struggling early in the spring due to a shoulder injury and the fact that he was pressing to make an impression. I saw him late in spring and chatted with a scout at the game who said he was looking real good late in spring. Still, Teahen is what he is, a near league average 3B who is just a bit below league average.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 8, 2010 -> 06:15 PM) The issue is that this isn't a suprise to a lot of us . A large contingent of us saw this coming and our seeing our expectations played out before our eyes. This isn't pleasant to behold. The lineup isn't even close to as bad as some of you say it is. It isn't one of the worst in baseball. It isn't one of the best either. The lineup is going to be heavily reliant on guys like Rios and Quentin reaching there potential. If they don't play to there potential and struggle and/or suck than the fact that we have Kotsay in our lineup will hurt us. But if they hit like they can, we don't have that bad of a lineup. Konerko - Solid, close to league average at his position Beckham - Well above leauge average Ramirez - Above league average offensive (or at worse league average) Teahen - A little below league average offensively Pierre - Below league average Kotsay/Jones - below league average Rios - Above league average (at his norm) Quentin - Above league average (based upon what the Sox expect him to do when healthy) I don't see what is so terrible about that. We have a couple guys below league average but a few guys above it which evens things out. And if the Sox have a league average offense they'll be really really good (assuming the rotation stays healthy and the pen does decent).