hogan873

I'll agree and disagree. I love getting to a game or two a year with the family. But it's a pain in the ass. Parking, getting through security, lines at concessions, etc. I won't complain about the cost of concessions, because I choose to have a beer or two and to let the kids buy some food. Fans can bring in their own food and water, and we'll do that as well. It's A LOT easier to sit my lazy ass in my recliner with a handful of beers. But I still want to be at the game. It's just fun to be there. Opening all the stands, however, is a different story. They will plan ahead of time based on expectations. Scheduling which stands and how many people to schedule has to be based on attendance projections. Sometimes they'll get it wrong. On a much smaller scale, a friend of mine is good friends with the owners of the Joliet Slammers and has season tickets. He invites me and my family regularly, and I'll see days when there are 1000 people there and every stand is open and other days when there are 4000 people and half the stands are open. Having talked to the owners and event coordinators, they say it's tough to project sometimes. They'll have 800 tickets sold ahead of time and then 1500 walk-ups some days while other days they'll have 1000 tickets sold and only half them show up with only a couple hundred walk-ups. Obviously the Sox should be more organized and have a better idea of attendance, but I'm sure there are still failures.

He's completely locked in and is seeing the ball better than just about anyone. He'll cool off and have some cold spells. But, as long as he doesn't make any drastic changes to his approach (or isn't forced to do so), he could easily hit in the high .200s with 25+ HRs.

I grew up near Pittsburgh and was a Pirates fan, but I wasn't a huge baseball fan. We moved to NC when I was 13, and there are no baseball teams around there. The only games I could routinely watch were Braves games on WTBS. This was in the late 80s before they became a perennial playoff team. I watched a ton of games on my 13" TV in my room. I wasn't really a Braves fan, but I was becoming more of a baseball fan. When the Pirates bad their good team in the early 90s, it was exciting. I still couldn't watch many of their games, but I followed them in the paper. I was able to go to game 6 of the NLCS in 1991 in Pittsburgh. They lost that game, and the game the next day (to the Braves). The 1992 season was another heartbreaker (to the Braves). The dismantling of the team in 1993 cooled my interest in the Pirates, and the strike in 1994 cooled my interest in baseball altogether. I've lived in Alaska, Connecticut, and Maryland since then before moving to Illinois in 1999. I met my wife here, and she was a big Sox fan. Because of her and her fandom, I got back into baseball and am now a die hard Sox fan. It's been tough to be a Sox fan the past few years, but I still see the future. The coming years look very exciting. I've never been knowledgeable about the minor leagues until the last couple years. Now I'm a self-proclaimed expert on the Sox farm system and argue constantly with other "less informed" fans who do nothing but b**** and talk shit about the team. My son and I have been saying "2020!" for the last year or so. We get laughed at, and maybe they'll have the last laugh. But, I still think things are going to look a lot better next year and beyond.

For his first at-bat once he's called up, he needs to stroll to the plate in a top hat and cape. Then when he gets his first hit there's just a puff of smoke and a rabbit is standing at 1st base.

The first post of this thread was about him batting .154. Almost exactly one year later he's hitting .450. Same sample size essentially. Obviously he won't hit .450 all season, but this is a very encouraging start. It'll be very interesting to see how he looks in a month or so.

Monstercada YoYo Destroyer of Baseballs

I was thinking about this yesterday. With Yonder in the mix, it feels like the team has a true DH, which is not something they've had since Adam Dunn. And he has looked pretty good at 1st. I like the tandem of Yonder and Jose.

Watching Moncada's success so far is encouraging. It's not like he's lucking into these hits. As someone else mentioned, he looks so much better with two strikes. That mammoth blast yesterday was on an 0-2 count, his double from the right on Monday was with two strikes. He looks a lot more confident in the box. He's going to be a joy to watch this year.

Wish I could have watched the game. A healthy Rodon, Moncada off to a hot start, Abreu looking good, Eloy with a couple hits...exciting stuff.

Yeah, it seems like they're talking about 2 different players.

Palka's 0 for the season? Ugh.

Just saw the Moncada HR. Holy shit he destroyed that ball.

70% chance of rain tonight and tomorrow. Rain is forecast to stop in the afternoon. My guess is that they will delay it and try to get it in.

If Moncada, Lopez, Giolito, and Eloy do well, losing games will be a lot more tolerable. It is annoying that they're losing games, especially one like on Monday, but I've already starting looking at the "bright side" of each game.

He looks a lot more comfortable and confident at the plate this year. The double yesterday was sweet. Last year, after going down two strikes from the right, he didn't get a hit. I know it's early, and we can't make wild predictions based on five games, but I definitely like what I've seen so far both offensively and defensively.

You haven't watched any games yet I assume? Moncada has looked very good at third; better than he did at second.

Fun game to watch. Giolito looked liked a different pitcher. I think the hits and runs after the no-hitter was broken up were more mental. As Stone said during the broadcast, this happens a lot. Otherwise, his location and speed were great. His change-up was very effective. Hopefully we'll see a lot more of this Lucas this year. Offensively, Abreu and Alonso look good in the middle of the lineup. Moncada seems so much more confident this year, offensively and defensively. His approach at the plate is much improved. Let's hope they continue their winning ways today.

I'm liking the positive Greg. I think the starting pitching is going to give us the most problems. I feel pretty good about Lopez and Rodon. I need to see A LOT of improvement from Giolito. And we need Nova and Santana to be effective innings eaters. Too much can go wrong there, though. However, the bullpen looks pretty good, and they'll most likely cover much of the starting pitching's badness. Agree with you about the OF. Infield defense has the potential to be very good. However, with Moncada getting used to a "new" position and Tim's over-aggressiveness at times, there could be some rough errors that will have us shaking our heads. Overall, though, I'm feeling pretty good about the season. I don't know if I see 88 wins, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a near .500 season.

Things certainly could go well. A lot of stuff would have to go right, but it's certainly possible. I like the optimism. I'm excited for the season, and especially so about the offense. The starting pitching may very well let us down (a lot), but an improved bullpen could dampen the overall suckiness.

Awfully optimistic there, Greg. Or are you being sarcastic?

74 wins in honor of Eloy's jersey. For 2020, the Sox will ask him to change his number to 90.

16-14. We're going to be somewhat optimistic at the end of April.

With the season starting Thursday, it's time to talk predictions. What do we see happening this year...good or bad? Any surprises? Moncada has a much better season but still has plenty of room to grow. Bats .260 with 25 HRs and 28 SBs. Plays a solid 3B Abreu has his best season since his rookie year. .307, 34 HRs, 105 RBIs Giolito struggles early but slowly pitches better as the season goes. Still ends up with an ERA close to 5. Leury stays healthy and impresses. Bats .265, steals 25 bases Eloy has an up and down season but overall does well. Sends 30 baseballs into the seats. Surprise: James McCann outperforms Castillo.

I'll admit I'm looking forward to the season. Aside from Lopez and Rodon, I'm not excited about the starting pitching, although I'm very reservedly optimistic that Giolito can rebound. The offense has the potential to be fairly exciting, with Eloy, Yoan, and Tim being highlights.

I'm not surprised by this thread devolving into another argument, but I am surprised that the argument is over whether or not Machado is an elite player. I'm further surprised by one of the determining factors or being elite is where he signed to play.