joeynach

Yikes this outfield is atrocious right now. Dye banged up, Pods on DL, now Mack banged up. Plus couple that with Thome out of the lineup cuz hes hurt too. Did we get really old this year, did I miss us becoming the Miami heat of the American League? Anyway they better get Tererro up here real qucik cuz all we got now is Erstad, Anderson, and Ozuna. I feel bad for our pitchers, espcially young Danks who have to deal with downgraded lineup as well as shotty outfield defense with all these converts out there. To be real honest the blame lies with KW not having real OF's on the bench, at least defensively, instead of the two INF they converted to OF last year. This is becoming very ugly.

Well this is exactly what Kenny was talking about when in the offseason he was talking about our team getting old, slow, and stale if we dont do anything. And you know what hes right. This team is showing its age. We have a bunch of 30+ year old sluggers, granted they can still hit the crap out of the ball, but they are beginning to show their age. You could notice this last year with the 4 or 5 game stints that would land Thome and Dye out of the lineup; hamstring, hip flexor, calf, etc. We cant allow ourselves to become the Giants of the AL with a ton of aging players. To be honest all these "nagging" injuries that you are going to see with Dye and Thome this year are really starting to and are going to get very frustrating. It happened last year and it will happen again this year. These older guys will get hurt, not enough to go on the DL, but enough to weaken our lineup and bench for a good week or so a few times during the year. Its kinda of a shame to have to go through. I think this might be the reason KW will let and Dye and Thome walk at the end of the contracts they are old and beginning to show the signs of age.

I never really expected much from Sisco, there is some potential but he cant throw strikes, period. Point being this team, a very veteran team, poised to make a run at it this year has no place for "need to figure it out" guys on its roster. You dont really see guys on contending teams like the Yanks, BoSox, Angels, etc who struggle to throw strikes. You see those guys, liek Sisco, on teams trying to see what they got, like the Royals, DRays, Pirates, etc. In reality we need another PROVEN left handed pitcher. I don't care if he throws 95 or not, we need a guy who when he comes in you wonder if he can throw strikes. There is absolutely no place for a guy like that on this team at this time. We can not have guys on our team who come out the pen and immediatly fall behind and then give up walks. And if thats what Sisco is he shouldn't be here, period. Go learn how to get outs and pitch in the majors in AAA or on another team.

With the Iguchi batting 7th or anywhere down in the order experiment. Anyone who has seen any of my recent posts know I have been lameting Ozzie for this move for quite some time, but finally there is light. Tadahito is finally looking like his old self now that hes back in the 2 spot. His avg is up to .286 and his OBP is around .390. I said it time and time again Iguchi in that free swinger drive in runs mode (which is not the player he is) causes him to fly open and try and pull the heck out of everything, even low and away stuff. With Iguchi batting in the 2 hole you can see the difference. He is trying to see pitches, trying to let the ball get deep on him, trying to see the pitch then make an adjusted swing to put the ball in play, trying to hit the ball to the right side........and look what happens. He is just so much more productive out of the 2 hole than anywhere else. Im just shocked it took Ozzie this long to realize Iguchi just wanst the same hitter down in the order. I absolutly love seeing back at the top and hope he stays there for the rest of the year, he is too valuable a hitter in that role.

Yeah i saw it too and thought for a quick second it was about us. These guys got their own show in comcast, man I guess it doesn't take much Im sure we all would love to go on TV for all sox related stories and activities.

My analysis shows that hes basically good against RH and bad against LH, adn the splits prove it. This year alone lefties are hitting .390 off him while righties like .180. He gives up most of his homers to LH and gets most of his K's against RH. He doesnt walk or strike out that many but that being said his WHIp is rather high and he allows a lot of hits. They key right handed hitters is to not chase the junk low and away (slider, change, etc) and be ready to swing when hes throwing in the strike zone. I like our chances tonight. We are very good team when our LH hitters produce. When Pods hits and get on base, when Thome is driving in runs, when AJ is hitting, when Erstad is hitting. Those things should all happen tonight with Tejeda who struggles against LH hitters. BETTERS TAKE THE SOX!!

Anyone have any scouting info on Tejeda just like when we faced Gaudin, a new pitcher. No one seems to know a lot about this Tejeda guy, does anyone have any info, what does he feature, how should we approach him?

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 16, 2007 -> 01:15 PM) How dare you question Ozzie. We won a World Series with him as our manager. How many World Series has joeynach won for us? I won like 6 straight world series............on xbox.

Why do we seem to have such a problem with our guys losing velocity, especially our hard throwers. Garcia velocity down, Jenks velocity down whos next. Why do the mid 90's guys like Papelbon, Wagner, Verlander not have a problem with losing their velocity from one year to the next, but we do. I dont get it.

QUOTE(bardsroom attendant @ Apr 16, 2007 -> 12:44 PM) Co-sign to all of this. Great analysis from Joey. We've tried twice now in the last two years to move Tada down in the order. On the surface, it seems like it would work, but it doesn't. He's proven that he's just better up in the order in that two hole. Move him up there, and keep Erstad down in the order and for the love of god play BA against the lefties. That's all I'd ask - give us at least a platoon situation. Tada was awful in the 7th spot last year in ST, he was awful there this year in ST, and he has been awful there so far this year. I dont know what else Ozzie needs to see, Iguchi has shown Ozzie just how uncomfortable he is down there. Its not even that the announcers say it too, Iguchi just looks like a bad hitter with bad tendencies hitting lower in the order like that. DJ was saying yesterday how when Tada is letting the ball get deep on him on driving it hard to Right field we know Iguchi is locked in, and now now hes kinda of going out to get the ball and trying to pull everything hard to left. Not good approaches at the plate. Thats why I say Iguchi hitting in the 2 hole "forces" him to be that better hitter he can be; seeing more pitches, letting the ball get deeper on him, trying to hit behind the runner, etc. Its just about time Ozzie noticed this trend for himself.

I have been saying this all along especially about Iguchi. When Iguchi is "forced" to hit situationally and "forced" to hit the ball to the right side he is at his best. He handles the bat much better and its obvious he doesn't try and take on the role of the pull hitting power righty, which hes not in this league. Iguchi in the 2 hole lets the ball get back on him, sees more pitches, tries to go right field, etc. With OG saying he wanted Iguchi placed down in the order in order to drive in more runs Iguchi doesn't look anything like that same patient and precise hitter we saw in the 2 hole. Well becuase of that we have seen Iguchi become a bail out (front foot) and try and pull everything hitter looking for the big shot ever AB. I cant wait to see iguchi in the 2 hole again. Erstad can figure out whatever he needs to figure out hitting 7th or 8th. Also I would love love to see Ozzie actually take into account the fact that stacking lefties one right after the other isn't the best lineup. Its not even about the matchups, going Pods, Erstad, Thome kills us late in the ballgame when the manager bring in his LOOGY; Fultz, Reyes, whoever. Also pitchers say u do them a favor when u stack lefties instead of rotate righty-lefty cuz it allows them to key in on one side of the plate and get a rhythm goin against those hitters. Going Righty-lefty roto forces the pitcher to have to work both sides of the plate differently in each at bat and doesn't allow him just to paint one side for the 3 quick outs. Im in favor of the change.

Yeah we are getting old thats true, but in the AL all teams that compete have older sluggers thats what you need in the AL. I agree that over the next two years we will see some new faces but this is what we have to do. We are not going to become TB or KC with 9 position players u have never heard and other castoffs as fill ins not gonna happen. Dye and Thome will probably leave when their deals are done and thats fine they all look like they are getting near their end. Konerko will be this teams new Frank Thomas as he is signed for 12 Mil per year through 2010, he will become our DH after Thome. As guys get older they get slower, fatter, less productive and more expensive. I think KW has done a good job in getting us the guys we need to become a top of the division competitor now and in 2009. In 2 or 3 years we will still have some older guys, all teams do, but I fully expect a younger, quicker, more dynamic team by then. Remember you are still going to have your proven guys in there anchor things down while the talented young ones come up and learn and improve. Konerko till 2010, Thome till 2009, Thornton till 2010, Macdougal till 2009, Jenks till 2010, Vazquez till 2009, AJ till 2008. Aside from those guys you will probably see a few free agents mixed into a field of Josh Fields, Ryan Sweeney, Brian Anderson, Gio Gonzalez, Boone Logan, John Danks, Adam Russell, Lance Broadway, etc. I could see a Luis Castillo at 2B or maybe a Carl Crawford or Alex Rios in the OF.

WOMEN ARE EVIL!!!

Victor Martinez, he kills us. Also Lew Ford comes to mind. He is just one of those players who always seemed to hurt us with weakest fluky garbage, infield hits, steals, turf hits, etc.

Do we have an advantage every time Danks pitches against a team for the first time since they have never seen him before. At least the first time through the order.

I think we go Vazquez, Danks, Contreras? Have no clue how the Indians go does anybody know the match ups?

One Name: CECIL FIEDLER

Pinch hit your righty when they have a tough lefty or LOOGY on the mound. THat is almost just understood, its just the way the game works. But no Oz does it different he has to set us up for that taylormade 6-4-3 dp. Sweet.

Somebody please tell me why AJ is pitch hitting for Pods, AJ cant hit lefties his avg is like .220. I dont get this at all. They bring in a lefty so u are supposed to bring in a righty. This is weird.

If i ever see BA in the 2 hole again I am going to kill myself. What is Ozzie's problem with Iguchi being a 2 hitter, hes actually good at it and it forces him to handle the bat well. What is the BA in the 2 hole thing all about. This is the dumbest thing ever.

Amazing what happens to MB when his pitchers pitch that doesn't get called. The next pitch should just be an automatic extra base hit. Honestly where were those last two pitches.

If the white sox are playing some B players on a day game after a night game wouldn't the A's being doing the same. Seems pretty standard. Doesn't Kendall need a rest he cant catch everday.

QUOTE(kwolf68 @ Apr 10, 2007 -> 11:58 PM) Jenks isn't that good. I watched Papelbon work out of a 2 on 1 out jam the other night and save a game. Jenks has clean sacks and can't keep a very average team from teeing off on him. This was a bad loss...Jenks should have blown it down. Garland and Mac went 8 damn innings and gave up 3 hits, sad-sack Jenks gave up 3 hits in less than an inning. Bla Bla Bla...blame it on Pods, but he was in left-field while Garland and Mac were easily rolling over a very average offensive team. This loss is on Jenks and I want Mac in the closers role. Jenks is over-rated. Jenks was throwing 89-90 topping at 93. When thats your strait fastball you are doomed. The moment Cooper and Ozzie saw his velocity so low they should have yanked him. I dont know if he wasn't lose, his arm strength isn't there or what but at this point we have better options than an 89 mph strait fastball closer. QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Apr 11, 2007 -> 02:25 AM) Let's hypothesize here that Jenks doesn't regain lost velocity and sits around 93-94mph. Even with such a fastball, Jenks has quality offspeed pitches within his arsenal. His cutter isn't half bad, either. If he showcases the changeup seen in the Indians series, his production should easily exceed that of Shingo and Politte. I'm not happy about the prospect of a declining Jenks, but we have two major league capable closers already in the bullpen. Jenks at ~4.25ERA still isn't terrible if other relievers hold their own and fill in during the 9th inning. Or Jenks could just be the flame throwing closer he always was hitting 97-98 every pitch. Why is that we seem to have such a problem with the velocity of our hard throwers but the other guys like papelbon, zumaya, and Wagner do it every time no matter what. They never have "I need to build arm strength" or "the velocity will slowly come back" type situation. They are hard throwers they throw hard, now and always, but our guys "will get there". What a joke. Either you are a flamethrower and u throw overpowering pitcher or your aren't, right now Jenks looks like the 2nd.

QUOTE(caulfield12 @ Apr 10, 2007 -> 11:10 AM) Gaudin, 22, emerged with the Devil Rays in 2003 after signing as an unheralded 34th-round pick in 2001 out of high school in suburban New Orleans. He went 5-3, 2.13 in the Cal League, then 2-0, 0.47 in the Double-A Southern League to earn a surprise promotion to Tampa Bay, where he went 2-0, 3.60 in 40 innings. He has never quite recaptured the magic of that season but has been a workhorse, splitting 2004 between the big leagues and Triple-A before getting traded for catcher Kevin Cash last December. He set a career-high with 150 innings and two shutouts at Triple-A Syracuse in 2005 and finishing fourth in the International League in ERA. He finished the minor league season at 9-8, 3.35 and went 1-3, 13.15--allowing six homers in 13 innings--after a September callup to Toronto. Gaudin is primarily a two-pitch pitcher, but changes speeds well and is aggressive, with bulldog makeup. His fastball ranges from 86-92 mph, and his slider rates as average. If he continues to make strides with his changeup he could stay in a starting role, but more realistically he projects as a middle reliever. from baseballamerica.com Two pitch pitcher who tops at 92 with an average slider who get hit hard by lefties. This guy is toast tonight. Prediction Sox win 6-3.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 10, 2007 -> 10:50 AM) He has a very good slider. Lefties historically mash him around the park, while righties struggle. Tonight would be a good night to get Mackowiak into the lineup for Dye. He can be wild, but he keeps the ball in the park. Lefties....thats what we are a team thats heavy on good LH hitting. Should be a good matchup then. Probably gonna see: Pods Erstad Konerko Thome Crede AJ Mack Iguchi Uribe