fathom

Madrigal leading off tonight

Delayed start

Babip gods are loving him though, as I read he's allowing hardest contact of his career this season. That defense is great thought outside of the guy their fans think is their best defender.

He's horrible defensively, so yep!

Just like KW has plagued the Sox

Speaking of Escobar, how come I get the feeling he has supplanted Moustakas as most likely free agent acquisition by the WSox?

But at least 2012 squad was in a pennant race. As for Escobar, there was absolutely nothing to suggest he could hit in the big leagues. He had below average wRC+ in A, AA and AAA. Escobar is 29 and has accumulated 8.4 fWAR. I strongly believe Tatis Jr. will have more than that by the time he turns 23.

And yes the Sox getting Eloy in a trade was great, but they also gave up a great asset to get him. Getting someone who's likely the number 1 prospect in baseball heading into 2019 for James Shields (let's not forget his last Padres start) is potentially one of those historic trades everyone remembers. I've always said I'm less angry the Sox gave up Tatis than I am them going after Shields anyway. Hahn clearly should have been fired after 2016.

Lester gave up 14 hard hit balls today (95+ exit velocity) and went 7 shutout innings. That's almost impossible to imagine. The Cubs defense is insane again.

Good call, and it's not like their offense is excelling. What they have though is 5 competent starting pitchers, including an ace in Nola

Just want to see something competitive by Kopech tonight where he's not giving up a ton of base runners each inning.

His velocity has disappeared of late. Oh well, was always a long shot

Stop

Nice job by Renteria sticking up for him. The hosing of Moncada has gotten ridiculous.

Ricky, stand up for Yoan for once. Pitch was 6 inches off the plate.

Way too early on Covey...let's see how well his velocity holds up as innings increase. Promising metrics though for him.

I thought it was a joke but he literally has the worst xFIP for any qualified starter. He really needs to throw more fastballs above the belt.

One swinging strike all game on the fastball for Lopez. That's ridiculous

I think what's taken place in the majors and minors this year has slowed that talk a lot. Instead of getting free agents to supplement the core, it seems more now they need a guy to lead the rest of the core.

Another really bad start by a pitcher. Way too many freaking walks. Nothing good has actually taken place in this game so far. Maybe Yoan can hit a homer in his remaining two at bats

You didn't hear about the riots in front of Kenny's house if Singer got picked (who I think isn't good at least)

What about his defensive slump, when did that start?

Funny part of this is I'm clearly on the low end of liking Madrigal on soxtalk

By no means am I giving up on him, and it's been insane on twitter the last week or so seeing people suggest he's a total bust. He's a guy that WAR should love due to his best skills. I'm way more concerned about Kopech's struggles, to be honest. With these young guys, I feel like there's a difference between being frustrated and concerned. When Collins wasn't swinging at any pitches to start the year, that was frustrating. On the other hand, Giolito would be a concern due to lacking really any true major league qualities.

If the Sox decide they want Madrigal to be their 2nd baseman for 2020, then they would probably start transitioning Moncada to a different position sometime next year? It's not like we're talking about creating room for when a high school draftee might make the big league roster in 5 years.