fathom

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:51 AM) I want you to do it just once, though. Ok....there's no reason to people to panic. We still have a very strong team, and we were destined to have a bad streak come up.

QUOTE(JimH @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:50 AM) The pitch calling has been awful, these Twins hitters are on fire, they are hot. Not absolving Sox pitching, they are missing spots and it has been bad. Twins hitters deserve some credit, but the Sox pitchers need to move the ball up and down, not just in and out. The Twins had baserunners all that inning, they can signal in pretty easy that Pierzynski is setting up outside. Finally he threw a fastball up in the zone in the 1st inning and got Castillo out, that was the first time he mad e the Twins hitters move their hitting eye up and down. Sounds ridiculous but that's exactly what Santana does with his fastball, he moves it in and out, up and down. Some people forget that the Twins were without Stewart and Castillo when we swept them a few weeks ago. This Twins team will give our pitchers some trouble, as a lot of them have had success vs our pitchers in the past. Even struggling hitters like Rondell White have great ABs vs us.

QUOTE(whitesoxin @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:49 AM) No I'm sick of being attacked by only one person on this board for what happened with me last year. Only one person brings it up at all. And it's him. I'm sick of it. Calling someone a jackass is hardly a personal attack. You just have to take a step back and realize that you have a reputation on this board. It seems hypocritical to start telling people how to act. Personally, I know that it's not my spot to tell people to be optimistic and to quit their b****ing.

QUOTE(Ndgt10 @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:47 AM) This team plays better against tough teams. We play down to our competition. Says who? We've played the Royals a lot this year, and even if they've won a few games, our record was definitely bolstered by playing them. 3 of our main pitchers haven't yet found their stuff from last season, and you begin to worry how much the pennant stretch took out of their arm.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:45 AM) I agree some people are definitely going over the edge, but there is definitely some reason for concern with how they have played these last few games. Lets just say this....if we have 6 guys in the lineup swinging the bat well like we had for the first month, we're going to be in good shape. However, that's not likely, and our bullpen and some of our starters are underachieving right now. We've benefitted from one of the easiest schedules in baseball also.

QUOTE(whitesoxin @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:42 AM) Hey everyone, I was just wondering...who has the best record in the the Major Leagues right now? OH YEAH, WE DO! It's the top of the 2nd inning and we are hitting the s*** out of Silva. Step off of the ledge. It's too early to tell how this year will play out.

QUOTE(joeynach @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:38 AM) Its like they are just teeing off, they know him and his pitches to well is what it seems like. First pitch fastball crushed, curve crushed, its like they dont care they see everything before it happens and cant not get a hit. Please stop with the "tipping" bulls***. Our pitchers are just making bad pitches, and the pitch selection has been awful.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:37 AM) Well, I'm so glad our ace stepped up to pitch a solid game after we had such a bad skid. He's never been a "stopper".

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:36 AM) Its scary seeing Mark like this. It's more scary seeing that he hasn't had anything on his pitches for almost a month now.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:34 AM) Well, McCarthy may pitch today. How so?

QUOTE(jphat007 @ May 15, 2006 -> 12:33 AM) The Twins have been hitting for the last week and a half. Yep, and they're kicking our ass.

I can't wait until we face good hitting teams again.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 14, 2006 -> 04:57 PM) So I guess any day now the Tigers are supposed to fade away like many of you have mentioned. I'm not seeing it. Me neither. They have 5 legit starting pitchers, a solid bullpen, and a very strong hitting team. There's no reason to think they can't contend for the title all season.

We give way too much credit to some of our guys sometimes. In the 5th inning, Vazquez had no command of his fastball. Also, the pitch selection was brutal. You can't be putting 90 mph fastballs right down the plate to Batista. Throwing 4 straight curves in the same location to Hunter is just idiotic also. Vazquez is a good pitcher, but he didn't have a lot of crispness to his pitches last night. Lets not turn into Cubs fans, and think that something drastic has to be happening every time one of our pitchers gets hit hard.

Couple of observations: - The umpire at first base sucked tonight - When a pitcher gives up 8 base runners in an inning, don't start his ass the next inning. - Vazquez has had some issues the third time through the order this year - As JimH said, enough with every pitch being the same in an AB. It's much easier to expect an offspeed pitch after seeing the same 3 pitches. - Our CF/SS combo sucks right now. We're getting no offensive production from them, and we're going to need that. The rest of the guys can't keep it up. - Pods does look good, and AJP was swinging the bat good. - If you don't think Liriano's going to be a stud, you're blind.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ May 13, 2006 -> 02:37 AM) BP ERA's McCarthy 5.21 Jenks 5.52 Cotts 3.14 Politte 6.17 Logan 3.38 Thornton 7.04 Montero 5.40 We all know as well as KW that winning will not continue if these don't improve. I expect KW is working frantically on fixing this. We all knew it was an issue that KW should have addressed in the offseason, but it was overlooked. It's very concerning just how many runs our bullpen has been allowing.

Didn't get to watch a lot of the game tonight, but it's sickening seeing the likes of Haeger, Logan, and Montero have to pitch on a WS contending team. Garland's stuff isn't good enough to continue to pitch like a p#ssy.

This might get me blasted, but this is another example of how far away our minor league prospects are from being major league ready.

Do people remember seeing him in Spring Training? He was absolutely awful.

QUOTE(JimH @ May 11, 2006 -> 01:43 PM) Normally I would agree and yes he's probably tired but I think they'll come back with AJ because he'll have his juices flowing vs. Escobar. Just a hunch but you may very well be right. AJP will get the start tonight, and Widger will get the start vs Santana tomorrow night. Also, I'm not so sure that a rain out wouldn't be the best thing for us tonight. Our bullpen could use a day off before the 4 game series in Minnesota.

In my opinion, the cause of the problem is 18 appearances in 33 games. He shouldn't be used in non-save appearances.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ May 11, 2006 -> 03:20 AM) yeah and we have the Twins coming up who are playing some decent ball. Winning 6 of their last 9 games. We miss Lohse, which sucks. If we're pitching Haeger on Monday, that series might not go so well.

BTW....Jenks has now pitched 18 times in 33 games. That's way too much, especially for a young pitcher who isn't exactly fit.

QUOTE(JimH @ May 11, 2006 -> 03:19 AM) Well, Garland needs to have a good outing tomorrow. Our bullpen is really going to get tested over the next 5 days.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ May 11, 2006 -> 03:16 AM) LOL. Dude. He was awesome in the game in between. He was terrible Friday night and terrible in the rain tonight. It happens. He has been awesome other than that. CLosers do have bad games now and then. No, he's been extremely inconsistent. Don't blame tonight on the rain. It only started to get real bad after he gave up those rockets. If he would have gone to the mound, threw 100 mph, and given up homers, that would be one thing. But it's concerning when he's missing his good stuff two times in a week.