Kalapse

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 05:33 PM) The thing is, it's been a long ass time since we've had anything resembling a leadoff hitter. Getz for about a week, and that's it. Having Pods show some flashes is refreshing, while it lasts. There's no denying he's made some good adjustments at bat. I was actually surprised by how soon he scrapped the run and swing thing after pitchers were starting to adjust to it. Orlando Cabrera hit .293/.341/.386/.728 in nearly 600 PA in the leadoff spot last year and he ran the bases like a big leaguer.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 04:28 PM) BA's job is surely safe (sox and Ozzie love him as a defensive replacement, and i'm sure as a platoon) It's really between Pods and Wise, and I'm sure as of now Wise will be the odd man out with Pods taking CF/platooning with BA when Quentin returns. Defensive replacement? Since when? Ozzie has been incredibly reluctant to use BA late in games, I did a break down last year that showed he almost NEVER brought BA into close games as a late inning defensive replacement.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 03:12 PM) Yep, BA being platooned Like Ozzie said; a player should not lose his job due to injury and regardless of what Brian did while Wise was out Dewayne deserves to have the starting job handed back to him. It's Wise's job to lose. Sure Brian hit .282 with a .365 OBP in a starting role and his hitting .323/.382/.484/.866 over his last 10 with four multi-hit games, not giving Wise the majority of the ABs would be unfair.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 01:50 PM) I wouldn't applause or boo. He's just another opposing player. Yep, if I were to attend the game today I'd likely show indifference towards OC.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 01:38 PM) I don't know, maybe having Pods on base with the boppers behind Alexei has been the reason he has come out of his funk. He's got to be feasting on a diet of fastballs. The bottom line is the current combination is working and the bottom of the order is a force as well. Except he hasn't been on bases very often, he's pretty much been Juan Pierre lite with a good batting average, bad OBP, little power and a ton of aggressive ABs leading to a low pit/pa. He's the liteversion because he's been terrible on the basepaths, no threat to steal at all, he's actually been picked off first more times than he's stolen a base. Getting caught off base over and over after a single isn't helping either. I'm liking the current setup, I can't think of a better lineup with the current personnel but I think it's lazy as hell to just dump a ton of credit on a guy who hasn't been all that great. Hawk's doing it 5 times a game now and hell on a commercial on ESPN 1000 a few minutes ago I heard "this has been an entirely different team since Podsednik showed up". That's just silliness. I mean, the guy's OBP in the leadoff spot is under .340 and that includes a completely ridiculous game in Anaheim where he got on base 6 times, he hasn't been getting on consistently. If he were tearing it up similar to what Getz was doing earlier this year then I'd probably get on board but I'm just not seeing it.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 01:12 PM) I went with Paulie and Richard...but I would vote Pods cuz he's given teh Sox the shot in the butt by completely outperforming what any of us and probably what the White Sox organization was expecting of him when he came up from Charlotte. Nothing spectacular, but thie team has looked much better since he started leading off. Wouldn't the resurgence and move to the 2 hole of Alexei Ramirez make more sense as a major cause for this hot streak than some "shot in the butt" from Podsednik? I mean Alexei's been a much better player and his hot streak lines up a whole lot better with the team's current hot streak. Podsednik wasn't doing a whole hell of a lot in the leadoff spot when this team turned it's play around. I don't really see how getting mediocre production out of the leadoff spot woke up the bats of Dye, Thome and Ramirez especially since Getz was absolutely raking at the top earlier this year. Overall, I don't see why credit has to be given to any one person for this turn around. The bats have come to life, the bullpen is just as solid as it's been all year, the starting rotation has been outstanding and the defense has been solid. Seems like a team wide thing to me.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 12:54 PM) Even still, Getz was a far better option than either Wise, Lillibridge, or Owens. He should not have been there, but he was pigeonholed there. He doesn't lose points as a player in my eyes for hitting his wall when he did. Agreed, no reason to look at him as any less of a player because he hit the rookie wall.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 12:44 PM) Same with Wise. We just didn't have anybody to put there though, and we were hoping to get a Span like player in that spot with Getz. I see no fault with that move, if he struggled you move him down, but for awhile he really helped the team in that role. There was a big problem with relying on Getz and Wise, you're praying to catch lightning in a bottle and leaving yourself with no good high OBP replacement when they fail. Sure you move them down in the order once they prove they're not up to the task but then you're just replacing them with another half-assed solution. Kenny Williams did a dreadful job addressing the situation this offseason, he went in to ST with hopes that one of the four bad/ill-prepared in-house candidates caught fire and made him look like a genius, unfortunately for him and the team this was not going to happen. Relying on the likes of Wise, Owens, Lillibridge and Getz to grab hold of the leadoff spot for a full year is just kind of sad for a team with a close to $100M payroll.

QUOTE (everafan @ Jun 1, 2009 -> 10:25 AM) Anyone else want to eat crow and admit Ozzie was right about not putting too much pressure on Getz and Fields? Originally he had no intention of batting them 1 and 2, but acquiesced. They were hot to start but then regressed. They moved down in the lineup and now they are coming along. Chris Getz should never have been forced to leadoff in the first place.

Very cool. I know it'll come in handy for me.

QUOTE (qwerty @ May 31, 2009 -> 04:29 AM) 12 active hitters (they have all played at some point this season) have more strikeouts in their careers than base hits. All of these hitters have more than than 250 hits and less than 2100 hits... so who are they? There are 5 players that i would be shocked if they are not guessed correctly. Your parameters seem off to me. Because . . . Tony Clark David Ross Mark Reynolds Carlos Pena Miguel Olivo Jim Thome BJ Upton Bill Hall Adam Dunn Wilson Betemit Russell Branyan Nick Swisher Jose Bautista Ryan Howard Chris Young Jason LaRue Jack Cust Rickie Weeks Brandon Inge Johh Buck

Batters are hitting .135/.164/.135/.298 against Zack with RISP with 21 K in 52 AB (40% K rate). Only 8 runs have scored in 57 opportunities. 14% success rate. He's allowed 2 hits in 22 AB w/ RISP & 2 out with 8 K's and 1 BB. Only 2 runs have scored in 23 opportunities. 9% success rate. He's loaded the base 4 times and has struck out all 4 batters that have come to the plate. He's faced 283 batters this season and has allowed 15 extra base hits. Incredibly scary: .203 batting average against but a .290 BABIP which is exactly where it's supposed to be.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ May 31, 2009 -> 05:26 AM) I want to take this opportunity to say HAHA at all the people who were dogging Edwin Jackson over the offseason. He's another guy I was mad that the Sox didn't pick up. Another recent guy is Anthony Reyes but he's having a bad season so far. Supposedly he's not very coachable, but I'd still like to see what Coop could do with him. On topic, Greinke is for real and could very easily win the Cy Young this year. I'm scared to face him tomorrow. His numbers BTW are hilarious: 0.0 HR/9??? LOL. That's not supposed to happen. The Rays were looking for a starting RF with some good pop so they dealt from their surplus of starting pitching and got Matt Joyce who put up an .831 OPS and .240 ISO in limited major league action last year (277 PA) and sported a .938 OPS and .215 ISO for AAA Durham in 174 PA before being recalled earlier today. He'll act as their starting RF. The Sox had no comparable piece within their organization to dangle assuming they were even interested in Jackson.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ May 30, 2009 -> 10:06 PM) What I wanna know is...does Nike have a Dwight puppet waiting on the wings? I'm not sure Adidas would be too happy about that one.

Don't know if this is it but it's awesome none the less. http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/black-jack...x/archives.html

Very nice win.

I think it's a combination of adrenaline and time off for Jenks' velocity. He hasn't pitched in a week so he's probably feeling real strong right now and his last outing was a blown save, he's looking for the redeemer here.

He's done it this year. When he gets the adrenaline going he tends to get it up there. I think it's a combination of adrenaline and time off for Jenks' velocity. He hasn't pitched in a week so he's probably feeling real strong right now and his last outing was a blown save, he's looking for the redeemer here.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 30, 2009 -> 08:16 PM) I know he's been hitting early and recently. I'm just saying that if he can't make adjustments when everyone knows how to pitch to him, then he shouldn't get the starting job in 2010 if there's a better option out there. Most hitters in this league can't make those adjustments, that's why pitchers with unspectacular stuff still get hitters out. Swinging at a 2 strike breaking ball off the plate is something you're going to see an awful lot. Brian is a bad ball hitter and it could easily work out for him if given an everyday job.

Brian has 4 multi-hit games in his last 8 and that includes an 0-2. Like Felix said, he's not going to be an offensive force, he's just not a polished enough hitter to do so and likely never will be but if he keeps up his current production and remains great in the field he's not going to kill you if you play him everyday.

And Scott leaves a big run on base, terrific AB right there.

Come on Scotty, need you here.

I LOVE Jermaine Dye with a bat in his hands, he's a treat to watch.

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ May 30, 2009 -> 06:48 PM) Well it also shows how small the sample size is. People, Pods didn't magically find talent in the minors. He wasn't that good in 2005, he was bad in 2006, and he's bad in 2009. Even with the small sample size it shouldn't drop like that. That's what happens when you reach base 6 times after not getting on anymore than 2 times in any other game this season. If it were May 24th and you took away his best game of the year his number wouldn't take much of a hit.

Another terrific at bat by Podsednik. Just because he stopped striking out doesn't mean he's giving you good at bats, it just means he's being more aggressive early in counts. This last PA was a perfect example of just that.