CaliSoxFanViaSWside

If Burger is currently one of the best hitters on the team why not have Moncada, Eloy, Vaughn and Burger in the lineup at the same time? Hitting is a problem , a big problem. I don't know why some of you can't understand that.

You know why ,because unless Moncada's hitting why does his glove at 3rd matter ? He's played 2nd his whole life. It's not like 2nd is some mystery to Yoan like it would be to Burger. I mean seriously does this team need better defense or better hitting more ? Sox would easily be above .500 if they could get some hitting.

If you factor in how he has won maybe 4 games recently with his bat alone I don't know how its very debatable. While better defense would certainly help their biggest flaw his the hitting when you have the worst LHH in baseball by a large margin and RHH that can't hit RHP. Burger is much like Vaughn in that he can improve quickly against RHP if he gets some tutelage from Vaughn and not Menchino.

I said the same thing when that was posed in a poll or thread but I've changed my mind. Yoan has to get untracked and Burger has to be put in the lineup. Yoan's whole career was as a 2nd baseman before he made the switch in MLB. If this team can consistently get more runs they would do much better. Burger and a better Moncada will help . It's not as if this team is a defensive juggernaut anyway. Sox are still hanging around .500 playing woolly mammoths in the OF and the worst LHH in baseball by far . Also the Sox haven't really suffered with Burger playing 3rd.

Pin this sucka at the top. It's almost game time !

I agree with you but I've never been a guy who can put 100% stock into any one particular way of thinking because we are just speculating. That's why I tend to go with physical more than mental problems. I mean they have doctors to check all things physical. But I do agree that players can think too much and baseball is a game where your talent lies in how you approach the game mentally as much as physically.

I don't know man , I mean it's hard enough just to say anything with conviction about his physical status . So speculating on whats going on in his head is beyond me. I've never been in a major league clubhouse so I really question how much a hitting coach is listened to. I know you posted a lot of good stats about Menechino's ground ball rates when he was the Marlins hitting coach and now as White Sox hitting coach and our GB rates so that is a huge concern but the correlation seems to be more than coincidence. The Sox make such a big deal out of making contact and good things happen when you K less but apparently that philosophy isn't as good as the Sox thought it would be. Just another huge blunder in the way management is trying to figure out how to be labeled as geniuses instead of focusing on how to recognize a good player from a bad one.

It's hard not to say negative things about him because of all the money he makes while making music videos and hearing reports he's partying in the middle of the pandemic in a seedy area of Indiana and exposing his family to Covid. I mean sure Long Covid and minor injuries could be the real problem but get the guy a head to toe physical , check his lung capacity, MRI his whole body, check his eyesight. I mean holy hell he's playing like he's near retirement age.

That's just a luck of the draw stat when the whole team is bad.

Sure Yoan take a nap .

If you don't try it you never find out if it's a solution. I mean at this point it's either push Moncada to 2nd base or bring up Yolbert. It's not like Harrison's -.3 WAR is helping win any games. I'll also add that the real solution could be Sosa and moving Yolbert up gets Sosa to AAA. Sosa has a better chance to make an impact since he hits for good power and Sanchez doesn't ,if he can adjust quickly put up good numbers at Charlotte. Sanchez has a good eye so if the contact is soft he could be just getting some 2 strike hits much the same way Madrigal did while still taking his share of walks. Sosa has better numbers at Birmingham than Robert did in slightly more plate appearances.

Whats so scary about it ? It's basically a what have you got to lose move.

Let's go boys !

Burger getting better against RHP HR Laserbeam

Looked at the poll a few days ago and Burger was at 35% and I'm sure some of those were added after his earlier good run. He's now at 49%. LOL too bad there's no expiration date on "predictions" that are like actual beginning of the season predictions and not based on results of in season play.?

The thing is, what if it's actually not TLR's or Menechino's fault for the Sox being so mediocre. What if it's just the culmination of terrible mismanagement in all phases of the organization by the same guys who put us in a position to do a rebuild in the 1st place ? TLR is just another one of the many snakes growing from the back of Cerberus*. * Cerberus, in Greek mythology, the monstrous watchdog of the underworld. He was usually said to have three heads, though the poet Hesiod (flourished 7th century bce) said he had 50. Heads of snakes grew from his back, and he had a serpent’s tail. He devoured anyone who tried to escape the kingdom of Hades, the lord of the underworld, and he refused entrance to living humans . Sounds like JR to me.

And that's the whole point. Sale starts over the last 3 years mean nothing since you said you wouldn't trade prime Kopech for prime Sale. Only their prime years count. If I was to gamble on whose prime will be longer I'd take Sale's every time because he started younger and it lasted 7 -8 yrs and amassed around 43 fWAR if I don't count his reliever years. You ,on the other hand, have to wait another 6-7 years to even try to back up that statement you made about not trading prime Kopech for prime Sale. That's why you're getting comments questioning your overly enthusiastic claims. Kopech is in year 1 and approx. 42 fWAR behind Sale.

But what was cannot be changed so it's irrelevant. It's even more irrelevant when Paulie for Pres is saying he wouldn't trade prime Kopech for prime Sale straight up when prime Sale lasted for quite a while and prime Kopech is just getting started and also saying everyone knew Sales arm would fall off eventually and Kopech throws effortlessly when Kopech's arm actually fell off way before Sales did. Those are the things I was responding to.

Plus he was 23 when he started dominating as a starting pitcher. Kopech, 26, in his 1st year of starting and there's still doubt if he will be fresh enough to pitch well in the playoffs. Sale gave the Sox 5 great years doing that. Kopech is still in flavor of the moment mode. His future seems bright , no doubt , but time will tell.

I know you're using the 6/4 date out of superstition because the Sox won with you making the mistake the 1st time. I mean hey w/e you think works. I would like to point out the these games end up in the Soxtalk archives under 2022 Season in review and it looks odd when you see a bunch of games in a row dated 6/4. Can you at least fix the titles before the thread goes into the archives ? I mean I don't run this place but I just looked at the games in the archives for 2022 and somehow the 1st thing I see is a game thread from May 11th then 3 games dated 6/4. Not exactly chronological order . But hey if it doesn't matter to the mods or Jason then forget I even mentioned it.

Shifting is just another way to analyze data to get a competitive edge. Yes hitting is suffering because of it but baseball shouldn't revert back to the dark ages. There were never any rules regarding where a defense had to line up before and there shouldn't be now. All major sports are doing this. Baseball analyzes data on hitters hot zones, hitters tendencies, not only where they hit it but what they swing at. Baseball is a game of adjustments. If all teams do it then there is no competitive advantage to any team except for those teams that analyze and employ the strategies better than others. The same thing applies to scouting and development. If you do things right and get the best pitchers and hitters who can either use these strategies or beat them you deserve to win. The only reason the shifts will be banned is because if pitching is dominant baseball becomes even more boring and less attractive than faster paced offensive oriented sports. With or without the shift baseball is already behind the 8 ball.

Juan Soto and even he's having a little bit of an off year for him. He's getting walked a ton as usual but his BA , OBP, SLG, OPS all below even his 19 yr. old rookie numbers. Would definitely have to give up Eloy and more for him. Nats would probably want Kopech or Montgomery and whoever else shines in our system too . Plus there's no pitching depth in the minors. Vera hasn't even pitched yet. Problem is if the Nats were selling on him there would be a lot of bidders more equipped (better farm systems) to land him. But he's not a FA until 2025 so would get him for 2.5 seasons if the the Nats decide to trade him. He's making $17M this year so can't imagine what he'll make for the last 2 years. Record arbitration stuff I would imagine. Nats offer 13 yrs $350M but he said no in February. Boras is his agent and the speculation is he could be the 1st 1/2 Billion dollar contract in baseball.

Yolbert would probably get promoted before Sosa and Sosa moved to AAA . Sosa has had some trouble adjusting to a new level. If he does well in AAA there's still time to promote him if Yolbert can't cut it. Sosa has more power but is only 22 and needs AAA time . He's still below the average age of a AA player by at least a year if not more.

I only give our guys credit . Screw the other team . Should I say thanks to TLR for pinch hitting and making a lot of right calls tonight ?

Kopech, Pollock, Burger ,McGuire , Bullpen !!