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I'm not all that concerned about the lineup. What I am concerned about is if Rodon has hit the wall. His last 2 starts he only pitched 4 innings each game 8 R , 6 ER, 12 H, 4 HR . A good start even against a crap lineup would help.

That would be very nice.

And yet people are still under the impression that once Robert gets back to the Sox he will be able to go full out.Either the Sox don't think Engel can go full out yet or they just don't want him to play often because of RHP. Which one do you think it is ? Just too many guys doing well and keeping them all as sharp as possible is my guess. Or perhaps a little of both just to be extra cautious.

How does he find consistency and timing if you are replacing him in the lineup ? What's more important getting Eloy back to being Eloy or Vaughn in the lineup today ? I realize this problem wouldn't exist if it wasn't the NL park.

I was thinking it was like a tip in in hockey, just deflect it enough to change the trajectory and go 5 hole right to the umps nads.

You're too nice to post here

Ok LFG ! Pito and Big Baby Cub Killers time !

So far Gallo has sucked with the Yankees but Rizzo has more than made up for it and Bryant not much better with the Giants. However Marte, and Gomes with The A's have been damn good. Baez 2 HR's in 5 games with Mets. Escobar doing well 2 HR's 1.000+ OPS in 6 games with Brewers, Frazier sucking with Padres. SSS of course. Cruz surprisingly not doing well with TB in 10 games. Hernandez has been fine but just like the rest of the Sox so far he's a singles and walk guy.

Those Lamm songs were classic Chicago . Foster is more a love songs type of guy and Chicago was a much different band by then. Early Chicago will always be the best Chicago.

Robert playing his 2nd game in a row in CF tonight for the 1st time.0 for 4 .

It isn't . If I he's talking about that pitch in the zone where the catcher had to move his glove from low and away to up and in. Framing has nothing to do with a pitch like that. Framing usually only applies to when a pitch ends up close to where you wanted it to be. If a pitcher completely misses his spot framing has nothing to do with the call since he has to move his glove so far so fast and its impossible to frame a pitch like that .

I guess we can't take bumslaying for granted. After today Cease will have better FIP than Giolito and maybe ERA too.

I understand that but I was responding to this. "I thought the Sox are pretty rigid about not rushing people back from major injuries. If they are playing it means they are ready to go full out." Now I don't know if he meant the White Sox or the fact that they are playing in Charlotte therefore they should be "ready to go full out." That comment also ignores the Engel situation where once he got back he also got reinjured and still isn't really going "full out" based upon the Sox not playing him in back to back games either. I know that could be part of a platoon situation since he is the weak side of the platoon and they never face lefties in back to back games. Also once Robert gets back would you expect him to go "full out" and resume playing every day ?

Exactly. Engel injury setbacks numerous times. Eloy strains a groin. Robert yet to play back to back games in the OF during his rehab stint. Is he just supposed to come up and start playing back to back games in CF when he hasn't done it yet in the rehab time. If they are playing and ready to go full out why was Engel hurt over and over, why did Eloy get the groin strain, why hasn't Robert played back to back games in the OF yet ? Why was Engel once he finally was deemed healthy not playing 2 consecutive games in a while ? No one who has spent any significant time injured has yet to return and go full out. That's just ignorant and lazy thinking they could when there is all kinds of evidence to the contrary.

This is true . He's not even playing back to back games in CF yet . We will see tonight. However any idiot knows you don't have to run as much in RF compared to CF. Common sense should tell anyone that there would be less strain then on his legs playing RF. Plus he has a stronger arm than Engel and RF is more suited to a strong arm. Since his 20 days is up soon I would like to see him in the OF but not always CF in order to be sure that he continues not to be rushed while giving him rest or DH appearances less frequently since there are already more than enough DH candidates on the team.

Robert started in CF last night so we will see if he is at DH today. When they are ready to play him in back to back games in the OF I'd like to see 1 in CF and the next one in RF.

It's been said many times over the past month or 2. I've noticed it and the post I responded to by @wegner has also.

I was being sarcastic. I don't need BABIP to tell me hitting .500 is unsustainable or .400 or even .300 for most players.

This year Cease is very close to Giolito in ERA, FIP and XFIP. HIs FIP is 3.45 so far. Last year it was 6.46 and in 2019 it was 5.19 . So as far as saying haven't we seen this movie before , no we haven't . I doubt he has been among the league leaders in swings and misses at all in his career nor among the top 20 in pitcher WAR. He is also 6th, tied with Rodon and Gausman in K's in MLB. You seem like one of those guys who never quite gets that young players can mature and develop. Cease is still only 25. Young hitters and players always have a development curve so while the "he is who I thought he was" narrative will work with some youngsters and you can pound your chest about it for Mazara, it isn't always that way. Considering the majority of our schedule is against bums most of the starting pitchers have been bumslayers, probably Cease more than the others. But he wasn't even slaying bums in the past. You have to walk before you can run. Keuchel has probably pitched best against good teams but has sucked against bad teams but over all is easily the worst pitcher on the Sox. But you can do the research on FanGraphs by just perusing the game logs.

I never knew 21-42 was unsustainable due to high BABIP. I thought .500 batting averages were always sustainable.

We just prefer not to.

I've been saying for a month or more that there will be at least a 4 man rotation and there is always a chance that there would be a need for the fifth guy too and yes Kopech may not be able to start a game . He isn't close now. That was just some peoples fantasy rotation should Rodon go down or the replacement of Cease . Just because Kopech has been good in short bursts does not mean he would automatically be a better starter than Cease. Cease is still on his development path and while we hope Kopech's path is shorter, most starting pitcher's take around 90 starts before you start to get comfortable according to John Smoltz. The odds of Kopech starting and becoming a better starter than Cease are slim in the near future. Predicting the future personnel based on present personnel is probably not a good idea.

I keep seeing people post about Cease not being in the rotation in the playoff , but I'd like to see how he looks down the stretch. His stuff can be overpowering. His fastball was blazing tonight but, KC wasn't swinging at the slider . He kept it down and away and he got maybe one swing for a K on it but overall I think it just lacked depth. That knuckle curve, now that's an out pitch liked he showed in the 6th. He probably doesn't throw them much early on because he doesn't want to hang one and the fastball slider combo is smarter if you can get them to chase the slider which wasn't happening. I wonder if he has experimented with a cutter or sinker or change up.If he could throw the fastball consistently as sinkers and cutters at slightly less MPH like around 94/95 he'd throw off the timing of hitters even throwing it in the zone and he could be dominant without the high pitch count. He is so close to being the #1 starter on the staff.

A couple of our insiders have said he was somewhat of an oddball who didn't fit in inside the clubhouse. Maybe the Mr. 3000 t shirts were more than a humorous little jab at him

Oh you just inspired a great idea. You know how Jose won't wear the elbow guard like a lot of hitters because it feels uncomfortable to him. Then there are those air splints used for injuries and there is bubble wrap to protect stuff sent in packages. There should be some product kind of halfway between an air splint and bubble wrap that would work like one of those nyoprene knee braces. So for an elbow guard you have smaller pockets of air rather than bigger pockets so its more flexible and slide it up to your elbow like a brace. Basically a brace with air pockets like bubble wrap only stronger than bubble wrap on the part facing the pitcher Probably not as much protection as a solid hard plastic shield you strap onto the arm but for those looking for something more comfortable with better protection than just a nyoprene brace it could work. You could have wrists bands too. Do any new types of shoulder pads use any type of air cushioning ?