CaliSoxFanViaSWside

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Aug 25, 2017 -> 05:22 PM) MAL TIEMPOOOOOO That's the spirit Heads !

Abreu bomb ! 1-0 Sox.

Miggy Gonzalez last 3 starts 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA gets the Tigers 1-2-3 with 2 K's in the 1st.

Avi playing, No Davidson either even though he was reinstated.

No Moncada or Delmonico. Avi ? Davidson ? Any way Player's Weekend should be colorful at least. Game on ! It's also Elvis Night ! Woo hoo !

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 25, 2017 -> 03:33 PM) They've been winning too any games. Put the hot players on the DL to stem the winning. I know you are being facetious but it sure does seem like that sometimes. If you have talent you're getting traded or put on the Dl.!

Either this place is dead from the Sox poor record or this thread has run its course even before the whole thing started. This is supposed to be fun,celebrate the little leagues, honor people who made you the player you are now and those who support you. Wear colorful cleats, swing a colorful bat . it's a pretty big deal around the league this weekend. Are they selling it ? Of course what good idea doesn't get promoted and sold these days ? It's a consumer society. I'm not going to spend any money on it but I still think it's something to promote baseball, it's cool it's fun , it gets people talking . Baseball is losing interest in US kids. It's a problem that must be dealt with. This is part of that process. Lighten up all you Francis's.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Aug 11, 2017 -> 06:05 AM) When their argument is: "they should have gotten more" without knowing what was offered, it's pretty stupid. Time to revive this since we will be seeing those jersey's starting tonight. Not only do the jerseys have the nicknames they also feature a kind of thank you patch on the shoulder where a player names a person or people that influenced his baseball career or people who motivate them . Here is an article from whitesox.com explaining what all the nicknames mean and the people listed on the thank you patches. Here is an explanation of the name on Kevan Smith's jersey . Kevan Smith: "Szmydth" The catcher's last name was spelled in this manner when his grandparents came over from Poland. What the article doesn't tell you is that was Kevan's 2nd choice. His 1st choice was Ripper which I believe was a college or HS nickname. So why didn't he use it ? MLB sent him some kind of waiver that said he in no way was supporting Jack the Ripper , the serial killer from London , England from over 125 years ago. He was so stunned he decided just to pick a new name. You can now speculate as to why he was called "Ripper" .

I know I am talking to myself at this point but saw a perfect example of some of what I was talking about above in tonight's Twins/Sox game. Greg Gibson was the home plate umpire. Of course like all umps he set up over the catchers right shoulder . To me that gives him a better view of the catchers right hand side of the plate. He seemed very accurate on the balls and strikes there. On the opposite side of the plate he wasn't so good. Several times he called pitches by Berrios that were clearly off the plate according to pitch trax on the telecast strikes .I'm pretty sure it happened 3 or 4 times ,some more egregious than others. I couldn't help but think those pitches will go down as well framed since they were called strikes when in reality it was clearly on the umpire and perhaps Berrios who seemed to have the pitches to his arm side fade off the plate many times during the night , up and in to righties but down and away to left handers. Now if I was keeping a book on umps I'd investigate games with Gibson behind the plate and see if that is the way he consistently calls games.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 24, 2017 -> 05:14 PM) Basically says he might be a league average hitter or a little less, but for a minor league free agent, that's good value. Is it you asking about the bunt hits affecting the exit velocity ?

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Aug 23, 2017 -> 12:17 PM) There is also an argument that a catcher has little to do with the pitch framing and it has much more to do with the types of pitchers that they handle - guys like Sale make their catchers worse with the movement of their pitches - and the size of the catchers. I have read that taller catchers are naturally worse pitch framers because they obstruct the view of the umpire sooner than smaller catchers. There's tons more variables also. I'm convinced it's more inconsistency with umpiring than anything else . If a pitcher can hit the glove or close to it framing is easier especially on fastballs. Now if you miss your location even within the strike zone a catcher has to move very quickly to just catch it let alone frame it. That's why we see those pitches called balls more often than not. An ump sees where the catcher sets up and naturally expects the pitch in that location . Pitchers with a lot of downward tilt on pitches don't get a lot of calls in the lower strike zone. Even a good catcher will have his glove dragged down by the movement of the ball plus certain umps are known for either calling the low or high strike, Umps also are better with veteran pitchers having seen them more and knowing their pitches, That's why it's so important for pitchers to get ahead in counts. Make the hitter defensive and get him in swing mode rather than relying on having to throw strikes . Many good pitchers get great results on pitches out of the zone that wouldn't be called strikes anyway because the hitters are on the defensive by getting behind in the count. I know it sounds silly that pitchers and catchers need to adjust to umpiring just as umpires need to learn the pitchers but Hawk always talks about how the hitters would be well aware of umpiring tendencies and talk about it before games . I know pitchers study hitters and vice versa but their should also be a book on umpires that should also be a part of the game plan for pitchers. Obviously knowing the hitters is more important but knowing the umps tendencies should not be unimportant. Yes a catcher who can get down low and hold still is important for getting those early strikes and some called K's but I think framing is just not as important as some make it seem. If you are a good framer shouldn't you always be a good framer ? I mean a catcher's mechanics usually don't change from year to year maybe until they get a little older yet we see in framing stats that a catcher can be a great framer one year and be so so the next. What exactly changes in his receiving abilities to change his stats like that ? It's more than likely the pitchers he is catching changed or the umps behind him are different than in years past.

Sox have split 2 of 4 with the Twins with 1 to go in the series. Tonight was the new and improved James Shields side slingin' his way through the piranhas like .well piranhas through anything oozing blood. Sox trailed 3-1 late . Leury Garcia solo HR cut it to 3-2 . Leury then doubled in the 8th and Moncada drove him in with a double down the left field line hitting right handed. After a scoreless top of the 9th by Danny Farquhar , Avi Garcia lined a single to right and was sacrificed to 2nd by Kevan Smith. Timmy Anderson knocked home the winning run with a single to left and an offline throw by Rosario in left field for the Twins. Sox deserve a winners game thread since Soxtalk was negligent in starting a game thread. Step up your game Soxtalk !

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 23, 2017 -> 07:57 PM) Moncada, Avi, and Anderson with big late hits. That's how you want to win while rebuilding. Don't forget Leury who doubled to set up the Moncada RBI, homered earlier and had that amazing catch.

Walk offs are cool. I like the new side slingin' Shields. Way to battle team !

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Aug 23, 2017 -> 01:27 PM) The eye test tells me he is quite good. I am shocked the defensive metrics don't agree. Why would you be shocked ? Many of these metrics are not an exact science especially the defensive metrics. I have quit mentioning (except for now) how I feel about framing pitches but I almost cringe every time I see people talking about them as if its some great matter of concern. I have written about that til I'm blue in the fingers but no ones minds will be changed including mine. So I have chosen the "why argue about it" stance until framing as a big concern ( maybe a minor concern) fades away into the baseball obscure stats dustbin.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 23, 2017 -> 01:05 PM) I think when he threw those first couple of curves 2 feet in front of the plate, he decided it wasn't happening. Unfortunate but maybe he was just too jacked up Maybe. But we have to remember they get warmup pitches before the inning starts so that seems like a good time to try to get the feel for it. Again I will plead ignorance because maybe he did do that . I have no idea how they approach warmup pitches before the start of an inning. But again I was impressed . He's supposed to have a great curve and good changeup. I still think he can be a TOR starter with fastball (2 and 4 seam), curve and changeup. He's not even close to a finished product. Even for those worried about his FB speed. (avg 93.2 for the game) commanding it is more important. Once he gets enough reps with all three pitches and can consistently repeat his mechanics he will be very good. But no one should expect that soon.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 23, 2017 -> 11:32 AM) Good stuff. Obvious improvement from early in the year where he could go 3-4 innings with only 1-2 swinging strikes. But he really needs to get offspeed stuff going or change speeds a lot more with the fastball. I have no idea what the game plan was against the Twins. He threw very few curves when it seemed like he should throw more to see if he could get a feel for it. Could be the game plan was to use the fastball quite a bit. stay ahead of the hitters and keep walk totals down. All three HR's came on fastballs. I think it was a very impressive start. game-wise and career-wise. But when you are used to Holmberg, Holland, Shields and Pelfrey just about anyone who goes 6 innings seems impressive. Giolito became the first White Sox pitcher to not walk a batter and go six or more innings in his team debut since Orlando Hernandez on April 8, 2005 against the Twins per whitesox.com

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 20, 2017 -> 05:11 PM) Just remembered the Sox host the Giants in September. Start Volstad, Danish, and Beck. Scot Snodgress

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 05:50 PM) Good lord. Why did so many people want a rebuild if they can't handle a few months of bad play from a rookie? I think it's fair to criticize if it's fair to praise him. Criticism for poor play even from a rookie in a rebuild is going to happen. Best you can do is make a folder and store those posts in it and recall them later when it turns out you are right or to destroy if you are wrong. I get the feeling their is at least 1 poster who does this who shall not be named.

Carson Fulmer makes his MLB starting debut as the 26th roster guy and will return to the minors after the game. Sox will be looking for the sweep after winning game 1 7-6 for their 2nd win in a row. Dillon Gee makes the start for the Twins .

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 04:37 PM) Let's just hope that Boston scout wasn't right about Moncada being a bit of a head case at the plate. Hmm never heard that before. I do wonder why he wears the face protector. Don't see many wearing that. I mean I guess you can see good with it on and does protect your face but hard to describe how I feel about it. Seems logical but out of place.

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 01:32 PM) BUG MUSIC?! http://www.fakebands.com/wiki/images/d/de/...Flintstones.png Look's like a little Flintstones parody of the Beatles.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 02:36 PM) Good job Avi Yeah , yeah , yeah ! (Beatles Nite tribute )

Smith's swing reminds me of Mike Piazza . Never or rarely lunges at outside pitches. Just stands there and swings . If he is late or the pitch is outside it goes to RF . He just hits the ball where its pitched. Obviously not the same juiced up power but the swing path and plane is very similar .

QUOTE (Scoots @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 09:23 AM) Cool little nugget of Sox history. Thanks for that. Pretty big 24 hours of pitching going on here. Rodon and Fulmer tonight, Kopech making his AAA debut tonight as well. Giolito tomorrow for the Sox, and I believe Alec Hansen also pitches tomorrow for the Dash. He has been absolutely stellar. Not expecting a lot out of Fulmer tonight as he has largely underwhelmed in AAA this year, but he might surprise. Still obviously a lot of growing and developing to do. Like many , I see him as a future reliever. You're welcome . Also the solar eclipse is tonight. Could be a wild night on the south side.