CaliSoxFanViaSWside

QUOTE (the_Xsport @ Jul 10, 2016 -> 09:17 PM) Thank you ron883, you have encouraged me to come out of the woodwork and write my first Soxtalk comment. "You throw him junk outside and he can't resist." Did you know Jose Abreu's contact% on pitches outside of the zone is 62.4%. In 2014 it was 58.7%. He's also swinging at outside pitches in line with what he's done since coming stateside. In fact, almost everything about Abreu is almost a photocopy across the board. His batted ball data is relatively the same, as are his line drive, fly ball, and ground ball rates. He's hitting the ball to all fields still. His strikeout rate is actually the lowest of his career. Now, I'll concede that the eye test says Abreu has been a different guy, and the counting stats tend to agree. The truth is that earlier in the year pitchers weren't getting him to swing at junk on the outside, but they were jamming him inside. Not all that different from how he's been attacked since his arrival. The true disparity was that he wasn't barreling up balls on the outer third or even center cut, locations where he's made him money in the past. Guess what, the quality of the contact has gotten a lot better since early June. Abreu was always a guy that could look awful on two pitches and then rope a gap double on the next. He's a very talented hitter, see him taking a 102 MPH pitch down low back up the middle against Cabrera the other day as a prime example. Not many guys can do that. Abreu hit .306/.355/.531 (.885 OPS) in June and appears to be back to his old self. If you're so inclined to double his stats, an imperfect practice to be sure, he's looking at 22 HR, 38 2B, and 104 RBI. Not exactly something I'd complain about. I don't think it's crazy that he'll hit 15 or more bombs in the 2nd half and get closer to that 30/100 mark again. I'm glad you predicted this awful demise. Please double down on your prediction and place it on your own banner. We'll see if you want to hang it up after the season. Nice post. Glad you took the time to post. The 2nd half is always shorter than the 1st half since we are 88 games in , we have 74 left . So doubling down on stats ( which I know you said is imperfect) doesn't work. Would be really nice to see him increase his extra base hits. A simple way I look at things is what percentage of his total hits are for extra bases , then do the same thing with HR's. 2014 approx. 41.5% of his hits were for extra bases, 2015 37.5% and this year 34.5%. HR percentage of total hits 2014 20.5, 2015 16.8 ,and this year 12.2 . All this has led to lower SLG % , OPS and OPS+ .As you said he has been trending up and he needs to keep doing so especially in HR totals. If Anderson and Eaton continue to be productive thoseextra base hits become more crucial especially the HR's. I know Melky has done a fine job of driving home runs but Robin needs to get Frazier back in the cleanup spot so his HR's can also be more productive. Seems strange to leave Melky batting 4th and Frazier 5th almost at the exact same time Anderson arrived.

I suspect a relief pitcher or 2 might be obtainable The bat will be much harder. Might have to roll with a better bullpen and hope Morneau does as good as the last 2 years without the aid of Coors ( Field not the beer). If we do get another bat I would suspect it to be more of a complimentary piece than a Bruce, Cargo or Lucroy.. Relying on help from the minors in the BP is a fools errand.

He could put together a kick ass 2nd half . Then what, change it back ? Fact is he was only one of 2 players with 30 HR's and 100 RBI the past 2 seasons. 30 HR's might be a long shot this year but 100 RBI is still reachable.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 10, 2016 -> 01:36 PM) Absolutely not true. Eaton jogs to first all the time on his routine groundouts Pretty much all major leaguers do this when they realize they hit it right at someone.Not sure I'd call it lack of hustle. It's more disappointment in yourself and moping. It's a very long season and sprinting leads to pulled muscles. It's just routine maintenance for the long haul. Moping and maintenance.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jul 8, 2016 -> 09:17 AM) Julio Teheran is starting against Quintana.. enough said? No chance Sox score more than 1 run that day. Sox lose 2-1. Sale game we win - though Wisler is no slouch. Shields on Sunday. Which one shows up? I'll take 2 of 3 in a heartbeat. 0-2 in your predictions but still a chance for 2 out of 3.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 06:14 PM) 0/4 tonight. 2 K's, RBI. .118 average so far. Btw, Brad Goldberg might the next man in for our bullpen. Maybe. The important thing is he got 4 AB's for the first time.Maybe one more game and he'll start hitting.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 03:31 PM) Glad to see Jones wrap up the save against a horrible team. We'll take the home W. If Hahn could develop a master plan he could pull it off easier during the season than the winter. Figure out what young players you want and then deal off Frazier, Robertson, Melky, Avi, Navarro, Avila, Lawrie. Keep Q, Sale and Rodon and keep Abreu and Eaton and see what happens. Broken record.They aren't selling.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 02:10 PM) Really? That dude is part of the reason I decided to stop posting there. Unlike larry, pnoles actually doesn't really provide much insight to go with his arrogance. larry is great however. Honestly ever since the Cheat left SSS just hasn't done it for me. Not a huge fan of Margulus. Yea that whole group is really smug like they are God's gift to blogging. They jump all over people they don't deem worthy of inclusion in their little clique. However it still is the most consistent and good Sox blog out there for what few there are.

Might not like the way it was done but the Sox manged to barely hang on to a much needed vitory over the suddenly HR prolific Braves led by the likes of Goron Beckham , Tyler Flowers and AJ Pierzynski. The Four Season's " Let's Hang On" seems appropo for the effort put forth in the win today.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 02:03 PM) I can't imagine the Sox are in sell mode yet. Hanging on the edge. No reason for the Sox to be in sell mode. If they win tomorrow that's 6 series wins in a row with Morneau on the horizon and I am sure Hahn will be knocking down doors to get a relief pitcher or 2 and possibly another bat. Wouldn't be surprised though if nothing happened right up until the deadline to see how Morneau does while Hahn tries to nickel and dime other GM's.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 12:45 PM) Sox need to get a better hitter in that three spot. Abreu needs to get really hot in the 2nd half . That slugging percentage is way below his career average.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 12:48 PM) What the f*** was Eaton doing retreating to 1st???? That was horrible baserunning. He was probably dead to rights either way but he should just keep going and force a throw . Maybe the throw isn't so perfect and he sneaks in there but more of a chance than in a rundown.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 12:34 PM) Nice play by Frazier robs AJ of a hit. Good to see all comments while we are winning aren't negative ones about how bad Navarro Sale Q, the scouts etc are.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 10:10 AM) Assuming Albers will be "okay" from here on out, it's probably easier to assume that Ynoa will produce the same... The issue then, isn't Ynoa, as much as the fact that Ventura has almost nobody he can trust with a tie game or 1-2 run deficit when it's the six or seventh inning from the RH side. Theoretically, it's Jennings (who can produce in that spot, albeit isn't RHed despite some contrary splits), but Ventura still hasn't figured out how to use him the most effectively, YET. I'd take a good reliever or 2 over mediocre.Cloning Albers isn't very good right now. Robin doesn't trust him at all since he put Beck in over him yesterday.

QUOTE (StrykerSox @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 11:55 AM) Man, can Benetti shut up already? I don't care that Quintana isn't on the AS team. It's a pointless game and he doesn't pitch like an AS. Can't Benetti just sit there and announce the plays as they occur? Dude is so annoying. You have been one angry dude the last few games. Why is the game pointless? Guy with the best pitching WAR in the AL doesn't pitch like an All Star ? You must have some very high standards.

Very nice ! Frazier changed his stance a little pointing his front shoulder toward right field. You could tell he wanted to go to right.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 05:25 AM) The same guy keeps winning. Like we're suppose to be impressed or something. pnoles one of the SSS groupies.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 9, 2016 -> 07:56 AM) Anyone else a little unsure that Fulmer is going to not just s*** the bed in MLB? I know he's on a run of a few bad starts, but Ranaudo seems like the option fro a spot start to me. I thought he was on a run of some good starts ??

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2016 -> 01:07 PM) They haven't been moving "their better prospects". They have been moving second and third tier guys. Tim Anderson is here. Carlos Rodon is here. Tyler Saladino is here. Carson Fulmer is still in the system. Steven Adams is still in the system. Semien, Montas and Trayce Thompson seem to disagree since Semien has 19 HR's, Montas is still in the top 100 prospects despite injuries and not even pitching. Might make a case for Thompson but probably don't need Jackson if we still had him and he has more HR's than Abreu. Their slugging, OPS, and OPS+ are all pretty equal despite Traces' low batting average. Semien has a better SLG, WAR, and OPS than Frazier. But if Frazier is supposed to be our best hitter Semien has been at the very least his equal this year.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2016 -> 07:13 PM) Actually responding to Southsider2k5's list of remaining "young core" guys, but good response! And yeah, also the idea of Saladino as a centerpiece of anything. He can be a piece, with Fulmer. That said, you leave yourself having to go out once again and find another 2B unless you're a huge Carlos Sanchez fan. Why would they need another 2nd baseman ? Lawrie would still be here and Sanchez as a backup isn't bad, But I did also mention Steve Pearce as a supersub since he has been playing infield positions for TB. And umm SS2k5 never mentioned Saladino in a trade for Lucroy. Just mentioned him as a core guy.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 8, 2016 -> 07:58 PM) Beckham and Flowers are a combined 5 for 8 with three RBIs, lol. I guarantee you there was never a game they combined for five hits as White Sox. Ridiculous, Sox scouts take a bow. You are ridiculous.You and your scout kick you're on. They recently played for the Sox. Don't need scouts to know them just like Flowers running the meeting with the Braves hitters.But it really doesn't matter if Sale was right.

QUOTE (chisoxfan310 @ Jul 8, 2016 -> 07:27 PM) Would anyone be shocked if the Sox get swept? Yes

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 8, 2016 -> 06:58 PM) This is flat out embarrassing. Beckham and Flowers, who were so bad on a regular basis as White Sox that it was a travesty, are murdering the Sox as members of the Atlanta Braves. Guess the Sox scouts are so bad they don't even know how to get those two stiffs out. Amazing. The scouts weren't pitching to them.

At least now I don't have to sleep to have a nightmare. The Braves, Beckham and Flowers lighting up Sale is doing that while I'm awake.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2016 -> 03:23 PM) Were you including Tyler to be facetious, or you're really more confident in him this year, compared to last? Capable of putting up a better season than, let's say, Marcus Semien's 2016 so far? As to earlier posts about Saladino being a centerpiece for Lucroy, that's borderline crazy talk. I suppose you are referring to my crazy talk about Lawrie or Saladino plus Trey M, and C. Hawkins to which I quickly admitted Fulmer would have to most likely be in any deal for Lucroy. So I beat you to the punch on discounting my own idea though it never was Saladino as a centerpiece since Lawrie was the original choice. I just have a hard time figuring out what 1.5 years of a guy is worth. Always seems like too much to me like with Samardzija. 1 year for all those years and players given up seems so very very wasteful. Or even the 2 years of Frazier and Lawrie . I'm not quite a hero worshipper nor a prospect guy. Just try to find the fine line on when exactly is the right time to give up many years for a year or 2 of a decent player. Prospects run the greater risk of flopping than the veteran which is balanced out by the prospect(s) having time to improve . I tend to think organizations give up too much for rentals but that's me. Winning instantly has its own reward to those who have a chance to do it. I then changed it to Fulmer , Saladino + or ++ for Lucroy and Tyler Thornburg in subsequent posts.