jackie hayes

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 16, 2005 -> 03:37 PM) But s*** happens, pitchers have bad games and bad stretches, and they aren't always bad for the rest of their careers. Mind blowing concept. 2005: 6 BB per 9 IP 2004: 4.5 BB per 9 IP 2003: 13 BB per 9 IP My point is his wildness isnt something new. His biggest problem with his wildness is the fact that he looks for the plate late in the delivery and short arms the pitch. The pitch sails. Its fixable. But fix it in the minors and then bring him back up. Not in games with Baltimore. He should of never been in Saturdays game. It should of been Politte. But this is a sample size question. And last year, the largest sample size, he had 4.1 bb per 9 ip (this year he has 5.4 per 9). That's not great, and I'd hope he settles down. But it's just not THAT bad. He is not killing our bullpen with walks. I'm assuming you want to get rid of Damaso and Contreras, too?

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 16, 2005 -> 03:15 PM) This post makes my head hurt. I dont get the Cotts apologists at all. Especially after the gems he has put on the field over the last year. So let me get this straight. Its ok for a guy to come into a close game and launch a few pitches over the guys head, plunk a guy get behind hitters and then let the inheritted runners score or walk them. If that is the formula we should get Thriller or Koch back. They are both looking for jobs right now. He throws those wacky pitches every once in a while, or keeps it high. He throws these pitches with a few men on in a tight game. Do you really think after throwing the masterbator into the net he is going to get the close calls. He cant throw strikes. These are ankiel like pitches. Its not like he missed the corner or let one sail a bit. He rememinds me of the guy from Bull Durham. He doesnt look and just fires the ball. If he had any velocity I think he may kill someone. Maybe he can get his control. But the time to learn control is not in a major league game. Especially when the team is tryng to make the playoffs. I dont want this guy up when the game is on the line. Last year we jacked off trying to see if this experiment or that would work. And we dropped senseless games between the disaster at 5th starter and the Cotts, Thriller, Koch craptacular trio. Enough already lets get someone who can throw strikes and strand a few runners. Wait, wait, so what's your hobby again? The point is, when he's not letting the ball go at a totally wrong place, he's not all over. Yesterday -- it was high, high, high... He's not lacking command entirely (see Daniel Cabrera). That's something a pitching coach can help w/. Just f***ing stop trying to put words in my mouth. It's NOT okay to throw wildly. But s*** happens, pitchers have bad games and bad stretches, and they aren't always bad for the rest of their careers. Mind blowing concept. From the posts I read, we should replace about half the pitching staff. Good God, people, do you have no memory of what a bad pitching staff is? It wasn't that long ago.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ May 16, 2005 -> 02:40 PM) Lol, what exactly does he bring to the team besides pissing down his leg in any clutch situation? He's been horrible since the minute he got here in the NY debut. He can't get out lefties. He can't strand runners. He sure as hell can't make a spot start if needed. I remember when he tried that last year, same result as usual when he starts. Most of the times he can't throw strikes. His control is questionable at best. His "sneaky" fastball isn't sneaking up on anyone. He sure looked good the past two games. Now come on, as Tony Kornheiser would say, DEFEND YOUR BOY. He didn't debut in NY. I know that's the style here, it's much cooler to proclaim early that someone is total garbage or the next Gagne. (How many fans did Politte and Hermanson have a few months ago?) But I'm not gonna do that. Honestly, I don't know how good he is, how good he will be. But I don't think a young pitcher being inconsistent is a rare thing. His splits against lefties are awful this year, agreed. (Why exactly is a lh changeup guy our lh specialist anyway?) He hasn't been great at stranding runners, but that doesn't mean he's been awful. His control is off, especially now. He throws those wacky pitches every once in a while, or keeps it high. That's something for the pitching coach to work on, not a sign that he'll never be any good. We're not talking about Rick Ankiel. And in terms of both control and stranding runners, Damaso's been just as bad or worse. What's his excuse, or should he go too? QP: Baseball Prospectus has some stats on this, link.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ May 16, 2005 -> 02:31 PM) Quit making excuses for Cotts, he can't get the job done, BOTTOM LINE. Get him OUT of here. We've all seen enough. Oh, well now I'm convinced.

The question is always, how much do you need to see before deciding the guy can't pitch? The knock on Cotts is that he's walking people and not stranding runners. He hasn't been good on either count, but Damaso's been worse on both, and Shingo's been just as bad w/ inherited runners. So at least Damaso should be jettisoned too, I guess? Who the hell is going to be left by the end of this purge? The question is not whether Cotts has pitched well lately, obviously he hasn't. But imho, it is way too early still to give up on a player, after 12 innings, when his overall performance is at worst mixed, not disastrous. So I'm not going to defend his performance, or find excuses. But you're not going to convince me that he's been unmasked by a couple games.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 16, 2005 -> 01:13 PM) I think the big difference is the team philosophy of the Sox is 180 degrees of what the Brewers was. All the Sox want from Pods is to be on base, and steal bases. He doesn't have to worry about hitting for power, driving in runs, or just trying to do too much in general. Even if he can't get on, if he works the count full in the first AB, he sets the tone, and lets Iguchi and the rest of them, see pitches, and work the pitch count upward. Pods really has an easy role this year. I dunno. Even if the Brewers ever asked him to drive in runs (which seems doubtful to me -- a leadoff hitter, in the NL, with an awful back of the lineup anyway), I imagine they would have abandoned that pretty quick, seeing as he did squat in terms of rbi. One can say the Sox atmosphere is better, or something like that, but I don't think the philosophy changed THAT much, or would have such a big effect anyway.

Here's a comparison I NEVER thought I'd make. Billy Koch is like God -- even if he doesn't exist, there's apparently a need to invent him.

QUOTE(Winnin Ugly @ May 15, 2005 -> 02:54 PM) N Shimizu one of the top pitchers in Japan would like to join the Whitesox next year to play with his buddy Tadahito Iguchi QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ May 15, 2005 -> 02:55 PM) Position? Beats me.

QUOTE(3E8 @ May 15, 2005 -> 02:07 PM) Well after watching Pods to start this season, it's very evident to me that he takes pitches better than anyone else on this team. He's maintained his AB/K ratio of about 10 the entire way. That's just what we want from our leadoff guy. I wish he could swing the bat a little better. The question is, what kind of bodysnatcher is so patient (and can we get some more, please). B/c so far, Pods k & bb numbers are exactly the opposite of what he's done in the past (1/2 k/bb vs 2/1 in the past, 1 k per 10 ab vs 1 bb per 10 ab in the past) -- including his rookie season. It'd be great if he made solid contact more often, but all in all, I've been very happily surprised so far.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 15, 2005 -> 03:10 AM) I dont buy this seldom used crap. He throws in the bullpen right, he gets his work in right. You are telling me the fact that he doesnt throw in a game for a week all of a sudden he forgets how to throw the ball within 3 feet of the plate. His pitches arent even close. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. If you don't pitch often, you have a guaranteed right to pitch like s*** every time out, w/o consequences. Use yr head. Every bullpen has some pitchers who aren't as good as others. That's a consequence of not spending bajillions on a bullpen. Or just chance -- ask the Phils how their bullpen spending has worked out for them. The ones who are not as good get used less. I said, Cotts looked like crap -- tonight. Are you saying he's looked this bad every outing this year? Or that he obviously is permanently awful b/c of 1 game?

Y'all must be joking. Everyone says there will be rough patches, then after 1 f'n game, we're getting rid of our prize acquisition from last season and a reliever w/ a sub-4 era. 1 game, jeeeeeez. Noone's taken "Judy" off their fav hot key, I hope.

QUOTE(qwerty @ May 15, 2005 -> 03:04 AM) Cotts is supposedly the long reliever yet he comes in with a jam when the game was tied? What am i not understanding? Edit: Oops orioles were up one. Well, Oz loves his lefty-lefty matchups, I guess. Cotts is the long guy, we just haven't needed a long guy much this season, and he is seldom used (obviously).

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ May 15, 2005 -> 03:02 AM) I'm not too worried about cocks but he defenitely was left out there too long. Oz and Garcia musta been smoking the wacky weed before the game. Yeah, I agree w/ that. I'm surprised he stayed in so long.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ May 15, 2005 -> 02:59 AM) Cabrera sucks balls. All it took to get to him was Pods getting on base. We shoulda won this game easily. Maybe so, but that's cuz he's got no control, not b/c his stuff is bad. A butterfly flapping its wings in Tokyo could get to Cabrera in the Cell.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 15, 2005 -> 02:54 AM) At what point do you learn how to throw strikes. Or how about when you throw it within 3 feet of the strikezone. Throwing pitches over peoples heads. Come on. He pulled this crap last year. Do you expect a bullpen full of Radkes? Yeah, he's wild. If we were discussing the rock of the bullpen, I'd worry, but we're talking about the little used long guy. This is manageable.

QUOTE(qwerty @ May 15, 2005 -> 02:43 AM) I think there is reason to be concerned. The radar gun was off tonight but was it off five miles every fastball garcia threw? I sure as hell saw cabrera hitting 97-98 plenty of times tonight and all garcia could muster up was 90? His velocity is clearly not there and he is not gonna be nearly as good without it. His velocity may be down, I don't really know what his pattern is there, and I wasn't really watching today. But I'm pretty sure Cabrera throws it harder, anyway.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ May 15, 2005 -> 02:47 AM) He's been out of it ever since he took that tough loss when we had half the team hurt. He needs to wake the hell up cause right now he's the weakest link. See, I just don't know how everyone else sees inside players' heads. Do they sell special tvs w/ that feature? He's had a couple bad outings in a row. One rough, this one total garbage. That's all I see, and I know he's been inconsistent his whole career. So why is this such a shock to everyone? Why do we have people calling for him to be traded? Everyone'll have their turn as the "weakest link". As great as Garland's been, he's not going 36-0.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 15, 2005 -> 02:43 AM) Did you watch the game. Major leaguers do not throw more than 3 pitchers over the head of batters. This is not an isolated experience, he has a problem throwing strikes. He has 7 walks in 11 innings. Yeah, I did, and I thought Cotts looked like s***. And he's wild, I agree. But he's got it done so far this year in limited work (until tonight), jumping all over him for this is just silly. And saying it's his 3rd season, c'mon. He barely pitched 2 years ago.

Anyone who thought that we were trading for an ace in Garcia was delirious. The guy can be very good, but even then he doesn't dominate, he just gets consistent for a few months. And he's always had streaks of some real crappy pitching. If this is as bad as it gets, I'll sign up for that. Today was the first real meltdown this season.

So this is Cotts' 3rd yr, okay. 11 ip makes a season? This is the designated overreaction zone, I know that. As long as everyone doesn't really believe things are so bad -- w/ Garcia, Cotts, whatever.

Well that sucks. Ugly ab by Carl after a great one by PK. Get 'em tomorrow.

QUOTE(BuehrleTheAce @ May 15, 2005 -> 01:56 AM) His aim may be off, but man is he snapping the leather! Is he trying to take Lemon's place in the 3 year plan?

Take Walker out NOW!!!

Our pitching has been too good for us fans -- we now have wildly unrealistic expectations. Freddy's staying, Cott's staying, they've both been very good so far this year, and I need to see a LOT more (or less, I suppose) before I'd believe trading either one is anything but dumb. The Orioles can rake, people.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ May 15, 2005 -> 01:25 AM) Wow, Iguchi... That throw was so bad -- I would have cried if I wasn't already laughing.