Jake

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 6, 2012 -> 05:53 PM) Another lefty for the pen? When will Crain be ready to go? Quintana will probably only be with us for the duration of this series against the lefty-heavy Indians.

It's not clear what we're going to do with this poor kid. He may have had the stuff to close, but he's made things pretty obvious at this point: he doesn't have the command or wherewithal to pitch in a moderate to high leverage situation. He has been a starter most of his career and seemed serviceable in his brief time starting last year. So what to do? -Do what seems to be the CWS choice right now, use him as a middle relief guy. Must be some latent belief that he's tipping pitches or otherwise not being "himself" and that can be remedied somehow -Start stretching him out to go back to his niche as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues where he can have more flexibility to use all of his pitches, etc. -Send him down to the minors as a reliever to refine his identity as a future big league reliever -Put that motherf***er in to get more saves! -Take Ohman's place as a lefty specialist (note his splits against lefthanders) At this point I'd like to see him just go back to what he's always been doing - starting. Maybe you could get contributions from him by the end of the year in a best case scenario. I have to wonder if they're dragging him along on the big league roster because they have doubts about how long Sale will last - only problem is that Hector doesn't seem to be very effective against lefties.

Probably can't have too many lefties against this Cleveland lineup. At this point though, what is Hector's role?

Asik is nice depth, I have no problem keeping him on our team indefinitely. The nice thing is that he has proved that he's not a starting caliber player so we can probably afford to keep him on our bench now. I believe Taj Gibson is also not a starting player on a good team, but someone will probably pay him too much for us to keep him on the bench. He is really great to have on the bench though, I'll be sorry to see him go.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 6, 2012 -> 05:30 PM) The thing that bothers me is this: when has a pitcher ever been fixed/healed by being sent to the pen? To me, this is like Rose and his knee. If his elbow is going to blow, it is going to blow. Babying him isn't going to help it. I would rather him take a few weeks off and come back to the rotation and see if the pain comes back. If it comes back, aggressive treatment and a doctor andrews visit. Going to the pen to me is just silly. Smoltz has been suggested as an example

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2012 -> 04:09 PM) So would people blame KW, Ventura and Herm if Sale goes to the bullpen and blows out his elbow in the next month? Seems odd they haven't done an MRI. This is the oddest part. Just look at it, it's not like resources are limited. Keep it on file to compare later. Maybe they're going to do that and just aren't going to talk about it -- weird that they hadn't at the time they made this decision though

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2012 -> 04:07 PM) Molina the new 5th starter? Who knows, could be possible I'd guess. I'd be interested in how it goes, but I don't want to rush him. QUOTE (flavum @ May 6, 2012 -> 04:08 PM) Thought crossed my mind. I really think Stults deserves an opportunity though. There's no rush for Molina right now. For all we know, this could just be a move to get fresh arms here tomorrow, and Axelrod will start again next Sunday. I assume Stults will start regardless of long term plans. I think Bruney deserves a shot to be in our bullpen. Isn't there some kind of restriction on how long you have to wait between demotion/promotion?

QUOTE (flavum @ May 6, 2012 -> 03:57 PM) They probably want as many fresh arms as possible tomorrow. In addition to Stults. Maybe Heath? Bruney? Shirek? Whatever the case, I hope Stults earns his way to more starts after tomorrow. I'd keep Bruney up here, much rather see him mop up than Ohman. Send Hector down too.

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 6, 2012 -> 03:53 PM) god this team confuses the f*** out of me... lol I'm confused as f*** on this one, guess we'll have to wait and see what all the moves are

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 6, 2012 -> 03:31 PM) then why do you intentionally waste a dude's entire potential career as an ace starter on a hunch? lets see... 40 innings a year or 200... which is more valuable...? at this point in his career? he's 23... there are pitchers who have changed their mechanics in their 30s. see Fatolo and Freddy Garcia. you hear of guys changing their arm slots all the time. The problem is it's not just a hunch -- he's already hurt. His velocity is dropping, now throwing fastballs in the 80s. Let him flourish in the bullpen and not have those issues.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 6, 2012 -> 03:52 PM) Axelrod optioned to AAA. Kenny not familiar with the new rule? WHAT?

You just don't intentionally waste a year plus of a pitcher's career in hopes that he will come back from the injury better than before. Too much risk involved, not to mention you are getting a year or more of zero production from that player. You also don't usually change a pitcher's mechanics at this point in his career, you take a huge risk of ending their effectiveness. He is what he is.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2012 -> 03:20 PM) He did fine the last week. I also think his hand is still injured from getting hit today. I'm rooting for him and he looked great last week. His entire career though...same s*** -- his results are exactly what his swings would suggest he would have. Swings and misses, pop ups/high flies, ground balls. His swing is like a damn golf swing and we all know if you make contact at the wrong part of a golf swing the ball never goes the right way QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 6, 2012 -> 03:21 PM) I think Santiago could be AAA bound with Sox needing a fresh arm for DH Monday! Roster expands to 26 for doubleheaders

Gordon just has a bad swing and he has shown me nothing to indicate that he has the ability to overcome it via pitch selection, coordination, etc

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ May 6, 2012 -> 03:12 PM) Let's go AJ! Think base hits guys, not home runs. Damn right but if you're going to think home runs, you might as well hit them!

It's about time Fukudome does something cool as a White Sox.

He was at least a decent starting pitcher at the lower levels before adding the screwball, which seemed to make him pretty darn good. He has a starter's repertoire and didn't have these kind of control issues as a starter. I have to think being a reliever, being a major leaguer has made this control issue worse. Let him pitch to worse hitters with a routine he's accustomed to (long warm-up, less pressure situations) and see if he develops.

Did I hear Hawk say "god damn it" before we went to commercial break?

He just needs to be a starting pitcher. We have no need for him in our bullpen anymore. Before he's ruined as a prospect, get him ready to be a starter

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 6, 2012 -> 02:49 PM) Do other teams laugh at the Sox for having a guy like Lilly on the roster? Or is he serviceable. He hit some bombs a year ago. But he sucks currently. Possibly a victim of too few at bats...but I'm not really sure at this point.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 6, 2012 -> 02:48 PM) He looks absolutely clueless 2-2 pitch was a good pitch but I'm not sure if Brent ever had a chance

QUOTE (Jake @ May 6, 2012 -> 02:47 PM) Brent has no idea what an offspeed pitch looks like maybeee he recognized the 1-2 pitch...

Brent has no idea what an offspeed pitch looks like

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 6, 2012 -> 02:45 PM) I'd have said the same thing about Zach Stewart too. Yes.

f***ing Benoit...brace yourselves for a 30 minute inning