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Damn that was big. Fatalistic half of brain was already moving to it being 3-1 twins. Nice pitch down and in.

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but if we finished first it likely means we had success against stud righty killers in last two weeks and get to go against an anemic offense. Just in games, it sorts itself out.

Until I hear different from new owner I just don't think mets are going to rebuild or take a step back. They are just going to keep plowing in until it all breaks spectacularly. I think pitcher is going to be Odorizzi.

I mean they probably do, they have edgartronics set-up in spring training and a pitcher lab. But it's not necessarily a quick fix and Dylan probably had a lot to work on. This offseason it may be the priority.

Giolito was in part so special because he completely re-did his mechanics and started pitching with a completely different arsenal (mid-90s 4 seamer, changeup). Definite chance Cease can never command well enough. But pitchers spontaneously find that pitch or velocity or deception that vaults them all the time...and also fall apart a lot. Pitchers, man. So it's hard to watch for me, but I do think once Cease has his fastball missing bats, it makes it all easier. And now, can he fix the spin? He probably can, And then a fastball that rides the top of the zone will be tough for hitters. But now it's nothing and so he's just all over the place.

I get the bolded, but kinda laugh at there being pressure to being a white sox. For me it wasn't a simple "drafted this guy instead of this guy" with the 2nd rounders, it was the strange use of the pool. They probably missed out on guys we would have liked, but I like the more recent home run approach (even if 2020 was not the year I'd go for a play like that considering its depth).

Yeah, it's both why I'm pessimistic in the near term but optimistic long term. He is a hardworker, he's got good tools to mold, but he's not close to a finished product. But it just feels like one offseason, as they said, he's going to learn a grip or an adjustment that is going to unlock the raw stuff. (Bauer would be the perfect guy for this stuff, but sox probably have what they need to show him and he just needs time to work on it)

I'm sure @Y2Jimmy0 would have best info here. I'd say: - Sheets likely to see at least some time in big leagues at his trajectory. Not confident as a starter but he's close and competent. - Andrew Perez has put up good stats though haven't heard much since his draft. But he's lefty, and at the time threw a mid-90s fb. - Sousa was up to AA, though he'll be fairly old starting next year. Then: Pilkington is a lefty starter, may be up eventually a la Flores. Interesting to see how he performs next year. Thompson/Dalquist/Beard have high upside. If not on sox, I'm hopeful they become something we can turn into ML assets. Davis Martin (2018) faded but had some good K stats. Who knows. Maybe that plays more in bullpen. Jason Bilous same, and was only 21, so he may be on a decent track. 2019 has gladney, glass, and krogman. So some upside guys outside the top ten in addition to the 3 above.

If only the sox followed my preferred personnel moves they'd have the best offense in the MLB.

Damn that's a big one. Curse of a too generic name scanning through long lists of players ?

I wanted to put down some thoughts, if you scroll down you see the bolded indicate guys who were drafted since 2016 who made the majors. To avoid quibbling - that is actually a big feat. This review is EARLY, and we will see the full impact. But as of now, we are seeing a number of players contribute on a division contending team with two weeks to go. My initial take on Hostetler drafts: I was very negative on this era. I hated the lack of athleticism drafted overall. It was way too college heavy and lacked upside. For years, we saw our only top 100 representatives being our trade acquisitions or top 5 picks who automatically slate there. His line that he was looking to build up system depth annoyed be since for years he emphasized that he only cared about BPA, which seemed like a contradiction. And my belief was that trying to be safer and build "depth" just meant you were getting guys that were hitting their ceilings in AA instead of the possibility of fizzling out in low-a - which can happen with younger, higher upside picks. It's time to revise that opinion. A look on his drafts (1-10 only just for brevity, though I'll point out guys that made it after like Mendick) 2016 (in order from rounds 1-10) Zach Collins, Zack Burdi, Alec Hansen, Alex Call, Jameson Fisher, Jimmy Lambert, Luis Corbelo, Bernardo Flores, Nate Nolan, Zach Remillard Later picks that made it: Ian Hamilton (11), Matt Foster (20) (edit: hat tip to Y2Jimmy!) 2017 (worst draft by far) Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets, Luis Gonzalez, Lincoln Henzman, Tyler Johnson, Kade McClure, Evan Skoug, Sam Abbot, Craig Dedelow, JB Olson 2018 Nick Madrigal, Steele Walker, Konnor Pilkington, Lency Delgado, Jonathan Stiever, Codi Heuer, Cabera Weaver, Andrew Perez, Gunnar Troutwine, Bennet Sousa 2019 Andrew Vaughn (top 30 prospect), Matthew Thompson, Andrew Dalquist, James Beard, Dan Metzdorf, Avery Weems, Karen Patel, Ivan Gonzalez, Tyson Messer, Pawelczyk, Nate 4 drafts, 5 years ago: 11 major leaguers and almost certainly 12 (Vaughn). That is depth. The quibbles: - Luis Gonzalez almost certainly a child of circumstance, but he made it to a level where it was possible. That's still good. Not always the case. - The 2017 draft is just absolute trash. - A lot of capital was spent on bullpen, and of Ian Hamilton, Johnson and Heuer, only heuer has really shown himself but he's been huge. The still bad: - His 2nd round picks and paying overslot for college juniors will just always baffle me. Bottom line: 11 is a lot, and yes, he picked a lot. A team similar to us (top picks during the time and didn't get freebie balance picks) is the phillies, who have seen 6 during that time. If Hostetler set out to get depth, it appears he did that, and it paid off at the right time in supplementing the sox during a year of competition and high injuries. I am still a bigger fan of Shirley's style, and think the higher upside picks will be more valuable as trade currency if not impact starters. But the emergence of Stiever, what Lambert showed, and Heuer have made me really reverse myself on how hostetler performed. I'm not going to say he was amazing - he did have tremendous draft resources! - but it was a much better record than I realized in the later rounds in the draft. And a poster whose name I don't remember pointed out that I was wrong, and he was right, so sorry to that guy if you read this.

Yes, exclusively.

it's basically a lesson in matchups.

Lol

Definitely. Not like, trying to beat a weak AL central. Not sneaking into 8th seed. Leading the whole F’NG THING

The “can’t apply the approach he practices in game’s” has been Mazara’a issue his whole career

It’s obviously a very talented group, but I do think he lets guys be the best version of themselves in working on their approaches. And he’s a great interview.

Wasn’t sure how to make a thread on a seemingly good hitting coach?!!

The tough fight the royals gave us last series had been paying off for them recently. They’ve looked good.

The sheer domination of Detroit and KC this year was insane, especially since they aren’t that terrible against non white sox teams

Incredible

I think it’s fair to say that Tim has hit like the 99.9% of his career

Tim is the hands down best pure hitter in baseball