South Side Fireworks Man

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 8, 2006 -> 06:42 PM) Yeah, that's not true at all . . . He has more ABs this year Vs righties than lefties. He's hitting .202 vs pitchers who throw with their right hand and .167 vs those who use their left. Look, he doesn't play against a lot of righties. Ozzie doesn't trust him against the better righties yet. He didn't play today for example. The Sox have no one who can fill in adequately in CF when Anderson doesn't play. If he only missed a game every couple of weeks or so purely for a rest, Mack would be adequate I guess. But the Sox need an every day centerfielder who can catch and hit. Because the pitching has been mediocre, it's harder to cover for a CFer who can't play everyday because he hits .202 vs. righties and .167 against lefties and often doesn't play against a lot of righties because his manager doesn't like his chances against them. Personally, I would start Brian out there every day and see what he can do. If he can hit .264 from here out, great! But if he can't even hit .235, get someone in who can and also can play good defense in CF.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 8, 2006 -> 05:11 PM) Just for the record, Brian Anderson is now hitting .264 since June 11th. He doesn't play against many righties.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 8, 2006 -> 04:29 PM) I think we should seriously look into this. It's clear pitching is our biggest weakness but there's too many egos and feelings that could be hurt, so it's likely that nothing will happen there. We're going to have to out-homer teams to keep winning. And as much as I'd like to pledge my trust and undying love in the hands of Greg Walker and this offense with 4 guys having career seasons, I think this team would look much better with Jones. If Ozzie thought Anderson's hitting wasn't a problem, there's no way he would give Mackowiak's glove 3 starts in CF this week. And Mackowiak shouldn't be out there. EVER. With the mediocre pitching we have had this year, we can't afford a CFer who bats below .240 let alone in the .100's. We need a centerfielder who can hit plus play very good defense out there. If KW & Ozzie don't think Anderson can do this yet, then they need to get someone quickly.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 8, 2006 -> 02:58 PM) Ha...brilliant idea to bring in a starter out of the pen, especially someone who can't get a K in a K situation. If you're going to let Cotts allow 2 righties to reach base before the batter, keep him in the f***ing game. It wasn't a K situation. There's two outs.

QUOTE(Melissa1334 @ Jul 8, 2006 -> 02:29 PM) aj cant throw for s*** either Not true.

This game sucks.

Crede needs a rest. He's banged up and he had a bad night tonight. I hope Iguchi's back tomorrow.

Nice play, Pods.

For a team supposedly built on pitching speed and defense, we sure haven't had much lately, especially the pitching.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Jul 6, 2006 -> 09:17 PM) Contreras was done when the Sox traded for him too. How long did it take for that crappy pitcher to get settled? Javy Vazquez is no Jose Contreras. QUOTE(shoota @ Jul 6, 2006 -> 09:58 PM) I was hoping an umpire would've gone out to the mound to check Javy's balls, but then I realized Javy doesn't have any. Zing!

Cliff Politte was great last year and was a key to the championship. He gave the Sox a few good years in the pen. Middle relievers tend to come and go. Unfortuneately, it's Cliff's time to go. I hope he has some success with another organization. Thanks, Cliff, and best wishes.

Did he touch second base?

Never say "die"!

Way to Gload!

Here we go.....

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Jul 1, 2006 -> 09:57 PM) Until Vaz gets the stones and pitches rather than just grooving meatballs down the heart of the plate, he's gonna be the same guy. There is a reason why teams gave up on the guy. He has grade A stuff with no mental makeup to go along with it. Exactly.

QUOTE(valponick @ Jul 1, 2006 -> 01:56 PM) Vazquez to the pen. Amen.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 1, 2006 -> 12:41 PM) Is anybody else convinced that Vazquez will never become a good pitcher? This guy was a mistake. One of very few that KW has made in a while. Yep.

Vazquez sucks. Get rid of the bum.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jun 30, 2006 -> 07:16 PM) I'll counter with Figgens and a top pitching prospect for Garland. I'd give 'em Vazquez & Fields for Figgins & Shields, + another pitcher.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 07:09 PM) I really don't think that B-Mac could consistently produce, and apparently neither did Kenny since he made the trade. There's also no way that Young would be on the major league roster. He's simply not ready yet. He wouldn't be on the bench either because he needs at bats to continue his development. KW probably figured McCarthy couldn't be counted on to pitch 200+ innings yet. But now that we're almost at the halfway point, he should be fresh for the second half. I wouldn't expect him to be lights out, but I'm pretty sure he could maintain an ERA at 5.00 like Vazquez, and possibly lower. I get the sense that Javy has a bad attitude and I don't think he fits in well here. While I always liked Contreras, even when he was struggling, I can't warm up to Vazquez. I don't think he's a "winner". I'm just speculating, but I would bet A.J. doesn't think too highly of him right now. As for Chris Young, whether he was on the 25 man roster or in AAA, at least we would have a solid defensive CF in the organization to back up Anderson. If BA were to go down, we'd be in bad shape. We need another competent CFer. Edit: Another point is when KW made that trade both Contreras and Garland were unsigned and were indicating that they were going to be tough to re-sign.

QUOTE(VAfan @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 09:50 AM) Overall, there isn't a whit of difference between Freddy Garcia's and Javier Vazquez's numbers this year. Freddie, in fact, is the one giving up the long ball more frequently -- 17 v. 9 for JV. I doubt if Freddy would stand around and watch his catcher get drilled twice and not even pitch inside. Freddy can be frustrating too, but he has shown that he can pitch his way out of trouble even when he doesn't have his good stuff. I would trade Vazquez for Vizcaino and Chris Young right now. McCarthy could go to the rotation and pitch at least as well as Vazquez if not better, Vizcaino would pitch as well as McCarthy out of the pen, and we'd have a good defensive back-up CF.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 12:33 AM) A real RF probably catches that triple. Are you saying Dye is not a real RF? Because he wouldn't have gotten to that ball either.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 25, 2006 -> 11:40 PM) And where you defense goes. The Sox didn't lose this game for lack of defense at 3B or RF. Dye wouldn't have caught that ball either and Tavarez can fly. We lost this game because Vazquez pitched like s*** again tonight.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 25, 2006 -> 11:36 PM) Come on...if we're going to start blaming people for 0-2 pitches, Vazquez is the f***ing goat for the s*** he threw to Lamb. Yep. McCarthy will get the L tonight, but Vazquez deserves the loss.