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QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 18, 2017 -> 01:27 PM) It is football, plain and simple and the increase in injuries is something the league has to figure out because it is legitimately affecting the quality of the league. Personally, I think it's the lack of practice time. No ones knows how to hit or avoid being hit as well as they used to. The number of overuse type injuries is way down but the number of collision type injuries is up.

Lost both Greg Olsen and Jordy Nelson to injury. I'm dead.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Sep 15, 2017 -> 07:11 PM) Agree. Why did we draft him so high? Same criticism back then. Same reason they drafted Sale in the first. They aren't afraid of odd deliveries.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 14, 2017 -> 03:21 PM) Hahn got screwed by the Padres on that deal with the dual sets of medicals. It still pisses me off that MLB did nothing about it. You could tell the guy had back and/or shoulder problems when we got him by how he reacted trying to stretch after many pitches. Now he can't even throw over the top anymore. I think he made the change in arm angle on purpose. He doesn't have the stuff anymore so he is dropping down to get more movement and deception with the pitches. I don't think there is anyway he is still pitching if it was due to pain.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 14, 2017 -> 03:55 PM) When MLB voided the Boston contracts, they also banned them from international signings for a period of time. My guess would be that it won't be the initial contract that would be a problem, it would be any additional extension which would come later. But if it were proven that the initial contract violated the rules, yes they could void it and make him a free agent again, and block the violating team from signing him again. Weren't the Boston contracts minor league contracts? I don't quite remember. I think an MLB contract would be something entirely different, especially in the eyes of the Union. They would fight that with the huge amount of dollars involved.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 14, 2017 -> 09:25 AM) I can't help but think that with every potential advantage that the Sox might use to sell this team, there are multiple other teams who could offer better. If he wanted to go to a team that liked Japanese players, but can't offer money, why not LA? They worshiped Hideo Nomo. They have also signed a lot more Japanese players and have a bigger Japanese population base than Chicago does. I believe I said some teams. Not all. LAD has that same advantage as the Sox. Your question "why not LA" could be said "why not the sox" from this point of view. The difference in the money between the teams in this first contract is inconsequential to the next contract. It will be interesting how he chooses the first contract.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 10:48 PM) This team isn't even close to competing in my book. No bullpen and only 2/5th's of a starting rotation. Plus a number of easy outs in the current lineup. Not even close. Stay the course, keep acquiring young talent, let them mature in the minor leagues, DO NOT rush them...and we'll see you in 2020. They should be ready by them. There is no reason to rush them. However, you bring them up when they are ready for the challenge of the MLB and not wait until some arbitrary timeline.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 08:31 PM) Forgot about catcher. Tim Anderson will be the catcher There is absolutely no way this happens.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 24, 2017 -> 09:03 AM) Eh. I think the idea that people who played baseball apparently can't understand launch angles is a bit silly. Apparently someone got to Avi because that was a big focus of his this off season. Every baseball player has known about launch angles. They just didn't have the terms or the numbers. Those are for the non-players. The issue has always been how much do you increase the launch angle before you have too much of an upper cut (that's what us old people called the launch angle) and you just pop everything up. Just like with anything else it is a fine line before you have diminishing returns and some players can't make that adjustment.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 14, 2017 -> 08:39 AM) Right -- by all accounts, the only thing the Sox could POTENTIALLY offer is the right playing time situation, but the likelihood that at least one other, more desirable team won't also do it is extremely small. I think another potential advantage over some teams is Iguchi. I'm sure Otani has asked other players who played in the states how they were treated by the organizations. From all accounts Iguchi enjoyed his time here. Other teams have had Japanese players as well but I'm sure they have a good reputation.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 07:23 PM) Giolito was coming on strong in his last 4 or 5 starts in the minors. Heaping credit on Coop while asking is he our only good coach is naive. The Sox have a system wide pitching philosophy in place. SUre Cooper deserves credit but so do all the pitching coaches throughout the minor league system. And who put that particular philosophy in place? Cooper.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 07:51 PM) My presence here has raised the valuation of soxtalk tenfold As good of a reason as any.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 02:02 PM) Otani to Sox talk seems extremely moot. Wait, when did Soxtalk get that kind of money? Must be the new mods popularity.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 02:14 PM) He's my favorite poster on this site - hands down... most valuable and unique insight I've ever seen in a public forum. Thanks, but it's only because I'm old and being working with athlete's for a long time.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 01:46 PM) Rodon said the MRI was the same as the first one. I never read where it said it was inconclusive, but if it were horrible, he wouldn't have pitched at all this year, and wouldn't have been throwing 98. He also said he would be pitching next year. If the White Sox were freaking out, it probably would have leaked. I think it's debatable whether or not he actually had an MRI the second time. Maybe Hahn called Boras and said maybe Carlos isn't feeling quite right and could use the rest of the season off. We can look at some prospects and maybe lose a few more games bettering the team for Carlos when he pitches and it matters. Boras gives Carlos a call, and he isn't quite feeling right. 2 days prior, his arm felt great. The inconclusive part is that they found no structural damage but general inflammation by their reports. Well inflammation really is structural damage (albeit at a physiologic level) and there isn't "general" inflammation. Something needs to be inflamed. It could be nothing but the fact that it reoccurred means something is going on.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 09:21 AM) Is this a scenario where PRP could be helpful in the healing process? PRP, platelet rich plasma, (because someone asked it's where they take the person's blood and spinout the platelets or healing initiators and inject it into an area to "increase" the healing potential of the tissue) would probably not work here at least initially. That is mostly used in muscle and sometimes tendon injuries. With this unspecified source of inflammation, I would doubt they go with it. If they feel it's most likely the rotator cuff they might use it.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Sep 12, 2017 -> 10:07 PM) Thanks, this is info google could not provide. So it's most likely not the capsule (thank god) but it still could be a torn rotator cuff or labrum? Obviously not a full tear, as a other diagnostics would show that, like strength and ROM tests. It could be. However, those are fairly easy to find even on MRI, if they are large tears. There could be small ones though. Most likely it's just some irritation. This is a problem though as they obviously can't figure out what it is and don't know exactly how to treat it. There is something going on to continually cause the irritation. Rest alone won't solve it.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Sep 12, 2017 -> 09:46 PM) In your experience, what injuries does an inconclusive (read: shows no obvious damage) MRI usually rule out? In the inverse, what injuries usually show up on MRIs of the shoulder? Thanks, I'll take your answer off the air. I did some Google fu, but I'd rather get it from our own expert. There really isn't a single answer to the question, otherwise they would know exactly what was going on. However, the most injuries that involve generic widespread inflammation are the undersurface of the rotator cuff and the bicep attachment to labrum. a capsular issue referred to earlier could indirectly cause this by being too loose but it would not directly show up as inflammation.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 12, 2017 -> 07:51 PM) Basic question in reply and I don't know the answer to - do you really have 2 MRIs with inconclusive results if it's "soreness you'd have pitched through if it were the playoffs"? That sounds like the same question we'd have asked at the start of the season for him when there was nothing wrong but soreness and he missed half the season for that. So at least color me skeptical, but maybe? The answer to this question is yes. 2 primary reasons. 1. All pitcher's shoulders are different than the norm. But what is significant and what is not? 2. MRI are notoriously poor in differentiating "inflammation." It all just shows up as white ( or all black depending on the contrast and weighting used).

Watching Avi run to and from right field was painful tonight. He almost slides his feet. He turns it on while playing but you can see he is struggling. He had two good plays in the OF but after he tried to beat out an infield single, he jogged a little but then walked to the dugout. After this they pulled him and put in Liriano. Anyone else notice this at recent games?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 9, 2017 -> 10:11 PM) I not sure what else Gio could've done. The pitches I listed were all very good pitches. That's his job, to make good pitches .He didn't allow many hits and if he tries to adjust to the ump who knows what happens . Maybe he gets hit harder. I'd also like to point out the umps are not familiar with Gio and in time and certainly with reviews of the games by the umps ( hopefully they do these things) that Gio will get the kind of calls that veteran pitchers do. His adjustment needed to be either A. not throw so low in the zone or B. find another place the ump will call. All you can really ask from an ump is to be consistent. If he consistently not calling a pitch low in the zone a strike. Don't throw it there. I'm not saying it's right. i agree they were strikes but many umps have biases for or against certain pitches.

QUOTE (Yoda @ Sep 9, 2017 -> 10:34 AM) Country music singer Don Williams died yesterday at the age of 78. I can only find reports stating he died of a short illness. No specifics on what the illness was. My dad brought me up listening to him and I got my gf hooked on a few of his songs. Truly a hard pill to swallow. Yeah, he was a good one. That deep voice could calm and relax a person regardless of what was going on.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 8, 2017 -> 11:23 PM) I was watching the game and after an 0-1 fastball that was right down the middle at the knees to Sandoval in the 3rd inning was called a ball and Sandoval then proceeded to hit a 3 run HR I decided to rewind my DVR and check the ball/strike calls against the pitchcast calls. I don't think pitchcast is the end all be all . I acknowledge it could be wrong.So I told myself in order to have a strike that was called a ball , the ball had to be mostly or 3/4 or more of the ball had to be in the zone ,according to pitchcast. On borderline pitches like just 1/4 or a sliver of the ball in the zone I gave the benefit of the doubt to the umpire, The home plate umpire was Gabe Morales and right from the get go it was pretty obvious he was not going to give Gio the low strike . Now some of you may blame the framing by the catcher but most of the bad calls were on fastballs and Gio being as tall as he is certainly has some downward tilt on low fastballs that will drag a catchers glove down. I happen to believe a fastball should be the easiest pitch for the ump to accurate call. 1 .1st inning a fastball to Span at the the knees was called a ball probably a 4 seamer 2. A fastball to Hundley was down and in perfect pitch but called a ball , maybe a 2 seamer . 3. 2nd inning to Mac Williamson again down and in great pitch called a ball.Williamson then got on 1st with the error by Davidson. 4 With Williamson running Gio throws a fastball right down the middle low but whole ball easily in the zone , called a ball but Williamson caught stealing for 3rd out. 5. This was the pitch to Sandoval where instead of 0-2 it was called a ball changing the whole complexion of the AB. 6. 6th inning 0-1 curve to Posey called a ball clearly in the zone. After that Moncada missed the pop up and then things really got out of hand. 1-2 pitch to Hundley a nasty curve/slider and according to pitchcast its in the zone but pitch caught way off the plate and low . I will not count this as a strike. It's doubtful many umps would've called it a strike Ump gets the benefit of the doubt over pitchcast. 7. Pitch to Pence again a beautiful low fastball fully in the zone on 0-1 pitch. Steve Stone mentions Gio not getting low strikes. Pence walked on 3-2 pitch that was another well located fastball away and waist high . This was a pitch where pitchcast said caught the zone slightly but because I'm trying to be unbiased will call a ball and Crawford out at 2nd since he was going on the pitch. Will never know if he would've been out or safe since he may have slowed up when he saw ump didnt raise his arm for the strike. So instead of being out of the inning there's still 1 out and bases loaded. Gio is removed , gets ejected, angry at lack of strike calls no doubt. Renteria ejected sticking up for Gio So in my estimation thats 7 great pitches, the kind you want your pitcher to make all low or low and in strikes that were called balls and 2 others that maybe couldve been called strikes but weren't that the ump gets the benefit of the doubt over the pitchcast indicator.. There were also 1 or 2 others that caught a sliver of the plate called balls that I did not list. I agree with this as I was watching the game. Hopefully, it was a learning experience for Giolito. Certain umps. aren't going to call certain pitches. when he saw the ump wasn't calling low strikes, he needs to find something else that works. It's not right but many umps have a "he doesn't give this." As he learns umps, hopefully he can adjust.

QUOTE (NCsoxfan @ Sep 9, 2017 -> 01:09 PM) I haven't seen one poster who has said Moncada is doomed, merely that there's concern. You guys are also conflating things. Yes "x type of players have had big slumps", but it can also be true that "x types of slumps are more correlated with hitters who end up struggling". They're obviously not mutually exclusive. Correct so the answer should be. You have no reason to be concerned or be positive yet. No one knows anything really other than he is currently struggling. It means absolutely nothing about how good or bad he is going to be. of course everyone would feel better about him if he was hitting .300 with power in this short amount of time. But that also would not indicate he was going to be a good player.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Sep 8, 2017 -> 10:41 PM) Give him 1,000 at bats first. Or at least 1/2 a season. He has what less than 1/3 of a season total in the MLB. The length of his entire career is an in season slump for some hitters.