ptatc

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 04:11 PM) Yeah. I should've said since 2001. I would probably agree with that, although i might still put Rodriquez ahead of him.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 04:06 PM) He's definitely been the best player in the past decade. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...=2001&ind=0 A-Rod is close and Manny is close offensively, but Pujols bests those guys by a decent margin. Rodriguez is close enough that I'll take his offense with good to great defense SS or 3B as opposed to Puljols at 1B.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 02:48 PM) It's cruel and whatever else to make fun of how much someone lifts, but I curl as much as Juan Pierre. That's pretty neat. That is a pretty magnificent dumbbell set. Well yeah, but you weigh more than 120 lbs.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 03:31 PM) I can't believe those that are dissing Pujols. He's the greatest player of the modern era. He should get paid the maximum amount. 10 years? Probably not. But I've got no problem with the salary. Jason Bay is making almost $20 million, people! I would disagree with that. I would take Alex Rodriguez, KenGriffey Jr. and Barry Bonds before him and that's just position players. There are a number of pitchers i would probably put ahead of him as well. Depending on your definition of modern area Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle and Roberto Clemente were all superior players compared to him.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 03:28 PM) I'm extremely surprised he is cranking it up and spinning breaking balls this soon. The shoulder mechanics for breaking pitches is no different than fastballs so that doesn't matter. The only thing he needs to work on is strengthening so letting him crank it up is the only way it's really going to happen. You can only do rubber band exercises so much before you need to throw. His injury was healed in November at the latest. He has been doing strengthening ever since.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 11:55 AM) I dunno, I'd take a stud CF over a stud reliever any day. I wouldn't. Pitching always trumps hitting. Unless you think you are close to winning a World Series and you have a desperate need, keep pitching. Right now we don't have that desperate need. If we trade Buerhle and move Sale to the rotation the bullpen becomes much weaker and the rotation becomes a big question mark as the Sox don't know what he can do starting.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 24, 2011 -> 01:34 AM) That's what concerns me. The guy has done it with those same mechanics and has had a tremendous amount of success doing it that way his entire career. To tell the guy at 29 that he has to significantly alter those mechanics isn't going to be easy. Hell, he could make a mega effort to change them and then just by force of habit revert back to those prior mechanics and another major injury could occur. Guess what I'm saying is that no matter how Scott Merikiney the White Sox want to be when discussing Peavy, he's going to be high-risk from this point on. I still don't think his normal mechanics are too bad. They aren't perfect but no one model of mechanics takes everything into account. It's his tendency to want to drop down and gain more movement that is worrisome. If he stays with his "normal" mechanics, I think he will be fine. It's when he gets into that drop down mode similar to Conteras, that the Sox need to worry.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 07:41 PM) 582 ft according to Wikipedia. Thanks. Being old it didn't occur to me to look there. I was thinking it was in 1988 as well. I've never seen a ball hit like that before or since.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 03:11 PM) 535? Holy s***. What's the longest ever hit in the majors, since decent measurements began? Can't be much more than that. I saw a Brewers prospect named Joey Meyer hit a 600 foot shot in Denver when the Denver Zephyrs were the AAA team for the Brewers. I didn't think it was ever going to land.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 07:40 AM) Blackwater was heavily involved in the Katrina response, for example. They also appear to have contracts to assist in the "war on drugs", although that's definitely more murky. They also provide private security details for lord knows how many people Most of their work is private security in this manner. A friend of mine is a high ranking person in the "firm."

QUOTE (Elgin Slim @ Feb 22, 2011 -> 08:28 PM) I was referring to Peavy's current shoulder injury, the ankle injury was just a reference to the pitcher he was before he tore the ankle tendon. I was wondering about the fact that Peavy said he altered his mechanics in Sept. 2009 to compensate and had some bad habits that carried over into 2010 may have contributed to this injury. Peavy has not had the same velocity or bite to his pitches that he had in San Diego since he has been a member of the White Sox. I was wondering if the the lat injury or the combination of the two injuries may have permanently changed Peavy's stuff. Thanks. Like I said before. Physically he will be fine. It's the altered mechanics and how he deals with it that will determine if he can be as effective as before the injuries. He got more bite on his pitches by changing the arm angle. The sox are going to discourage this like they tried at the beginning of last year. He didn't care for it much so the early part of the year should be interesting.

QUOTE (Elgin Slim @ Feb 22, 2011 -> 04:39 PM) ptatc, Do you think that Peavy will be the same pitcher he was before the ankle injury, or do you think that he could permanently lose velocity and bite on his breaking balls from this injury? I know that there is no precedent in major league pitchers as has been said many times, but based on the injury, what muscles are affected, and the repair process, would you consider this injury closer to a "typical" shoulder injury for a pitcher, which is usually accompanied by a great loss of "stuff" or would you consider this to be closer to a non pitching muscle tear? I know you have probably gone over this before, but could you refresh my memory? If anyone remembers what ptatc said in July about this issue, please tell me, because I don't remember. Are you referring to his ankle (foot) injury he had when the sox acquired him or his current shoulder injury? If it's the current shoulder problem, the actual injury shouldn't be a long term thing. The lat is not a muscle that really effects the stability of the shoulder like the rotator cuff muscles. It's mostly an accelerator muscle during the throwing phase with a little deceleration activity and the very end of the motion. It's the overall throwing motion changes that he must deal with. Can he be effective with the necessary mechanical changes? He drops down to get more movement on his pitches but it isn't mechanically sound so it will be a big change for him. The foot problem he had is an interesting problem. He had a posterior tibialis tendonosis. This muscle and tendon are largely responsible for maintaining the arch in your foot when you put weight on it. Could he be standing straighter and not following through properly due to a fear of putting full weight on his foot? It's possible. All reports say that he is no longer having problems with it. However, there is always the mental part of injuries. The tendon in reference goes through your tarsal tunnel and can cause problem with your tibial nerve and subsequent plantar nerves. This cause an electric shock through the bottom of the foot. It is extremely painful and makes someone think twice before putting weight on it. An interesting dilemma but probably not the reason for the mechanical flaws of his as I've heard from others that he has always had some odd bits to his motion.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2011 -> 11:28 AM) I hope they focus on a solid base of long toss before he cranks it up on the mound. Long toss is the standard strengthening program before they hit the mound and in between starts. He's been doing it for a couple of months and continues to do it on the side.

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 22, 2011 -> 08:47 AM) I agree. It's very surprising that he has a game schedule already. I just hope they are cautious with him, but if he's ready for the April 9th start, that would be great. That's when the Sox will need a 5th starter for the first time. I hope they give him that extra week, and if he gets hurt, he gets hurt. It'll either happen in a Sox uniform or a Charlotte uniform, so they might as well go for it. Remember the injury is healed. There is no longer a problem with the attachment of the lat. It was re-attached and probably still has an anchor there. The only thing he needs to do is build strength. He is starting at a weaker point in the muscles than the other pitchers. So there is no surprise that he is going to pitch soon. In fact to continue to build strength in the muscle they may have him pitch more. The glitch or expected problem that will happen is in strength and soreness from building the muscle not from the muscle re-attachment.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 20, 2011 -> 08:15 PM) You say this all the time. Just because the supposed strength of the team underachieved doesn't mean you can't compensate in other areas. Kotsay was a joke. Everybody knew it before the season. He reinforced that with his pathetic performance. Thing is I'm not mad at him. That was all Ozzie and KW. The team that won the World Series was in the lower half of MLB in OPS and most other offensive stats. They were in 1-4 places in most pitching and fielding stats. Pitching is always more important than offense. A better DH would not have made up the dfference in the 2nd half pitching especially the bullpen. With an unproven pen, it's performance will likely determine the success of this season as well.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 11:27 AM) Then the Cardinals should have traded him a year ago and made it clear exactly what his public demands were. Albert Pujols has every right to demand things both ways. It hurts the Cardinals a lot more than him if he walks. It will only hurt the Cardinals in the short term. It's a very loyal fan base and they know baseball. If someone else it's crazy enough to give him 10 years then most fans will understand in a couple of years.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 01:36 PM) And another pic from Gonzo: The best thing about that picture is where Peavy's hand finishes. His hand is down by his hip is right where you want it. This means he was throwing with his arm in a reasonably high slot.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 20, 2011 -> 06:07 PM) i think it sounds horrible. watch EVERY SINGLE GAME? That would take all your time all day, every day. Then having to talk/write about them too? I would NOT want this job no matter how much they pay you. It's not horrible but it becomes a hassle. Being and every game and working with players before and after every game was fun for awhile but it gets to be like anyother job. It was more fun than the packing equipment, loading it and unloading it, getting to the ballpark early to unpack it in time for the first player or coach to enter. Then doing it again every third day or so. I can't imagine what it was like the year they had all of those two game series. It is a great experience but I wouldn't want to do it again.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Feb 20, 2011 -> 03:10 PM) Prior had pretty much impeccable mechanics. Also think Prior might have used PEDs; his calfs with inhumanely huge. The calfs were really long but that was genetics. He was one of the type of people who had long legs and a really short torso. He was all arms and legs. As far as PEDS go,, it didn't look like it to me but at that time in MLB nothing would surprise me.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 19, 2011 -> 04:05 PM) Prior's mechanics were horrible. Steve Stone offered to help adjust Prior's motion before he hurt himself, but got turned down flat. Prior's mechanics were as perfect as Strasburg's are now. It just depends on whose philosophy you follow. There were many people who stated that Prior had the best mechanics they had ever seen and could repeat it flawlessly.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 19, 2011 -> 11:15 AM) I'd be stunned if they sent Sale to the AFL or Winter ball this year. Whoever made that call would be crucified if he hurt his arm pitching in the offseason. If they put him in the bullpen this year but want to give him the innings to continue to build him into a starter they would.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 19, 2011 -> 02:26 AM) Soo..... 2008: 36 IP 2009: 89 IP 2010: 103 IP 2011: 65-70 IP? 2012: 170+ IP? Yeah, I can't see a reason to doubt that plan..... EDIT: And yes, I realize they won't allow Sale to go 170 IP if he is a reliever in 2011, and that is kind of my point. He will be behind where he could have been if he had continued to increase his innings every year by being a starter. If the only thing your worried about is innings pitched, they will make it up in the AFL or winter ball.

Doesn't matter what Buerhle did in the minors. It's learning how to get MLB hitters out. If it's arm strength your worried about, they can send him to the winter leagues to make up the innings.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 18, 2011 -> 12:58 PM) And you have no idea that this won't delay his progress as a starting pitcher either. Seemed to work for Buerhle. Many pitchers start off in the pen and become starters later. One reason is to learn to pitch to MLB hitters in contolled, hand picked situations before they need to face everyone.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Feb 18, 2011 -> 08:07 AM) From what I understand, you can generally count on it being 18 to 24 months before a pitcher gets back his total effectiveness after TJ surgery. you can start throwing between 6-8 months and pitching around 9. However, as with most ligament repairs most athletes will say they don't "feel" normal until around 18 months regardless of everything else. As I said previously reparing or replacing passive tissue structures is alot different than active tissue. In Nathan's case they replced tissue. In Peavy's they just re-attached current tissue. There's a big difference in healing time. When you replace tissue it needs to "die " first since it was a tendon and was removed. During this phase they need to wear protective braces and they can't do too much activity. Once it dies it needs to get a new blood supply and regenerate. Once it begins to regenerate it comes back with more ligament properties than tendons. It amazing but no one really knows why this happens. There are throries but no true answers. This is why ligament replacement healing takes longer than just a re-attachment.