whitesoxfan101

Well other than Miguel Cabrera on the 2003 Marlins (who wasn't even called up until late June, and had to play since he was hitting from the day he got up), what recent World Champion had a prominent contributing everyday player that was a rookie? (And no, I don't count Iguchi as a rookie, those years in Japan meant something).

With the exception of Crede and A.J., everybody's numbers at the plate have rounded off to their typical splits overall this year (other than Juan, who is WAY down), so hopefully the lineup stabilizes a bit and we can excute when we get chances, unlike today.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:40 PM) Sadly, yes. He did well today, but that doesn't change the fact that his average has been sinking like a stone for a few weeks. And judging by his career average, he just might keep falling. He did hit a cold streak, but he's been coming out of it the last week and still is hitting .296 with 7 homers. Not bad for a 7th hitter in the order and a guy who is gold glove calibur at 3rd. Dye is a career .274 hitter who hit .273 last year IIRC. He's now at .283, so I wouldn't expect much more of a falloff from him. Crede will hit about .275 IMO this season, I know that's way above his career splits but he makes a lot more contact now and those balls in play have a better chance of turning into hits than the strikeouts do.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:36 PM) This is true, AJ is 29-76 (.382) with the bases empty and only 8-35 (.229) with RISP w/ 11 RBI. But if they're driving everyone in, then shouldn't they be on base a lot for AJ to knock them in. Thome: 36 ABs with RISP | Konkero: 38 ABs with RISP | Pierz: 35 ABs with RISP Hmm good point. Now obviously due to the home runs, A.J. will have an RBI total lower than those 2, but it shouldn't be THAT much lower. That's a bizarre difference in average between RISP spots and just nobody on or man only on 1st spots. QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:36 PM) Crede's already looking like garbage again. If he goes in the s***ter, then we'll have 3 black holes batting back-to-back-to-back in our lineup. Did you watch today's game?

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:27 PM) Btw if you haven't noticed, AJ is not driving anyone in this year. He is getting on base and Uribe and BA bat behind him making the 2nd and 3rd outs of the inning. AJ hasn't done well with RISP, hence the low RBI totals. Just saying. Yeah A.J. is not hitting great in RISP spots, but also a lot of times the guys in front of him (The big 3) are doing all the driving in and nobody is left for him to drive home.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:21 PM) OK guys I get it. Call my mother a whore while you're at it. I was more hating on the 90's White Sox team and this years Angels than I was hating on you. Don't take it personal .

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:22 PM) And with that, the Angels are the 28th ranked team in the bigs in runs scored. Thanks for looking up a fact I was too lazy to go find to prove my point .

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:19 PM) Yeah, yeah... But that hitting philosophy just reminds me of when Sweet Lou threatened to start the game with his bullpen last year to get the bad innings out of the way early. I remember him making that threat, it was while the D Rays were up here last July I believe. Good times.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:19 PM) I was just thinking of the Sox of the late 80s and early 90s when they would have a .300 hitter at the bottom of the order to be a 2nd lead-off hitter. Fair enough, and the Angels do that now with Kennedy. However it is still completely idiotic strategy to have somebody that hits and gets on base hit 9th, it's a waste of scoring chances.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:14 PM) Anyone think it might be a good idea mixing up the batting order to try to switch things up a bit? Maybe bat AJ 9th since he's not hitting for power and he could provide a bit of protection to BA and Uribe? Just a thought. I like the idea of mixing up the order, but hitting A.J. 9th is silly. He's hitting freaking .345, you'd want him further up in the order if possible if anything. A.J. is also only behind the big 3 on OBP on the team among regulars, so you want him hitting ANYWHERE BUT 9th.

QUOTE(chitownsportsfan @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:12 PM) Almost everyone with half a brain--not just James--now realizes that OBP is way more important than AVG. Furthermore, OPS is way, way better than AVG. BA projects for at leastn an average OPS for a CF. Yeah, OPS is the biggest stat you want to look at, although I disagree on OBP being way more important than average in all cases. For instance right now, when Crede hits 7th ahead of BA and Uribe with the way they are going, I want him to do all he can to bat in the guys on base if they are there, since a Crede walk leads to 2 guys hitting below the Mendoza line. But I guess I just made my point for you since that's an exception to the rule, with the rule being OBP >>>> average in terms of importance.

QUOTE(whitesoxin @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:10 PM) Not that it matters much anymore, but it was a popup that found a hole in right field. There's no excuse for JD to not easily make it into third base. There were two outs, run on contact. No excuses on that play. Yep, if JD actually runs he's into 3rd without any issue, so that's all on him. And getting to 3rd if possible helps since it means you score on a wild pitch or a slow hit infield single, 2 things that aren't exactly all that uncommon.

Let me also point out that I'm not a Bill James fanatic here, but Anderson's OBP is probably his most important offensive stat right now since everytime he gets on base, it means we roll over to the top of the order. Plus, we have plenty of other guys to bat in runs this year anyways.

Look, Brian's on base is .276 as Kalapse so kindly pointed out. If Brian can just raise that 30 points by the end of the year (which means hit freaking .205 or .210 and continue his current walk pace) he will have an on base right in the same low .300's range that Crede, Uribe, and Everett had last year. And Uribe and Crede has 16 and 22 HR's respectively, a home run range BA can get to if he hits .210 or so with that .305 or so OBP and gets his share of at bats.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:58 PM) That wouldn't be necessary. Mack can play 1B and 3B, but Ozzie hasn't brought him into the infield yet. Even more of a point as to why the hell is Gload on the roster. Thank you.

I would also like to point out, despite the fact that it could be thought of as "stirring the pot", that many of the anti-BA people in part feel that way due to their still alive man-crush on one Aaron Rowand. Just a thought.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:54 PM) That's still an incredibly stupid reason to keep someone on the roster, if Kong needs a day off and Thome ain't gonna play the field. Guess what? Cintron, Mack or Widge get a day at 1B. Exactly. Didn't Dye play a game at 1st last year? I'm sure if Paulie needed ONE day off, we could put Dye at 1st, Mack in right, and BA in center.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:53 PM) We're struggling to fill current pen spots with capable pitchers, let alone bringing up another MLB-ready (do we even have any?) reliever. We have nobody in the minors ready to be in our MLB pen, and we currently have a couple guys in our MLB pen who should be in the minors, which is why this MUST be a scare tactic.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:51 PM) Where is Uribe for AL SS? In on base? He's probably in 1421st place or so.

QUOTE(chitownsportsfan @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:44 PM) "Lackluster" is just another word for regression to the mean. It's amazing what happens when the offense isn't scoring 6 runs a game on a daily basis. Please get your face out of the Bill James handbook and watch the games sir. Big difference between scoring 2 because the other teams pitcher beat you down and scoring 2 because of bad baserunning, strikeouts with bases loaded and 1 out, not running hard to 3rd, not getting bunts down, etc.

Despite his HORRID batting average, here's a point of reference: BA 2006 OBP: .276 Uribe 2006 OBP: .233 Uribe 2005 OBP: .301 Crede 2005 OBP: .303 Everett 2005 OBP: .311 And Anderson can't hit any worse and has a pretty small sample size here in 2006, so a hot streak at the plate combined with continuing to draw walks could send the OBP north in a swift fashion.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:44 PM) I still say Ozzie is trying to get him going by threatening to send him down. Ozzie knows how important BA's defense is to this team and how important defense is when it comes to winning ballgames. Ozzie is a very smart guy (well, maybe not when it comes to the bullpen) and he's not just going to sacrifice defense in order to add a minimal offensive upgrade. It's a great strategy if your right, and I hope you are.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:42 PM) And history proves that Mack will be coming back down to earth any minute now. Exactly, that's my point. He's a perfect bench/super sub since he plays average defense and can get hot at the plate. But the more he plays, the more scouts see of him, the more likely he is to cool off big time, etc.

QUOTE(SoxAce @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:41 PM) "Techinally" we lost cuz of our pen (Nelson) but you are right even though I wouldn't say "at all" cause BMac and Nelson could have went scoreless and we would have still won. If Pods gets that bunt down in the 9th and Iguchi hits a flyball to the outfield, Bobby comes in and game over. If Jermaine doesn't pussy foot it to 3rd, maybe we take the lead in the top of the 11th and Bobby comes in and game over. If Thome doesn't go 0 for 6, Bobby ends up in and game over. You see my point, the pen lost it in the box score, but nowhere else.

Well that's all cute and fun if Ozzie wants to be a b**** towards Anderson because of his "ego". Go ahead and send him down, but when Rob's bat cools off and everybody notices the defense drop off with him in CF, and we lose a game or two because of it, don't look anywhere but the mirror.