chitownsportsfan

play ball! is it going to get above 60 in the valley of the sun today?

I never even knew it existed so maybe they are correct to start from scratch next year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 12:58 PM) https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/name-th...a-budding-star/ [/b] I've been a bit skeptical of Robert but it seems like now that he's actually in the states and we are getting more evaluations that 1) he's a CF long term and 2) he's not just a toolsy athlete but actually has some baseball ability. It's really exciting having all these guys in camp it absolutely can't hurt to have them all competing against each other in drills and BP groups.

I like that he hits left handed. That will keep him around the league as a 4th OF / 1B if he can hit enough. He probably can but he needs to learn a cromulent 1B. Can't just be a 1 WAR DH/LF to stick on a roster. Maybe one of five times he actually is a 130 wRC+ hitter and in that case hell, go out in LF everyday Carlos Lee style.

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 21, 2018 -> 08:18 PM) If you go to a spring training game and care who plays and how much, you’re doing it wrong. Wait what? Most people going are pretty hardcore fans, especially people coming from far out of town like Chicago or in my case Seattle. I'm totally not going down to Phoenix to see Dylan Covey. First year I was going to see Abreu and Eaton. Last year I was going to see Moncada and Anderson and Q. In fact last year, because of the WBC many of the "insiders" we talked to said we picked a good time because the stars and starters would be playing in the games the 1st week of March before heading to the WBC. Sure you can enjoy the sun and the atmosphere (and that is exactly what we did at the Covey game, we sat next and had a great conversation all game with perhaps the most hardcore Rangers fan in existence -- dude was up cleaning pools at 4am that morning so he could get to the facility at 10am and talk to the players) but you're also there to be very close to your favorite players and for most people that is not the Dylan Coveys of the world. Have to agree to disagree on this one. I've been down there for spring twice now and had a blast both times but I sure as hell enjoyed seeing Q pitch more than Covey.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 21, 2018 -> 04:52 PM) Daryl Van Schouwen‏Verified account @CST_soxvan 1h1 hour ago #WhiteSox starters: Covey Fri, Hector Santiago Sat, Jordan Guerrero Sun, Michael Kopech Monday. I feel bad for the fans that have to sit through a Covey start, even in spring training. Last year the first time I saw him was down at Camelback.

We need to start playing some games. The amount of "ink" wasted on these "Sox linked to _____ " threads is starting to wear on us all.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Feb 21, 2018 -> 12:50 AM) How is "carry" measured? He said things like "8 carry gets crushed", but does that mean 8 inches? And 8 inches from what point? And does any public website track this? It's pitchfx but I don't think it's available to the public. I'm guessing it's the amount of drop in inches (or in this case the amount it doesn't drop) between the exact 3d position the pitcher releases the ball and where it ends up over the "heart" of the plate -- also mapped 3d. Anybody know for sure?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 21, 2018 -> 12:18 AM) Davidson has limited value...trading Burger wouldn’t make any sense because he could eventually end up at 1b or DH. We still don’t know what’s going to happen with Abreu and Avi. There’s also no regular CFer, and the rotation has more question marks than answers with Rodon out. You can’t expect to win anything with Shields, Miguel Gonzalez, Giolito, Lopez and Fulmer in 2018. yea right? Sox don't need to chase this Dragon. They tried that. Didn't work too well. Just let Yolmer/Whoever player 3B this year as the window is 2019-25. As noted if he wants to sign for pennies in the dollar ok fine, but otherwise f*** no.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 20, 2018 -> 11:43 PM) Okay, that makes more sense. The question, then, is what carry he would have at 94-98 and whether he’s better off at 90-93? I can't post any more of the article but the argument (if you will) of the article was that there's more to successful pitching than just velocity and horizontal movement and it's something of course we always "guessed" (intuitively) but couldn't quite finger. Farquhar talks about how when he was in Seattle (before he looked into the analytics of it), then manager Lloyd McClendon pointed out how he was having success up in the zone even at 90-92 because his ball "stayed up" -- independent of the new data on spin, velocity etc via pitchfx (good looking out Lloyd!) . His fastball doesn't rise but in appears to because most pitchers' (regardless of velocity) falls more relatively. Gio's is apparently similar. So the question you asked, to finally get to it is -- it depends. Usually it's probably still better to throw harder. But if a guy can't, he can use this new data to target hitters in new ways. It could be something Gio uses in the future.

Just go get a sub guys, this is such an awesome article and things like "carry" I had not previously been introduced to despite a pretty keen interest in baseball and sabermetrics: https://theathletic.com/246514?shared_by=33019

QUOTE (Jimmy3Putt @ Feb 20, 2018 -> 06:30 PM) I love the kid too. It's a bit disappointing that Moncada didn't try to play center field or third because Yolmer is good enough to be a long term second baseman. I understand not messing with the future face of the franchise's head. From what he showed, Yolmer might just be as good at 3B as he is as 2B. He appears to have tremendous defensive instincts in the infield and more than enough arm and quickness for 3B. I think he's a +5 run 3B, maybe +10, and I think he might hit enough to make it work. If nothing else you give him 100 or so games to figure it out this year. If he's not the long term 3B he's the long term utility guy. If he is a starting quality 3B well awesome, one less piece to fill.

Makes zero sense to sign him unless it's at some ridiculous discount like three years 30 million.

QUOTE (buckweaver @ Feb 20, 2018 -> 02:35 PM) I give you...Matt Davidson! I honestly forgot he was still around until you mentioned him. Seems like a DFA candidate.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 19, 2018 -> 06:05 PM) Maybe I'm wrong but the opt outs seem to be 100% In the players favor. If a player is playing well enough to.opt out, you would rather he stay.on the original contract. And if he is not playing well enough, then you are stuck with him. I have spent entirely too much time trying to convince people here and elsewhere that what you wrote is correct. The club takes on 100% of the downside risk and gets none of the upside. If it's what it takes to get a guy to sign on the dotted line -- then sure, include it -- but it's a very big concession on the club's side and should be factored into the AAV and years on the deal.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 18, 2018 -> 02:14 PM) What do we think of Abreus beard One of hitting groups at @whitesox camp this morning features José Abreu, Luis Robert, Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez. https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/...9199744/photo/1 I personally think he looks really good with the beard. Hahn said he's going to have to trim it up though before they break camp.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Feb 19, 2018 -> 01:51 PM) The job at 2B is Moncada's. At present I would say Yolmer ends up at 3B at best or as the super sub player. Of course things have away of happening in spring training that we don't anticipate Ideally Yolmer really is a 3 WAR 3B and Jake Burger has some work to do in order to supplant him on the next good Sox team.

QUOTE (FloydBannister1983 @ Feb 19, 2018 -> 08:26 AM) He hit .230 last season. He may have a bright future but it's a long stretch to say he proved himself. In his age 22 season he put up a wRC+ of 104. If he had played an entire season he would have put up almost 3 fWAR. Yea he needs to cut his K rate a bit and get his average up but he more than proved he belongs in the bigs. This thread is dumb and thread starter should feel dumb for starting it.

Abreu embraces mentor role for fellow countrymen.

get hyped https://mobile.twitter.com/NBCSWhiteSox/sta...7658625/video/1 almost forget about Moncada sometimes. Very excited to see if he can put something up like 260/340/450 this year with solid defense and at times electric baserunning (or maybe boneheaded). If he can already establish himself as an above average regular in his first full season than the sky is the limit.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 17, 2018 -> 12:19 PM) https://mobile.twitter.com/ChuckGarfien/sta...871019130380288 cool.

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 17, 2018 -> 12:36 AM) Everything I've read indicates he is a ++ runner with an average arm sort of your prototypical good defensive CF. The problem with Tilson seems to be his lack of power so yeah why not bring him in and see what you have. We sort of know what Engel is. the problem with tilson is that he's like plato's forms. I'm not sure he exists outside of our minds.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 16, 2018 -> 10:21 PM) I think he’s a pretty safe bet to be a 2 WAR player next year. I believe in him being an above average defender and his mix of speed & power offer should make him a just slightly below league average hitter. It’s the complete lack of walks that’s holding him back at the moment. If he could even get to a 5% BB rate he could be an above average starting SS. I’m not overly optimistic about that, but he’s still young so you never know. Yea he needs to be about +10 runs with the glove because like you I really don't see him ever hitting much more than 270/300/430. Maybe he could have some years around 290-300 in his prime. His strike zone command isn't going to ever get better. It's incredibly rare to see at the MLB level. Avi is the same.

QUOTE (cjgalloway @ Feb 16, 2018 -> 04:19 PM) fantastic Sox need TA to turn into a clubhouse leader and 2-4 WAR guy. I'm certainly rooting for him. He showed a little bit at the end of last year once he was able to put the adversity behind him. The thing about TA that intrigues me is his defensive tools are absolutely elite. I've rarely seen a Sox SS with such range -- Ramirez included. His arm is average but he has a lighting quick release and as noted his range is as good as I've seen here. He's gotta cleanup the "lazy" (more of a repetition issue imo but it comes across as lazy) routine errors he makes rounding off balls and throwing on the run. Hopefully with more experience he learns to just slow down, field the ball under the brim of his cap, square, and fire. None of this "ole" s***.

QUOTE (FT35 @ Feb 16, 2018 -> 12:21 PM) Yes and no...you're right about the physical aspect--those comps don't really serve a good purpose. But when you're trying to analyze a prospect's game and you can put a big leaguer's skill-set out there as a comp--it helps people understand the type of player they are shaping up to be. It's not a good gauge of certainty, but it gives people ideas. The Moncada/Robinson Cano comp was a good one as long as you don't look at Moncada and expect him to turn out like Cano. The short, compact swing compares well, the skill set compares well--the stat range compares well (solid average, good batter's eye, some pop) and the potential for stardom compares well. It gives someone who might not follow prospects a little baseline in their understanding and expectations. When they see a name like Robinson Cano linked to Moncada's name (and not Yolmer Sanchez), they think...hmm...he's not your average prospect and has a pretty high ceiling. As long as you treat comps with that mindset, I don't mind it. The way you know player comps are valid is that you know when there's a bad comp! Tim Anderson doesn't comp to Frank Thomas but more people nod when you say "Orlando Cabrera." When Billy Hamilton came up--you didn't see many Rickey Henderson comps even though they were both stolen base kings because there was no power/consistent average component to Hamilton's game...the comp was always Vince Coleman--which is still a pretty decent comp. yea well said but just to add onto the Moncada and Cano thing -- it's the swing. Moncada, at least from his favored left side, is almost a dead ringer for a young Cano, especially when he turns on one.