chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (StrykerSox @ May 30, 2017 -> 09:14 PM) Chris Sale is such a weak-ass headcase. It's his biggest flaw by far as a pitcher and person. Also, to the poster I told to STFU, sorry. I'm as frustrated as you are. But sabermetrics thinks Q has sucked too.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ May 30, 2017 -> 07:46 PM) Sabermetrics say it's bad luck *rolls eyes* actually it doesn't so stfu, his xFIP is almost as high as his era.

Q just does not have his usual fastball command so far this year.

QUOTE (beautox @ May 30, 2017 -> 06:11 PM) I voted for Leury even though I've been in Sanchez's corner long before he ever got a cup of coffee. As others and myself have always said Sanchez has always been incredibly young for his level he could've spent 3 full seasons at AAA instead of riding the bus and pine and still be on pace to be an above average regular. He was always lauded for his well above average defense and and his hit tool. Power is always last to develop and its the most pronouced in switch hitters so it doesn't surprise me at 24 and having been given enough time to adjust at the major league level that Yolmer can develop into a solid regular. I would put his celing at an Erick Aybar level of player and if that comes to pass thats wonderful for the sox and opens up CF or 3B for Moncada. Yoan is a talented defender but he is still below Yolmer if you can put his legs in CF you still and an elite up the middle player and fill an organizational need, and it goes with many scouts and pundits have been saying for a while, move him off the keystone and let him and his natural talent take over in center. Leury has made some pronounced adjustments and its getting to the point where we're likely seeing the signal through the noise. His contact profile and his BB/K% have changed drastically. Hes up 6% (71.6%) in outside the zone contact, but here is the big one 91.1% zone contact rate, up nearly 14%. Hes always been a talented defender and base runner. if he has a higher contact profile in the zone it makes sense that he has cut down his strike out rate just by proxy. If everything has clicked we could be looking at an Angel Pagan type of player. I don't buy the .186 ISO as his soft/med/hard contact has remained consistent but i could see him settling in at 125-135 for reasons similar to Yolmer; finally comfortable at the major league level and power developing last in Switch hitters combined with this being the beginning of his peak years. Davidson to me is the least likely to be a major league regular of the three because he is on the small side of the platoon and his contact issues. I'm looking forward to Frazier being moved and getting to see if he is just a bench piece or if we have a Mark Reynolds clone on our hands, either way he has earned the chance to see if he can make the adjustments and can manage the power with a +30% k-rate. Ideally Frazier gets moved, Delmonico is brought up to play 1B and Abreu seeing how he is the welcoming comittee and good will amabasador isn't going anywhere gets moved to DH and back up 1B duties. Great post. Interesting data on Leury's inside zone contact rate.

QUOTE (TitoMB @ May 30, 2017 -> 04:25 PM) I will be tuning in tonight, and cheering for Sale from my computer chair here in CA. My favorite player in all of baseball, and it's sad to see him on the other team. Happy for him though, and happy for us. Our future is bright. I am as excited for this game as any I can remember other than the playoffs and the play in game with Griffey in 2008.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 30, 2017 -> 01:48 PM) Pedroia on the DL. Abreu and Holmberg- smh. We discussed that play a bit yesterday but 1) I thought Holmberg was going to make it in time and 2) even if he wasn't why the hell did Jose slide instead of just running through the bag? Between that slide and the Melky slide there were some bad slides at 1B yesterday.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 30, 2017 -> 11:42 AM) It's all actually encouraging. Draft picks are somewhat of a crapshoot, and the Robert signing basically is adding a top tier-level draft pick this season anyway, so mission accomplished on that front. Given the team either sucks horribly, wins 60 games, and and guys like Avi and Davidson and the Garcias all suck balls or the team wins 78 games and those guys do well -- I'm taking the latter every time. Any draft pick is still 3-4 years away from MLB at best. Improvement in the MLB roster is more important. Yea it would be nice to have a top 3 pick but it will be nicer to guys improve that are still cost controlled and can be part of the next Sox playoff team.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 30, 2017 -> 02:34 PM) But doesn't the ISO stat just express what we already know - that he's going through an anomalous power surge? It seemingly doesn't describe anything but the fact he's hitting more homers than he usually does. I just looked at a bunch of batted ball data and I personally don't really see much there to support any thesis that he's hitting the ball harder overall. He has changed his spray pattern somewhat, now hitting more opposite field balls while also striking out less and taking more pitches outside the zone. Those are all good things but he hasn't seen a dramatic uptick in the quality of contact. There's some improvement (better LD%, less weak contact %) but it's not much. Overall I think he's improved. Has he improved to a true talent 112 wRC+ hitter? Certainly not. But he might have improved up to say a 270/320/390 hitter, which is about a 90 wRC+ and acceptable for a solid defensive 2B. All in all I'm just really happy to be seeing so much positive stuff from the "not quite prospects but might still turn into solid player" types this year. It's certainly more fun than talking about why a guy is doing so poorly relative to projections.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 30, 2017 -> 02:25 PM) Leury Garcia? I don't think so. After having 2 HR in his first 340 ML PAs, he has 6 in his last 159. It's not gonna last. This is your classic Moneymaker variance. He's having a nice couple of months, but everything points to a sharp regression to norms and beware the power outage which may be precipitous. Yolmer Sanchez? Hell no. He's young, but this guy is your classic late inning defensive replacement who just happens to be hitting .300 for a month. He'll simmer down to his usually .240 self soon enough. He doesn't have enough power to be effective long term. Davidson is the wildcard. He has so few PA at the ML level we have no idea what we're getting. If he has enough pop, .230 with 25 homers is just fine at the cell. Not saying it will last but Yolmer is currently rocking an ISO of .141. That's pretty damn good for a defensive minded 2B. If his power surge is real he can hit 260 and still be a 2 WAR player. If he hits 280 he can push into 3-4 WAR territory.

QUOTE (Tony @ May 30, 2017 -> 03:11 PM) Abreu was just named AL Player of the Week for May 22-28. Stay hot, Ron. on pace for about a 4 fWAR season. The weight he lost has really helped him on the bases, he's a net positive so far this year running.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ May 30, 2017 -> 02:23 PM) By Carlos, do you mean Carlos Rodon, or Yolmer Sanchez? If Yolmer, I always remember him being surprisingly jacked, even before this season. He's still Carlos to me mostly. I was reading his adopt a prospect thread and they called him Yolmer when he was signed. He's really jacked his shoulders are absolutely huge now.

QUOTE (MnSoxFan @ May 30, 2017 -> 12:14 PM) He is not dominating AAA by any means. Let him stay down. His issues have mostly been control related. He's striking out a batter per inning. I'm firmly of the believe he'd be better taking his lumps in MLB this summer with Cooper guiding him then sitting in AAA.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 29, 2017 -> 09:04 AM) Safe to say Robert is psyched to be a white Sox, and I don't know why but this made me laugh https://instagram.com/p/BUqKZ_xBZwd/ The first thing I thought when I saw that is that he's a 19 year old kid enjoying a moment not some world famous superstar athlete. It looks like a graduation party spread except instead of "State College" it's a White Sox collage and cake.

Hey guys, do you have any idea what the Sox' plan is for Lopez? I don't think he has much left to learn at AAA and would be best served up in Chicago mid-summer taking his lumps. When is his super 2 deadline, middle of June right?

QUOTE (balfanman @ May 29, 2017 -> 01:14 PM) I agree with this. I've always liked Sanchez and thought that he would start hitting in the majors after some struggles. His minor league track record is consistent at each stop. I know Moncada is the hot prospect now and he may well turn out to be good in the majors, but as one who really values strong defense (especially up the middle) I would prefer to leave Sanchez alone and move Moncada to 3rd base or the outfield. That triple last night was a thing of beauty. Waited back on the looping curve and drove it into the corner. Then of course he was flying around the bases. This will probably be controversial but I think Carlos is on the juice. I saw a interview with him the other day and holy s*** he is built like a wrestler now. I DGAF whatever helps the Sox win.

The bunting thing sucks and has probably cost the sox a few runs this year but I've always said a manager should at least either be good tactically or "leader of men" wise. If you get both, he's a top 5-8 in MLB manager. For a minute, Guillen was a great leader of men and alright tactically, he had his s*** lineups and bunts but he was good with the pen. RV was awful tactically, awful leader of men. So far Renteria appears mediocre tactically (he does get the value of splits, especially for young players trying to gain confidence) and very good leader of men wise. Same grade I gave him a couple weeks ago, a solid B.

winner! what a job from the pen!

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ May 29, 2017 -> 04:34 PM) How can we know that after 2 games? He looks like he has some tools for a 4th OF but IMO there's nothing in his profile that says anything more. Granted I haven't followed him that closely.

lol, no worries the HBP offense is coming.

These kids that come up for the most part at least look like they have a clue at the plate and can defend. Engle isn't going to hit for s*** but at least he can take some pitches. Wily isn't going to hit for much average, but he is going to run into a few and take some walks.

Great footwork from Matt.

The worst part of this year is without a doubt that it's not "all hands on deck" and instead they went to a reliever instead of just calling up some young arm for a spot start. Long term obviously it's correct but for now it's frustrating.

Price is a god damn junk baller now.

Avi is giving him a f***ing battle.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 29, 2017 -> 03:22 PM) I think we try and get one more inning out of Holmberg. that would be a mistake.