chitownsportsfan

This guy has great stuff. After last night they won't have a chance.

hard to win with this level of production from the lineup. Not making enough good contact.

Can only shake your head. Is anyone ever going to address the fact that John Danks is a sunk cost?

Looks like a classic Danks crooked number here.

There is no consistency night to night in the zone.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 21, 2015 -> 07:15 PM) I don't think any of the quotes above were about him throwing harder, rather he feels he has better command and is able to get some more of his pitches to the right spot. He also seems to indicate that he might have some different deception based upon the changes (so guys aren't picking up stuff as well). I am not saying whether that is actually true or not, just stating that looking at velocity from fangraphs won't be able to validate what JD is crediting for his improvement. I looked pretty hard at the numbers, squinted as hard as I could, and came up with this: his cutter has been better so far this year than the past two years. Using the pitch values on Fangraphs, you can't make a case that his fastball is better even though it's the same speed. It's been getting hit hard, as it has post surgery, but his 71% strand rate is keeping his ERA down. Every year struggling or oft injured players make up a mental story as to why this year will be different. I get that, but as a fan, I don't have to make up any story as to why he's going to perform better. Whatever John has to tell himself at night to get to sleep and in the morning to get out of bed -- more power to him. But I'm not seeing anything that correlates to "he's got more stuff". I see a re-arranging of deck chairs.

I went there hopeful, but Danks' Fangraphs page offers nothing exciting or encouraging. His velocity is the exact same it's been post injury, almost two full MPH lower on his heater, down to 88.4, his peripherals are slightly better than last year, but as he was bottom 5 in qualified starters last year in both xFIP and FIP, simply moving up to bottom 1/3 isn't very exciting. If anything he's now pitching like a decent 5th starter instead of an awful one. He is what he is.

LaRoche needs to play more 1B and bat less against LHP. He's not really being used properly imo.

QUOTE (shipps @ May 20, 2015 -> 12:06 PM) What are the odds someone incorrectly calls Rodon, Rondon today? at least 50%.

How is Anderson looking? Christ.

HA!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 19, 2015 -> 04:53 PM) One of the things I liked about early-career Ozzie Guillen was that if you asked out of a game you sat the next day. I liked that as well. Can't let the players decide when they want to play. Look at Detroit for example. They have run V-Mart and Miggy into the f***ing ground the past couple years. Management has to manage the players because players want to play and I love how hard Avi goes -- but gotta be smart long term.

Good to read about Avi but I'd give him the day off anyways.

If the Sox go 70-57 they make 88 wins. I think that's doable. I am encouraged. Not saying it will happen but it looks a helluva lot better than 0-4 and 12-17.

crowd looked ok on tv but it was only 17k announced? Can't really spin that but hopefully they keep winning and the weather keeps warming and the park fills.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ May 18, 2015 -> 10:22 PM) Avi listed as day to day Give Boni a day out there in RF or Shuck, doesn't matter. Just let Avi heal up Sox are going to need him for the long haul.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 18, 2015 -> 10:13 PM) We need ptatc here and fast! When I hear swelling of the knee I think arthroscope and he could miss 2-4 weeks, right? You can't let it continue all year I'd imagine but ptatc can tell us for sure. Usually they do a "scope" on a meniscus tear caused by inflammation and soreness they can't otherwise account for. I believe both Rose and Dougie played on a minor meniscus tear last season before going under and missing time. Hell, Victor Martinez rushed back from his and isn't playing that well, but he's old and has blown up his knee many times. If it's something like a strained MCL, bruise, or tendonitis the prescription is just to rest as much as possible and rehab, no surgery required. We shall see, I think he might have just bruised it.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ May 18, 2015 -> 10:10 PM) his knee? kind of strange looking at the replay. I thought it was going to be hip pain just from experience, as someone with bad knees, I could tell right away it was his knee. THen he gestured to Herm and now they are saying "inflammation", which is the body's response to injury and usually not a good sign although not necessarily that uncommon for a pro athlete. Get him on the Derrick Rose foam rolling yoga plan.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 18, 2015 -> 10:02 PM) Nice, but sounds a bit ominous and scary this early in season. Arthroscope in future? as I'm sure ptac will tell you, inflammation can be caused from any number of reasons and hopefully at this point it's not caused by anything other than a bruise. It's possible he's dealing with tendonitis or that he has a structural problem. It's also possible this is nothing, time will tell. IMO, just from how he was jogging and how he gestured it looked to be something that flared up from use. Hopefully a day or two off can solve it.

So, uh, the 2015 Chicago White Sox, have uh, I guess, the 6TH BEST RECORD IN THE AL. They are 1.5 out of the WC. You gotta be bleeping me! Great turnaround boys.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 18, 2015 -> 09:46 PM) So much different than last year's team. Kudos to RV for using his elite closer like an elite closer. That 9th was huge.

Sanchez is contributing. Hope Avi is OK. Sale dominated! Great win! Beat Kluber! Sanchez has a good hit tool. He doesn't have much else, but he can put the ball into play, sometimes fairly hard!

SOX WIN THE KID SANCHEZ!

come on kid.

why the f*** would you not bunt?