chitownsportsfan

Montas in throwing gas.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:35 PM) Surkamp isn't making this team Thank god they have more options this year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:28 PM) I think the better pitching attacks him realizing he has a tough time with fastballs. I don't think it is a lack of patience, I think they are comimg after him and he can't do much about it for the most part. I doubt when he was successful in the minors, the pitchers had the same plan. Yea no doubt. Why nibble? Yea he's got some power, he also has a long ass swing.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:18 PM) I think he did lol he'd be the perfect Brady Andersen type, someone slip him some juice.

Conor hit the weight room bro.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:09 PM) "At best" he's better than a 1 WAR catcher since he just eclipsed that and has done it before without the high BABIP. What about his .261 BABIP in 2013 when he played hurt all year? That was the only major league season where he really wasn't worth anything. ZiPS likes him the most at a 95 wRC+ and 1.5 WAR, Steamer likes him the least with a 75 wRC+ and 0.7 WAR, and everything else is in between. I'd say "most likely" he's a 1 WAR catcher and we can live with that. Fair enough. Good catchers are hard to find. Having a guy that is proven 1 WAR catcher isn't the end of the world but I just feel Flowers has zero margin for error. If he doesn't have a BABIP of .300 or higher he's going to slash 190/230/340. Plus, aesthetically, like Rock said, the guy is hard to watch.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:03 PM) He had a pitch his first at bat he should have crushed too. 20 days Yep you'll see I mentioned it his last AB as well. Oh well, fake games.

wow I thought Jose was going to hit that a mile. Hanging breaking ball popped up, too bad.

Micah continues to rake. Little splitter from Kuma didn't do much, sat up nicely Micah takes it into LF solid single.

Shuck is getting a long look this spring. Lots of PA. Little baltimore chopper over the mound for an infield hit. Kuma's splitter is deadly today.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 03:52 PM) I just hate everything about Flowers game. Bad swing, mediocre defensively. Ugh I agree, I'm starting to think catcher is the weakest spot. It took a .350 BABIP for him to be worth anything. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen again. At best he's a 1 WAR catcher.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:43 PM) I thought that Gillaspie liner was going further than that. Yea it died. Must have gotten it off the end of the bat some.

Jeff looks pretty good is he going to go like 5 today?

nice job by Garcia he looks good. Got his pitch, waited nicely, and ripped it into left.

Ha, if you felt a breeze a minute ago that was Jose swinging on 2-0, massive cut. Tremendous plate coverage to foul off a splitter a foot ouside and low on 2-2. Kuma makes a good pitch on teh inside corner and Jose gets jammed for the double play. Jose fouled off a couple hittable pitches before that.

Not a chance Eaton ever bats anywhere other than leadoff. Sox have been looking for a high OBP, speedy leadoff guy for a decade. Not that they have one they aren't going to mess with that. Especially with a hitter as talented as Melky to slot into the 2 hole. Great AB from Melky. Kuma looks nasty but Melky hung around with 2 strikes and stroked one for a single.

lol at that pic! I was just about to say "Eminor doing work!" when I saw it. ROFL... Dick, man, this guy is good listen to the man.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 04:26 PM) Nice 2nd and 3rd innings for Rodon. Also, I know a lot of people are worried about the 2nd base spot, but I honestly feel like the catching position is the weakest position on the team. wouldn't suprise me to see flowers have a below replacement first half and sox make a desparate move around the deadline. His line last year was awful even with all the smoke and mirrors. Take that BABIP luck away from the first half and it's ugly.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 03:50 PM) Got one up there at 96 that inning. Much better. Rodon will be fine once he starts getting ahead of hitters more consistently. No worries. I'd like to see him dominate AAA for a month or two he really does need to work on stamina and control and command. Stuff is filthy no doubt.

Rodon really needs half a season in AAA imo.

QUOTE (Real @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 04:04 PM) anybody got a stream link? don't think anyone is even filming it.

QUOTE (Señor Ding-Dong @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 02:44 PM) For good reason. If this truly is an "all in" season, I'd much rather have Sanchez or Saladino on the bench instead of Beckham. I know they'd personally benefit from playing in Charlotte everyday, especially Sanchez, but team needs come first and both of them are better bench options than Beckham. It's the same reason we need to have Rodon up here as soon as we can without giving up a year of control. We know what Beckham brings, and that's average to slightly above average defense at 2B, average defense at 3B, the ability to play SS in a pinch, and little to no consistent hitting ability. Sanchez and Saldino are better defenders than Beckham and offer more versatility (Sanchez is at worst above average at 2B, passable at SS, and probably can play 3B as well; Saladino is our third best defensive SS behind Alexei and Cleuluis Rondon and can play 2B and 3B in addition to corner OF). As far as batting goes, they can't possibly be any worse than Beckham, and odds are they're better even if their numbers won't blow you away. Beckham is looking like this year's Leury Garcia without the versatility to play the outfield (well, he plays The Outfield but not the position ). Sanchez and Saladino are better, but Beckham will stick around because of his contract and history with the organization. Great post couldn't have said it any better. If the team is "all in" then keeping Gordo around makes zero sense. Who gives a s*** about Sanchez getting 400 PA in AAA his glove plays better than Gordon's as a utility bench IF. But Gordo has a history here and much like Hinrich he will get the job. Luckily he won't play nearly as much as Hinrich does for the Bulls relatively. _______________________ Dick -- for the last time -- it's IN CONTEXT. Christ, you discover wRC+ and quickly are using it out of context to compare two players' relative utility on this roster.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 01:27 PM) Bonafacio's career wRC+ is 80, and you said the Sox won't miss a beat with him in the line up. You're a weird dude it's like you read half of what people argue, form your own opinion, and then ignore the rest. You don't seem like a big picture thinker no offense. Not many teams have a replacement for 7 positions in the diamond with a career wRC+ of 80. Yes, with this lineup the Sox can easily carry his bat for a month if someone goes down. Doesn't mean he's Frank Thomas. There is a reason one guy gets 4 million, the other 2 million.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 01:21 PM) Gordon Beckham = Kirk Hinrich = LaMarr Houston Beckham will obviously make the MLB roster but he'd better only be here for platoon purposes. I know that's what Hahn said but who knows, things can change. Who is he gonna platoon with? He has a wRC+ of 85 against LHP. Might as well just trot Conor out there and let him try and improve.

QUOTE (59th street @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 01:19 PM) Beckham didn't look completly lost when he bailed Robertson out of a jam by starting a very nice double play. He reaned pretty far to his left , gloved the ball and did a reverse pivot and made a perfect long throw to seco0nd base bag. I know Gordon is the whipping boy for most here but remember why he is here; defensive competence and versitility. Also we don't care if he spends the majority of his time coming off the bench. Let Saldino and Sanchez get REGULAR playing time and develop more that is better fro them and the team than having them sitting. also, I do not believe Soto is a lock for back up catcher. His throwing is very suspect. The Anaheim announcers even talked about it being in their scouting reports last year; stated they could "run hin out of the park". OK, everybody back to complaining about Beckham now. He's not versatile. Go check out his stats at 3B. He's Conor level without the bat. Beckham as the 25th man whatever, he's better than Leury.