chitownsportsfan

We need to up our graphic design game.

I think people will be surprised what it looks like when you've got a more mobile 1B. Jose did great with the balls he could get to, problem is by the time he got good with his footwork and hands his legs were pretty much gone. Vaughn already has the footwork to play a passable 3B, he'll be solid at 1B regardless of how tall he is, there's much more to it than just range on bad throws to the bag.

We need to maximize the amount of PA that Sheets gets against RHP, and Vaughn and Burger get against LHP. If Grifol can figure that out, it will go a long way towards squeezing out a couple extra wins and getting that 88-92 that we'll likely need to take the division.

Benefit of the WBC years is most the regulars getting their hacks in early in spring. Wish I was down there, it's fucking miserable here.

Historic cold and storms right now. Better safe than sorry for the regulars. It is certainly easier to tweak something this early in camp combined with the cooler temps. Smart move from the manager.

Robbie is so good on college hoops.

You've been Caulfield'ed.

Apparently Kelenic (and I didn't believe this for a second) had never been properly coached in the offseason. That is the gist of what he was saying, including about his new swing approach. Honestly my impression from the video is that Kelenic is a headcase and will be at best a platoon OF over the course of his career.

The Taipei Water Moccasins.

A listened to an interview with Kelenic on local sports radio the other day and he said one of the things that he struggled with was that you don't necessarily want to be looking inside out as a starting point for your swing. He said he had to learn the difference between that and "keeping your hands inside the ball" which doesn't necessarily mean the same thing.

An org wide philosophy change in hitting approach would be nice. Maybe this is the start.

We set a record low last night here, and yea. Sure does.

I'm taking the opposite approach. I don't see any reason to expect them to win more than 82 games (the roster is worse than last year, managerial change or not) -- so if they somehow win 92 and take the division I'll be pleasantly surprised. If they don't, well, I never expected anything anyways. Can't get fooled again.

Let's be real, if Tim wasn't coming off a down year where his inability to stay healthy and perform was a big factor in the overall team's lack of success -- this would be a non story. To me, it still is a non story, let him talk. But as a Sox fan (not just a TA fan) imma need a good year. I was shocked that he only had a .96 ISO last year. Those are Nick Madrigal numbers. Elevate and pull the ball. Stop looking oppo on every fastball down the middle. Maybe with two strikes.

I don't care what he says about his contract. Just go out there and perform. He's the one that signed the original deal, a deal that even if he completely stunk as a MLB player would make sure him and his family were setup for life. He knowingly took the downside risk off the table and in exchange the club got the upside value. He needs a strong season not only for himself but for the club. TA as just an average SS isn't going to work. Hit some HRs, you'll get paid. Can't have a .94 ISO again. Hold up, let me write that again. He had a .94 ISO last year. Bro what?

I agree, if it made sense to run the games, they would run them. Interest in the Sox has waned. The poverty mindset of this franchise is entirely self inflicted. Win more games, sell more ads. Sell more ads, televise more spring training. Televise more spring training, create more Sox fans. Create more Sox fans, create more revenue.

Ultimately yea, but I'm sure the Sox could do something to change that decision, including straight up buying ad time during the games, right?

An uplifting spring was seeing Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton freshly minted. I mean, didn't work out well but I'm not seeing much "uplifting" news around our guys right now.

Are you sure that's not Hawk Harrelson's writing?

Yea for sure. As I said, there's a million other things that go into making consistent contact other than just a perfect hands to ball mechanism. I'll say in that swing he does a great job keeping his lower body coiled on off speed and not flying open.

I watched it like 100 times and I went back and forth but to me he seems to drop his hands before he loads. Of course there's a million other variables that matter otherwise Vaughn would hit 400. If his bat speed and pitch recognition are above average he'll hit plenty.

That is a looooooooooooooooooooooong swing from Colas. Hopefully he can generate enough power to make up for swing and miss issues.

If nothing else Grifol seems more willing to push back against what I'd consider FO driven narratives -- at least in public. Wonder if come July the team is 40-48 and he starts calling out the guy that built his roster. That would be fun.

Yea I think he was probably over rated initially (given what we know about defensive stats now, say compared to 2014) and he's just followed a normal non PED aging curve.

I mean he's been out of his defensive prime for about half a decade now. We'll see what Tim looks like post 28. There's a lot of wear and tear on the body playing up the middle and even if you don't suffer a major injury little ones add up with age.