chitownsportsfan

madrigal needs to stop swinging at high fastballs.

JFC Jason, STFU. I'm changing broadcasts, that fucking pun was my final straw.

great AB, comedy duo too busy talking about moth piles.

nice take TA.

My pick to click is Mendick.

But what about off the field...

His tweets are pretty bad too if I'm being honest. That said he has a great style and he digs pretty deep usually. Worth an Athletic sub.

Never heard that and I like it, well said.

Leury has been really bad and is probably playing himself out of the primary CF role. I've defended him but he's badly exposed as an everyday player and his glove isn't as good as Engel's imo. Engel might be a decent 2 WAR CF if he can stay healthy, he turned a corner last year at the dish and I'm curious to see if he can keep it up. That said, he's been hurt and there is no reason to rush him back or expect much production right off the bat. He's going to have to knock some rust off.

I wish they'd have hawk back for one game just to get a little "Stone Pony" bit in. Stone sure is sensitive about his "Lady's Man" image for a guy that posed for Playgirl. You'd think he'd be over it considering it happened what, almost 40 years ago?

The problem Nick is facing right now is that pitchers are coming right at him and he will not get any walks unless he starts making them pay. Compare and contrast the Grandal ABs with Nick's. Pitchers fear Grandal, at least to a degree, and with his eye he can make them pay with a walk more often than not, even when he's slumping. When Nick is slumping he's not going to walk, what, so a pitcher leaves a hanger over the plate for a double? Without the fear of a HR there's no reason not to throw him strike after strike.

FWIW Royals Review commentators by and large thought Matheny was being a whiny b**** and that since he was called safe at the plate the smart thing to do was stick with the call because there wasn't any clear angle showing a tag.

I get what you're saying and I had the same impression that Fegan was sorta doing that sportswriter narrative insert when guys are just giving sorta boilerplate reactions and not thinking too much about what they are saying, but for James I will allow it because he's just that good of a writer and if he felt the guys were feeling that way that's fine.

Nice to see these older shit or get off the pot type guys off to good starts. Sheets is intriguing, granted he's probably just a 4 OF type that can't play center so he has to hit... maybe he can?

Incredible article from Fegan tonight: https://theathletic.com/2592695/2021/05/16/how-jose-abreus-outstanding-instinctive-baserunning-stole-a-win-for-the-white-sox-against-the-royals/?source=emp_shared_article Usually quoting 500 words in a post gamer might not constitute fair use, but James wrote quite a few more. Get your sub.

The fuck is Machado doing here? I sorta feel like it was just a moronic attempt to give himself up.

cheers brother I enjoy the fire. You're always a fun debate which is why I engage. And you reminded me I should play old Outkast more in my life. I think I agree with you on Jose's value as more than WAR, which is somethin I doubt I've ever had considered a few years ago. I feel him turning himself into a very good defensive 1B says it all. He's a guy all the other guys can learn how to be the best you can be from. He's had some setbacks but has perservered and become better.

The run values are average, so average players are run neutral, if that makes sense. Replacement level players are below average and thus run negative. In the case of a 1 WAR type like Nick you can be below average on runs but still be better than some random AAAA scrub. As for Jose, it's hard to calculate (and controversial) but Fangraphs has a pretty aggressive "run penalty" for 1B and DHs. It's an adjusted for position run value so being -1 at 1B puts Jose among the very good defensive 1B. For example, Evan White, who is by every eye test and metric a very good defensive 1B (and a guy that can't hit for more than replacement) is -1.5 runs so far this year defensively. I personally just use fWAR because I like their defensive values better. Happens to usually align with my eye test so it feeds my ego, thus I like them, duh.

Tony could captain this ship to a title and you'd say it was despite him. You didn't even attempt to "play" you just took your ball and went home. For someone that was very willing to ascribe things to Jose Abreu that can't be measured you sure are certain of something you can measure in a manager that currently happens to be managing while the injury decimated Sox are the best team in baseball by 1st order wins, 2nd order wins, 3rd order wins, pythag wins and heart pumping pure moments of joy this season. I can measure those things and I DGAF if TLR is old or drinks 10 drinks before noon or plays for one run too often or plays his subs too often for now -- prima fucking facie (I think that's the latin) this guy is doing an alright job.

Game recognize game:

It's amazing how much grace he gets around here. No, being a 1 WAR player isn't "fine" or "what he was expected to be". I've praised the guy because he's played well at times but overall he's underwhelming and physically after watching him everyday for 60 or so games now he just doesn't have a lot of ways he can improve. Defensively there's just not a lot of "there there". He really needs to hit 320 to be an average starter. That's going to be hard. Hope he proves me wrong.

Your opinion on La Russa necessitates it. Anyways I'm not going to way philosophical anymore on the limits of human inference. Go Sox and maybe just maybe TLR has some good qualities that players respond to beyond just a love for small ball and over using bench guys that we fans just can't see.

Didn't really answer my question. If you believe there are things that happen on the field that WAR doesn't measure surely, surely you are inclined to believe that there are limits to human inference and that there are perhaps things a manager does that cannot be measured in game and out.

Hey if the Sox want to pay us like they pay Stone I'll parrot the company line all the way down to the peanuts and hot dogs. Best peanuts and hot dogs in America!