chitownsportsfan

It will pour rain most likely sometime in the valley tmr. The other 18 or so hours of the day will be probably be nice. But if the rain fucking floods the field not much you can do. I've never been in a stronger thunderstorm than down there at spring training. The area I was hiking in turned into a river and the roads in Scottsdale were basically flowing rivers of 6" water.

Yea I don't see the Rangers as some amazing scouting org that perfectly ordained Mazara is forever a 1 WAR player. Not that Chicago is some great scouting org either but a change of scenery often does folks good, in any line of work. It's not a bad move by Chicago. Not one I probably would have made but I can see the thinking behind it.

Just be thankful there's no Dylan Covey in that group.

Remember when he asked Moncada to bunt and then Moncada almost broke his hand before he roped a double into the corner? Yea, that "cast has changed" excuse doesn't hold much water.

Some fantasy dude did a deep dive on Moncada:

well that's a shit sandwich to start the day.

Juwan Howard in his post gamer tonight after Michigan became the 1st team to win at Rutgers made an awesome Ozzie and Bobbie Jenks reference. So fucking cool. The video is towards the 9 minute mark at the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=585&v=26Q0lpLbjKE&feature=emb_logo

that's a wall of abs and core muscles half an inch thick surrounded by about 15 lbs of fat. Eloy looks to be at about 18% body fat that's perfect to start the year. I mean look at his fucking forearms. Dude is on a bulk.

Usually you want to report with a little added bulk as the season will grind you down one way or another. Not worried about any pot bellies on Eloy or Jose.

People are talking themselves into Puig as well. I've softened my stance I'd take him for something where the money is meaningless if he raises a stink: maybe 1 year 4 million is that number.

I'd prefer not to.

I realized earlier today the first guy on deck in case of an injury is Delmonico. Oof. This is where the delay in Micker/Basabe/Rutherford (if they ever amount to anything) hurts.

what's the buy in?

Dan Z agrees with you on Robert: Luis Robert, CF, Chicago White Sox There’s no major disagreement about Luis Robert between silicon and flesh-and-blood, but there’s one tidbit I didn’t talk about in the White Sox’s team post, one that could make Robert underrated, even at No. 4: defense. ZiPS projected Robert as a rather prosaic +4 defensive center fielder in 2019, but this is due in large part to the fact that ZiPS is designed to take its defensive estimates with a large grain of salt. In the 2019 numbers, which are generated from calculating catch probability for every ball based on Gameday location and velocity description, Robert’s defense broke out, to the tune of +20.9 runs across multiple outfield positions, second in the minor leagues only to Michael Siani. He was only +3 in 2018, and it’s reasonable to be suspicious of one-year minor league defensive numbers, but the potential of level of production being real is what could drive Robert to a shockingly good rookie season (and career).

those spring thunderstorms in the valley are no joke. I think the Sox have a rain check policy of exchange only if anybody is looking at going to that game.

you got a swing like that kid might not be the worst idea in the world.

I'm fine with it, I'm just not in agreement about the "reasons", real or imagined, he's down there.

do the games count less in April?

Bingo.

He needs to work on his control and ZIPS pegs him as their 4th best starter. Both those things are true. Maybe lack of SP makes this "not a contention year" in reality, but on paper they very much are intending to compete and that means Kopech will be working on his stuff at the MLB level as soon as April passes. On a side note I'm not really thinking he needs to "knock a bunch of rust" off. He has been throwing off a mound for months now. He's getting a shitload of work in down in Arizona and reported to camp in great shape and 100% healthy full systems go. He'll "knock off the rust" in AAA because well, if he doesn't they lose a year. But it's not because it's more effective in his development necessarily.

It's a contention year. For better or for worse the time to "work things out" at the MiLB level for guys like Kopech and Madrigal (to an extent) is over. They obviously are planning Kopech playing a big role. Ditto Madrigal. If those guys don't set the league on fire in AAA they will be up regardless as soon as their respective service time deadlines pass. As for Kopech, his FIP and shit is all out of whack from his 20% HR rate in the small MLB sample but his SIERRA (which most smart people like more than FIP or xFIP now) was 3.88 which suggests the underlying stuff was there. And oh yea he probably made a couple starts with a frayed UCL. There's nothing he can really gain other than some confidence in AAA. That said, that isn't a bad thing. But IMO there's no doubt that he's ready to continue his process at the MLB level right now, service time aside.

Yea he was on the verge of breaking through to MLB right? Oh well, shit happens. Excited to see these guys perform this year.

Feels like the "reset" that happened with all the pitching injuries is finally coming to a close. Let's hope for a little better health going forward. All pitchers are an injury risk FFS having three of your best 5 guys org wise go down with TJ in the span of a year is pretty unlucky.

He's no doubt one of their 5 best SP. If there wasn't a service time concern he'd break camp as the 4th starter maybe even 3rd. IMO of course.

only shame is they can't hit a baseball better. Both guys got an opportunity they otherwise wouldn't, got a few months of Big League Pussy and a lifetime pension from MLB and stories for their kids and grandkids. Not bad. Hell, hopefully it doesn't happen but I'd imagine Nicky might be the 5th OF and only an Eloy stumble in left away from the 25 man.