Balta1701

Jon Garland...your table is ready.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ Sep 16, 2005 -> 08:48 AM) The point of my thread was more that Scott Podsednik's best is not currently good enough to play a starting corner outfield position on a major league club. I'm not saying I'm right by any means, I was just wondering what everyone elses opinion was on this topic. I think that Scott Podsednik's best right now is still plenty good to earn him a starting spot on a major league ballclub...he's just not at his best on the basepaths right now, for whatever reason. Almost everything else seems to be clicking for him. Don't forget when you're looking at 2nd half stats that not only did Pods's stolen bases suffer when he got hurt, but he spent a week or two trying to play through the pain and wound up barely getting any hits at all during the stretch. That was right before he went on the DL.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ Sep 16, 2005 -> 08:36 AM) I would be all for giving Rowand a try in the leadoff spot...btw, this is NOT going to be a popular recommendation on this board. I agree it's not going to be a popular reccomendation. I see 2 different types of leadoff hitters in the league who work very well. First, guys like Podsednik, with speed enough to cause teams headaches by bunting, getting infield hits, slapping the ball places, and causing havoc on the basepaths. The other kind is the kind who is not necessarily as fast, but the kind who gets on base a lot via a high batting average and taking a lot of walks. This guy works because even though he's not distracting the pitcher as much, he's always on base for whatever boppers the team has behind him. Rowand is a moderately fast hitter, but he fits into neither of these categories. He's a .280 hitter this year who doesn't take many walks, doesn't cause problems on the basepath, doesn't take enough pitches to let the people behind him see what the pitcher is throwing, and he would probably end up scoring less runs than Podsednik in the 1 hole.

QUOTE(WSoxMatt @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 08:49 PM) When Henderson stole 130, he was caught 42 times!!! Runners will get caught, not as often as they make it though The goal, I believe, is to be successful roughly 75% of the time. Clearly, Henderson was durign that season. Earlier this year, Pods was above an 85% clip. Since the AS break, I'd be surprised if he was at a 50% clip.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 16, 2005 -> 07:09 AM) Mark Buehrle is slowing his arm motion on his change up. It has nothing to do with not being an Ace or being tired. When you know what is coming, the odds are much better that you are going to hit it. He needs to go back to the tape he watch of Santana and figure out what he was doing to tip off that pitch. At least I'm not the only one who thinks Mark's problems are almost totally in his mechanics, and that it's not his arm being worn out or something else that wouldn't make sense given the pitcher we're talking about.

At least there's guaranteed to be 1 baseball team popping open Champagne in Chicago...since the Cards are playing on the north side.

QUOTE(mmmmmbeeer @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 05:56 PM) Cleveland's offense was atrocious for much of the first half, as was ANA's. You're right, he did beat BAL and TEX, but as we see now, those aren't exactly playoff caliber teams and, as far as i can recollect, he did not dominate either of those two offenses. Mark's a good pitcher and one of my favorites on the team. I don't mean to sound like I'm ragging on him, I just have never pictured him in the same class as those true aces. This board has hosted this same discussion numerous times, so I'll quit now. Trouble is, Mark had plenty of chances this 2nd half to completely shut up that talk forever, and because his 2nd half has been so weak, he's totally failed to do so.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 12:27 PM) That's pretty funny. That's Google-bombing and the blogosphere for you. "Miserable failure" does the same thing.

QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 05:16 PM) Take out the "ly il"l and that's how I feel. That is also an appropriate response.

Mark Buehrle has it in him to be more than an ace. He was not just shutting down poor teams early this year, he was shutting everyone down. Cleveland...the team that everyone is so scared of right now...was money in his bank. He beat Baltimore when Baltimore was playing very well. He had 2 good games against the Angels early in the season. He beat that Texas offense. Saying Mark Buehrle does not pitch well against good teams ignores how good he's done against all of them except Oakland and Boston...those 2 teams are the ones who he has bad numbers against this year, and I'll grant Boston as being in part of his recent struggles. The guy has to have some mechanical issues right now. Something just isn't clicking. Mark Buehrle is an ace pitcher. He proved that when he started this season 10-0. But he has not yet become a Cy Young pitcher. To do that...he needs to take what he did early this season and run it through the whole year. He just hasn't been able to do it.

This thread makes me feel violently ill.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 05:05 PM) I know it's possible, but if that's true, then he might as well not be playing. Considering he's going to give your team very little offensive production in terms of driving in runs, if Pods is unable to produce on the bases, he's a mediocre offensive player. How about we stop putting on straight steals for him, and try and use more hit-and-runs to create motion on the bases and put pressure on the defense? I have been shocked at how few times a manager who says he wants to use speed and defense has actually used the hit & run this year.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 05:03 PM) p.s. If what you say is true, the Cards haven't had much of a problem with their staff. The top 5 in "Innings pitched by the starting pitchers" 1. St. Louis 2. Sox 3. Minnesota 4. Houston 5. LA Angels. The bottom 5 in "Innings pitched by the relief pitchers, whoever they are": 1. St. Louis 2. Sox 3. NY Mets 4. Houston 5. Boston

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:57 PM) Pods has no confidence on the bases now. I'm not ready to let him off the hook by saying it's cause of an injury. Also, does an injury make you scared to go up against a wall and catch the ball? Yes, actually, it can...if you're worried about twisting something or re-injuring something, you're going to be extra-tentative in the outfield because you don't want to lose your footing when you hit the track or bang something into the wall the wrong way. The same thing can happen on the basepaths...even if you're not actually hurt, if all you're doing is thinking about an old injury, your technique can suffer.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:56 PM) Ozzie consistently leaves his starting pitchers in for far too long. I don't have any stats in front of me, but I guarantee that our main 4 starters are all among the leaders in pitches per starts. And no, I don't want us to blow the lead. In regards to who could better handle the pitching? About 95 pct of managers in baseball. When DJ is saying that a pitcher isn't being handled properly, you know there's an issue. The only team who's bullpen has pitched fewer innings than that of the White Sox is the St. Louis Cardinals. The only team who's starters have pitched more innings than those of the White Sox is, again, the Cards. Now, that's probably a bit askew because we've used 6 different starting pitchers this season, and we've had people come and go out of the bullpen...but in terms of total amount of innings pitched by the starters, we're #2 in the league.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:53 PM) I like Buehrle's quote. It's damn true. About goddamn time this team doesn't use, "we're still first in the division [insert garbage here]" It's sure a far cry from complaining about how many people were in the stands against the Royals last week. At least they're talking about baseball.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:47 PM) How is bailing if he legitimately is injured? This guy had the same problem last year. My fear is that most of the rotations arms are about to fall off. Maybe that's a reason Buehrle has tailed off badly. Maybe he needs rest. Marte and Garcia are way different situations. Buehrle is still on pace to throw fewer innings than he did last year. There's no rational reason why he should be wearing out. He's thrown this many innings each of the last 4 years. There has to be something in his mechanics. I think Hawk suggested today he might be tipping his changeup by slowing down his delivery. Just something small like that could be enough to throw off a guy like Mark.

I posted that in one of the "we're doomed" threads yesterday! You stole my idea!

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:44 PM) just hang on and hope the ride's a fun one It has been until basically this week. Even that 7 game losing streak.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:35 PM) thats not good. I remember he had like 45-50 steals before he got injured and was out for the extended period of time but he is still getting caught on the bases. Not making excuses today, but the conditions weren't that great...the field was wet the whole game. Pods had 22 stolen bases in a row earlier this year. Since then, I bet he's at like 33%. Either he has something wrong in his head where he's worried about his legs and not getting a good jump, or he's still genuinely hurt. It's one or the other. This is clearly not the Podsednik on the base paths we saw in late June.

QUOTE(robinventura23 @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:32 PM) Not the kind of attitude you want to have. Buehrle better just keep his mouth shut. If that's how he feels, then that's what's going to happen. :headshake I'm actually fairly happy that he has that attitude...because it's a much better attitude than say, sitting around and blaming lights in center field or something crazy like that. He's at least admitting he's not performing the way he should. At least he understands there's a problem. That's a lot better than refusing to admit the problem.

Mark Buehrle is 5-7 since starting the season 10-1.

QUOTE(3E8 @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:18 PM) Fairy dust. If so...he should share it. This team could use it. "Hey Ozzie, what's this stuff you're sprinkling over all of us." "Fairy dust. I got it from Timo's Nose" 3 hours later Ozzie arrives at a mental institution. He refers to all of the doctors as "This Kid"

QUOTE(SouthSidePride05 @ Sep 15, 2005 -> 04:18 PM) Who's going to the Cleveland series? The Cell is going to be a mad house, especially if we win! If they don't win...the people in the crowd may riot. They want to put in green seats? We can tear the blue ones out for them. Save them some money.

Well, the good news is this; that's exactly what he needs to be saying. They're playing like garbage right now...at least Ozzie's saying so.