Balta1701

Well how about that.

Both the umps and Alexei were distracted by EJ getting hit by the bat, but replays going to show Alexei probably threw him out.

EJ just got hit by a broken bat shard that flew from home plate, he blocked it and deflected it with his arms so that he wasn't stabbed, but man that was close.

Shouldn't take Petricka that long to warm up in this heat. If Gordon gets on it's time for EJ to depart.

Anyone up in the pen? There should be.

Maybe we spoke a bit too soon with the praise. 2 quick HR. Again not a great pitch, fastball pretty much down the middle thigh high.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Sep 6, 2015 -> 03:57 PM) So how's EJ lookin? I was going to watch today again but had to leave. Overall solid, just hung a pitch for an easy HR but for the most part he's been really good, good control, attacking hitters, not a lot of hard contact against him, throwing all 4 pitches effectively.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Sep 6, 2015 -> 03:54 PM) Hmmm if you say so. I think Eaton should concentrate on getting on base more. His K rate seems up this year. I think it's worth noting that despite him hitting a ton more HR, His offensive production in 2015 measured by RC+ is actually down from 2014. Still a solid hitter, but these extra HR aren't translating to a big offensive upgrade.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Sep 6, 2015 -> 03:15 PM) Anyone see the Royals going down in the first round? Remember back in 2005, we had a 12-16 record in August and in mid-September we had a 4-10 stretch? The Royals aren't playing their best right now but their best is as good as anyone when the find it. Don't judge teams by what they're doing at their best or at their worst. 2 weeks later it can look very different.

Olt K's again, this time looking, this time 4 pitches instead of 3. Improvement? He did foul one off this time.

Hard single by LaRoche, run scores on error by LaRoche, first and third 1 out for Olt.

Perez kills a fastball up in the zone on the outer half of the plate for a solo HR. 3-1 White Sox.

Really good 2nd pitch changeup to Moustakas. Totally fooled him. 3 pitch strikeout.

First pitch - 91 mph fastball for a strike nails the bottom of the zone. Touched 93 on pitch 4.

Brantly K's to end inning, 3-0 Sox.

Olt Notes - swing looked huge, flying open, didn't look like he had a chance even against a moderate fastball. Maybe still talent there but swing and approach needs work.

LaRoche pops out, Olt blown away by a couple fastballs and K's.

3-0 Sox on RBI single by Garcia, Cueto yet to record an out.

1-0 Sox, 3 straight hits, first and third 0 outs.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 6, 2015 -> 12:48 PM) Oh brother. I'm guessing they would've gotten popped for something if they were on it. Both of them did totally overhaul their hitting approaches in Toronto (seems like they have a really good hitting coach up there), but Bautista has also dealt with those rumors ever since his breakout year in Toronto. Hopefully the testing system is strong enough that you're right, but we just can't know for sure.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Sep 5, 2015 -> 07:04 PM) Probably not, or he would be in Cubbie AAA - right? I'm glad they're bringing him up - find out what they have. Probably nothing, but the Sox have nothing at 3rd anyway. Meanwhile, would someone kindly tell Don Ventura to sit Alexei for the rest of the season and let Saladino or Sanchez work at short? He was released by the Cubs because they wanted to add another player to their 40 man roster and needed a slot, not because he was out of options. He was in their minor leagues this year so presumably he burned an option this year. Anyone know if he has a minor league option remaining for next year?

What's Olt's status for next season? Does he have minor league options remaining?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 5, 2015 -> 02:05 PM) Semin, Bassitt, Phegley, and Ravelo each were selected below where the Sox will be selecting with the comp pick. It sure seems like guys who in your own mind, aren't worh nearly as much as people think, you are giving superior value. You need to attend your own Baseball 101 lectures. If you buy 50 scratch off lottery tickets, you are likely to succeed and get money back on >10 of them. The existence of these successful lottery tickets does not mean that putting all your retirement savings in lottery tickets is likely to be a successful strategy. However, if you could find a way to examine the lottery tickets in advance of purchase to improve your chances and exclude a large fraction of ones that are known to be worthless, you have weighted the odds very much in your favor.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 5, 2015 -> 01:25 PM) You have mentioned losing draft picks have you not? To fully whine like you whine you sometimes have to move goalposts. Basically, as I just showed by quoting 10 of my own posts, I don't mind losing 2nd and 3rd round picks. I specifically said in one of those quoted posts I don't mind giving up the draft pick for Melky, I'm much more concerned about whether he actually can hit based on his weak performance in 2013. In other posts I said specifically I'd much rather give up a draft pick for Shields than trade multiple pieces for Samardzija. I don't think picks after the first round are worth nearly as much as people think. I will whine if we give up the 11th pick in the draft this year for a free agent, but that's because it's a first round pick and that's a huge difference from the comp round. So no, you're putting words in my mouth and then accusing me of moving the goalposts based on your words.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Sep 5, 2015 -> 12:46 PM) I strongly believe it's Danks returning to full strength and that has taken time. I see his fastball topping out around 92 MPH more and more, which makes his killer changeup that much better. It is so easy to be a pessimist. Let's be positive for a change. I think we will see some fun stuff this off season. It will be interesting to see who stays, who goes and who is added. 2016 is just around the corner baseball fans. Average FB is 89.4 this year, was 88.5 last year, and was 89.3 in 2013. Pre injury he was at 90.5-91.5. Looks from the graph like all 3 years he's picked up the speed gradually during the year, which is interesting and becomign a pattern.