WCSox

Kotsay! That was hit so high, I thought that Ichiro might get to it.

Keep fouling those pitches off...

QUOTE (bobryansson @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 08:32 PM) Sac fly deep to center... Ichiro scores from 2nd. You're not kidding with Pods out there.

Good thing Ichicro's two-bagger was with two outs. Now would be a good time for a 30-pitch inning from Felix. Get him the heck out of there so we can get to the pen.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 08:25 PM) God these Seattle announcers are boring. The play-by-play guy for the first three innings is terrible. He sounds like an old drunk.

Felix has lots of K's, but also four walks now and will hit ~90 pitches by the end of this inning.

QUOTE (BFirebird @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 08:20 PM) I completely agree. He should play CF and bat probably 6th. Ditto

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 08:16 PM) Especially with how well Thome has hit Hernandez. While we're sucking Felix's nuts, let's not forget that Mark is actually having a better outing.

It wasn't deep enough, and it's not like we haven't been able to get hits off of "King Felix" tonight.

I'm surprised they ran on Ichiro. Not a good idea.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 07:56 PM) There goes the pitch count problem. He's at 60 now. A couple more long innings and we may be able to wear him down. Meanwhile, Mark is having a less dominant, but much more efficient outing. He picked a good time to bring his A game.

Well, if you can't score on Felix, you can make him throw a lot of pitches (51 through 3) and hope to get to their pen.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 05:28 PM) I thought he was our #3 OPS guy behind Dye and Thome. Whatever the case may be, I'd rather see our fastest OBP guy leadoff. Hit Alexei second if we need to. Dye has fallen to third now. Beckham has 19 doubles in just 60 games. Hitting him leadoff means fewer runs driven in.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 04:51 PM) You give the guy with the most speed and best OBP the shot at leading off and that's Gordon Beckham. But you don't have your #2 OPS guy leading off, and that's also Gordon Beckham.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 02:31 PM) Well, by that logic, Pods should have a much better "feel" for LF than Rios. Starting Rios in LF while Pods is in CF makes no sense. But Ozzie makes out the f***in' lineups so..... Yeah, I agree that it's illogical.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 02:32 PM) So we should let him flounder in a prime offensive position based on what, respect. We are down by 2 games in the division race, and have a tough schedule. Screw personal gain. All hands on deck. Whomever produces gets to play. Whomever hits well gets to hit in the 3-4-5 hole. Its August, not April. Given JD's career and his history with the Sox, I believe that he's earned the right to play through a slump. But not at the top of the lineup, or even the middle of the lineup.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 02:21 PM) It is disrespectful and just plain wrong. I think the lineup issue is always in flux and right now calls to bench people or move them up and down in the line up is being based on just a few games. There are for sure possibilities to be looked at though Moving JD back three spots in the lineup would be based on several weeks of not hitting. If JD couldn't handle that, I'd put him on waivers.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 02:20 PM) I've read a couple of articles today in which Ozzie was quoted as saying Rios would have to play some LF. Why in the world would Rios ever be in LF??? Rios should be in CF most of the time. I could see him in RF when Dye is not playing or is DHing. But I see no scenario where Rios would be in LF that makes any logical sense. I don't know, but it tells me that Quentin is getting some time off. With plantar fascitis and a sore knee, that's probably a good thing. Rios played a lot of CF when Wells has hurt last year, but it's possible that they feel that Pods has a better "feel" for the position right now, as he's played it more often this season. I don't necessarily agree with that, but it may be Ozzie's logic.

QUOTE (The Baconator @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 12:31 PM) Peavy should be the selection of the #1, but I also feel like Mark Buehrle IS opening day baseball for the Sox. Wasn't Contreras the Opening Day starter in both '06 and '07?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 12:47 PM) Carlos also has a very sore knee, no doubt an effect from trying to compensate for his foot injury. He comes up hobbling whenever he has to run at full speed. Carlos needs much more time off. I heard one of the beat writers mention that, but hadn't heard anything more. I agree that he needs some time off. After watching Thome get blown away by a couple of 89 mph fastballs last night, I'm wondering if CQ at DH once a week and Pods relieving him in LF once a week might help.

If Kenny honestly believes that Freddy might be able to pitch better than Count has recently, give him a shot.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 11:56 AM) It comes down to Quentin's inability to cover ground in RF vs. Pods' total lack of an arm in RF. Great throws from the OF...it is great to have, but your team can be solid in all categories except this one, you sacrifice it. no team is perfect. Pods' arm is exceptionally weak. Quite a few hitters will be able to turn long singles into doubles if he plays RF. There's a reason that Quentin has played RF and Pods never has. Quentin didn't appear to have terrible range last season. At the very least, I think that he'd be as good out there as Maggs. Nobody would confuse CQ with Ichiro, and he's not even as good as JD or Vlad in their primes. But I don't see why he wouldn't be at least halfway decent there next season. Quentin is also playing with plantar fascitis, which undoubtedly is slowing him down right now.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 11:46 AM) Pods should never be near RF. I don't even know if he's ever played RF. I'm not opposed to putting mediocre arms in RF under certain circumstances, but Pods' arm is even worse than Johnny Damon's.

QUOTE (Requiem Schmuquiem @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 11:06 AM) the "problem" with Buerhle is the unrealistic expectations his fanboys have. And I like the guy, min'cha. Buerhle is a very good #2, has never been a dominant elite-ace. Certainly not for 3 years (2006-2008) going into 2009. Funny thing is, if he plays until he's 40, he may amass HOF-caliber win total. But that STILL would not change the fact that he is not a true ace. Mark is a slightly-less-talented-but-slightly-more-effective Andy Pettitte. He's a really good pitcher with some serious stones, but he's prone to sucking at times as well.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 12, 2009 -> 10:27 AM) I have too much respect for what JD has accomplished over the last five seasons with the White Sox to demote him to the 7th spot just yet. Then demote him to the 6th spot. Benching JD would be disrespectful. Moving him down in the lineup would be playing the hot hand and trying to spark an offense that isn't scoring runs. JD has 11 million reasons to not take it personally.