2nd_city_saint787

DJ Williams looked dreadful a few times in coverage...Really hope Bostic steps it up in run support so he can be the every down LB. Greene has looked awful as well. SMC looked fairly decent. Really think Briggs-Bostic-SMC is the best LB trio they can put out there. Rookie DTs have looked good as well albeit vs 2nd team OL....Same for Lane, a guy I really as an under the radar pickup (Not sure if I went on about him on here or talkbears) As far as safety goes, still hoping Vereen gets the nod at FS, and I could go either way on Mundy/Wilson at SS.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 09:55 PM) It was a first place team because only because it was run into the ground. Youk fell apart, Dunn kept striking out, Paulie had wrist surgery and Liriano was a bust. Didn't they have a ridiculous number of rookie bullpen debuts that year? And last years team and this years team are short and not playing at full strength either. So far, none of Robins seasons has there been preseason expectations of success. Look at Joe Maddon's record before he had talent. Bingo. Youk, Dunn, and PK were all battered by injuries. Also, Sale had an ERA over 4 and Q/Liriano both had ERAs in the high 6s. Last year they were actually 16-13 in August. Then in September they gave up the 3rd most runs in the league. Take a look at some of these ERAs in September... Reed- 7.88 Jones- 7.27 Leesman- 9.58 Axelrod- 9.19 Danks- 7.71 Reinzo- 5.96 5 hitters played in 20 games or more and had batting averages of .230 or worse. Not a single player had an OPS over .800 for the month. At the end of the day a manager will look as good as his team....Period.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 10:04 PM) Whelp, enthusiasm for the season crushed. Meh, it's preseason....If it continues through week 4 of the season then I'll call it a season. Give em time to gel.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 09:26 PM) He is the one with the s***ty record as a manager in August and September. Because the players have struggled to hit. I'm just gotta bite my tongue after this, no need to have this argument

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 09:22 PM) Team under Ventura has a bad habit of not scoring runs in August and September on his watch. Win loss record is awful. Yup, blame Robin, he's the one hitting right?

Betances is straight up dirty.

Wasn't pretty, but way to limit the damage Johny

Since everyone else will say it....Bad inning for danks

Since no one else will....Nice inning by Danks

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 05:22 PM) Yeah, but Dunn wouldn't have many more if he had another 100 PA's. Might not have any more. Maybe not, but I'm mainly using it as a comparison. BTW he does have 2 HRs in 50 ABs against LHP this year and he did have 6 last year in 122 so he can still hit some bombs off LHP....All he'd need is 2 more to be in the top 20.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 03:54 PM) This is at least well reasoned. But you call his 19 home runs this year a "poor home run season," but I bet you don't know how many people have hit 19 home runs this year, do you? That number is 29. Only 29 players in all of baseball have hit at least 19 home runs this year. And to add to that 20 of those players have at least 400 ABs....Dunn has 343....14 of em have more than 443.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 04:39 PM) Looking forward to the next month should be fun to watch some of the youngsters and Eaton will be back late next week as well. For real, if Sanchez's offensive game translates the lineup should be a ton of fun to watch. (Maybe not against LHP though) Eaton Sanchez Abreu Dunn Garcia Gilaspie Lexi ADA Flowers Look could look pretty damn good against RHP.

I swear there was a healthy eating thread not to long ago, went back all the way to October of 2013 and didn't see it. Instead of throwing it in the work out thread, I'll throw it in here... I'm once again on a weight loss kick and I'm looking for cheap healthy meal ideas.....Local grocery store has deals on cabbage, pinto beans, and broccoli and I've already got some garbanzo beans so I'm looking for things to do with that, and other ideas. Tips on cooking dried pinto and garbanzo beans would also be helpful.

Michael Egnew released....I know we got some Mizzu fans on board, think he's worth a look for the Bears who could use a backup TE? His college numbers look good.

Go get em Yolmer

QUOTE (The Wiz @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 12:14 PM) In what world is Daniel Nava a AAAA bench player? I'm not saying he is anything special, and he is already on the wrong side of 30, but there is no reason to think that Nava can't still be a useful offensive player for someone next year. Even with his OBP in the .335-.340 range this season, that is still a nice upgrade to what the Sox usually get from De Aza and Viciedo in the OF. vs RHP... De Aza- .282/.350/.413 Nava- .284/.367/.370

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 11:45 AM) Will Sanchez be starting at 2B today? I don't know much (anything) about him. Is his defense that good? MLB.com's prospect ratings had this to say about his D... All the while grading him 55 on their scouting grade scale....So there's some mixed thoughts there.

If we're talking RHH, I'd love to get Napoli to DH. With the "Glut" in the OF they might wanna play Craig at 1B(where he's better off anyway) thus making Napoli available. They'd probably want a major league ready SP back though.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) Very simple, if Jackie Bradley's a star and playing Gold Glove caliber CF while OPSing around 700, Rusney Castillo isn't in their plans. It's going to be pretty difficult to convince me otherwise. Nava, Holt, Gomes, etc. Not as relevant. Because if you really believe in Bradley or Betts, you're not going to leave them blocked for a year behind Cespedes, Castillo and Victorino. The fact that Castillo and Bradley play the same primary position, CF, is also telling. EDIT: And I completely forgot about Allen Craig as well, whose contract will be about as easy to dump as John Danks' Fairly certain he's in their plans if they JUST signed him.

Just to compare the 2 here.... Yr Age PA AVG OBP SLG ISO OPS+ BB% K% Castillo- 11-13 24-26 1097 0.315 0.383 0.512 0.197 128 7.3 10.3 Abreu- 11-13 24-26 1014 0.393 0.537 0.802 0.409 245 18.4 10.9 Castillo got just 6M less. I'm gonna assume though that Castillo doesn't have the same opt out clause.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 10:29 AM) It's a valid point, but he hit .276/.412/.465/.878 in approximately 370 plate appearances at AA. Frankly, if his penchant to draw walks and hit for power translates to the majors, he could hit .240 against righties and be OK. Albeit a much smaller sample size, Micah hit .360/.438/.532 in 111 ABs at AA. Guess what I'm getting at is I have no problem with the Sox seemingly having Micah ahead of Semien.

Ya Semiens got a good walk rate but can he hit? In 288 ABs vs RHP the last 2 years at AAA Semien is batting just .226. Couple that with his .196 average vs RHP in 107 ABs at the major league level and you got me thinking he's a platoon player. Idk about you guys, but that's a bit of a red flag for me. (Hated bringing up those stats because before I looked at em I too had high hopes for him)

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 08:24 AM) I am probably Dunn's biggest supporter on this site, but what is the point of keeping Dunn in September? The team is out of it, there are a lot of intriguing players at AAA who need a chance to show what they have at the MLB level, they absolutely are not going to offer him a qualifying offer, and you want to try and get a guy who has the reputation of an all around good guy a chance at winning a World Series ring. I'm not as sure as I was about Rodon signing, but I'm quite confident Dunn will be moved. Eh, I'm merely just hoping they get something intriguing for him because I too am a Dunn supporter.

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 08:36 AM) am i missing something on this player. for what is being rumored on his signing money, is really all that great? can someone pls explain why so much money???? is he going to be the next Jose A?? I don't quite get it either. He's had some good years in Cuba, but nothing like Jose. If he really gets 5 years 50-60M then I think it makes the Abreu deal look even better. Only thing I can think of is he does have some power to go along with his speed and the ability to play CF. Center fielders with power is somewhat rare in the MLB.

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 09:28 PM) I agree. Semien's pitch recognition skills are superb, yet the "athletes" are rated more highly by the organization. Typical Sox. Let's not pretend Micah is just some athlete. Lets take a look at where he's started each year... 2012- Rookie ball- .273/.375/.391 74/43 K/BB 2013- A - .342/.422/.530 67/40 K/BB 2014- AA - 329/.414/.466 27/21 K/BB Now it hasn't translated upon being called up a level, but the same could be said for Semien last year when he made the jump from AA to AAA and then again from AAA to MLB Also wouldn't really say Sanchez is the better athlete when comparing Sanchez and Semien, though I have nothing to base that on.