Lillian

Madrigal seems to be pretty adept at stealing bases. Maybe the better outcome would be for him to continue to hit line drives and take walks. His small stature presents a small strike zone, for opposing pitchers to target. I hope he becomes even more selective and draws more walks, which with his extraordinary contact skills, could make him an ideal leadoff hitter. I'd take a .320 to .330 AVG and a near .400 OBP, with 40 to 50 steals, over his developing 15 Home run power. Let him accidentally hit 5 to 10 homers a year, but be an on base machine and steal lots of bases. The Sox should have plenty of guys to drive him in, without Nick having to sell out his contact skill, in order to try to hit a few more homers.

Well, maybe it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise, if someone emerges as a viable 5TH starter, to join next year's rotation of Giolito, Kopech, Cease and Lopez. If that happened, the Sox wouldn't need to sign any more than one solid starter, who could replace the weakest of those 5. Moreover, the remaining guys might well have demonstrated the ability to at least provide some depth, with all of the injuries, which seem to be inevitable. Ultimately, they may get some help from returning TJS patients; Dunning, Puckett and Rodon. Of course, the latter may not even remain on the roster, if the front office decides to not tender him. I'm intrigued to see what Puckett has to offer. He has been injured ever since he was acquired and has thus been pretty much forgotten about.

With Giolito, Lopez and Nova being the only obvious starters, who is most likely to fill the other 2 rotation slots, for the remainder of the season? Are there any other candidates besides Cease, Santiago, Banuelos, Detwiler and Covey? Could Fulmer get another shot? Is Kubat a possibility? My guess is that they will try Cease and either Covey or Santiago. I wouldn't mind giving Detwiler another start.

Do you think that he's still using PEDs? How naive of me? And I thought that MLB had pretty much cleaned up the steroid issue. Perhaps the ball is not the only thing that's "juiced". As an "old time" baseball fan, there is a lot about the game today that I don't consider an improvement. The game was a lot more interesting before the home run became its dominant feature. What a shame. I suppose that the Brits found all of those homers and huge offensive outputs delightful. It's probably all part of the same grand scheme of things: Make the game even more international and use the home run as the main attraction. Nevertheless, as hard as they may try to ruin the sport, it's still the best game ever devised.

Players like Encarnacion and Cruz prove that guys can still hit, in their late 30's, if they can stay healthy. It isn't the age itself, it's obviously the way age increases one's vulnerability to injury. Miguel Cabrera would still be doing the same, if he had been able to stay healthy. He always seemed like a guy who didn't take very good care of himself. It's a good thing that Abreu has tried to get in better shape. He looks more fit now, than he did about 3 years ago. My point is that at 32, Jose should not be considered "done".

I had previously thought that he wouldn't be able to hit even that many homers, however now that I've seen so many smaller players hit homers and the distance on some of the balls hit by average sized guys, I've changed my mind. This lively ball and the hitter friendly Guaranteed Rate Field should afford him the chance to hit a few homers. Given his extraordinary contact skills, I think he will hit enough homers to garner a 40 grade for power. Moreover, he will almost certainly get stronger, with his weight training regimen.

You may be correct, but I have more confidence in his ability to be better than you expect him to be. I'm sure that you hope you are wrong, as do I. Again, I don't expect him to continue, at his current pace, but I'd be very satisfied with something around a .280 Average, and a .340 OBP, with a little power and continued plus defence, with exceptional leadership qualities. That would represent a very solid fixture behind the plate.

Of course, one can simply look at the back of a baseball card, and assume that any given player will produce, as he has in the past. Well, at least you are given him credit for having a brighter future than his career .684 OPS. In any case, I would hope that the Sox player evaluation staff employs a little more sophisticated approach than that. So, are we to assume that you don't give much credence to the idea that he has changed his approach, by taking the ball the other way, rather than trying to pull everything, as he says that he used to do? Or, that he has become one of the best 2 strike hitters in baseball, by choking up on the bat, when down in the count, by 2 strikes.

What kind of offensive production would you expect him to put up, going forward? How good of a catcher do you think he is? Upon what are you basing your assessment?

You really don't think that he would get even $35 Million, on a 4 year deal? Isn't he worth $8.5 to $9M per year?

I forgot Moustakas. He would have been a good choice, but then his sister wasn't married to Machado. I'm sorry, I'll stop. I promise.

As one of those, who has been clamouring the loudest for Hahn to DFA Alonso, I'm satisfied that he is finally gone. Nevertheless, I don't think it's entirely fair to fault Hahn. Yonder is not old enough to have completely lost his ability to hit a baseball. If he had performed somewhere near his previous two seasons, he could have helped this young club. Ironically, many of the same people who "rag" on Palka, think that Hahn is an idiot for signing Alonso. Who else was going to provide a little balance to the lineup, from the left side? Harper would have been the best option, but that's "water under the bridge". Brantley would have been another option, to fill the left handed hitting void, but only being serviceable in LF, he would have blocked Eloy, I had hopes that Alonso would be a serviceable DH and back up first baseman. I don't see how anyone could have realistically anticipated that he would suddenly become the worst hitter in the League.

What should give us hope, regarding Herrera, is that his fast ball still has good velocity. It might just be "rust," resulting in a loss of command. I remember earlier in the year, he had a nasty breaking ball. Was it a slider, or a cutter?

Yes, I suspect that they have been monitoring him, for a long time. The Sox drafted him, out of high school, albeit in the 31ST round. He went to the University of Arkansas, instead.

He will be arbitration eligible, this off season. What do you suppose he will get, if he continues to have this kind of year?

Agree, entirely.

Every contract carries with it the risk of a player getting injured, or having diminished productivity. It's the challenge of the front office to assess the likelihood of any player's future level of performance. McCann was considered a pretty good prospect, out of college, and has made some significant adjustments to his hitting approach, this season. Some of us wanted to extend him earlier. Every month that he continues to excel, establishes his bonafides. Now he has been selected to the All Star team. It would probably cost more to extend him now, than it would have just a month ago. In the final analysis, perhaps the Sox just need to determine if they think they would like to have him continue as a key member of their future core. If so, then they should be trying to extend him beyond next year. I'm sure that Hahn would point to his unsustainable BABIP, as part of his negotiating tactics. If the front office deems the cost too high, they may not be able to sign him. I personally don't think that it's too early to try. For my part, it's his catching ability and leadership qualities, that intrigue me the most. He doesn't have to be the team's highest average hitter to be a solid part of the anticipated contending roster. If he can hit around .280, with a .350 OBP and respectable power, that would be enough to plug the hole, at one the most important key positions. Again, as a fan, I consider him a "keeper" and I'd love to have him be the primary catcher to handle the Sox young pitching staff. When Kopech, Cease, Giolito, Lopez and whomever else they add to the rotation, are on the mound, McCann is the guy I want to be calling the pitches. Collins may develop into a good catcher, and having McCann as his mentor, probably increases the prospect of that happening. However, I would be very surprised if Zack will be able to provide what James does, any time soon. And remember, that window of contention should be opening soon, in fact just about the same time that McCann will become a free agent.

So, what do you think the prognosis will be, regarding the degree to which he should recover, and in what time frame? FOLLOW UP: I just read this on MLB.com: "Burdi should be ready to go by Spring Training 2020."

I'm thinking that the Sox need to spend all of that money on pitching depth. The old adage; "you can never have enough pitching," has taken on a whole new meaning. It's beginning to look like you need about 25 viable arms, to ensure that you end up with the 12, or 13 you need. You're lucky if half of the guys stay healthy. Just unbelievable. They better hang on to any reliever, who looks like he can contribute, going forward. Therefore, no Colome trade. The better also sign at least 2 decent starters.

McCann should have been credited with his second hit of the night. Rosenberg scored his bouncer to SS an error. That should have been a hit. We all think that McCann can't keep up this pace, but he just continues to have good at bats. I love his approach, taking some pitches to RF and choking up on the bat, with 2 strikes. The guy is a "keeper". He is so good behind the plate. I hope they can keep him, past next season.

Thanks, I couldn't imagine. Now it makes sense.

The Knights' website has the box score of a game from earlier in the season, but it says that it's tonight's game. What in the world????

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll try to watch for that, the next time I'm viewing a Knights' game. Do you think that's a function of some physical limitation, or just poor mechanics?

I'll defer to you on that topic. Apparently you have more knowledge about the nature and quality of Engel's hands and wrists. I have no such knowledge and try not to pontificate about such things. However, one has to wonder why the Sox would not have just DFA'd him, long ago, if that were the case.

So the list of Sox pitchers now out with TJ Surgery is: Jimmy Lambert, Ryan Burr, Kopech, Dunning and Rodon. Did I forget anyone? Then, there are the guys, who have already had it and come back: Cease, Giolito, Burdi, Jones (who are now lost to other injuries) and Banuelos. Did I forget anyone on that list? This is just unbelievable. Someone is not doing something right.