scenario

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 26, 2008 -> 10:11 PM) Salvador Sanchez hasn't been on the DL. You're right. For some reason, I was mixing up Sanchez with Jose Martinez. Maybe it's because Sanchez has been hitting like he was disabled most of the season. Or maybe I'm just too delirious after the Sox two road wins over the Tigers. Or it could be the Samuel Adams impairing my judgement.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 26, 2008 -> 10:48 PM) I won. Merged. LOL. What are the odds that after an entire evening that we'd create threads at almost the exact same time?

Charlotte shut out 4-0. Knights get 2-hit by Buffalo. Richar got both hits. Barons lose 3-2. Harrell had a very encouraging start. 6 innings; 1 run on 7 hits; 4 Ks; and 0 BBs. Brandon Allen and Jared Price with 2 hits apiece. Winston-Salem wins 11-2. Anthony Carter with a very nice outing and win. 6 innings; 0 runs on 3 hits; 3Ks; and 3 BBs. John Shelby and Billy Killian with 3 hits apiece. Paulo Orlando with 2 hits and two walks. Freddy Thon with 2 hits and two RBIs. Salvadore Sanchez back in the lineup after getting off the DL... 2 hits and 2 RBIs CJ Retherford with a hit and two walks. Kanny loses 8-1. Tough to find anything positive about this one. GF winning 3-1 when the game was delayed by lightning. Yikes. Bristol loses 7-3. We got 8 untimely hits and our pitchers weren't as fortunate... despite the fact they struck out 10 hitters.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Jul 26, 2008 -> 04:39 PM) You're once again ignoring his home/away splits. All of his home runs this year have been in Charlotte and he is slugging a pathetic .337 away from the bandbox in Charlotte. Everything about him screams utility player and nothing more. If you want to assume that he's nothing but a utility guy, that's your right. Me... I think he's better than that. We'll see. (And I don't think a half-year of home/away splits tell us anything.)

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jul 26, 2008 -> 01:32 PM) You aren't accounting for his batting average. Subtract his batting average from his slugging percentage to find his isolated power during those years and the largest you get is .121. The lowest you get (his last year, junior) is .046. A prototypical power hitter will be above .200 and a singles-hitter will be around .100 or lower Yes. The ISO numbers reflect the fact that he hasn't hit alot of homeruns in the past. So I'm assuming you're suggesting that his power this year is simply a park-related fluke? (Yes?) I'm suggesting that he hits the ball harder than a prototypical singles hitter... in other words... he's more of a Mike Fontenot type hitter than a Ryan Theriot type hitter... and that the improved power numbers are a natural result of his mechanics and his development. Players with the proper swing mechanics often grow into more power. That's what I think is happening.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jul 26, 2008 -> 12:44 PM) I wouldn't really say Getz has been pushed abnormally fast. He turns 25 years old next month. He was not injured during college and still compiled an ISO Just because someone is a specific age doesn't mean he'll rapidly adapt to being pushed up a level of competition. At Kanny, he was 21 years old - the 3rd youngest position player on the team. Ditto his first year at Birmingham... only 22 years old. And the league average age of the Southern League was 24. So, he was 'pushed ahead'. I'm not expecting him to become Chase Utley. But the trend 1, 2, 3, 9 (in a half season) suggests more than park factors going on (skill development, etc.) I went on to minorleaguesplits.com and negated park factors and he still projects at 7 homeruns this year so far. And he doesn't have a 'slap' type swing. He drives the ball. So, I think what we'll see going forward should be 'something' more like what we're seeing this year. Looking back at his college stats, he didn't hit alot of homeruns, but his SLG was in the mid-400's and his OPS was in the high-800s. (That's clearly better than singles-hitter production.) So I don't think it shouldn't be surprising that he has a .449 SLG and .814 OPS this year rather than being in the 3's and 7's.

QUOTE (Chet Lemon @ Jul 26, 2008 -> 07:13 AM) If Linebrink is DL'd and nobody is immediately brought in via trade, then I would like to see Childers get a shot, at least temporarily. I know his track record has not been good, but it is hard to argue against a 0.74 WHIP over 43.1 IP. Childers' numbers at Charlotte look impressive, but I don't think he has the stuff to get out major league hitters.

Beating the Tigers on the road. Especially since Jermaine's hit with 2 outs in the 9th inning was the first time we lead the entire game. That's a great psych factor to put in the Tigers' heads. The Texas game was nice, but who really cares about beating Texas at home? We're expected to win those games. I was quietly relieved when we beat Texas, but I screamed so loud I scared the dog when Dye hit his dinger. That was the difference for me.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jul 26, 2008 -> 11:31 AM) Getz's minor league ISO is A good example of where the averages probably mean squat. Look at what actually happened: (1) In 2005, after graduating from Michigan... practically went straight to low A-ball (hit 1 homerun in 214 at-bats) (2) In 2006, was promoted to AA Birmingham, skipping Winston-Salem (hit 2 homeruns in 508 at-bats) (3) In 2007, got hurt and missed half the season (hit 3 homeruns in 278 at-bats) (4) In 2008, has 9 of the 14 homeruns you mentioned in a little over a half season. (9 homeruns in 329 at-bats) Pushed ahead of schedule 2 years... hurt the next year... healthy this year. So, what is the appropriate basis for projection?

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Jul 26, 2008 -> 09:13 AM) Look at Getz's splits, they're horrible. I'm assuming that was supposed to be in green, but if not... what's the horrible part? Season AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS vs Left .322 115 18 37 6 1 2 13 10 21 4 3 .370 .443 .814 vs Right .300 223 34 67 16 0 7 30 23 25 5 1 .364 .466 .830 http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st...&pid=460051 The home/away differences are significant this year, but quite possibly a one-year anomaly since his overall averages are consistent year-to-year and park factors aren't consistent between leagues. I'm looking up info on his previous year splits and will post them if I can find them.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 25, 2008 -> 11:57 PM) Nope. He's been able to throw, but some stiffness has been there and I think its been preventing him. My guess is it won't be anything which needs surgery (or at least not in-season) and we'll see him take two to three weeks off and be back okay. Obviously its just a guess since no MRI results are in. Isn't this similar to the problem he had at the beginning of spring training? That was solved with rest and a little bit of Herm's magic.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 25, 2008 -> 09:30 AM) Retherford is interesting. He seemed pretty damn good for GF last year (1.002 OPS), but many said he was old for the league. Well, now he's been double-promoted to High A, and he's posting an .813 OPS and rising. He's getting stronger as time goes on (.353 and more walks than K's in his last 9 games). His monthly averages haev been .270, .279, .284 and .304. 15 HR and 20 2B in 334 AB's, so he's got power too, especially for a guy who isn't real big (5'10", 190). Not many walks, though. Anyone know anything about his defense? When does a guy who wasn't considered a prospect, become a prospect? sort of a philosophical question. Looks like he didn't start playing college ball until he was 20, which might explain why he was drafted old (22). Did 2 years at Arizona State, also pitched a few games. CJ played Junior College ball. In fact, played on a JC national championship team I believe. That's why you're missing two years at ASU. Funny this is his primary position prior to ASU was as a pitcher. Starting pitcher on his high school state championship team. Starting pitcher on his JC team. He was one of those two way players who hit so well the coach would put him in the field when he could. So ASU struggled what to do with him. Pitch? Hit? What position would he play? I read an interview with the ASU coach where he called CJ a classic 'bat-rat' without a position. They moved him around and tried different things. They settled on the idea of making him a catcher (when he wasn't pitching), but he got hurt and missed a signficant amount of playing time, and ended up as a reserve. Then in the NCAA tournament his senior year, the coach said he had a hunch... started Retherford... and CJ turned it on. Had a great tourney. Of course, he didn't get drafted. Because who drafts a guy without a position who missed most of his senior year? But the talent is obviously there. Then he goes to GF last year and set the all-time Pioneer League single season doubles record on his way to leading GF to a championship game (and the best season a WhiteSox farm club has had in 20 years). I've heard people say "he was too old for that league". The league average age was 21 and he was 21. Not sure how that was too old. And this year, he's 22 in Winston-Salem. He'll be 23 in Birmingham. And 24 in Charlotte. Not bad. Not bad at all. Regarding defense... he's struggled with errors at 3B because he's learning the position, but is likely to improve because he is pretty athletic. He's got the power to play 3B... and the smarts to catch. In one college game, he both pitched and caught in the same inning. LOL. How can you not root for a guy like that? He's even pitched part of an inning this year for the Warthogs.

One other game... Great Falls lost to last place Missoula 10-6. Starter Kevin Skogley had an uncharacteristic bad outing. He's been very good so far this year. Ryan Strauss got lit up in 1.2 innings of 'relief'. SS Tyler Kuhn with a very nice night 3-3 plus 2 walks and scored two runs. Raised his season average to .362 Kent Gerst hit a double and drove in two runs. Gerst is batting .307 Great Falls is now under .500 for the first time (I believe) this season. Come on boys... get it together. You're only 5 games out of 1st.

QUOTE (joejoedairy @ Jul 25, 2008 -> 02:19 AM) Birmingham beat Mississippi 11-6 Brandon Allen Train 0-3 2bbs sb Cruz 2 hrs 4 barons with 3 hits Poreda bad(3.2 3er 4bb) Texieras first appearence at aa 1.1 0 runs Poreda doing his best to impress the scouts. Ryan F'ing O'Malley went 1.1 innings, gave up 2 runs on 6 hits and picked up the win. Lee Cruz went 3-4, hit 2 homeruns, and had 4 RBIs. I can guarantee that whatever he ate yesterday and however he tied his shoes, crossed the street, etc., he is going to do the exact same things today. Anything to try and recreate whatever magic he conjured up last night. Ditto Robert Valido who went 3-4. Maybe the other team was holding "Help Keep a Guy in the League" night. And Miguel "Streaky" Negron had 3 hits too. He's been pretty good so far this year, batting .284. But he runs up and down the scale like an opera singer. Up to .300... down to .250... up to .290... down to .260...

QUOTE (joejoedairy @ Jul 25, 2008 -> 02:19 AM) Winston Salem beat Salem 3-0 Ely 5 innings 0 runs Retherford rbi single Retherford went 2-3 with an RBI and a walk raising his season average to .284. Keep it going CJ!!! Ely finally had a pretty nice outing. 5 innings; 0 runs on 8 hits; 6 Ks; 0 walks

Have to keep in mind with Gartrell that he basically skipped a level this year too. He was tearing up Kannapolis last year. Then he got about a half cup of coffee at W-S late in the season. So, basically he made a two step jump from low A-ball to AA in '08. I think the second half of this season will tell us alot more about him than the first half did.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Jul 21, 2008 -> 09:24 PM) Why Buerhle on three days rest???? "The White Sox have altered their rotation, partly in an attempt to slow down Texas' formidable lineup. Staff ace Mark Buehrle had his scheduled start moved from Wednesday to Tuesday night against the Rangers, and recently promoted left-hander Clayton Richard will make his major-league debut Wednesday. The Rangers entered Monday night's game against the Sox with a .279 batting average, but they were batting only .255 against lefties and 11-19 in games against left-handed starting pitchers." http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...1,6452315.story

QUOTE (tommy @ Jul 21, 2008 -> 05:52 PM) PER COWLEY: Mark to start on Tuesday, Clayton on Wednesday milb.com story confirming it... http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/ar...b&fext=.jsp

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 21, 2008 -> 10:05 AM) Based on what I've learned from various stops in the minors is that those guns tend to be a couple MPH greedy (same with the Fox/ESPN Game of the Week Guns). Here's a quote from a review of the Futures Game on Rotoworld that seems to back up what you're saying... White Sox left-hander Clayton Richard got the start for the U.S. team. A big 6'6", 240-pound southpaw, Richard lives on his sinker. It's a tough pitch to hit hard, especially coming from a downhill plane, and it also allows Richard to induce plenty of ground balls. That ground ball tendency was evident when Richard allowed three grounders in the first, though one of them was a single. The World team eventually scored a run in the inning thanks to an error by shortstop Jason Donald, a stolen base by Elvis Andrus, and a fielder's choice by Pablo Sandoval. Richard was posting a combined 2.44 ERA and 82/20 K/BB in 121 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A before the game. He hit 91 MPH with his sinker at one point in the contest, but he was more consistently in the upper 80s to 90. He's already 24 and doesn't have much upside, but if Richard can keep limiting walks and homers, he could be a No. 3 starter if everything breaks right. He's more likely to be an innings eater, but he's a solid, underrated prospect.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 21, 2008 -> 09:33 AM) I wouldn't consider 92-93 his consistent velocity. He tops out around there but pitches more in the 87-90 MPH range. Relies on changing speeds, locations, and good command. Has good sinking action on most everything he throws. Not the type of guy that will impress you over a one game span, rather the type of guy that starts to impress the more you see him throw. Hmmm.... well, for what it's worth... the games I've listened to he's been in the 90's pretty consistently.

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Jul 20, 2008 -> 08:57 PM) Sox farm teams get the 0-fer today. Add that to what the big club did today and you get SOS... Simultaneous Organization-wide Suckage

QUOTE (spiderman @ Jul 20, 2008 -> 08:05 PM) They clearly hit much better in Texas, but I still like them against a minor league pitcher. The Twins entire rotation is made up of minor league pitchers.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jul 20, 2008 -> 07:51 PM) right on dude, thanks this has to be a showcase for a trade, no? Maybe. But who knows? If he looks decent, I'd keep him around for pitching depth. Can never have enough pitching in a pennant race. Especially the way Contreras and Javy have been throwing lately.

I've listened to a few of his starts via mlb audio. His fastball was in the 92-93 range. He threw off speed pitches that dropped down to around 77-78. Don't remember much about his repertoire, but do remember he threw an effective curve in the games I heard.

I'm guessing we'll see somebody called up for a spot start (or be the long man backing up Masset if he starts). If they bring up someone to start.... Haeger started on Saturday. Broadway is pitching on Sunday (game already started). So those two are likely out. Whisler could be in line, but he's not on the 40-man. I'd love to see them bring up Clayton Richard. But I'm guessing Egbert, who would be pitching on 5-days rest on Tuesday and has been throwing very well lately.