scenario

One of the things in Gavin's favor is his curveball. When it's on, it's unhittable... A "here it comes, try and get it" pitch. Very few pitchers in baseball have that kind of unhittable out pitch. The problem is, when it's not on he's a fairly pedestrian fastball-change guy who tends to leave the ball up too often (a #4 type). But when it is on... I think he matches up well with pretty much any #2 starter in the league.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Mar 26, 2010 -> 12:32 PM) Sounds a lot like a guy known as BA :-P Nah. Brian had a loopy swing. Danks' swing is much tighter. If Jordan can learn to keep from pulling his head off the ball, he'll be fine.

I'm not a scout, but I've watched a fair bit of video with Danks at the plate... and his "problem" seems pretty obvious to me. He pulls his head off the ball. It's sort of frustrating to watch actually, because it happens so consistently. Seems logical that has alot to do with his contact problems... because his walk rates suggest he doesn't have a problem with his batting eye. In fact, his judgment on what is a ball or strike seems excellent. But once he starts his swing mechanics, you can see there is a point about midway where his head pulls away... almost inevitably leading to a swing and a miss. I'd have to believe the coaches have identified this and are helping him with it. If he gets that fixed and increases his contact rate as a result, I think he has a really good shot at MLB. If he doesn't, not much chance he'll be more than a fringe player.

Babe Lillibridge with the big fly. Will probably set back his development as speed/singles guy by 6 months.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Mar 25, 2010 -> 04:18 PM) Gameday Premium says MB's average fastball velocity is 83 MPH. Is MB turning into a soft tosser. What do you mean 'turning into"?

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Mar 25, 2010 -> 12:34 PM) 670 score says we signed Scott Elarton He's going to require radical surgery to remove all the forks that have been stuck in him.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 25, 2010 -> 01:09 PM) This is one of the more absurd batting lineups i've ever seen. They're just trying to give Alexei and Teahen more at-bats.

I saw the replay on Teahen's play... What did he do wrong? Looks like it was a good strong throw. And I thought Upton was out.

Can Castro actually throw the ball to 2nd base with any accuracy? I think I'm going to need proof.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Mar 23, 2010 -> 04:59 PM) he is a 1b, and he had a terrible spring. was very unimpressive Viciedo? Or Marrero?

QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Mar 23, 2010 -> 06:09 AM) Tell me again why we traded chris carter. Somebody thought this Carlos Quentin kid might be pretty good.

Don Cooper is a great strategist. Getting the starters to have crap performances in games that don't count... and get them out of the way before the season starts. Brilliant.

Sox down 5-1 in the second.

QUOTE (jamesdiego @ Mar 22, 2010 -> 01:17 PM) It's not very nice by fans and others to say he was spoiled. Awwww... sorry Oney. Grab a blanket and I'll read you a freakin' bedtime story. Now you can go find out what it's like to have a real job.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Mar 22, 2010 -> 11:11 AM) This is what nepotism gets ya! I thought soap operas were reserved for reality TV shows. Fixed.

Just saw an interesting note... Kotsay leads the Sox with 4 stolen bases this spring... Pods has 2 so far for the Royals. Spring stats mean nothing... I know... Just struck me funny.

Looks like a classic Ozzie 'Sunday lineup' today... Alexei leading off D2 batting second and playing left Kotsay at 1B Jones in CF Rios in RF Castro catching Nix at 3B Lillibridge at 2B Garcia pitching

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Mar 20, 2010 -> 05:00 AM) I know Danks got shelled, but what was wrong, mechanics, location, too much of one pitch, bad umpiring? He was working on the location of certain pitches. For example, at one point, he threw 5 curveballs in a row, all aimed at the same location. Same later with his change. It's the sort of thing pitchers do during spring training to get their work in that they wouldn't do during the season. Hitters know it and tee off on it.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 20, 2010 -> 09:45 AM) How many times has Cowley written that this has been the most boring camp ever? I say this is staged and that Oney will be the star of the TV show and it will launch his acting career. :-) Exactly. Reality TV requires drama.. No drama = no viewers. And when it doesn't exist, you have to create it. That's my impression of the whole social media controversy this spring... artificially created drama for the purpose of the TV program. I'm going to be so glad when the season starts, so we have something that is actually "real" to talk about.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 19, 2010 -> 06:42 PM) Could this drama be staged for the TV cameras? Yes

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 18, 2010 -> 12:14 AM) Scenario, I know you LOVE prospects, but saying he "deserves" a promotion is ridiculous. He doesn't deserve a damn thing. Take away his worst month and his numbers look better? Well you could say that about ANYBODY. How about I take away his best month (July)? Then his numbers look even more pedestrian. I will concede that he was very young for AA. He obviously wasn't as advanced as some, mainly his agent, made him out to be. It's also obvious that he's not, nor was he ever, going to stick at 3B. So it's even more imperative that he rakes. And his power numbers last year were abysmal. Now I'm hardly giving up on the kid. But it seems to me the organization is trying to justify the 10 million dollar investment more so than actually believing he's worthy of AAA. But we shall see. I'm no doubt cheering for the kid. But we have to see substantial improvement this year or that evil "B" word that all prospects fear will start hovering over this kid's head. Nah. I love minor league baseball... but I do not fall in love with prospects... and it doesn't distort my view of their talent and chances of making the majors. But saying that taking away his first month of playing baseball outside of Cuba is the same as taking away some other player's random worst month of a season?? Please. He is now only beginning his second year of baseball in the US... he just turned 21... and people are ready (and itching) to label him a bust?? Just seems way too anxious to me. I think his biggest 'problem' is that alot of fans are looking at what he got paid and expecting instant results. Maybe it's just that were not used to signing bigger budget prospects like other teams do.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 17, 2010 -> 07:09 PM) Wait, so Viciedo sports an OPS barely over .700 at AA last year and they're going to start him at AAA this year? Makes perfect sense. Take away his first month in pro ball (which was abysmal) and the rest of his year was pretty decent... especially for someone his age. I mean, we could have easily had him in Winston-Salem or Kannapolis for that matter based on his age. And he probably would have raked. So should he be 'punished' because he was the youngest player in AA and had one bad month? Based on what he did from May to September, he deserves the promotion.

QUOTE (daggins @ Mar 17, 2010 -> 05:14 PM) What if our optimal alignment ends up with Jones in left and Pierre DH. I wouldn't be surprised to see that on the lineup card quite a few times this year.

Jones wants very badly to get regular outfield playing time. I read an article interviewing him a couple of weeks ago talking about it... Has a chip on his shoulder and wants to prove he's still "got it". Personally, I think Jones in CF and Rios in RF might be absolutely brilliant from a defense point of view.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 17, 2010 -> 04:07 PM) Beckham finally got his double play chance. How did he look? Had one yesterday too. Didn't see today's, but yesterday's... Relayed a throw from Lexi to 1st. Good solid throw right on the money. Looked just fine.