Dick Allen

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 20, 2014 -> 03:19 AM) Jason Vargas, Salvador Perez and a changeup that wasn’t working May 20 BY LEE JUDGE The Kansas City Star According to Fangraphs, Jason Vargas throws a fastball, a slider, a cutter, a curve and a changeup. So if one of his pitches isn’t working, it seems like Jason’s got some alternatives. Monday night it looked like Jason Vargas’ changeup wasn’t working. Alexei Ramirez hit a third-inning home run on a changeup, Dayan Viciedo hit a fourth-inning home run on a changeup and Paul Konerko hit a fifth-inning home run on a changeup. That’s over a thousand feet of home runs on changeups. After I noticed all the home runs had been hit on changeups, I checked the other hits Vargas gave up; four of them were on changeups. When six of the eight hits you give up come on changeups, maybe you need to throw something else. After the game both Ned Yost and Jason Vargas said the changeups were up in the zone. Some nights that happens—you just don’t have command of a pitch. But when a pitcher doesn’t have a pitch, you’ve got to figure out a way around it. Throw something else, or throw it in a spot where it won’t hurt you. Salvador Perez and Jason Vargas didn’t do that; they continued to throw changeups and paid the price—and so did their team. A slider-speed bat I wrote this way back on Opening Day when the Royals got beat by an Alex Gonzalez walk-off single. Gonzalez is 37-years-old and the pitch he hit that day was a slider. I’ve been waiting for another older hitter to beat the Royals on an off-speed pitch and the 38-year-old Paul Konerko did that on Monday night. "He’s got a slider-speed bat." That’s that they say about a guy who can’t get around on a good fastball anymore. Ask if there are any hitters in their late thirties who still have good bat speed and the list is short—heck, there may not be enough old hitters with good bat speed to make anything resembling a list. That being the case, if a guy is getting older you probably don’t want to give him anything off-speed in the strike zone. You can show it to him, that might keep him from cheating on a fastball, but keep it out of the zone—beat the older hitter with fastballs. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/05/20/50340...l#storylink=cpy If Konerko has a slider speed bat, and that is still debatable, the problem is Vargas has a slider speed fastball. 86.8 average fastball. Change ups are good pitches, but if they are up, they are bad pitches.

Triple play would be nice.

You know your roster is short when Ada enters for defensive purposes.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 19, 2014 -> 09:35 PM) Need more runs. Bad luck that half inning.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 19, 2014 -> 09:32 PM) Dang! He didn't fool anyone that inning.

Sierra needs to roid it up.. He reminds me of an unroided Sammy Sosa. A lot of talent. Mediocre results.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 19, 2014 -> 09:02 PM) Stone pretty much has the same view as we do, no? Those guys are looking on the big screen at center field, and have to make a decision wether they challenge or not. It wasn't so easy to see after one quick replay from the first base dugout angle because you couldn't tell if his hand touched the bag. And this is the key, Alexei should have fessed up Hawk said Robin gets a signal from Parent who gets it from someone named Johnson presumably in the clubhouse.

The mascot playing the part of the 3rd Cuban tonight.

The Sox don't have enough Cubans in the line up.

I don't think it was Eaton. I looked at it on the DVR and there was nothing at the plate. In the dugout De Aza did back him off but Nieto was laughing so who knows what it was.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 19, 2014 -> 01:05 PM) Just to note, for the last week prior to going on the DL, Abreu was 4/27 (.154 average), 2 HR, 12 k's and a .570 OPS. He absolutely contributed a key HR that won a game I will grant you that, but getting him in the lineup for an additional handful of games when he could only put up those numbers isn't a big positive. And it was bothering him, although not as noticeably when he went 1 for 25 earlier in the year. But then he got hot again.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 19, 2014 -> 12:41 PM) I get that this was inevitable, and the injury is of course not Ventura's fault. But I still contend, having him out there for that extra week or two hobbling around like Kirk Gibson was not a smart path to take. If this was coming, then get it done earlier, just to decrease the risk of making it worse. I think they handled this poorly. And before anyone jumps on me for this, my track record here will indicate I'm more patient with managers than most people. This isn't just screaming from the rafters. They, Ventura and his crew, could have handled this better. The thing is, this isn't probably going away. They actually probably maximized his playing time doing it this way, and he did help win a couple games banged up. If they rested him a few games, every amatuer doctor would have been happy, but while it might have felt a little better and he might not have limped around as severely, maybe comes right back in a couple of games anyway. Assuming the injury is what the Sox say it is and he's out 15 days, I really don't think playing him ultimately made it worse overall. Maybe it caused him more pain, but in terms of numbers of games missed, at worst, it cost them a game or two, but might have got them 5 or 6 or more with him in the line up. It will be interesting to see how this is handled going forward. It has obviously been a problem before he was even here. He's never played more than 89 games in a year. Hopefully they figure out something that keeps it in check.

I have flat feet. It didn't matter what I weighed. My feet, ankles or knees usually hurt until I got orthotics. I still get some pain and swelling, but not nearly to the degree I had it before. Maybe losing 15 lbs. will make the pain management easier, but if he has something that is naturally going to cause some pain, it probably isn't going away simply by dropping several pounds. The fact is, he lost the weight, and he's on the DL.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ May 19, 2014 -> 08:39 AM) The Sox/Cubs/Bulls/Hawks are also primarily on a CSN station, but apparently the Chicago market isn't having the same issues. I know the teams hold 80% equity in CSN Chicago, is that not the case in Philly and Houston? In any case it was dumb for the teams in those markets to sign deals that gave the network so much leverage in restricting carriage. I would like to see MLB move to a model where all TV rights, both national and local, are controlled directly by MLB. Instead of having local cable sports channels owning each team's rights, you would have locally-produced games and daily/weekly team specific shows running on MLBN in each team's market in place of national programming during certain times, while allowing local broadcast stations (WGN/WCIU) to bid for up to 25% of each team's games. I was thinking the fact the teams own most of the station should eliminate the problems they are having in other cities. Now when the Cubs jump ship to their own station, there probably will be a lot of people who won't be able to see their games. I , for one, won't care.

Conditioning coach Allen Thomas said Abreu might deal with soreness the rest of his career because his natural gait puts stress on the inner parts of his legs. From the Sun Times. This is what Thomas was talking about. Supposedly Abreu is about 255 pounds now. Was 270 in spring training. He still looks like a little kid next to Dunn.

It has actually been bothering him since spring training.

Posterior tibia tendonitis

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 18, 2014 -> 08:39 AM) That was my point...unless Abreu was changing something in his swing to compensate...the danger involved isn't like a pitcher tearing an elbow ligament. That said, Abreu has that same desire to win and be in the line-up everyday, and the "eye test" with his strikeout rates ascending, him being off balance or loading up more than before, it's possible he could have sat for 2-3 days and fixed things instead of having to go down for a DL stint of 12-15 days missed. We'll never really know. Ventura and Schneider must have felt comfortable that Jose could diagnose his own level of soreness, since it has apparently been an ongoing thing in the off-season and coming into spring training. If they do end up putting him on the DL, then balta's point will be validated, to an extent. Sometimes you have to be willing to lose a battle here or there to win a longer-term war, which is what every major league baseball season of 162 games is (especially in a season you're not expected to compete). Big picture. Just like with Sale. If Abreu has to go on the DL, he would have gone on the DL regardless of if he played or sat Friday or Saturday. The White Sox can be ripped for a lot of things, but how they handle injuries isn't one of them, especially by unqualified people who don't even know what the exact injury is.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 17, 2014 -> 07:14 PM) Well, if a couple days didn't help, then perhaps 15 would. But then again that would take a smart manager willing to put the good of the team long-term ahead of a single day, because then he could put the guy on the DL for like 12 days if it took more than a few days to improve. But again, that would take planning and forward thinking on behalf of the good of the team. Yeah, I don't know why JR and KW and Hahn put their reputations and future finances on the line and let this total idiot run roughshod over the entire organization. They must either be just as dumb or losing their minds. Please Balta, get a job with the White Sox and end our nightmare.

Do it again 14

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 17, 2014 -> 05:35 PM) And Abreu was pulled after his awful looking at bat in the 5th. Thankfully Robin pushed him out there again and again despite saying he needed time off until things actually got so bad that he had to pull Abreu mid-game. But then it's crazy to question why you put a guy who is hurt out there so often until he actually wounds something so bad you pull him mid-game. You have to figure Robin either ignored or didn't consult with the medical staff.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 17, 2014 -> 02:45 PM) GMAB. Only 1 player in MLB has more games played than Jose Abreu and none of the other guys that have played that many are rookies. Robin only played about 2100 games at the major league level. I really think JR needs to pay you to consult. You obviously know far more about the toll of playing 40 games in a row takes on a player. Too bad the idiot had to play him last night. He probably would be 100% today.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 17, 2014 -> 10:04 AM) The only injury that Ventura's getting a little blame for is Sale, and that one's far from clear. We argued about Garcia's style of catching/diving and how he could/should have been taught the "Magglio slide," but hindsight is always 20/20. I don't understand why anyone would be upset that Abreu DH'd last night after an off day. Robin said he would give him 2 days off, maybe things changed. Herm obviously has a big say as well. It is just so silly how many people think every idea they consider bad is Robin's and every good one is that of someone they apparently think Robin ignores most of the time.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 17, 2014 -> 09:24 AM) At least the White Sox major league roster has a clear record this year of being solidly healthy and ready to go every day, because if this team had spent the first couple months of the year badly banged up and missing multiple pieces people might start wondering if Ventura's refusal to rest people could be connected to that. I have to think Beckham's oblique, Eaton's hammies,Garcia's labrum, and Gillaspie's bruised hand are clearly Ventura's fault. If he just doesn't play them at all and have them sit on the bench like museum pieces, these injuries do not happen. The Sox need to hire a good manager, one who knows what he is doing so no players get hurt. MLB is filled with them now. The DL has never been so empty. I think all us should be happy the Sox aren't sending Semien to AAA to play every day. That would be crazy. Playing guys every day is just so irresponsible.

Sox/Yankees. Chris Sale bobble-elbow day.