Dick Allen

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 11:33 AM) Why the f*** was Cleto in to pitch last night, specifically in the 9th? Before last night his K/9 was a little over 4, his BB/9 about 6, his BABIP .125 and his xFIP over 6. The only positive thing on a statistical side of things was that he had a 0.00 ERA. This despite giving up the game-winning run at the Royals to Perez with an awful hanging pitch. All things (largely) outside of his control being equal and his ERA would have been 6+. This is a dude who walked 53 guys in 53.1 innings at AAA for the Cardinals last year, and then 21 in 38 innings for the Royals AAA. He had faced 2 guys in the 8th last night and walked one of them. So why, why, why was he brought into start the 9th inning in a one-run game? I get that he's a reclamation project and his stuff has the potential to be nasty etc. etc. but you have Lindstrom and Webb available. Lindstrom has been pretty bad but his peripherals were still comfortably better than Cleto. Webb is obviously the best arm in the pen right now. I get that you don't want him to close just yet, but then s***, put him in for the 8th before Cleto even gets in the game. It was a really high leverage situation too, right where you want your best relievers. Is it as simple as Robin seeing Cleto's 0.00 ERA and thinking "wow, he's been good, I'll put him in for the highest leverage situations right now"? For the 9th it was probably a case of realising only Lindstrom and Webb were left and trying to avoid using them so the pen would have something in reserve, but if that was the case, use Webb in the 8th and to start the 9th, and when you have to use Cleto it's probably in a lower-leverage situation. I sure as s*** hope we're not facing a similar situation and Robin looking at his 1.35 ERA and throwing him in. His K/9 is now 4.05, his BB/9 9.45, BABIP .118 and xFIP 7.59. He's still due to regress pretty fast, pretty soon, ERA-wise. Until he shows progress in his peripherals, specifically his control, he should be up in the lowest-leverage situations possible. No offense, but I'm sure Robin knows more about baseball and numbers than probably anyone on this board. Lindstrom was hammered on this board and others. Now all of a sudden, people are up in arms he didn't start the 9th inning last night on all White Sox message boards.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 10:03 AM) Or use Surkamp as the long man and replacement for Veal (2nd lefty). That's probably the best option at the moment. Surkamp can't get guys out in AAA. I don't know why he should be in Chicago.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) The season ticket base erosion from 2008-2013 is what brought us here. NOT winning a WS in 2005. Walk up sales are being cannibalized by stubhub sales, as most people look there first before going to whitesox.com. BUT, in the years since 2005, the Sox have offered untold ammounts of comp tickets, moreso than from 2000-2004. The kids club, which is free, gives each member FOUR free tickets(up from 2). That plays a factor in the attendance debate. But why did it erode? Making the playoffs didn't help. Being in first place most of the season didn't help. Signing pretty big names and bringing fan favorites back didn't help. Many people want to jump on the bandwagon, but IMO now it has to be a championship bandwagon.

I believe it was a rookie umpire behind home plate. They should just go to automated balls and strikes., or have guys who are strickly home plate umpires. Have something beep in the umpire's ear if it hit the zone. Of course, after watching the replay debacle, that certainly would have some kinks to work out.

I don't think this is for Ozzie to return to White Sox employment. It is for him to return to the park. Maybe visit the clubhouse.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 16, 2014 -> 11:12 AM) Hawkins 2 for 2 with a double, run scored....no K's. .364 Goldberg getting beaten up. To me, Hawkins being a legit top prospect again would be the comeback of the year.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 08:15 AM) Should have a 1 game lead but since Ventura is our manager... Because he yanked pitchers walking people? Or is it because he was initially giving Cleto a shot at the closer position? I read on this very board, Lindstrom has no business closing.

Paulie should be getting a start tonight. I like Paulie.

I do think Flowers will eventually make his way back to the dead weight list. He has started 11 games and fanned at least twice in 7 of them.

Semien now hitting .206 with a .275 OBP and on pace to whiff 205 times. If Beckham did this, posters would be calling for his release. Semien does it, he's a professional hitter with nothing to prove in the minor leagues. LMAO

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 07:07 AM) Exactly my point. I think Caulfield said 2005 has had a negative effect on White Sox attendance and I think he has a point. Titles will pack USCF, just contending and being in first place, apparently won't anymore. At least it didn't in 2012. We heard the excuses...People just knew they would fold. I don't know why folding the last half of September keeps you from attending a game of a first place team in July or August on a beautiful night, but apparently, that is where the Sox fanbase is at right now. It's pretty sad. Unless they win some more titles, I don't think there is much they can do to get the average close to or over 30k, like other teams with the same amount of success. White Sox fans have so many excuses, and when the Sox address those excuses they come up with more. I don't blame them for not going last year, but 2008 they were a playoff team and couldn't draw what they did in 2007. In 2011, they were "all in" and couldn't sell as many tickets as 2010. In 2012 they were in first place most of the season and couldn't match the 2011 total.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 07:13 AM) I didn't care for the over managing in the 8th. I didn't stay up after the tenth. Leury Garcia eh? I could see where at the end you can call it overmanaging, but if he didn't yank those guys after walks and they continued to pitch like they were pitching, it would have been considered dumb managing leaving them in. Ventura was screwed on White Sox message boards either way. Leury was fun to watch pitch. He hit 88 and had a lot of movement.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Apr 16, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) Possibility, definitely not probability. And his K rate is 39%, not 45% so far. K rate is K/PA not K/AB. Pretty ridiculous to make any assumptions based on his 13 games played so far this year. His career minor league K rate is about 25%. Not great, but acceptable if he's going to hit for power and walk. The problem is K-rates that high in the minors generally lead to higher K-rates in the majors. I'm not writing him off, but unless he becomes a 30-40 homer guy, I don't think he's going to have much of a career if he doesn't improve making contact. Hopefully, he is currently just going through a bad stretch and it is not a sign of where he's really at, or this arb clock everyone is worried about is moot.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Apr 16, 2014 -> 08:52 AM) It's still April, and there's no guarantee that Dunn keeps this up all season, but in the hypothetical scenario where he actually puts up a .240/.420/.500 season, then why would you not take him back on a 1-year/$14M deal? It's hard to get guys his age on 1-year deals because they're generally looking to get 3-4 years to cover their decline. Even so, I don't think if Dunn is hitting .240/.420/.500 in July that he will still be here. He will have very good trade value and despite the nice start, I still think it's unlikely the Sox are in serious contention in July. Too many bullpen issues, and too many hitters (Ramirez, Flowers) that are destined to come back to earth at some point. You wouldn't because you would be paying him to do it again next year and that is very doubtful at this point. Dunn isn't very good, but he doesn't deserve the hate and boos he has received. He seems to be a good guy, a good teammate and certainly is one of the few White Sox who has run everything out the past 3 years. It's not like he isn't trying. That said, there is no scenerio, even if he keeps this up, do I think the Sox would give him a QO, and there is no way he keeps this up. His OPS is almost 1.100. Soxtalk has removed him from the dead weight list. He is doing exactly what the best case scenerio for him would be. Hopefully, he hits like he did the middle 4 months of last year for the entire season. He'll help win more games, but I'm sure, unless he has his best season with the White Sox, and is willing to play for peanuts next year, he's done with the team at the end of this season at the latest.

Downs in to walk Bradley.

Dunn is having a nice season.

That ball was ridiculously outside. If Flowers swung, it is doubtful he would have hit it.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 07:45 PM) There wasn't a replay that showed him safe. That one they showed from by the dugout, his foot was off the bag way after the ball was in his mitt, not sure what they were trying to show there. It's as likely that he was still on the bag when that was caught, replays didn't show anything different. Bit if you piece them together as to when he had the ball in the glove and then use that information in the shot that shows the location of the foot, he was clearly safe. I thought the idea of replays were to get the calls right. Maybe what they should do is install cameras shooting every base maybe from an overhead so you get a better angle.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 07:43 PM) Hawk saying a umpire missing 2nd call earlier in ydear goes against Sox not to make umpire look bad. I thought it was a good point. It was obvious the replay booth wasn't accurate that day.

Lovie is the Chief Executive of Challenges for the White Sox apparently.

Davidson has struggled with contact after a hot start.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 03:03 PM) They read soxtalk and saw my post about getting kicked out of the rf bleachers at old comiskey because they wanted to close it. When I was a kid, they had the RF upper deck closed against the Yankees. I was in the front row right above 1st in the upper deck with my dad. Reggie Jackson hit one into the closed sections. Almost in CF. It was a monsterous poke. I ran down and the usher let me go get it.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 02:12 PM) It is a reactionary move. Also, who said anything about giving up on him too early? That has nothing to do with the discussion. It isn't a development thing with Beckham, or very little of that. Anything is possible, but I find it hard to believe a guy with only 71 MLB PA's coming into this year, just 32 games at AAA and less than a season at AA is going to be hurt by a couple months of AAA time. This is a development year for him either way, and he's going to spend some MLB time either way. This is going to be a really good stretch for him playing some top teams in Boston,Texas, Detroit and Tampa. If he makes it through with flying colors, make some room for him. If not, Charlotte for a couple of months isn't the worst thing in the world. At the very least he can work on his defense. It's been spotty at best.

Beckham probably won't be ready to go for a least another week or 2. Let's see where Semien is at then. Opinions can change, after all, Flowers and Dunn are no longer on the dead weight list. I'm sure 2 weeks from now either some who think Semien should remain the starting 2nd baseman or some who think he wouldn't be hurt by some time in Charlotte will change their minds.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 12:53 PM) Beckham "upping his trade value" is such a ridiculous notion. Gordon Beckham could hit .400 with 50 homers and you would say he was awful. He certainly can up his trade value and was hitting over .300 last year with a lot of warning track outs near the end of August after his wrist injury before his quad became a problem. Injured wrists zap power. It is a fact. If he is healthy, and that seems to be a problem, he still can be a really good player. You will never admit that and that is fine. You are not alone. If he can't get and stay healthy and perform, I'm sure he will be gone after this season.