Dick Allen

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ May 4, 2012 -> 08:36 PM) Sale closing? Kidding. Let Thornton finish. Santiago has seen his last ninth inning for awhile. He'll pitch the ninth at home with the game out of hand either way.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 4, 2012 -> 08:33 PM) I've always hated when a manager asks his pitcher if he wants to stay in or come out. Yes. If you have to ask, the question has already been answered.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 4, 2012 -> 08:34 PM) I can't believe you guys preferred a reliever to Peavy there. He was out of gas facing one of the best hitters of the past 20 years who has seen his pitches 3 times previously tonight.

QUOTE (JoshPR @ May 4, 2012 -> 08:31 PM) Nice game Jake, time to shower It was time to shower several minutes earlier. Hopefully it won't coast the Sox a win and hopefully Robin learned something there.

I don't agree with this.

QUOTE (K-Rock @ May 4, 2012 -> 08:24 PM) De Aza doesn't look real comfortable in CF. Is this really better than him in right and Rios in center? Yes.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ May 4, 2012 -> 08:05 PM) This is a completely different team on the road. Why is that? I think its sample size.

Nice DP turn. If I was the manager JFP would be done for the night.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ May 4, 2012 -> 08:02 PM) And THAT is why Morel is on this team! It is why he's on the team. If he was average defensively, he'd be somewhere else, probably with a lot smaller paycheck.

He looks so much better at the plate. His bat isn't still. His hands look a little higher. Hopefully, he can go on a run and never look back. Its quite obvious he has the talent to be a real nice player.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 4, 2012 -> 07:56 PM) Getting less mad about Gordon's baserunning blunder lastnight... It was a blunder but Rios was standing on 3rd base at the time. They both screwed up.

Send him to Charlotte.

That's my man, Beckham.

Viciedo is really starting to look good. I'm crediting Marty's thread.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:35 PM) Listening to Hawk, it sounds like he's never going to be a starter again. That's what I was thinking. I don't see how this can be anything but permanent or moving him there would really not make any sense. Stone made the point that as a closer, he won't throw as many types of pitches which will help him as well.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:31 PM) And they're outdrawing us by 2,900 per game. The fans there seem more genuinely excited about that team of unknowns (see the Mets series this week) than Sox fans do about theirs. Despite having arguably a worse team, the Cubs might end up nearly doubling our attendance this season. Sox attendance will pick up some. They don't have the base they used to have, but April has been chilly, it was the first time in 109 years March was warmer than April in Chicago.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:26 PM) With the way everything else is going in this organization, we might as well pretend without Greg Walker around that Brent Lillibridge has reverted to the 2009-2010 version, too. Probably more realistic than thinking Brent Lillibridge is a good hitter. Last year he hit some home runs. Chances of him hitting them at that clip are nil. He still strikes out with Dunn-like frequency.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:16 PM) De Aza's now 3-27 vs LHP this year. Too bad there's no one on the bench we could use in his place...oh wait Lillibridge is 0-6

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:18 PM) I'd still say it makes plenty of sense to me. The usual rule of thumb with a pitcher is that you want to increase his innings by 25 a year. Dropping them in half and then trying to push them back up is completely the opposite. He's still 40 short of last season. Your argument is beyond flawed. Quit patting yourself on the back. If Sale started at Charlotte, he most likely would have had the same issues if not worse.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:17 PM) You know what's really scary? What if he's a lousy closer? It was a pleasure to watch him start and completely make me forget bout Mark. It's hard to be a fan of this team. I don't see that happening unless his soreness gets worse. People have a tough time hitting him when he's at 91. He'll probably get it cranked back up around 100 in a little bit and the opposition will look like Morel.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 4, 2012 -> 06:09 PM) I didn't see it being that clear, but maybe I missed a quote. The other side of this is, of course, if he simply can't do starter innings - which is possible - then this scenario works anyway. Where did anyone with the Sox say this was permanent, anyway? Not trying to be obnoxious, I really just don't know. No one said permanent, but if he's in the bullpen the rest of this season, it doesn't make much sense to have him try starting again next season and expect differnt results. I think the Sox don't believe he can do starter innings. So this makes sense. What makes no sense is the argument, not by you, that he not starting on a full time basis in Charlotte last season is the cause of this condition.

26 games in a row to start the season, striking out in each game now for Dunn. The old record was 14 and lasted 49 years.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 4, 2012 -> 05:57 PM) I can't believe I'm the only one who seems to be OK with this, but... I am. This year - as everyone knows - is a rebuilding year, whether they call it that or not. They definitely want Sale to be a future starter on this club. So, if he's feeling a bit tender with the new load, this makes perfect sense to me. As long as he isn't injured, and really is just sore getting stretched out, then this makes perfect sense to me. Shutting him down wouldn't be a good idea, because you still want him to build up some innings and add strength. This way, he can do that, with less risk of turning soreness into an actual injury. Also, I agree with this... As we look at 2013, this is an audition for Axelrod. Either as trade bait, or maybe even as a part of the future rotation. Giving Sale say, a month, closing, then putting him back into the rotation, seems perfectly smart to me. And with guys like Peavy and Humber not stretched out to starting innings, and a guy like Axelrod in the rotation (as much as I like him, he's still got risk to fail), there will almost certainly be a chance for him to start again as the season goes on. That way, he gets closer to starting innings this year, and ideally is ready for 2013 to be a full time starter. Obviously I'd rather he wasn't sore at all and could keep going, but that isn't the reality. So as long as he isn't hurt, this seems like the best move to me. Flame on. I'm OK with it, but a couple of things, he's the closer for the rest of the season, at least that is what CSN reported Ventura said. If he's the closer the rest of this season, I would think that would mean, he's probably considered a reliever by the White Sox from now on.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 4, 2012 -> 05:47 PM) A #1 starter is more important than a closer. The Sox aren't going to pay a pitcher more than Danks for the forseeable future so where they will find one is anybody's guess. A #1 starter gets you 190+ innings a year. I think there's very legitmate concern Sale will never be able to do that. He has #1 stuff in my mind, but the question has always been how will he hold up? I think a tender elbow after 32 innings have the Sox freaked out, so they are going to go with the the scenerio that will most likely give Sale, and therefore the team, the most sustained success.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 4, 2012 -> 05:45 PM) I tend to agree...I don't think this has anything to do with the innings he's thrown this year..I think it's just a coincidence....there are all sorts of questions regarding Sale's ability to hold up as a starter that have nothing to do with whether or not he came out of the pen last year or not. All I know is this has me befuddled...our pen is not in such a shape nor are we at any point in the season where there is enough urgency to put him in the closer role if they are truly concerned about him being currently seriously injured...why not just shut him down and re-evaluate? The other thing is now there are 4 lefties. Rivera getting hurt, maybe Thornton is heading to NY.