Dick Allen

Madrigal on base again. God is he awful.

I thought Cabrera said respect the game?

It’s 14 innings. Players can’t handle that.

The point being, he ranked them correctly. He thinks Mond is the second or third best QB in this draft.

The way Crochet goes down injured makes me wonder if the Sox sent him down to stretch out to be a starter, would he ever make it back?

I agree with that.

Chris Simms gets a lot of flack, but he nailed Herbert, nailed Josh Allen, and nailed Mahomes. He really likes Mond. OTOH, he's due for a big miss.

Whether Gio spoke to him or not, it was obvious just watching the game the guy was gassed. After the double to Ramos to tie the game, how can anyone defend leaving him out there? Was there even a mound visit? They might have lost the game anyway, but for a guy with a reputation as being the master at running a bullpen, and supposedly having the best or one of the best bullpens in baseball, the Sox sure have blown a lot of games late this season already. Some by the bullpen, and this one by being afraid to use it. I still think Tony is trying to score points with his players by trying to help them accumulate individual numbers. He clearly has used Hendriks just to pad the save total, I think part of his motivation for not getting Gio once they tied it was for Gio's win column.

Grandal hardly played in spring training. You knew he would start slow. JAMES MCCANN SIGNED A $40 MILLION CONTRACT. HE IS GONE AND NOT COMING BACK. It always has amused me that the same people who called the Sox morons for signing him in the first place, when Kevan Smith is on the roster, call them morons for not paying a back up catcher $40 million.

Bottom line is most White Sox fans who are old enough to have lived through Tony's first stint with the White Sox , are far more surprised he has this reputation of making teams better. None of mismanagement is a surprise. This was a guy who Tom Paciorek, the mild mannered Wimpy, once said couldn't manage a lemonade stand. He's clearly slowed down. You can tell that in his speech. Call it ageism or whatever, but he shouldn't have been hired, his drinking and driving gave them an out, they didn't take it, and at the end of the year, I can almost guarantee he will call it a day.

I don't think now is the time to be pitching guys 110-115 pitches. We don't know what the shortened 2020 will ultimately do to the pitchers, but most feel it will make them be able to pitch less this season than a typical 162 game season. You have a 13 man pitching staff, and another pitcher or two is always a phone call away. There is no reason to leave a guy in too long right now.

Tony basically admitted he managed a crappy game. That is something he would never do before. I doubt he is managing the White Sox next year.

Even if he is looking for a single, Biily Hamilton and Leury batting lefty?

Ozzie calls Lucas Joelito.

Simms has nailed QB picks before. He loves Mond.

His bat is as slow as Madrigal's legs. Did you see all the homers Joc Pederson hit in spring training?

I think part of the reason he is down a little bit is it is colder and he probably isn't as loose. If he were sitting at 95 all the time with a few 94s mixed in , I would be a little concerned, but he had a few 98s yesterday. As long as he stays healthy, those will be 100s in a few weeks.

Next slump or error, they will return to normal.

I am not against bunting in every situation, but that one, yes. Worst case scenario, Yas rolls into a DP, and Yermin gets to hit. And they will pitch to him then because Hamilton is next and they don't want him making the last out and starting the bottom of the 10th on second base. If you want to give Tony credit, let it be for inserting Hamilton defensively an inning or 2 before just about every other manager would have. It probably saved the Sox a run.

Who cares? Even being successful with the bunt took the bat away from Yermin and required Hamilton or Madrigal to get a hit. So even being successful, LaRussas strategy required your 8 an 9 hitters to hit .500. If it was getting Robert to 3rd, I could see it. It would make the pitcher keep breaking pitches up since the catcher was having difficulty blocking balls and not much of a fly ball would have been necessary to score Robert. It worked out only because Nicky 2 Strikes is a lot better than much of Soxtalk wants to give credit.

It's funny, in the clip you provided, Kruk said his bunt wasn't even a good one. It is also interesting you have no problem setting things up for Billy Hamilton to drive in a run.

I think it probably is. You can't replicate game stress and intensity.

Have the guy given the biggest contract in team history bunt, have the bat taken out of the hands of the teams hottest hitter, to have Billy Hamilton try to drive a run home from second. It worked because Madrigal got a hit. It was stupid. Sometimes things work out. Don Zimmer was managing the Cubs in 1989 when every stupid thing he called worked out. With 1 out and the bases loaded, he put in a hit and run. Of course the guy hits a little dribbler just inside the first base line to score 3. Zimmer is called a genius. That didn’t last long.

If Grandal has 2 sac bunts his entire career, what do you think the analytics department would have to say about having him lay on down? I do know the loudest poster in this argument besides Ray would have been up in arms if Yas popped one up. I am not opposed to bunts in certain situations. This one took the bat out of Yermin’s hands, which the way he was swinging, even if Robert was still on first, he might have drove him in.and created a force at every base which could have been a bailout. And Hamilton isn’t exactly a run producer as a hitter, which left it up to Madrigal to get a hit. Frankly if the analytics department thinks the best way to score a run is to set up runners on first and second for Billy Hamilton, it make be time that department gets cleaned out.

If Texas is smart, they will get the bullpen up as soon as Dunning gives up a baserunner.