BearSox

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 11:37 PM) His 2 hits were outstanding, he looked like a different guy up there. When a player is struggling as bad as Beckham has been, 2 highly successful ABs mean an awful lot more than 1 bad one against one of the better relievers in the game to this point. No argument here.

I personally felt like we should have pinch hit for Kotsay too. Anyone could tell Kotsay can't catch up to the mid-high 90's fastball, and as already pointed out, Feliz has been lightsout vs. lefties. Jones and Nix for Kotsay and Omar would have made too much sense I guess. Also, Kotsay needs to sit down after his final two AB's. He's clearly over powered by the fastball, so what does he do? Not change his approach at. He'd rather try and be a big home run hitter rather than choke up an inch on the bat and meet the ball. Well, the Greg Walker bible, lift and pull.

Beckham's last AB was pitiful, but I missed his other AB's. At least he had an RBI single. It's like Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jekyll with him.

I like O'Conner... He has good hitting potential and if he can't stick at C, he can likely also try out 3B or LF. And hell, if he shows he can't hit after a few years, we just pull a Sergio Santos with him!

Yeah, Fields was clueless when it came to baseball. Shame to cause he had the tools to be decent.

Damon would have looked sexy leading off for us.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 1, 2010 -> 10:56 AM) I'm curious to know whether scouts like him more than Kenny Jr at least. Kenny is a great athlete but the guy can't stay healthy and was such a ridiculous overdraft. What are you talking about!? According to his dad, he was a value pick!

When he's got his good stuff, I don't know how anyone can hit Jimenez's fastball. The amount of movement he gets on his 97-99 mph fastball is ridiculous. I mean, when you throw that fast, naturally the ball isn't supposed to get that much movement because it arrives to the plate so fast (hence why all the best sinker ball pitchers usually sit around the low 90's), but he's got the magic grip it seems like.

Is he out of his mind? "I'm about being a little more aggressive. I haven't been happy with not driving balls anywhere, especially to right field. I'm not driving them like I can and why Kenny traded for me. I've lost that since spring. It has even been frustrating in batting practice. But I think I found where that piece was missing. I'm pumped up to get my game going and get my timing back and get rolling." You ain't a real MLB hitter if you don't try and pull everything. Come on now, seriously, you want to drive the ball to the opposite field? Nonsense!

What is wrong with Teahen? It surely didn't look like anything serious, nothing more than a cut or maybe a bad jammed finger.

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 31, 2010 -> 04:09 PM) (1) There's no evidence that Beckham is "mentally fragile." (2) There's currently nobody in-house to replace Beckham (Vizquel has an even lower OPS+) (3) There's no point in wasting Beckham's options if there's no better option to replace hit bat in the lineup. (1) I never said he was. But people are using the excuse that it would hurt his confidence or be a sign of the team giving up on him, and thats total BS. If Beckham feels any of that, he would be to weak mentally for this game. (2) I could care less who takes over for him at the MLB level. The whole point in sending him down would be to try something different and see if he can figure stuff out facing inferior pitching. (3) If Beckham reaches his potential, there is no fear in wasting 1 option.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 31, 2010 -> 03:48 PM) If you send him down, that is exactly what you are telling him. If Beckham is too fragile mentally to handle that situation then, he doesn't deserve to be in the big leagues to begin with. Top prospects are called up and sent down all the time. The only one who would be giving up in a situation like that would be Beckham. Nelson Cruz was acquired from the Brewers and was top prospect for the Rangers. They handed him the started job in 2007 and he sucked ass. He sucked so bad that they had to DFA him, but he passed waivers. They kept him, he dominated the minors in 08, and now he's an all-star. If anything, the Rangers gave up on Cruz but something clicked for Cruz when he was sent down and he came back with a vengeance. But yeah, sending young players down is never the right thing to do. You want them to struggle as much at the major league level as possible, right?

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ May 31, 2010 -> 03:28 PM) Two walks in a row for Lincecum in the second. Dude's got some issues right now to work through All that hair of his is throwing him off balance.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 31, 2010 -> 03:29 PM) In a season where most people want the team melted down and prospects playing, why would we ship out our top prospect? It has nothing to do with who it is. There was never anything said about not calling Beckham back up. You send him down until/if he finds his grove then you call him back up. Give 2-4 more weeks and if he doesn't show any signs of improvement vs. MLB pitching after nearly half a season, its time for a change in approach. Vs. MiLB pitching he can possibly find his grove, maybe something can click. People act as if sending a player down means you are giving up on him.

I doubt any of them involved conspiracy, but if I had to pick one, it would have to be FDR and Pearl Harbor.

I'll admit the NL is easier for starting pitchers because they get to face the pitcher which is the closest thing to an automatic out in baseball. However, people blow the difference dramatically out of proportion.

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 31, 2010 -> 03:13 PM) Most people on this board realize that your timetable for the development of a 23-year-old is completely unrealistic. Sending a struggling prospect down isn't unheard of or unrealistic. If this was any other prospect, it wouldn't be an unrealistic idea. But god forbid anyone say anything bad about THE Gordon Beckham!

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 31, 2010 -> 02:15 PM) I'm glad that you're not in charge of Sox player development. And I'm glad that you're not in charge of Sox player development.... what a terrible argument. No one on this board is qualified for such a job.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Beckham's current approach leads him vulnerable to the outside breaking pitches. Until he fixes that, he won't see much success.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 31, 2010 -> 01:08 PM) Did I miss where Becks said he wasn't confident? You brought up how getting sent down hurts confidence.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 31, 2010 -> 12:07 PM) I've never understood the concept that telling someone they aren't good enough to be here actually helping their confidence. You gotta find confidence before you can have it. If that means finding your confidence at Charlotte against weaker pitching, so be it. And like I said earlier, if they are too weak mentally to handle getting sent down when they have clearly been terrible thus far, they are too weak mentally to be in this game then. And let me reiterate, I'm in favor of seeing what happens in the first two weeks or so of June. If they continue to suck though, a different approach has to be applied. Letting them get mauled by MLB pitching all season isn't the answer, IMO.

People really over estimate the amount of strain 10 extra pitches put on an arm. It really is not that big of a deal, especially for any major league pitcher.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ May 31, 2010 -> 11:15 AM) Well we all know there's nothing more accurate than video clip scouting. Workman's curve is considered borderline plus-plus, and one of the best curve's in the draft class. The only reason why Workman wouldn't be a terrible pick for us is because of how weak this draft class is, outside of Bryce Harper. Workman also has concerns with his mechanics. Given the fact that he throws across his body (it's not even borderline, he's throwing well across his body) and seems to put more stress on his arm when he throws more so then other pitchers, it could lead to a lot of injuries (see Kerry Wood). But since this class is so weak, it wouldn't be a terrible choice. From what I've heard, he sounds better than Lance Broadway, but not that much better. I won't go ape s*** if we draft Workman, but I won't get to excited either. If we go with a pitcher, I want a power arm. We need to start making some noise in this organization, draft some players with lower floors, but higher ceilings. Give me a Stetson Allie, someone with electric stuff already at 18/19 who is still growing and maturing as a baseball player. That 98 fastball could become a 100 mph fastball in 2-3 years.

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 31, 2010 -> 01:43 AM) Another way to look at it is that Beckham had more initial success than Ventura, with less minor-league experience to boot. And you're missing the overarching point of players taking multiple years to develop into proficient hitters. The trajectory isn't always in a straight line a la Ventura. Crede posted an OPS+ of 113 back in 2002 and didn't eclipse 100 again until 2006. Your "you gotta draw the line" argument is also based on a measly two months of data and the fact that Vizquel (who is posting even worse numbers than Beckham, believe it or not) would be replacing him in the lineup. You need to patient with young players. I don't see how 2/3's to 1/2 a season isn't being patient.

Nix's bat flip was clearly a heat of the moment thing, IMO. Nix is a 3rd string backup infielder right now not even hitting his weight. I doubt he really wanted to show anyone up. But I can easily see why a pitcher can get pissed in that situation during the game.