caulfield12

Former #1 draft pick, pretty sure it was the Phillies.

You will almost never hear the local Chicago media bring those things up, at least not challenging LaRussa directly in a post-game.

That would be more palatable than the Padres for most. The crazy thing is this Giants’ offense might as well be the Cleveland Guardians. In fact, almost nobody would take SF. I mean, Luis Gonzalez is playing a key role right now. Yet they’re somehow right there in the thick of it again, at least so far.

I have no choice but to report this to the the mods, Ronald Reagan III.

This was always going to be the issue with Kelenic. If he couldn't hold down CF, he was going to have to be more of a masher on the corners. I'm not sure how much I believe of this exceedingly glowing scouting report, but they've already got Rodriguez, Lewis (back in June) and Taylor Trammell who are better in CF. Physical Description: Strong, sturdy, muscled build. Thick lower half, broad shoulders and barrel chested. Physique is matured and optimized. LOL Found a Kelenic is NOT Dustin Ackley article, even. Field: Above average defender with impressive instincts and effort/hustle; strong routes and reactions in the outfield; good range in center, may be forced into a corner if the body slows down - should be able to stick in centerfield into him prime. Ranges to his left and to his right; tracks the ball well back to infield; fluid motions and could dissolve if he puts on too much more muscle mass. Reliable, above average defender in center, likely a plus defender in either corner. Grade: 55 Arm: Shows very good arm strength, throws line drives into the infield and to home that lack much tail or extra carry. One of the quicker catch-to-release mechanics I have seen. Incredibly quick to get rid of the ball. Capable of gunning down an advancing runner. A definitive asset in centerfield, would fit well in right field Grade: 60 https://www.prospectslive.com/scoutingreports/jarred-kelenic

Is that like a Mandalorian? Fwiw, Jose Rodriguez seems like he's coming out of his struggles a bit, OPS was up to a "brisk" 632 with still too many strikeouts but much better the last 7-10 days. Almost every young hitter, Witt, Jr./Torkelson/J-Rod/Abrams REALLY struggling out of the gate but making some forward progress. Abrams definitely belongs in AA/AAA with the amount of at-bats he's had as a high school kid with lots of injury time...but no choice when they pushed Frazier out to SEA and lost their starting SS whose name we won't bring up yet this season.

Knew the discussion was going to be about Joyce, lol. Sale or Crochet? Crochet seems MUCH more likely. But the "immediacy" of injecting him into the playoff race falls right there with the Sale/Burdi/Crochet playbook, not to mention drafting Ring and Poreda in the first round as well as relievers.

And the Twins are still about $45 million under the Sox payroll even with Correa's huge yearly salary. Ryan so far has put up a debut as a starter that is bringing up historical comps with Christy Mathewson. That certainly won't continue, but everything has gone perfectly for them on the pitching side. Jhoan Duran looks like a monster, making the more expensive Rogers expendable...helping them bring in Paddack and Pagan. The crazy thing is how deep those Rays (Ryan/Cruz deal) are on the pitching side to me. They usually don't so many mistakes on the trade front. Adames really sticks out there as well last year, and time will tell with the Meadows/Tigers deal.

Where's OUR "Babe" Ruth?

Reynaldo Lopez 3-0 now. The Vulture. Six saves by Hendriks now. Thank god it's over and nobody's injured but Bummer's bruised knee from banging into the wall. Bullpen more or less did its job. Shocking 8th inning appearance by Matt "Jose" Foster actually worked out. Liam looking much better than 7-10 days ago. One less thing to be concerned about moving forward. 3 of 4 sounds a heckuva lot better than losing 11 out of 15. Still 4.5 games back of the Twins. Need to stay roughly within 7 games of the Twins by the end of May.

Battling his control in this one. Two walks, a wild pitch and clutch two-out hit by Chris Taylor (yet another player the White Sox could have used but seemingly too expensive) leads to a 2-0 Dodgers' lead through 2. Rodon at 33 pitches.

His expiration date is similar to Jimmy Rollins', whenever we jettisoned him in 2016 and the season started to fall apart in so many ways.

Not even sure a kayak paddle would help much in these conditions. Hendriks up. Heyward/Hoerner/etc., due up. White Sox doing their usual trick where they score early and fail to add onto the cushion, thus putting everything on the defense and bullpen in the late innings.

It's a bit like the opposite of Giolito. Lucas is throwing more pitches than ever before low in the zone...whereas Foster lived with 75-80% of his pitches down or out of the strike zone until now.

Why does every left like Delmonico and then Palka and now Sheets have to have a complete collapse after looking halfway productive in a limited number of at-bats with the most favorable of match-ups? Guess the question is already answered.

Sure, if he's going to consistently throw 96-98 MPH instead of what he featured two seasons ago and early last year...

34K and some change the announced attendance. Brutal...I'm not sure I would sit through anything but an important Big 10 conference game or October playoff baseball in these conditions.

Two walks in his first two at-bats push up his OPS to .508.

Rodon vs. Urias tonight in Chavez Ravine. Biggest test of the season for him so far. Three up, three down. Two fastballs at 97.3 MPH.

That requires using Bummer over Sousa/Banks. Of course, it also involves Madrigal leading off against him.

Syd Finch-like stuff. Credit to George Plimpton/Sports Illustrated.

Then Hahn/TLR would look like total jackasses for their off season...we definitely can't have that.

Time to head off to MIL-EE-WAH-KAY with Alice Cooper.

I thought it was some type of "inside joke" that only a few blessed insiders were in on. Like the two DEA agents in Breaking Bad, but lacking completely in charisma and charm. (Little known fact, Hank Schrader went to Harvard in real life.)

Man, this game is the very definition of GRINDING.