caulfield12

I was scolded twice on the public bus today for pulling my mask down under my chin because it’s so hot and uncomfortable these days...still mandatory temp checks to board to enter public places like shopping malls. Everyone on bus masked. Zero exceptions. You still have to scan with QR codes to show your location when going into theatre, for example. We’re not anywhere close to HK, Vietnam, Australia, Philippines...where cases numbers are popping up again.

Nick Madrigal’s first few games in the majors have shown exactly what we should have expected from him: A lot of weak contact and very few strikeouts. Madrigal is 5-for-17 for the White Sox as I write this, garnering four of those hits in one game against a weak array of Royals pitching, with all five hits going for singles. He’s struck out only twice for an 11.1 percent rate that would put him in the top 20 percent of all hitters if he qualified. This is pretty much what he is — a high-contact, no-power second baseman who’s a regular if he keeps his average high. Keith Law. theathletic.com

What would actually alarm the right on this, besides their own family members/friends dying? 3000 per day? 5000? 10,000?

No take backs or regifting, unfortunately.

https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds Still far and away favorites for 7th spot. Indians have blown past us...and are likely to be impossible to run down this year unless we can actually beat them head to head.

Except pretty much nobody in baseball trusts Collins as a catcher for 65-75% of games

Stroman's not exactly known as a "shrinking violet" type either. A little attitude and nastiness is perhaps needed to rub off on Mr. Nice Guy Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease...and to be a role model and take Kopech under his wing next year (that's another reason why Wheeler would have been perfect, similar body styles and pure stuff.) Or trade the entire farm system for de Grom and go for broke signing him to double or triple the largest contract in team history (Grandal).

Is Y.Cespedes that advanced that he's ready to jump directly to the majors? Or Colas, for that matter? We definitely look to need at least one more (veteran) starting pitcher with quality stuff...like a Maeda/Odorizzi/Minor/Lynn type of impact. Basically, another Keuchel, although good enough to slot in front of him, hopefully. Not counting on Collins for much of anything at this point. No Jimmy Cordero? Detwiler? Well, it's too early to say, right? Same with Ian Hamilton, Stiever, Crochet and Kelley...how quickly they can rise to make an impact. Buying Ken Giles is a pretty ballsy pick, but don't really consider him QUITE an elite reliever. He has the stuff, but...just not dependable. Really, the days of 1 elite designated closer per pen are seemingly becoming more and more a thing of the past, with 2-3 headed monsters in most bullpens that are interchangeable and can go multiple innings if needed. Mazara/RF, is standing out like a sore thumb right now, just as it did during the entire offseason. Need to get a 2-3 fWAR contributor there, and need to shore up the defense on that side if they're going to continue to shoehorn Jimenez into LF. Plus, that puts all kinds of pressure on Robert to cover half the outfield, and eventually he's going to get injured trying to do too much even for him to compensate for the shoddy defense on both his left and right.

Too early in the morning for a catfight....and, you're right, all the defensive miscues were not "LOL," but they were certainly things that have to be remedied if we're going to be a legit playoff contender, and soon.

11th, next Tuesday, first day eligible to come off DL. Already has resumed "baseball activities" in Schaumburg camp, so it's likely he will be back next week...Brewers' announcers talking like he would have been ready this weekend if he was actually eligible to come off the IL.

Greg775 approves of this post, and has nothing but kudos for Elrockin's incessant optimism.

It would take a LOT more than that. Lauer is being inserted into the rotation, but he's a journeyman/AAAA with pedestrian stuff. Think they want to convert Peralta into a 2-3 inning shutdown guy who can be inserted at any critical point from the 5th innings on. Plus they have Braun, and Manny Pina, best defensive catcher in baseball, along with Omar Narvaez. Collins is completely superfluous on that roster.

Vaughn disappeared? He needs to be playing 1B or DHing nearly every game. Not a platoon hitter.

7-6

I personally blame it all on KW overpaying for Linebrink and Dotel...ironically, that did partially lead to a playoff appearance, although both ended up not as advertised. Linebrink did have an awesome first half that year, though.

Yep, of course, hard to predict we would lose 3 starting pitchers (if you include Lambert) in the course of 10 days...but "quality" depth was always going to an issue. And Robert takes the Golden Sombrero. Uh-oh. This is not exactly what we had in mind with a "GREAT GAME FOR THE REBUILD." Gotta get our shit together before the next series or we'll get swept out of the ballpark the way everything is going south at once....hitting, bullpen, defense, you name it.

Pretending that Felipe Paulino was going to be a mainstay in future White Sox rotations was one of the more hilarious missfires. For some reason, Keppinger gets the most attention because he was the first class of signees. Melky and LaRoche, I think Beckham and Bonifacio as well. Maybe Avila, one of those years?

Soria overperformed expectations. Albers was decent for half a season. Let's see. Those are the two decent ones that stick out the most. Avilan, mehhh...?

Cooper earning his highest pitching coach salary in baseball. Surrender/white flag waved. Great job Hahn, between Herrera and this year Steve Cishek. Brilliant mis-evaluation. It's really challenging to be so wrong, actually, so often.

Concise hot-takes.

RESULTS. It's a results-oriented business, in the end. At least it used to be until Renteria became manager, and Hahn GM.

Hawk texting from rural Indiana?

They just announced they were pulling the EUGENIX spokesperson deal and awarding it to Ryne Sandberg.

Well, I'm not sure why exactly he should be beloved....since his ONE plus tool is supposed to be hitting for power/OBP.

Of course, THAT ball doesn't go out. Just the way these last two games have gone. Running out of luck. 3/29 with RISP now. Can we go under the 50% Mendoza Line?