caulfield12

With a little more than a week to go before classes begin, the Cobb County School District is already contending with cases of COVID-19. The district said since July 1 it has been informed by Cobb & Douglas Public Health of about 100 cases involving district students or staff members, said spokeswoman Nan Kiel. The district relies on students and staff members to self-report potential COVID-19 cases. The health department confirms the disease via testing and contacts others who may have been infected. The health department asks those who test positive to self-quarantine for 10 days and “we strictly enforce their guidance,” Kiel said. ajc.com Shocking, I tell you, in that historically progressive/proactive state that doesn’t mandate mask wearing...

J What do you want to bet we’ll hear something about two 1:10 starts the next two days? CLE weather forecast not unusually hot weather for this time of year. Sat 08 80°/67° Sunny 10% N 8 mph Sun 09 85°/74° Mostly Sunny 10% SW 8 mph

Do Hahn and Renteria get a “free pass” this year if they come up short in playoff hunt, especially with Kopech situation out of of their control?

More taxpayer bailouts/subsidies for Boeing headed your way... 1 hr 38 min ago Here's what we know about the flight From CNN's Pamela Boykof The Air India Express flight that crashed on landing, Air India Express flight IX 1344, departed Dubai at 2:14 p.m. local time, according to the website FlightAware.com Air India Express is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, according to its website. It operates 25 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_/id/40934/aaron-civale 0/3 3 k’s for Grandal. No such thing as SSS...

Feels like spring training lineups again...five expected starters out.

Well, that’s one way to prevent the Cubs from winning.... Hours before they expected to return to play against the Cubs, their weekend in quarantine behind them, the Cardinals have been thrust back into uncertainty and concern with the revelation another player has tested positive for COVID-19. The Cardinals and Major League Baseball have postponed their Friday night game vs. the Cubs after learning of one new positive test on the team, according to two sources with knowledge of the result and decisions. Major League Baseball has confirmed that a player tested positive. That brings the Cardinals' total to eight players, six staff members. The Cardinals are in the process of going through additional tests Friday afternoon. They are also conducting contact tracing to determine how much exposure they have since returning to the field Wednesday afternoon, multiples sources confirm. This means retracing the steps of the individual who tested positive. This contact tracing element of the Cardinals' response is pivotal because the team reunited Wednesday morning in Milwaukee and has spent time together on a plane and at the ballpark the past few days. All players who traveled with the team would have had at least five consecutive days of negative tests. stltoday.com

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-s-top-prospects-in-2022 White Sox: Jared Kelley, RHP (No. 6) Rated the 2020 Draft's best prep pitcher entering the year, Kelley unexpectedly lasted until the second round and signed with the White Sox for $3 million as the 47th overall selection. He works with a 93-96 mph fastball and tops out at 98 with little effort in his delivery, and he also has an advanced changeup for a teenager and the confidence to throw it in any count.

Based upon what scientifically-verifiable evidence?

Sign him, too.

Wasn’t this a scene in the most recent Fast & the Furious...?

I expect Jerksticks will be found HERE ‘Screw COVID’: 250,000 Bikers to Defy Common Sense for Nine Days at Sturgis Rally https://www.yahoo.com/news/screw-covid-250-000-bikers-083423022.html

Uh-oh. We are the silent majority of Sox Nation.

de Grom, Sonny Gray (anyone could have acquired), Lance Lynn (avail to all), Trevor Bauer (avail to all)...just have to be smart, like Reds’ and Rangers’ GM’s. That said, Mike Minor hasn’t been able to repeat 2019 success. Or hire someone from Braves, Dodgers, Indians or Brewers‘ front offices , they always maximize pitching talent. Padres, another team that has amassed huge pitching depth...Rays, etc. Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

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.