caulfield12

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 11:28 AM) Most guys who can top out at 98 don't throw 98 with every pitch. David Price was brought up as an example a second ago - his best fastball his first 5 years in the league was always 98-99, but his average fastball was 93-95. Yeah, but there's a "cluster." When Rodon's at his best, he's throwing 95-98 MPH fastballs, with 94 being the "middle ground" range. When he's been getting absolutely hammered with the fastball (and usually, it's first pitch/earlier in games)....it's almost always at 90-93 MPH, but specifically 92-93 MPH, at least since the first month of the season. It has been this same exact trend over and over and over again. Nobody wants Rodon to (over)throw 97-99 and ruin his arm/shoulder. That's not the point. Chris Sale can get away with this same exact strategy because of his slurve, different arm angles and especially having that change-up available in his arsenal. He certainly has the ability to pitch confidently when behind in the count, you can understand why Rodon hasn't/doesn't looking at his pitch selection (unless we want to blame all this on the catchers/Cooper.)

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 12:40 PM) CarGo is having a really f***ing good year. See the CarGo notes in the Keith Law article above. Polanco and Marte are much better all-around players, and not park-adjustment issues. Just read what Law wrote.

If Hayes really COULD catch, he would be on the White Sox right now...that's like calling Saladino a catcher.

http://espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/insider/...d-five-who-dont Keith Anti-Sox Law really really goes out of his way to defend Quintana and Kluber and why they deserve spots on the team

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 11:16 AM) Well, to be fair, part of the reason to have zero patience is that the organization keeps saying that this guy is ready to be the #3 starter on a team challenging for the central this year (lots of exclamation points!!!!) and then makes decisions based on that. Anyway, one of the more interesting comments I saw from Yankee broadcasting last night is that for Rodon, every pitch is hard, harder, hardest. Both Rodon and Price came up throwing a fastball that averaged 93 mph, but Rodon's slider is 2 mph faster than Price's average slider, so the difference between the pitches is less. On top of that, when Price started having success in his 2nd full year he was mixing in a curveball in the upper 70s (and a changeup on occasion as well, or at least pitch-FX is thinking it's a changeup even though it matched his slider in velocity). It'll be interesting to see if Rodon can find that kind of success without something that has a bigger velocity difference from his fastball - right now if his fastball and slider aren't both on, then there's nothing in his arsenal that forces the batter to speed up or slow down. Yes, it was their female radio broadcaster who started going off on that point...like it was the most obvious thing in the world (which it kinda is). Where's the change/curve and 10+ MPH differential that's ideal? Why is everything hard? Why isn't he throwing his best fastball when he has shown time and time again he can throw 94-98 MPH in games even where/when he's around 90-110 pitches earlier in the year. It's not a stamina or pitching deeper into games point. And he's not getting significantly better command/location in the strike zone at the lower speeds. Farmer and DJ have both been going off about this issue pretty much all season long, but it still hasn't changed at all. Not that it's their job to "fix" Rodon.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/28958/david-price This is like your Ventura would be a HoF manager with the 2016 Cleveland Indians or 2015 Royals argument. Rodon has 226 IP now and has surrendered 227 hits. His ERA's hovering just a bit below 4 career-wise (4.05 now, 1.5ish WHIP). For your comparison to work, for Rodon to get anywhere near Price's second full year in the big leagues (see stats above), he's going to need to put up a 2.00-2.25 ERA for the remainder of the season. Price's walks were way up, but you can also see he was +40 in terms of IP/H ratio. Carlos is at -17. Carlos' better control isn't enough to offset those IP/H ratios. For that full second season, he recorded a 4.4 WAR. Then slipped to 2.4, then 6.4. So it averaged out to 4.4 (overall) for those 2nd-4th years in the big leagues. So we've got 1.6 WAR, then 0.6 right now for Rodon. Let's just say he's got to be one of the five best pitchers in the AL from here on out to catch up with David Price and get to a 4+ WAR, let alone at least a 3 on the season.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 10:59 AM) Hector Sanchez made it through waivers with SD. Adrien Nieto was kept on the Sox in a rebuilding 2014 to add depth to a rebuilding team. He hit .207 with a .660 OPS in AA last year, and in AAA this season is raking to a tune of .165/.263/.214. We really should be complaining they let him leave. They have a couple more catchers in the minors on the DL , including one that played for the 2014 KC Royals, so you know he must be worthy, but they are on the DL. Rottino or whatever his name is does have some major league experience, but they are down to their 6th or 7th catcher. No organization is going to have a good solution for that. Other than Kevan Smith, who is on the DL, what #4-6 catchers are you referring to exactly that are being bypassed to get us to Omar Narvaez? You're counting Sanchez, even though he's no longer with the organization?

Announcing? Wrestling event taking place? Florida Gators or Johnny Damon are in town?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 10:55 AM) There wasn't a need. There was an agreement to move him quickly as a part of his signing for what he signed for. All I remember is that all the conversation that first year was about developing that change-up to make it a legit #3 pitch. What happened there? Is there an interview with Hasler/JR Perdew/Burns, etc., where the "stall" on that pitch happened and why he wasn't taking to it as previously planned...?

What was his 3rd plate appearance last night? HBP? Sacrifice fly? IBB? http://www.milb.com/gameday/index.jsp?gid=...mp;mode=gameday Okay HBP in the 5th. Got it. Hopefully that wasn't in his head/helmet, although surely we would have heard about that by now.

Last time I looked, AJ pretty much had the lowest WAR of any catcher or even ANY player in the majors this year with 150-175+ AB's.

If it wasn't for those darned blue seats (meddling kids, see Scooby-Doo)...there'd be nothing to complain about. GreenSox does have a point...if it wasn't for that stupid "all in" year in 2015, there wouldn't have been the need to push Rodon to start so quickly at the big league level. There are some possible parallels right now with Gordon Beckham's 2009 and 2010 seasons. So the reason for the push wasn't because his change-up was ready, it was because of the Boras/free agency timetable. (Interestingly, Nola also has been disappointing after his very strong start to 2016...so having passed on Rodon NOT to deal with Boras wouldn't have necessarily worked here either, as Nola was always the guy with the higher floor but lower, 2/3 starter, ceiling.) But we'll never know how much more complete a pitcher Rodon would have been...we simply know from watching him that Rodon doesn't have much trust in his offspeed stuff, and/or hasn't learned a way to let up on his slider to give him another version of that pitch and to create that consistent 10+ mph differential off his fastball. What we're often getting now are low 90's fastballs with a mid 80's slider and that 5-7 differential just isn't working at all. Not when he won't or can't throw a curve/change/Sale slurve in the low 80's/upper 70's.

Yeah, Nieto was his name. Just unusual to protect a player for a WHOLE year on your roster and then completely give up on him so quickly. Usually, most teams cut bait during the first 2-3 months in that case.

Has one in that top-tier fWAR category ever had a losing record? Just curious. (Note: I'm not holding Jose personally responsible for the lack of Sox run support, don't want to argue that particular element of why he wasn't chosen.) And there's still a 50/50 chance Yost will go with Q (because of the Davis injury). Is Sale even going to be able to pitch/start? He's pitching Friday still? (Besides, it will give Q a lot more incentive the next time he faces Yost...so there's that, to prove him wrong.)

It is a bit weird that they'd protect Carroll over Hector Sanchez. Why would any other MLB team want Carroll desperately? Despite all the MLB pitchers we've gone through, we still haven't used Carroll or Turner. So now we're going to have to sacrifice Narvaez to the wolves. Not that he was a top prospect or anything. Reminds us, though, that stowing away the A+/AA Cuban catcher from the Nationals for an entire year had ZERO payoff at all. He's where he would be invaluable...or would have been, that experience.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 06:11 PM) Yeah, seemed like a lot of relievers, which makes sense if you're trying to win the game I guess. It's still bulls*** that a pitcher with the 5th highest fWAR in baseball doesn't get acknowledged as a "star", which is still the point of the game right? Or the point from the article (see below), that well-rounded players like Springer, Polanco and Marte lost out to bigger "name" guys like Carlos Beltran and CarGo. Pretty shocking Duval was picked, although they had to go with someone from CINCY and his stats look good on paper, especially for a youngster. Seems the players mostly or completely ignored the concept of WAR and advanced stats completely.

QUOTE (gosoxgo2005 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 07:31 PM) I'd be shocked if Yost was looking at WAR or FIP when making his selections. Still, Eaton and Q were snubbed. Garcia too GARCIA???

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...p-list-of-snubs All Star Snubs. Q gets a mention as a possible candidate to replace Wade Davis...no mention of Adam Eaton here.

Ray Allen reportedly coming out of retirement to suit up for the Warriors. And it begins...

Okay, KM. Thought I would give it a whirl.

Wild card/division leaders by RS/RA differential +89 Cleveland +62 Toronto Blue Jays +53 Boston Red Sox +51 Seattle Mariners +41 Texas Rangers +40 Baltimore Orioles +30 Houston Astros 0 Detroit Tigers -13 Chicago White Sox -23 Kansas City Royals -27 NY Yankees Pretty crazy the Mariners and White Sox have the same exact record at 43-41.

Isn't Shaq originally from Baton Rouge? You'd think even more embarrassing (from a police PR standpoint) to have it happen in the state capital.

There were several scouts on hand to see Hill’s first start since May 29. He is on a one-year deal, making him a strong candidate to be traded before the deadline, and he will be in much demand. The Orioles, Red Sox, Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers, Pirates and Royals were among the teams with scouts in attendance Saturday. Kansas City is among the clubs with interest in both Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick, who also will be a free agent after the season. Contrary to one published report, the Royals do not have any interest in A’s third baseman Danny Valencia, who played for Kansas City in 2014. Hill’s only real trouble came in the fourth, when he gave up two runs. sfchronicle.com Many teams in on both Reddick and Rich Hill...trade winds? Rangers interested in Erwin Santana...

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 10:41 PM) You do realize that Fulmer is in his first full season of pro ball and Adams is in his second year while being 20 y/o. Young pitchers do struggle. Just because they struggle does not mean you should give up on them. Also, cooper has very little to do with them at this stage. That's more for the minor league pitching coordinator, Kirk Champion I believe, and their individual pitching coaches. Pretty sure it's Curt Hasler now. Champion got bumped up on the food chain.

Tanaka, fwiw, is mostly known for his sinker. And movement. He's never been a high high velocity pitcher. It's one of the main reasons teams were scared off. They wanted another Darvish. There was concern that somehow 93ish would go to low 90's/high 80's (and it did, when he was really scuffling with all those elbow problems). But he's managed to be surprisingly (and quietly) effective when healthy. Doesn't blow your socks off like the Mets' staff, that's for sure. But you can say the same thing for the way Sabathia pitches today, compared to 2007.