caulfield12

Suzuki just feasts on the White Sox...he has to be in the Top 10 for opposing baa the White Sox in the last 5 years or so.

They are the team to worry about because they have comparable starting pitching and can go 5-6 deep there... Offensively, Kipnis, Brantley, Santana, Napoli, Gomes and Lindor give them six legit threats. Plus they have a much better farm system than anyone in the division that's competing legitimately for the division.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 6, 2016 -> 07:12 PM) Sox need to feast on the Twins this weekend And the warm weather to put up some homers against a struggling Twins' staff...

QUOTE (Tony @ May 6, 2016 -> 07:11 PM) Add his leadoff skills, along with his contract, he's honestly is probably one of the most valuable assets in the MLB right now. If he had the knack for stealing 40-50 bases as well, he might be the most valuable asset in the game... As far as that most valuable asset goes, we're going to hear 1,000,000 different trade proposals for Mike Trout now that Richards is going down to TJ.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 6, 2016 -> 07:09 PM) Guys im at the park. That was un freaking real. He shot out like a cannon to catch that The Twins' hitter (think it was Nunez) was in shock/disbelief at that one...maybe they're just used to Sano messing up every play in RF these days that they assume a ball like that has to be a double or triple off the bat.

Abreu leaned on a curveball there...dove across home plate and hooked it. Looked like a DJ iron shot. 5-1 Sox. Don't stop now!

That's arguably two runs saved (by holding the runner to a single last inning) and then saving a double/triple just now...it's fun to watch great defense while other teams are making mistakes that lead to runs. Fwiw, the highest number of games up in the standings were 6 games ahead for two days in early June. After tonight, it should be 4 ahead of the Indians and 5 ahead of the Royals and Tigers.

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ May 6, 2016 -> 03:04 PM) The same O's team we nearly got Arietta from for a bag of balls. Not a very good post. By that logic, the Yankees are the dumbest franchise on earth because they traded away Contreras and let Jose Quintana go for nothing. Sometimes, things just don't work out for highly-touted prospects in their original organization. That's the way it works in the world of sports. When they get a second chance, and find the right coaching/regimen, they take often take advantage as long as they possess the requisite amount of talent. The Brooklyn Dodgers tried to hide Roberto Clemente in their minor league system and didn't play him for long stretches so opposing scouts wouldn't notice him...their major league outfield was full at the time. Are they idiots because the Pirates claimed him and Clemente went on to become the best RF in the game?

QUOTE (Tex @ May 6, 2016 -> 03:13 PM) I was just thinking doesn't releasing Danks put the team in a more honest negotiating position. Here is the spot for you. Look at the standings. Don't look at our offer. Look at the standings and here is your spot in the location. Why are you looking at the cash? I told you don't look at the cash, look at the standings. . . Unless the Giants want to bring him back and put him in the rotation again...they'd have to give up on Cain or Peavy, though. http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Tim-L...gue-7406488.php Threw 88-91 MPH...

The answer to your question is the first 3-4 seasons of the new stadium, early 90's. Then things started to really go south the second half of the 90's until they became at least sort of relevant again in 2000.

Jon Garland was more like a 3/4 for most of his Sox career with the exception of a couple seasons (2005 being one). Not sure how good of a comp that one is.

Haha...well, the movie title is just a bit misleading in one sense...because, marketing. (Yes, I'm aware it's part of the comic pantheon also). True, no Hulk and no Thor, but it has all the feel of an Avengers movie because you've got about 12 different characters in motion at the same time. To me, it was a bit reminiscent of X-Men (everyone's got a gimmick these days!) mixed in together with the Captain America series.

http://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/11...target-bathroom This Target story sounds "too perfect" in a sense...but interesting take nonetheless. Oops, saw where Greg already picked up on it, but surprised because it doesn't support his argument necessarily.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 6, 2016 -> 11:36 AM) I don't understand their short leash on Johnson. He's no worse than Gonzalez or Danks right now. At least give him a chance to try and improve at the MLB level. Unless they have some "inside information" with team doctors/psychologists and just don't believe he possesses what it takes "between the ears" to be a consistently successful big league pitcher. Cooper pulled the plug on Daniel Hudson after just 3 starts, and he had much more obvious stuff/ability than Johnson, who, considering his ideal size/frame, should be a workhorse who throws consistently in the low to mid 90's. Johnson looks a lot better on paper (especially his AAA results and even August/September run with the Sox) than he does in reality. Watching video, there's just nothing overwhelming or exciting that jumps out at you that makes you believe he's actually going to stick.

If he gets behind in the count and can't catch up with (or lay off) high fastballs, he's eerily reminiscent of Viciedo and Beckham struggling with that same issue. Dayan, in particular, where you felt once the count wasn't in his favor, the at-bat was pretty much doomed. It seems (and I haven't watched enough games or highlights, mostly following throw apps/online) that a lot of his heavy damage is done on offspeed stuff, whereas fastballs often result in flares that drop in. Perhaps that's changed recently. I do know that eventually he has to prove he can consistently drive that high fastball into the RCF gap (ala Quentin or Abreu) or he's going to face a steady diet of pitching high or inside, challenging him to turn on it (like Lawrie has shown the ability to do, even high and on the outside corner at 95-96) and pull it way out.

And, despite everything just written, he's got a great amount of "veteran savvy" to his game...call it swagger, cockiness/confidence...he's a very composed/poised and mature young man, and part of that comes from being projected as the #1 overall draft pick for a couple of years and all the scrutiny that goes along with that as well as pitching in spotlight of the ACC. That's one of his biggest positives. A 1-4 start won't affect him or "get in his head" like it might with Erik Johnson...to where it snowballs and he becomes more and more ineffective. It would be a shock if he doesn't rebound as the whether gets nicer in May/June, as most Florida kids respond better to the heat.

As to the previous poster's point, the one thing that PTAC has always argued (and he's studied the physiology of pitching more than anyone here, and professionally) is that his command will be much harder to maintain consistently over the course of a game (and he's definitely got a much higher walk rate than Sale, one key difference) along with the fact he would be more susceptible to injury. Of course, we've heard 1,000,000 times that Sale would have to fall apart over time because of his frame, inverted W, etc., since 2010...was a reliever instead of a starter, etc. That said, Rodon is more reminiscent of a more durable Hector Santiago than Chris Sale at the moment. Somewhere in the middle. A #2 or possibly a 3. Maybe in my lifetime, the lefty that he's most reminiscent in terms of potential is Wilson Alvarez, and I believe Wilson had even more explosiveness overall across the board when he came to the big leagues than Rodon even. Alvarez threw a no-hitter and put up some impressive numbers but never quite managed to become the ace we all projected him to be. Obviously right now it's easy to be a BIT down on him, to even wish we had Nola/Wacha instead of Rodon...time will tell. But I'll quickly agree that the odds of him being better than Chris Sale aren't that great.

If the Orioles thought Gonzalez still had "it," he wouldn't have been jettisoned. Especially in that division, you can't get away with 87-90 when you've previously been in the low and even mid 90's earlier in your career. Whether he comes close to getting that fastball back, that's going to be one of the big keys. Yes, it's obvious. And we've had guys like Paulino who were throwing mid 90's without any command that got ripped to shreds easily enough. Not just about throwing hard, but command/control in and out of the zone. If you look at the fact that they lost one of their best pitchers in Chen to the Marlins and STILL let Gonzalez walk, that's pretty telling about their confidence in him going forward.

I'm not sure how his fastball is "as good as it gets." The slider, sure, no doubt. The only way he can get away with throwing a more controlled 90-94 instead of 94-97 is by getting ahead in counts and having better command inside the strike zone. Unless he's now suddenly getting a lot more movement than before, the FB that I previously saw was relatively straight and not nearly so explosive as Sale's. It wasn't nearly the put away pitch that Chris' FB was/is, and part of that has to do with all the arm angles and funky motion/delivery Chris utilizes. The best slider in recent years from a starter was probably Francisco Liriano's in 2006, before he blew out his elbow because of all the torque throwing that pitch 88-91 MPH. Rodon's is usually around 86-87. He's going to still have to improve that change-up and be able to throw it at least 15% of the time to be a really dominant pitcher IMO.

Would be shocked to see Fulmer before August/September, and then, more likely as a reliever...presumably with the organization being concerned about managing his total innings for the season.

Let's also not forget the Phillies have nothing to lose this season and are playing quite relaxed...and they also face the Braves and Marlins quite a bit, although to say he's fattening up on the Mets (who weren't a very strong offense until Cespedes came on board) and the Nationals would be pushing it a bit. Just a completely different environment in the two cities in terms of expectations right now. It's why it was pointless to compare, say, Kip Wells' numbers with the Pirates back in the early 00's versus what he realistically would have done pitching for the White Sox. And then the NL has those 5-6 pretty terrible teams (and had them in the 2nd half as well last year), compared to the relatively parity and strength of the AL. Pretty sure Nola's numbers don't stand up as well pitching in the AL (taking the DH out of consideration, that's obvious too)...

Who was the best Korean starting pitcher on the market and why didn't he leave the KBL? Anyone know? Yeah, the fifth starter thing for next year is not one of the biggest concerns...it's getting that spot in the rotation where maybe you go 2-4 instead of 1-5 every six starts. Over the course of the year, that's a difference of -16 vs. -8, a HUGE eight game swing in the standings that will define whether we can get to the playoffs or not. Obviously, 18-1 out of Sale/Quintana/Latos/Gonzalez starts won't continue, and hopefully Rodon will get things turned around as well, as nobody who thought we were going to be in contention had him pegged with a 1-4 record at this point in the season.

Avengers (3.25/4)

With all that said about starting pitching, all of the other teams have plenty of issues (except maybe CLE)... Royals have Chris Young and Medlen to a lesser extent struggling, but have more depth (Duffy, Gee, Wang, Zimmer, etc.) Indians might have the best overall rotation if Trevor Bauer can ever figure things out. Kluber, though, hasn't been the same pitcher as 2014 (granted, he won the Cy Young over Sale), and Tomlin/C.Anderson are a crap shoot at the back end in terms of stuff. Tigers have a dominant pitcher so far in Jordan Zimmerman, two washed up pitchers in Verlander and Sanchez, a top prospect in Michael Fulmer just getting his feet wet and taking his lumps...and then Greene for now, although Daniel Norris is probably their fifth when he comes back. Minnesota is just a mess. Hughes (5.85 ERA), Nolasco (4.05 ERA, about as expected)....Ervin Santana (currently injured) and Alex Meyer/Tommy Milone (5.79 ERA), Jose Berrios (6.75 ERA) is one of the Top 30-40 prospects in baseball and many are extremely high on him but he's been up and down like M.Fulmer and will probably have a typical inconsistent rookie year.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ May 6, 2016 -> 12:03 AM) And let's not forget Kenny's "brilliant" decision in 2009 to have the back end of his rotation manned by a beat up, done Jose' Contreras and an overweight pre steroid Bartolo Colon. Worked out great didn't it? I've consistently said, you don't need five starters today, YOU NEED SIX because someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to slump, rain or snow is going to force double headers. The top five stay in the rotation and the sixth guy goes to the pen for long relief and spot starting. If one of the top five can't cut it, you switch the long guy into the rotation. It's not that hard to figure out folks and it gives you some flexibility and insurance. Why the Sox can't seem to figure this out is beyond me. They keep costing themselves playoff spots (like in 96 after a 40-21 start) and 2003. How many times do they have to see it f*** up before they learn. Mark One more reminder. Trading three starters (or 2.5) in Wells, Josh Fogg and Sean Lowe for Todd Ritchie, who didn't even last a season. That really dealt a blow to our depth, as well as the injuries to guys like Parque, Rocky Biddle (ended up in the pen), Lorenzo Barcelo...and then you had the highly touted guys like Matt Ginter, Danny Wright and Rauch who sucked/got injured. Only Jon Garland and Buehrle made it with the Sox and had a lasting impact.