caulfield12

Why don't we have any guys like Matt Carpenter....extreme fatigue syndrome....shows up 7 hours before every game, strenuous workouts/exercise regimen, etc. The last really hard worker was Pierre. Eaton and Abreu are the closest, I guess. Maybe Adam's just been too overwhelmed by the new contract.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 11, 2015 -> 05:41 PM) You don't become one of the worst base running teams in history by doing things the right way! We never did have a mandatory team meeting to go over fundamentals/hitting the cut-off men/backing up bases during one of those off-days, etc.?? Guess that big KW/Hahn imparting their executive skills session was critically important, lol. Would give up eating pizza for one month to get my hands on that recording...

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 11, 2015 -> 05:41 PM) When will our runners learn to hit the front of the bag and not the middle? Vincent Van Gogh Coleman...#notamasterpiecein2015

Well, you'd think Geo would be familiar enough with his stuff to know what are his "go to" pitches. At any rate, that game where Gomez had about 10 RBI's for the Twins and beat Jenks at the end in late 2008 still rankles (I think it was the culmination of a sweep, and season was tottering on the brink at that point). #twinsnightmare

QUOTE (SoxAce @ May 11, 2015 -> 05:36 PM) Carlos Gomez might be the only player I can remember Hawk being right about in terms of potential/upside. Yeah, he wasn't exactly right on Delmon Young or Dayan, lol. (Of course, he's always going to hype all of our prospects, like Ryan Sweeney that one spring). "Beautiful play by Conor Gillaspie..." haven't heard those words in ages.

All positive White Sox momentum after these comebacks, the Royals, Tigers and Reds (2/3 series)....then, POOF! They just can't seem to sustain anything for more than a game or two. Schitzophrenic.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 11, 2015 -> 05:33 PM) Alexei seems like he's been awful defensively this year. He was at 0.00 dWAR before that play. Probably fall to -0.01, right behind Semien, who's at 0.00 still. Around 18th in the majors.

"Too easy" according to Bob Uecker, lol. Hit the heel of his glove. Typical Alexei error...

Well, every team is just off to the races this year against us...especially with Soto behind the dish. Conversely, are we last in stolen bases in MLB or at least the AL?

Beckham would have had it. Can't make a trademark or copyright, lol.

Peralta is like Yordano Ventura, minus a couple of MPH on the fastball and the high-strung antics.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 11, 2015 -> 05:07 PM) They had the superstars last year, but they didn't win enough to get fans interested. I really think with the buzz they had going into the year, if they would have got off to a good start, attendance would have increased by a lot. I actually do think the Bulls/Hawks games going on at the same time does have a significant impact on attendance. Plus you wouldn't even know the White Sox exist in the media because of the presence of Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Soler, Maddon, etc. The Cubs got off to a pretty good start and soaked up 90% of the available local attention.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance 28th after 14 home games. Sure the FO was hoping for better. Yeah, yeah, weather, Bulls, Blackhawks, school's in session, etc. Fwiw, Minnesota fans haven't weathered four seasons of losing up there very well, despite their team being off to a very surprising start. Unless Houston falls off dramatically, the best we can probably expect for the season is 24th. Maybe Arizona or Pittsburgh declines as well, but in all likelihood we're headed for 24th/25th again. The slow start is going to depress numbers in the early summer unless we start making an extended run right about now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 11, 2015 -> 03:25 PM) I only noted LaRoche had faced Pelfrey in 2 of those 5 games because it did show up and because it seemed worth noting. Now that I check, LaRoche is 11/16 career against Pelfrey, so hitting him well is one of those things he does. If you're trying to draw conclusions like "LaRoche is a better hitter when he plays 1b" from a 6 game sample set, then "he faced a pitcher that he's hitting .688 against career in 2 of those games" matters a lot. No, I don't think that even matters...because if the organization and Abreu himself believes he's too young to be a DH (ala Thomas), it doesn't matter about any statistics thrown out there. They have LaRoche around for only two seasons, so it would be pretty shocking if they "benched" Abreu (to DH) unless he continued to regress and cost the Sox games instead of making some improvements and progressing towards being at least league average (due to the lack of qualified instruction he had coming into 2014). http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding/_/so...true/order/true Here, LaRoche is at -0.2 and Abreu's in the middle of the pack at -0.1 for dWAR. Maybe you can find the DRS if you want to make another comparison.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 11, 2015 -> 01:24 PM) Based on what? A lucky as f*** ERA? He's started 6 games this season and has pitched 34.1 innings. That alone tells me he's not a top 10 pitcher. If you aren't averaging 6 IP a start, you are not a top 10 pitcher in the league. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/pitching/_/league/al/sort/WARBR Other than the Texas pitchers, all those names at the top definitely belong there. It's probably not going to be sustainable....my point, though, was that Pelfrey has pitched very well SO FAR, so when Mike Pelfrey is thrown into the conversation for his typical "so-so" expected performance to make a point on one side, the actual salient point here is that LaRoche hasn't feasted off complete garbage RH pitchers.

That would give them Tyus Jones and Tyus Battle. Can't beat a team with Tyus Squared. But is Tyus Jones going pro already?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 11, 2015 -> 12:21 PM) Jason Coskrey ‏@JCoskrey 57m57 minutes ago Former #MLB, #NPB star Julio Franco staying busy as player-manager in Japanese independent league | The Japan Times http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2015/05...wVUAo-1.twitter … Amazing he still has the forearm strength for that "bat wrap" style at his age, with the heaviest bats possible. Watching any White Sox hitters trying to emulate his style...especially against FB-dominant pitchers...priceless.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 11, 2015 -> 11:46 AM) I kinda want this. THE WILL TO WIN.

Then you're qualified to say Marcus Semien is terrible defensively after just 28 games in the MAJOR LEAGUES at a position the White Sox wouldn't let him play because of the presence of Alexei Ramirez, who the metrics say has provided the same exact level of defensive value? Okay..."fun with numbers," especially when you've never even actually watched him play SS this season.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 11, 2015 -> 08:09 AM) Advanced defensive numbers through 28 games is gospel to you as long as they show the White Sox suck and everyone else is great. I know the White Sox have bad defensive players, so does everyone else. I also know that Marcus Semien is an awful defensive player. Now that he is an ex-White Sox, you can't bring it on yourself to admit it. If he still was with the team, you would mention it daily. Go Royals, Cubs, Astros, and just about anyone else not the White Sox. How many games have you actually watched Semien play? Have you seen each one of his errors? How many games have you watched the White Sox play? Do you disagree with the statistics, then? Actually, DWAR has Abreu higher than LaRoche (although Adam doesn't have a big sample size), Conor as doing okay (maybe that's gone to negative since the weekend)....Melky Cabrera in the 2nd half of LFer's but close to the middle. Other than Beckham, which White Sox defenders have been AVERAGE or ABOVE AVERAGE from the good 'ol eye test? It's not a surprise you disagree with dWAR because it's inherently biased in favor of Lorenzo Cain, Jarrod Dyson, Alex Gordon, etc. Just because! http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding/_/po...ARBR/order/true Not surprisingly, Gordon is 0.2 dWAR. Because he's playing the position well and the numbers reflect that, albeit limited sample size again...

If Rodon's BIGGEST issues right now are command of his fastball AND developing more confidence in his change-up (enough to use it 7.5-12.5% of the time), then how is building his time in between starts to an abnormal amount going to aid his development? He needs to get a feeling for pitching...as he has stated consistently, he just trusts his catchers and fires away with whatever they're calling. The problem is that he comes into games totally amped up and tries to throw 97-99 MPH instead of finding a comfortable pace where he can get more movement and control of the ball instead of just throwing it. That change-up will come when he's able to get ahead in counts....or when his fastball velocity starts to fall towards the 92-93 MPH level and he needs another way other than the slider to miss bats and get out of 3-2 counts where the batter can keep fouling off his fastballs.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 11, 2015 -> 06:49 AM) All 5 of the games where LaRoche has started at 1b were games where there was a RHP on the mound (2 of them were Mike Pelfrey). I think it shows that Robin uses him at 1b when there's a RHP on the mound and he's still terrible against LHP like he has been the last 2.25 seasons so any time you select games where he's playing against RHP his numbers look a lot better. Pelfrey is a Top Ten AL pitcher at least so far this season.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ May 11, 2015 -> 07:54 AM) Have to trade some player in areas where we have depth and bring up a young player...like SS. Or maybe trade some of our "bounty" in ready prospects for a position where we are thin. And getting some of these pitchers who seem a year away will be helpful too. A lot of these guys seem like they are almost there but just can't find that last rung on the ladder. We're going to need a 3B and a catcher. But I think we're okay in the OF - let Gillaspie shag balls; he's a good hitter against righties and has good value there...nice bat for our bench. We only have one potential impact SS (both offensively and defensively), and that's Tim Anderson. If we can tolerate his learning curve at the major league level. The problem is that we're going to be skipping a year in development if we push him too fast to Chicago...of course, on the other hand, breaking him into the big league line-up in 2017 (assuming Alexei's gone or moved to 2B) puts a rookie at a critical middle infield position in the heart of the oncoming "competitive window."

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 11, 2015 -> 07:33 AM) Take those WAR numbers on May 8th. That is how they will finish up. Semien looks like he will be able to hit, but he is an awful defender. Awful. So is Conor, so is Avisail...our catchers, Abreu...Alexei is slowing down, too, a 1/2 step a year. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding/_/po...true/order/true According to DWAR, Ramirez and Semien are on par, about neutral or 0.00. The list of the Top Ten defenders isn't much of a surprise. The fact that the White Sox constantly moved Semien around from 3B to SS to 2B...maybe it's another surprise that playing the most difficult position on the field without having been allowed to play there by the White Sox (at the MLB level) should consequently lead to some initial struggles. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding/_/po...true/order/true Micah Johnson is far and away the worst 2B among all qualified...it's not even close, -0.8. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding/_/po...true/order/true Adam Eaton is 25th, with only Wil Myers (who doesn't belong in CF but has to play there) behind him. Eaton is at -0.6. And Avisail is in negative territory but not quite so bad, 17th out of 26. Tyler Flowers is 20th/23. Basically, our entire defense sucks right now. In your idea, Jose Valentin was probably much worse than Royce Clayton as well if you went by simply errors and not range, UZR, total chances, all the outs he recorded with his arm that ended up as infield singles with Royce, etc.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ May 11, 2015 -> 01:27 AM) Sounds like more BS Cubs hype, it seems like the "pitch to him like he's a triple crown winner" method is working, the guy is a K machine. That was his dad's quote, by the way...Mike Bryant, former minor leaguer.