caulfield12

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 09:53 PM) He's wearing down from playing everyday. There aren't many catchers around like AJ Pierzynski who can take a beating behind the plate and continue playing everyday without their performance falling way off. Nieto needs more playing time for development and Flowers will benefit from more games off. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/pro...?P=Adrian-Nieto He was an 818 hitter in two years of High A ball after three years of 680 in lower A. Of course, that's six years in the minors already, but it's a possible sign of progress, and we all know the effect the presence of Abreu has had on Ramirez and to a lesser extent Viciedo (at least until recently).

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 09:48 PM) Dear Lord I hope those two guys aren't married...

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 09:29 PM) Nice win. When you have Abreu in the lineup you win some 6-5 games. Lot of good things like Gillaspie getting another big RBI hit and Eaton coming through with the chopper hit. And Bella who had lousy stuff surviving a five-out ninth. The leadoff hitter should have been out on that liner to right. Who knows what would have happened had we gotten that out. Maybe a 1-2-3 ninth. Great win. It would have been meltdown mode blowing a 2-run lead in the ninth in opening game of a 4-game set. You guys may get rained out tomorrow if this front is headed your way. Royals game had no chance today. It's been raining for 11 hours straight. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-174434210.html Greg, is that you? JK.

Yay for Viciedo's OBP.

Is Conor qualified yet for the AL batting leaders list yet? Heard he would be #1 the other day but was just coming up short on plate appearances. Kroled a grounder to Kinsler there.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 08:32 PM) Petricka is so underrated. Webb too. Putnam too. Basically our whole bullpen minus Belisario and Downs is good. I'm probably forgetting someone- oh yeah, except Guerra too. And Carroll. Belisario is/was VERY good against the Dodgers and in the 8th inning set-up role.

JD Martinez not distinguishing himself in the outfield tonight.

That ball's not going out with the cold and breeze tonight. Alexei was going into his home run trot out of the box. Didn't seem to affect Cabrera's as much.

Remember when DeAza used to absolutely destroy the Tigers out of the leadoff spot? Seems like a lifetime ago.

Viciedo with one of his best defensive plays of the season. Looked like a double off the bat. Nice defense there by Conor as well, some really nice swings by the Tigers but Noesi through 4 with only 1 run given up.

This is where Noesi fell apart his first game against the Tigers this year...not sure if he was pitching for the Mariners or Rangers, but he pitched 3 scoreless then gave up a crooked number. Looks like he's going to limit the damage this time.

White Sox over their last 17 games (since the return of Sale).....2.96 ERA and 3 runs scored per game Previous 45 games... 5 runs scored per game Tigers 41-20 against the White Sox since the beginning of the 2011 season.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 11:02 AM) I agree. In a couple of years we might have a better idea, but certainly not now. I know he isn't the greatest fielder ever but in the minors before he was called up, Jeter had 21 errors in 57 games. Followed that up with 56 errors in 126 games. Then had 25 in 138 and 29 in 123. That's 131 errors in 444 games. Maturing, getting to play on better fields and having a first baseman who can save you a couple can make a big difference. That doesn't sound as accurate as saying the same year after he was drafted out of high school, he made 21 errors right after he turned 18 and then 56 errors at Greensboro in 1993 when he was 18/19.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 03:09 PM) I think all he gains by not signing is a 4 yr college degree to use when his arm falls off. So I think you are on the right track, but a Sept call up might be a little premature. But can't Boras and Rodon take out an insurance policy against future earnings...albeit a much smaller one than Max Scherzer took out when he turned down his $144 million extension offer?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 10:38 AM) Oh, you mean after you named 10 ex sox players because thats what you love to do. Is that a ban-worthy offense at WSI??? Please, show me this statistical reinforcement and this is the absolute gold nugget here. I absolutely love when you criticize players and managers for everything from body language to fundamentals, and you NEVER ACTUALLY WATCH THE GAMES Lefties vs. Petricka 14/50 .280 and .662 OPS Lefties vs. Putnam 7/38 .184 and .533 OPS

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) What a terrible non response after asserting that Petricka was our 4th best reliever. The carousel continues because of you Just like your non-response about any area of managing that Ventura would be considered among/st the Top 5-10 in the game at ??? I gave statistical reinforcement for my answer, and covered both bases of argument. More than anything, gut/intuition/logic said Putnam was better to use against Hamilton than Petricka. Besides, how can I cite eye test when I've never actually WATCHED/SEEN Petricka or Putnam pitch this entire season?????

Let's just say with this "Semien improved versatility move," the odds are decreasing that they're realistically looking at replacing Alexei Ramirez at any point in the near future. If they're going to replace him with anyone, Tim Anderson's the only one close to the talent level of Ramirez. Nobody imagines he would make less than 30-40 errors in his rookie season in the big leagues, but he at least has UPSIDE at that position, vs. Sanchez and Semien who are more replacement level players at that position if you take both offense and defense into account.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 10:17 AM) Gotcha, thanks for the summary. Yes, the key point other than the fact that Ventura 1) believed that Sale was his best choice there despite the unique circumstances of the end of the 7th and the start of the 8th, after the 1 hitter up until that point...2) shouldn't have been over-riden by the fact that Chris Sale probably convinced Ventura to let him face Mike Trout when he was only 3-4 starts removed from a serious injury DLing and 3) the season, as we've been told over and over is basically meaningless, so why push one of the two most important assets to the brink in a high leverage situation where he's throwing a ton of pitches there at max effort (especially reaching back for every ounce of FB left against Trout) when you have relievers who have been doing the job for the last 6 weeks or so?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) Good question, what are they? Why should it have been Putnam instead of Petricka? Answered. And the typical response will be "small sample size," which will lead to a discussion that goes around and around and around. If Petricka's really our 2nd best reliever, then he would be the one used every single time in the 8th inning to get the ball to Belisario. (Note, yes, there are exceptions...where you use your BEST reliever in almost any situation between the 5th and 8th to get outs in key leverage situations, but that's not how Ventura uses his bullpen...and going by that argument, Webb still has a lot more dynamic stuff than Petricka...or are we now arguing that Petricka's surpassed Webb as well as the best relief pitcher on the team in high leverage situations?)

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) LMAO Petricka had a 1.42 ERA coming into that game. And everything else you describe is reason to keep Sale in. ERA's aren't the be-all, end-all when judging relievers. What happened to more advanced statistics??? Because Maikel Cleto has been used in similar situations this season and the same rationale was used for it...but his ERA is so low!!! The eyeball test, WHIP, anything would tell you he was right on the edge of a cliff nearly every single time out, other than one really nice inning against the heart of the Rockies' order in COL. Lefties vs. Petricka 14/50 .280 and .662 OPS Lefties vs. Putnam 7/38 .184 and .533 OPS In what world is it a better idea to use a hard throwing righty rookie than a more experienced veteran who uses finesse and movement to get outs against Josh Hamilton? LMAO We should make Petricka the closer over Belisario based on your logic, since their ERA's aren't even comparable!!!

Opposing hitters are carrying a .145 average against Chris Sale through eight starts this season. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the lowest average against an American League pitcher through eight starts since Oakland’s Mike Norris had a .140 in 1980.

Hence, all the Saladino love at the AAA level is a bit curious since he still can't even crack some of our Top 25-30 lists on say the 17th-20th ranked farm system in all of baseball.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 09:24 AM) I didn't see the game, but this is what it sounds like to me. I'm confused. Ventura allows Sale to face Trout at 108 pitches Hahn should be on the hotseat if he doesn't fire Ventura immediately. I've looked over the thread but I'm failing to see the fireable offense. It was using Petricka over Putnam as well...that didn't make any sense to use your fourth best reliever. Granted, we can understand why he wouldn't choose to go with Downs against Hamilton, so part of this is Hahn's fault since if he keeps trotting Downs out there to get his brains bashed in, he'll also get criticized. I think it has to do with the fact that the situation was deteriorating so quickly...and yes, a lot of that wasn't Chris Sale's doing, the only hard-hit ball of the inning was Trout's, and it wasn't a horrible pitch or even particularly bad location. It was just the circumstances BEFORE the homer, particularly not getting the call against Kendrick as well as the missed out at 2B on Ianetta...which were both clearly leading to frustration with Chris (not unlike what happens with Quintana before a big inning ensues, normally related to defensive miscues around him).

Tanner asserts that many who have no particular religious beliefs would even argue that violence is a highly likely if not inevitable consequence of the "irrationality" of religious precepts.[6] Similarly, Hector Avalos argues that religions claim "scarce resources" for themselves over and against other groups. Consequently, this may lead to violence because conflicting claims to superiority are based on unverifiable appeals to the supernatural which cannot be adjudicated objectively.[9] Some general critics of religion and polemics such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins go farther and argue that religions do tremendous harm to society in three ways:[10][page needed][11][page needed] 1) Religions sometimes use war, violence, and terrorism to promote their religious goals, 2) Religious leaders contribute to secular wars and terrorism by endorsing or supporting the violence, and 3) Religious fervor is exploited by secular leaders to support war and terrorism. Amartya Sen adds that political leaders frequently use religious differences to initiate or perpetuate violence: [12] "Although the wars [in Iraq and Afghanistan] were ostensibly initiated to counter terrorism, religious differences are stressed just as often by American politicians and pundits as the reasons to continue the violence."[13]

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 8, 2014 -> 11:51 PM) Sale is an ace? ... Not yet, folks. So if he struck out Trout and got the win on Saturday night, he would be?