caulfield12

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2013 -> 07:12 PM) Something I don't get is why in the world is Flowers batting 8th and Wise 9th? If anything, you want to make it harder for opposition to bring in a lefty with it being Wise/Flowers/ADA. Instead, you make it much easier for opposition to play the match-ups. Because all "fast" players hit first or 9th, lol. Ventura doesn't often seem to be thinking very strategically with some of his line-up decisions.

Another classic Dunn ball in play pulled into the shift. Sigh. At least we're getting his pitch count up a LITTLE bit.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 1, 2013 -> 07:08 PM) anybody see the highlight of Napoli's homer in Toronto? Third deck CF. Red Sox got a great deal on that "renegotiated" contract. 18-8 and the surprise team of the AL, with the Angels most disappointing.

God, if you blinked or went to the bathroom, you would have missed that half inning. Seems like opponents' "offensive time of possession/Sox pitchers time on the mound" is about 75% and our hitters only 25% this year. Lots of impatient at-bats, and we don't even have Pierre and AJ around anymore.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:57 PM) After watching the replay, it sure seems like Baker knew an offspeed pitch was coming. Or he was just sitting on it, like Wise against Darvish yesterday. Not usually the best approach against a fastball-first pitcher, but guessing can pay off big time occasionally. Keppinger back under .200 and Konerko at .242. Weird.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:39 PM) Hawkins, or Jared Mitchell? Both...although Mitchell's arm is weak. And Thompson can play some D as well.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:53 PM) Verlander had an ERA over 5 in 2008. I bet the Tigers wish they'd released him then, right? The Sale deal will be fine as long as he stays healthy. Maybe the expectations of him coming out and winning the Cy Young or being better than last year were unrealistic with the increase of innings from 2011. Very worst case scenario, $30 million is no worse than money wasted on Rios in 2009/2011 or Dunn in 2011/2013 (so far)

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:52 PM) 96mph Is it comfortable, or frustrated/annoyed/overthrowing?

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:47 PM) The baseball gods HATE the Sox right now. 2 1/2 months now. Not just the present moment. They've even cursed our minor league prospects, at least the hitters. Not to mention all the injuries.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:44 PM) Sale has a good fastball tonight, he should be able to have solid results. Makes me think trading Peavy at mid-season before he wears down in the 2nd half wouldn't be the worst possible thing in the world, because he gets the Sox the highest amount back in return. Especially a contending NL team, maybe the Rockies or DBacks, that need another veteran pitcher to get them over the hump. Nobody else would get much back.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:42 PM) 6 HR in 34 innings for Sale...righties are hitting him very hard this year. Have they all been on "slower" fastballs or offspeed stuff? God, if Soto and his .158 average gets a big hit. Well, maybe this is another version of the 2006 season for Sox hurlers...the Verducci Effect for Sale/Peavy/Quintana. Too early to tell yet...he has been pretty inconsistent. If you take away that awful start where he gave up 8 against the Indians, he's been very good, but definitely not great.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:41 PM) Baker was a monster last night and just missed homers 2/3 in that game against Sox pitching. Can't say it's a surprise after the Flowers GIDP.

Which Sale fastball are we seeing so far tonight? The good one or the Jim Parque on PED's one?

QUOTE (fathom @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:37 PM) There's no way our scouts really thought he could be a full-time starter and perform well vs RHP. Everything about him screams platoon catcher. At one point, Gimenez was a top prospect with the Astros. Of coruse, that was 5-6 years ago, haha. He has some physical tools, good arm, decent pop for a catcher...I wouldn't be surprised to see him start to receive more playing time. There's just no other choice, other than Bryan Anderson, but that would mean demoting Flowers or benching him, and they're probably not ready to do that, either. At least not yet.

If things play out according to the Sox history this year, Sale will give up runs this inning... Should have blown the game wide open there. Where's our GATTIS? The Braves gave us the wrong catcher, haha. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/b...majors/2122585/

Beltre now something like 4/31 with RISP. Seems we don't get that many chances in a single week.

At least someone in our organization can play some defense, besides Alexei Ramirez.

Only one base-running mistake so far this game. Rios has been making more mental mistakes on the bases or defensively (missing the cutoff man) in the first month than all of last season. Still, he's our best player, and there's no argument.

What about a teacher yelling back? Tex talked about it. Have always had the idea once you lose your temper, get upset or let a student get to you...no matter what happens, you've already lost the confrontation before it has even ended. Although the police officer analogy is better. Once students know they can upset a teacher or get them to stop teaching the content/material and instead argue with the students, then they've "won" and know they can continue to get the teacher's goat until he cracks or does something really crazy, like throwing a chair (saw this many times in public schools) or something even worse to show that they were not to be messed with... Of course, you can only go to this well so often, or it loses it effectiveness. There's a saying in teaching, you can either be feared and loved, but it's very hard to be both. Of course, respected and loved would be the ideal...

At least we're better than the Blue Jays, Mariners, Astros and Angels (for now). Small consolation...just hope they can stay competitive for as long as possible or do go in a dramatically different direction at some point and look to the future. No more "in betweens" where they don't make any moves at the deadline or they try to convince the fans they're just a couple of moves from contending...because they're not in a position to add to the major league roster without subtracting Rios/Peavy/Ramirez. If they think Sox fans are going to be convinced that trading Gavin Floyd is the magic solution...well, not even Chris Rongey can sell that one. You can even make a legitimate case that Axelrod and certainly Santiago/Quintana have a lot more trade value than Floyd or Danks.

QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ May 1, 2013 -> 05:42 PM) should have built a roof over Kaufmann Stadium!! - Anibal Sanchez threw 115 pitches today (40ish in the first inning). he threw 122 in his last start. During the Twins series, all the starters went over 110 (Scherzer 115, Verlander 114). Seems early for Leyland to let his starters throw so much, but I guess with that leaky bullpen you do what you gotta do. Their middle relievers and set-up guys aren't so bad at all (haven't looked at stats recently, Villarreal was the one struggling the most in the beginning, and Benoit making adjustments to pitching at the end), you often hear them called a "bad bullpen," but 90% of this is the uncertainty at the end of pen with Papa Grande/Rondon.

Control/confidence with Veal. He was automatic almost all season long...to the point where you were shocked when he finally gave up a hit against a lefty, I can't remember who it was, I think it was the Tigers that broke his streak (or retiring X number of LH batters consecutively) but it could have been the Indians. As far as Omogrosso vs. Heath vs. Purcey vs. Moskos, they'll have to leave it up to the AA/AAA pitching coaches. They might do something surprising and bring up someone like Taylor Thompson. Or, if they need a long man, maybe Berken or Simon Castro, although Castro's been hard hit recently.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 1, 2013 -> 04:44 PM) I hope he does too. I've been right about a lot more players than I've been wrong about though. The jury is still out on Dayan Viciedo. It's way too early to make pronouncements about his career or future. Alexei Ramirez started off better than in 2012....he is what he is, but he's definitely not "done," has been one of our better offensive players in the first month and you could easily find a contending team to at least assume his contract if they lost their regular SS for an extended period of time or just needed an upgrade. As far as saying the John Danks deal was a bad one, are you on record the day that extension was announced saying it was a terrible decision? Or did you predict his injury?

Except Axelrod's not going to fetch much of anything in trade. Other teams would be much more likely to target Peavy, Quintana and Santiago. That's obvious, especially Peavy. Quintana has done pretty well this season, but he still has his doubters. And there are definitely plenty who feel Santiago will get exposed after seeing opposing batters 2-3 times per game or throwing 75+ pitches. However, he did well as a starter in September after we were out of it and he was great until being forced into the game for Floyd the other day. Peavy, Rios and Ramirez are the best trade chips at the moment. However, trading Rios or Ramirez means we're surrendering completely.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 1, 2013 -> 06:50 AM) Playing Flowers is giving up on season. And who are you going to trade to get a legitimate, affordable, Top 5-10 catcher in baseball? Remember, if he's a veteran, he likely will get too old and expensive to figure into your plans to compete in 2016.