caulfield12

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 07:08 PM) Yes sir, in the long run, probably more important than the final result tonight. Now 2 quality starts in his last 9, the other against DET on September 10th. Masterson coming out for the 9th with over 100 pitches. That's a bit of a shocker, in this weather. Hill will likely face Adam Dunn. Have to love Francona's confidence. 108 pitches. Ace vs. the other team's best power threat, RHP vs. lefty batter. Typical manager pulls Masterson and prevents the possibility of a win for his pitcher.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 07:07 PM) Not living in Chicago makes it hard for you to sense just how little buzz there is about the Sox this year. The Nats announcers seemed pretty amazed that we led the division almost the entire season last year and our biggest off-season move was Jeff Keppinger.

Gimenez did have a 764 OPS at Charlotte last year and double digit homers....but he's usually been a sub 700 OPS guy even in the minors. Plus, the weather's absolutely terrible and he has been sitting on the bench for most of the season. Knowing your personnel, if you have that move to make 100 times, I'll cross my fingers and let Ramirez hit away...and take 3 chances at it, rather than putting all the pressure on Hector. It's not a HORRIBLE play, but with Ramirez's inability to execute and Gimenez following him, it's not nearly so logical.

Nobody on this team deserves to have any fan support tonight other than Rios, Gillaspie and Quintana. God, this is awful baseball and managing. Just pathetic. The marketing department has to be cringing and hoping nobody's paying attention. By the way, Masterson has beaten the reigning Cy Young winners in back-to-back starts. Although RA Dickey's not your typical winner and might...will more likely regress to his career norms.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 06:58 PM) Clearly, someone needs some bunt work in the cage. Ramirez has been horrible sacrifice bunting since 2008. No news there.

TYPICAL. White Sox Baseball. YAY! Why do we want to put the pressure on Gimenez to drive in a runner from 3rd in the first place??? STUPID STUPID BASEBALL. .155 with RISP this season. Great! Going down even more with the 0 for 3 tonight. 3/13 with RISP last night.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 06:52 PM) Dude, we have Rios under contract for another year plus a team option. You are looking way too far into the future. A lot of things could change between now and then, no reason to worry about an extension anytime soon. Forgot about that option year. Always thought about trying to get out from under that contract, not retaining him. It's a very interesting question...letting him walk seems crazy, with how good he has been. But spending that type of money on an aging veteran in the outfield is also a tough call. Odds are many situations will clarify themselves in the next 15 months. As they always do. Great approach by Gillaspie. Absolutely have to score this run...I'll go as far as to predict that we'll lose if we don't score here.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 06:49 PM) Holy f*** Rios! Let's just give him AL MVP right now! If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it... Can't imagine what the weather's like there for the Mets/Minnesota game. Snow everywhere in the area over the last couple of days. TOR at KC is a pretty huge "where are they now" series for the Royals.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 06:47 PM) Too late to try and use him as a significant trade chip, IMO. He's more valuable to the Sox than he would be on the market. With Konerko likely gone and Dunn gone after next year, gonna need to have some source of power on the roster. And they're in a predicament with Rios. He's our best player, by far. Not even close. Except with his age, his career history (2009 and 2011)...do you dare sign him to a 2-3 year deal? I can't imagine a team completely rebuilding almost their entire line-up would be in a position to keep him in his mid 30's. Just doesn't make sense. As good as Gillaspie has looked, at some point he's going to have to show some power.

Well, if we can't count on Viciedo to hit RH'ers ever....we are getting closer to the Marty Plan time.

Dammit. Rios and Konerko (especially) just missing homers. Can we actually get a hit with a RISP? Huge AB for Viciedo here.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 06:32 PM) If they keep playing like this, it will be interesting to see how awful the attendance is when they return from Toronto. http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance Starting to actually feel sorry for Billy Beane's predicament there in OAK. What more does that team have to do to create excitement? He made the right move signing Cespedes, which at the time looked like a huge risk. We are ahead of KC, too, haha. That means we trail the likes of Houston, SEA, TB, Pittsburgh, etc.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 06:32 PM) If they keep playing like this, it will be interesting to see how awful the attendance is when they return from Toronto. God, you have to dread going up to TOR with their history up there....in this type of offensive malaise, poor fundamentals, brain cramps, spotty bullpen performances (there have been a few exceptions), missing a key defensive player when you need every little advantage to win close games. Are they lined up to face Buehrle? At least in 2011 and early 2012, they were excruciating, late game losses by the SOX, usually by Thornton and then Santiago last April. These losses...we've just been BLAHHHHH. It's more like going back to 2009 or 2007.

With this weather, it's hard to tell how good Quintana actually has been...but, at least he's not getting torched. Quintana making 4th appearance against Indians. Career against CLE, only 2 earned runs closing in on 18 innings of work.

Is Gimenez actually the kind of hitter that you can rely on a hit and run situation? Ventura's continuing his 2nd half nosedive from a managerial standpoint. Would really love to see some signs of progress from a tactical/strategic standpoint. Not seeing it, YET. It can't be all Don Cooper's absence, can it? Masterson 19 IP, 8 hits, 1 ER. Not looking promising. Just have to hope and pray for a solo homer. Not so easy to pull off against the sinker/slider combination.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 06:24 PM) I love it when Alexei singles on that grounder up the middle. That's when he's keeping everything on line. That's bad. Low slugging percentage.

Not going to win many games with #2, #4, #5 and #6 hitters all below .200. At least the offensive "explosion" last night raised our overall team batting average into the .250 range. Ramirez gunned down at 2B on the steal attempt. Another wasted baserunner to lead off an inning. Looking like Ozzie Ball again, haha. EDIT: Guess it was a hit and run, the Indians' announcers didn't pick it up right away. They were raving about their catcher's arm too much.

Feast or famine. Welcome to the White Sox Family of all-or-nothing hitters (Thome, Dunn, Viciedo, etc.)

Correct that, two baserunners. Fell asleep, this game is so boring. Viciedo with a solid defensive play in LF against Brantley.

Only one baserunner through 5 innings for the White Sox, Rios' near double. One thing Quintana is doing better this game is mixing his pitches and not just staying inside against RH'ers with the cutter. Like Buehrle, when he mixes his pitches and can locate the fastball as well as hitting the backdoor with the curveball or change, that's when he's most effective. Still, Masterson has only given up one ER all season in 2 1/2 games. Not an encouraging showing for the White Sox offense.

I think with White Sox prospects, it's better never to get excited unless they accomplish something in BIRM.

Rios with a blast high off the wall...ends up getting thrown out by Brantley trying to stretch it to a double. That's just the way things are going right now. Has a hitting streak dating back to last year, though. Pretty amazing when you think about...Quintana spent 6 years in A ball, one month in AA and zero appearances in AAA. Struck out the side in the bottom of the 1st. Didn't see that coming. Cabrera and Kipnis are both struggling out of the gate. Masterson 4-5 lifetime against the Sox but with an ERA in the mid 2's.

Starting on August 25th of last season, Quintana's had 8 starts, and only one of them has qualified as a QS. He did have starts where he went 5 2/3 giving up 3 runs, and another start against LAA with 5 IP and 1 ER (4 total runs allowed due to errors). His lone really good effort was SEPT 10th against the Tigers, where he stemmed the bleeding for the moment. He's due.

Courney Hawkins K's 12/18 AB's at W-S 56/229 AB's overall for all his 2012 stops Hopefully by mid-May he can at least cut it down to 1/3.5 AB. All about making adjustments. Hopefully pushing him a level above where almost every 2012 HS graduate is playing (or two levels) will turn out in the end to have been the right move.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 03:59 PM) Think of the trade market for left handed starting pitching. Even if he emerges as a #5 type arm, he has big value for being under control for six years. You've just made another argument on behalf of Hector Santiago starting. So if that has "big value," why does such a dynamic arm get consigned to the least important role on the pitching staff? They're definitely not maximizing his value in any way, shape or form. IF IF IF Quintana could put up Gavin Floyd's numbers going forward (minus the K's, which will never match up), sure. Are you willing to bet on Quintana doing so? Any team in contention that needs a filler in the back of their rotation will go with the veteran Floyd over Quintana. And teams that aren't in contention aren't going to be desperate to trade for him.