caulfield12

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Sep 11, 2012 -> 07:42 PM) No, if you get lit up by Austin Jackson in a big situation, you suck. Sure, one of the best players in the AL all season long when he's healthy sucks. You must not pay attention to other teams or only watched DET last year.

QUOTE (BlackBetsy @ Sep 11, 2012 -> 07:39 PM) No. Pitchers who bomb out against a team's biggest rivals 3 times in a row + have a 10+ ERA in the playoffs and lose critical games at the end of the season (for the Padres) are choke artists. Let's not forget the game he was leading 6-0 going into the 6th and fell apart. He wins that game, this wasn't doesn't matter nearly as much.

Jesus. Did I say we lost? I just said we let them back into this game and series. That's it. The White Sox bullpen needs to show up and beat the Tigers, simple.

This was THE game we stepped on their necks and crushed them. Now, with a who knows what they'll get out of Gavin Floyd versus Scherzer, and the probability that Verlander will show up on Thursday ready to pitch the game of his life, we've just injected life back into them.

Thanks, Jake. Aces win those games where your team gives you a 2-0 lead. 2nd or 3rd starters give up 3 and cough up the lead.

Sigh. So much for Big Game Jake again.

New game. Knew it wasn't going to be easy, especially the top half of the line-up. The homer hurts less than the Infante bleeding single through the hole.

Wow, Wise was one more step from losing that one. Almost overran it and then lost his footing.

Fister at 60 through 4. That was a fast inning. AJ struck the ball well but right at the outfielder. Looks like Oakland and Baltimore are putting some distance between themselves and TB/LAA.

Boesch always seems to hurt us, somehow. Half of his homers this year are against the White Sox. Another near miss from Peralta, this time to RF. August or day games, those Cabrera and Peralta balls might have been homers. 70 pitches for Peavy through 4. That should at least get him through the 6th, then you'll have the usual debate about whether to pull him or leave him out to begin the inning with a reliever.

Beckham with a late season resurgence. Reminded me of Major League movie. "Too high, too high!!!"

Thought that was gone for sure. Automatic reflex with Cabrera to assume it's a homer. I don't think you would want to bet on beating Cabrera 3-4 times in one game with 92-93 MPH fastballs over and over again. You can get away with it once, maybe twice.

Early turning point of the game. Cabrera vs. Peavy, who wins?

They probably SHOULD play Wise over Viciedo while he's hot. How long that will last, nobody knows. Dunn needs to come back 100% healthy or he's going to end up pulling a Texiera, if he hasn't already.

Who cares about RISP? Just hit homers. Well, that formula works pretty well until October, at least.

Peavy.... Top 10 pitcher in WHIP and WAR. Win a big game, why don't you?

BY OPS, he's 16th out of 20 qualified now, just ahead of Darwin Barney and behind Kelly Johnson at 667. By WAR, Barney's actually 2nd in the majors leagues to Cano, ahead of the Laser Light Show in Boston...and Beckham's 18th, ahead of only the Weeks brothers in Milwaukee and Oakland.

Now would be a good time for him to earn that $9.5 million payday for 2013 if it's going to happen. Contract drive. We've seen one out of AJ.

QUOTE (Cerbaho-WG @ Sep 11, 2012 -> 04:32 PM) LH hitting sixty f***ing points higher against Fister. This is embarrassing by Robin. Which LH? The thing is, when someone has called for Dan Johnson to get serious playing time, there would invariably be numerous voices mentioning his batting average in the majors since 2007, that he's basically a AAA/A player now, another version of Dallas McPherson, that he's living off the reputation gained from those two big homers for the Rays AND that his AAA stats this season are basically meaningless because he always hits well in the minors and does nothing at the major league level. If you want to sit Tank against Scherzer and Verlander, though, I would be more open to that...HOWEVER, who do we have not in the current starting line-up that matches up well with guys who throw that hard?

Phil Rogers On Baseball September 11, 2012 Jose Quintana does not tiptoe into a room. He opens the door and waltzes right in, sometimes to stick around, sometimes to be promptly escorted out. It's a direct approach, one built around challenging hitters with strikes, and the White Sox prefer it to the p****-footing style of newcomer Francisco Liriano, who has gone from rotation savior to odd man out. He has been bounced to the bullpen for the Tigers series, if not longer, while Robin Ventura and Don Cooper put their trust in Gavin Floyd and a pair of young lefties, Hector Santiago and Quintana, down the stretch. Liriano, who has lost track of the strike zone, the consolation is that in regard to the White Sox's starting pitching, all plans are subject to change. "Starters, give us what you've got,'' Cooper said. "We're trying to win a game today with an eye toward tomorrow … and from where I'm standing right now, we're (in first place).'' Cooper talked about the starters being on a short leash, and sure enough Dylan Axelrod warmed up in the third inning Monday, after six of the first 10 Tigers hitters had reached base. But the 23-year-old Quintana made it into the eighth inning by piling up five strikeouts against Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Delmon Young while otherwise letting his teammates make plays. When back-to-back homers by Alex Rios and A.J. Pierzynski gave Quintana the lead, the 30,287 fans at U.S. Cellular celebrated briefly before returning to their nightly vigil, waiting for the bottom to fall out. If you've been following along, you know this is how it has been for some time on the South Side. With Liriano's earned-run average at 5.09 after eight starts in a White Sox uniform, Ventura is trying to the reach the finish line with a starting rotation that features Chris Sale, Jake Peavy and a changing cast of question marks. "To me it's not that much different than what we've done all year long,'' Ventura said. "To me, it's just baseball.'' Maybe. But despite the encouraging 6-1 win Monday, if the White Sox are to hold on to their lead in the American League Central, they're going to have to build off the Quintana performance. They must get better results from their rotation in the 22 remaining games than they've gotten in the last month. From Aug. 11 through Monday, the White Sox starters were 11-8 despite a 4.51 ERA — the highest among the eight AL contenders. The Rays, Tigers and A's have been far superior, and even teams like the Yankees and Orioles have been better. While the White Sox have some advantages over the Tigers — the biggest being their consistently excellent play in the field, compared with the ham-fisted nature of the guys from Motor City — they need to get an ERA of 4.00 or better from here on to win the Central. The Tigers' lineup remains surprisingly unproductive, but Detroit's rotation is ultra-solid (3.25 ERA since Aug. 10). Ventura can't know what he'll get from Floyd, but he's starting him Wednesday against Max Scherzer. I had thought that would only mean two more days of rest for Liriano, but Cooper says the free agent-to-be has been reassigned, at least for the next few games. "Liriano's going to be in the bullpen,'' Cooper said. "If he hasn't been in a game by Wednesday, we could give him a sideline with the idea of starting him some time in the Minnesota series. But we haven't been thinking about the Minnesota series.'' Quintana, a swingman for the Class A Yankees last year, is closing in on 170 innings. I would use Floyd's return and a day off next Monday to give him a break before going to a six-man rotation for the end of the season (you can do that without costing Sale and Peavy starts). But Quintana's success Monday probably will get him back on the mound Saturday in Minnesota, after Santiago (or possibly Liriano) pitches the series opener. "Tough kid,'' Ventura said. "Very, very tough kid.'' For better or worse, it's a patchwork quilt that the White Sox pitchers are making. Cooper hopes his guys can finish complete stitching it together, one strike at a time. [email protected]

Justin Morneau and Kendrys Morales also merit consideration in that category, just off the top of my head.

Who would have thought the signings of Donnie Veal and Jose Quintana in the offseason would be so momentous...??? Pitcher Donnie Veal is a cousin of former minor league infielder Kevin Johnson (more famous as a NBA All-Star and mayor of Sacramento, CA). Veal was born in Mississippi but his family moved to Arizona when he was 6 years old, when mother Tanya got a job at the Fort Huachuca military base. He set a school record with 19 strikeouts in a game as a junior, then made second-team All-State as a senior. He also played basketball in high school. He finished in the top 3% of his class. The Chicago White Sox took him in the 12th round of the 2003 amateur draft but he did not sign. Donnie enrolled at the University of Arizona on a baseball and academic scholarship. His mother died of stomach cancer in November of 2004 and Veal transferred to junior college. He was 8-5 with a 3.65 ERA in 2005, striking out 119 but walking 53 in 74 IP. The Chicago Cubs took the big left-hander in the 2nd round of the 2005 amateur draft, the 68th overall pick. He was signed by scout Steve McFarland for a $530,000 bonus. Veal split his 2005 minor league season between the AZL Cubs (0-1, 5.06 in 4 G) and Boise Hawks (1-2, 2.48, 34 K, .180 average in 29 IP). In 2006, Donnie dazzled, splitting Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors with Rich Hill. He was 5-3 with a 2.69 ERA in 14 games for the Peoria Chiefs, allowing a .179 average with 45 hits in 73 2/3 IP while striking out 86. He was promoted to the Daytona Cubs, where he went 6-2 with a 1.67 ERA, .170 average (46 H in 80 2/3 IP) and fanned 88. He led all Chicago farmhands in walks (82), strikeouts (174), lowest average allowed (.175) and ERA (2.16). Had he qualified, he would have beat out Chase Wright for the Florida State League lead in ERA. He allowed the lowest average of any starting pitcher in the affiliated minors that season and tied Philip Hughes for 10th in ERA. He was 6th in strikeouts in the affiliated minors. Baseball America rated him as the #2 Cubs prospect, the #9 prospect in the Midwest League and the #5 prospect in the FSL, behind Homer Bailey, Yovani Gallardo, Scott Elbert and Ryan Braun. In 2007, Veal went 8-10 with a 4.97 ERA for the Tennessee Smokies, striking out 131 in 130 1/3 IP but walking 73 and allowing a .320 average versus left-handers; surprisingly, right-handers were much lower at .240. Veal led all Cubs farmhands in walks and tied Kevin Hart for the most Ks. He led the Southern League in free passes. Veal's father had a heart attack while scuba diving in Mexico in November of 2007. That left the 23-year-old in charge of the family's estate. He was also left to take care of his younger brother, Devin, who was a college student. With many more off-field responsibilities than your typical minor leaguer, Donnie returned to the diamond in 2008 with the Smokies. He fell to 5-10, 4.52 while battling pressure on and off the field. He walked 81 in 145 1/3 IP while fanning 123. He led the Southern League in both walks and wild pitches (18). He led Cubs farmhands and Southern League pitchers in starts (29). He was 10 strikeouts behind SL leaders Todd Redmond and Tony Barnette. Veal was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Rule V Draft that winter. When hearing of their new acquisition, many Pirates fans associated the name with Bob Veale, another hard-throwing, African-American left-hander. Donnie made the 2009 Pirates out of spring training. His major league debut came on April 7 during a blowout loss to the Cardinals. Veal relieved Ian Snell with a 8-1 deficit in the 5th inning. He allowed a solo homer to Yadier Molina on his third MLB pitch, then fanned both Joe Thurston and Kyle Lohse. Veal walked Skip Schumaker and Colby Rasmus on four pitches apiece, then issued another 4-pitch walk, this one to Albert Pujols. He recovered to fan Chris Duncan to end the inning. Sean Burnett replaced him to open the 6th. from baseball-reference.com Had no idea he lost both parents at such an early age, in his early 20's. I lost my father at age 30 and THAT was super tough for me to deal with, for at least 3 years, to recover. That also connects him to the same baseball program that produced Brian Anderson and Ian Kinsler. Also didn't know he was once one of the Cubs' top prospects or that we'd originally tried to sign him out of high school.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,4704494.story http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...amous-than-good It's possible, in the end, that the Detroit Tigers just aren't as good as everyone believed. Famous? Sure. Big-name players? Sure. A playoff team? Not so sure. Take Monday's starter in the first game of a crucial four-game showdown against the American League Central-leading Chicago White Sox. Rick Porcello has been famous in baseball circles since he was the 27th pick in the 2007 draft. Many scouts believed he had the best arm in the draft that year but he fell to Detroit because of a high price tag. After one year at Class A ball, he was in the majors as a 20-year-old rookie in 2009 and had a pretty nice season, going 14-9 with a 3.96 ERA. Jim Leyland had enough confidence in Porcello to start him in the AL Central tiebreaker game against the Twins, and Porcello left in the sixth inning with a 3-2 lead, although the Tigers would eventually lose the game. The Tigers' season still isn't over, this is certain. There's still time for them to get hot and turn it around. But with every passing day, the odds of them turning it around seem less and less likely; three games back feels more like 30 at this point. And if this game is indeed the straw that breaks the camel's back, it's only appropriate that the story of said game -- a 6-1 loss at Chicago -- was a punchless offense, bad defense, and clutch hitting by someone other than Detroit. With their 3-2 victory over the Tigers Tuesday, the Indians have assured that they will at least win the series. It's amazing what, like, pitching well will do for you. Scoring hasn't been the Angels' problem for a while and certainly wasn't when the staff fell victim to some unsustainable poor performances and likewise lost ball games at an alarming rate in August. But in the past two weeks the staff ERA is 1.85 (3.50 FIP) and, presto, they're 11-1. Many in the game still love Porcello's arm, especially his bread-and-butter power sinker, and they've been waiting for a breakthrough season. It hasn't happened. Monday night, he was cruising along through five innings, having allowed only two hits and his sinker had helped generate six groundball outs. Fourteen pitchers later, he was out of the game and the White Sox ended up with a 6-1 victory behind a strong 7.1-inning effort from Jose Quintana. Porcello dropped to 9-12 with a 4.59 ERA. In the sixth, he struck out Kevin Youkilis but Dewayne Wise reached on Omar Infante's error. Paul Konerko singled to left on a 1-2 92-mph sinker. That led to a visit from pitching Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones. Whatever advice Jones gave him ("Go get 'em, kid!"), it certainly didn't help. Two pitches later, Alex Rios drilled Porcello's two-seam fastball -- his 10th two-seamer in a row in the inning -- over the left-field fence for a three-run homer. Two pitches later -- a changeup and then another two-seamer -- A.J. Pierzynski made it 4-1 with a crushing solo shot to center. Exit, Porcello. It's no coincidence that Porcello struggled the third time through the Chicago lineup. Look at stats entering Monday's start: First time through the order: .281/.314/.377, 3.40 SO/BB ratio Second time through the order: .304/.346/.464, 3.08 SO/BB ratio Third time through the order: .356/.407/.494, 1.60 SO/BB ratio Look, Infante's error set the inning in motion. Maybe Porcello goes 1-2-3 without the miscue. On the other hand, this outing was par for the course for the right-hander. For whatever reason, his sinker becomes less effective as the game goes along. Here's another stat that shows that: Innings 4-6: .239/.283/.307 (220 plate appearances ending with a sinker) Innings 5-7: .410/.453/.581 (129 plate appearances ending with a sinker) Sabermetricians keep track of a stat called BABIP -- batting average allowed on balls in play. I cite it here quite often. The consensus theory is that pitchers have little control -- some argue none -- over what happens once the ball is put in play, that the result is the residue of defense and some combination of good or bad fortune. Among qualified starters, Porcello entered Monday's games with the worst BABIP in the majors at .350. Considering teammate Max Scherzer was second-worst at .336, it's fair to suggest the Detroit defense is somewhat to blame here -- the Tigers are 27th in the majors in percentage of balls in play that are turned into outs. (Although it's interesting to note that Porcello is a fairly extreme groundball pitcher and Scherzer a fairly extreme fly ball pitcher.) Still, the above numbers seem to suggest that Porcello clearly has a large degree of control of what is happening against him. It is worth mentioning that the typical major league pitcher also fares worse as the game progresses, numbers here: First time: .251/.310/.401, 2.83 SO/BB ratio Second time: .263/.322/.420, 2.44 SO/BB ratio Third time: .273/.331/.446, 2.22 SO/BB ratio But Porcello's decline is obviously much more severe than the average starter, which is undoubtedly why Jeff Jones paid Porcello a visit after an error and a single. It's hard to tell exactly what goes on to explain Porcello's decline in the middle innings. Here are two heats map of Porcello's two-seam sinker location: Rick Porcello's sinker doesn't have the same location later in the game.As you can see, those maps aren't exactly the same thing. Opposing hitters fare very well with the location on the second map, as Porcello's sinker apparently flattens out and gets less movement. So now the famous Tigers are 3 games behind the less-famous White Sox. (Jose who?) There are still three games left in the series and 22 games remaining in the season. Maybe the Tigers will finally go on that big run like we saw when they began the season 9-3. If so, it better start on Tuesday. And if so, it's time for somebody besides Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder to do something on offense ... and maybe time for Leyland and Jones to realize before his next start that Porcello is good for about four or five innings.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- U.S. Cellular Field, the White Sox's home park, is about a 90-mile drive from South Bend, Ind., home of Notre Dame. Neither that proximity nor anything else will prompt Jim Leyland to use Knute Rockne-type oratory before his team opens its four-game series tonight against AL Central-leading Chicago. "There are no rah-rah speeches," the Tigers manager said. "If I've got to go out there and remind these guys that we're in a pennant race and the stakes are big right now, we've got a problem -- then we don't have the team I thought we had. These guys know what's at stake." However, Leyland might want to repeat the exhortation that fabled Cubs announcer Harry Caray often made over the Wrigley Field PA system just after singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at the seventh-inning stretch: "Let's get some runs!" Leyland said: "There are several great races going on in baseball right now. There are a lot of people in the same boat we are, fighting to try to get to postseason. But we're going to have to score more than one or two runs to get there. That's just a simple fact." He said that on Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoon, the Tigers lost for the fifth time in six games. In all five losses, they've scored two runs or fewer. Winding down: This series will mark the final four games of the season between the Tigers and White Sox. "They're important, everybody knows that, but it's not the end of the season," White Sox manager Robin Ventura told reporters Sunday. "You still have to play well for the end of the season." freep.com/sports

http://www.freep.com/article/20120910/SPOR...-Central-series