caulfield12

Be lucky to get out of this inning with the score tied. Interesting move to pitch to Rasmus...when he struggles so much against LHP. (Oops, just realized Thornton was used way earlier when I had to teach class). Worked out so far. Arencibia vs. Crain with the scoreless streak on the line.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 10:11 PM) Elite hitting prospect with big time bat speed. He's an awful fielder, so he's likely going to end up at 3B. Instead of LF?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 09:15 PM) Do the Sox have more close games the past two seasons than any team imaginable? Or any team throughout history? We score 7 runs and it means nothing. Another close game. This team is never going to do anything of note again unless it develops the capability of winning its share of blowouts. 2005 team says hello. Because they became so confident scoring first and then holding one and two run leads late, it helped them immeasurably in the playoffs/World Series, and when they were under pressure from the Indians in August/September. Our typical Sox offense the last decade has had a lot of blowout wins, but hasn't spread the offense out effectively enough to make it more often to the post-season.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 09:15 PM) Bad Nate Jones has returned Well, it's not like he's getting battered around the diamond. A weak ball to short center and an infield grounder aren't "bad."

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 09:19 PM) Seriously? People are talking about promoting Hawkins this year when he's still hitting .220 with 8 walks and a 50% k rate? This has got to be the most ridiculous suggestion I've read in FutureSox this year. It's not completely ridiculous, but it's definitely premature. If you compare June with April, they're two completely different players, except for the K ratio. I don't think the White Sox are going to get caught up in what his batting average is, when/should they decide to push him to Birmingham in August. They definitely don't HAVE to push him up. They're probably not going to be recalling Thompson to Chicago this year, either. The White Sox aren't looking at his overall walk totals, they're looking 90% at the player they're watching for the last 10+ games.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 09:17 PM) Doesn't matter. Baseball is god-awful at marketing. And the G.O.A.T. is already 2/2 tonight. Your guy Parra was just involved in throwing him out at 3rd just now...

Puig 2 for 2, broken bat single. 15 for 30 now. Puig stands a long way off the plate...so some teams have been trying to dot the outside corner, but he's been lashing them to RF. Came inside (Miley) with an off-speed pitch, and he ripped/pulled it to LF. "Lightning on the field...but you never know when or where it's going to strike," haha. Didn't realize he hit .517 in spring training. Tried to test Gerado Parra's arm going 1st to 3rd...with no outs, and got thrown out at 3rd. Seems like he decided on his own and didn't look up for Wallach coaching 3rd until he was 3 steps past 2nd.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 09:04 PM) To me what is worrisome is that his approach at the plate may be to swing for the fences. I understand a kid may be raw and hopefully that is why he is only hitting HRs, but I think it could also be a very poor approach at the plate. The power is terrific and all, but unless he cuts down his strikeouts significantly (like huge huge huge), he will never be anything special. Sadly, the minors has been littered with supreme power hitters who can't make consistent contact. Let's wait until we at least get through 2013 before starting to make any judgments about what he will or won't be as a player. The Arizona Fall League, at his age, would be a HUGE test of his development and K ratio.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 09:09 PM) Sox once lost a game due to the fog causing Ordonez, I believe, to miss a fly ball. IIRC, Colon was pitching and Chris Singleton (A's) had the big hit. I remember a game that Buehrle pitched out in Oakland (back when we were lucky to win one game on a trip to the West Coast) and it was completely shrouded in fog and mist.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 09:03 PM) There's no reason to ever get mad the Sox didn't sign Puig. Even if they tried to get him, no one was going to top the Dodgers bid. Well, at least MLB is happy, with so many superstars in LA. Kershaw, Adrian Gonzalez, Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, Kemp, Hamilton, Trout, Pujols, Puig, Jared Weaver.

Come back, MR. FOG/JACK FROST!!! White Sox/Cooper showing faith in Jones to get things turned around at the big league level has been validated 100%.

In Axelrod's defense, it's not exactly customary to ask a starting pitcher to wait 1 hour and 10 minutes to come back out there after a rain delay.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 08:48 PM) It's amazing how at the time everyone loved the signing saying that a strong consistent LH power hitter is exactly what the Sox needed. He was perfect because of his consistent power hitting over his entire career was what everyone was saying. Now everyone can't wait to jump all over him as the reason the Sox arer a bad team. He's not THE reason. He's just a symbol who's easy to pick on because of his nearly historic abysmal batting averages. It's a lot easier to pick on Dunn (an outsider to the Sox organization) than Paul Konerko or Dayan Viciedo. And then you have his being the highest paid player on the team, which will always rile some fans, especially when he seemingly takes a "happy go lucky" attitude about his day-to-day struggles. In the same way, players like Gillaspie, Flowers and Keppinger are taking a lot of heat when they are also being cast in the role of scapegoats....all those players are complementary players on a very good team. And then the injuries to Floyd, Peavy, Beckham, etc. Ventura and the coaching staff not getting the team prepared to play....that's at least 25% of it as well. I just wish we'd kept Thome going into 2010, but that's crying over spilled milk. But if Thome had that same kind of season he had for the Twins, we PROBABLY would have kept him at least into 2011, and Dunn would never have been signed.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 08:43 PM) Well, Melton is up there with Rosenthal and Olney when it comes to judging the trade market. True enough. I still believe if he can get 2-3 starts in the last two weeks of July, there's a shot at a good return. The problem is that we start playing a lot better competition next month...which, of course works to our advantage if he looks like an ace again against better teams. You can make the case that he was pitching nearly as well the first 6 weeks of the season as 2012...and that 80% of his struggles statistically can be correlated with the rib cage issue.

QUOTE (DukeofChicagoA1 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 08:40 PM) Horrible pitch there. Now Beckham's mental error looms large. Man, what a season it's been so far. We can't catch a break. You make your own breaks in baseball...or give them to the other team, and they take advantage, ala the Minnesota Twins from 2002-2010.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 08:39 PM) Just remember, when Beckham returns, this team is going to go on a run! Melton and Rongey were talking about the Peavy topic during the rain delay. Beltin' Bill seemed pretty convinced there was going to be no way to unload Peavy before the deadline now. This season is truly snake-bitten, with Floyd and Peavy's injuries. Almost another homer there...close.

No surprises there. Well...the other shoe had to drop with Axelrod's overacheiving at some point. You just can't let Bautista beat you over and over and over again.

And, the dreaded follow-up inning to HUGE Sox mental/physical errors or inexplicably stranding RISP.

Once again, it's not physical/hustle/effort/exertion errors. It's just horrible mental preparation, daydreaming and complete lack of focus across almost the entire roster this season...carrying over from the 4-11 finish to 2012. Maybe the players simply know how little talent there is pushing them from behind in the minors, so they've become complacent, knowing Ventura has no choice but to keep playing them.

A single against All-Star (2012) Miley in his first at-bat. This marks the first time that he's appeared in the clean-up spot, with Van Slyke out. 14/29=.483 Put another way, he could go 0 for 52 and still be hitting the same as Adam Dunn's .173.

Hawkins 1/4, 2 K's, HR (11), 2 RBI's (31) currently at .222. Semien all the way down to .256. Seems like Trayce Thompson is doomed to hit in the .240's every year. He's got to get his average at least into the .260's to be taken seriously as a prospect (to be an everyday CFer) in the next year or so. Petricka's going to have a shot at being in the bullpen mix in 2014, in all likelihood.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 07:33 PM) Where's he gonna play in Bham? Trayce, Walker, Early and Mitchell already a log jam When it's time, they will probably push Mitchell back up to AAA... Early's not a serious prospect, so he becomes the 4th OF or part-time DH. They might just as likely push Early up and have an outfield of Mitchell/Walker/Hawkins/Thompson all together in one place...although there's also a decent chance they push Thompson up in August to Charlotte and give Hawkins one month in AA and the AFL season after that. At any rate, Walker, Early and Mitchell aren't going to be getting in his way.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 08:00 PM) The classic example is Canseco pitching for fun in a blowout in like 1992 and blowing out his elbow. And the Kendrys Morales one, but that was on the field. Who was the player that was injured by a broken mirror, can't remember?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 07:33 PM) Tim Anderson ‏@TimAnderson7 23m I'm Gone Throw A Slider When I Throw The First Pitch at the sox game Wednesday..⚾⚾?? The White Sox are going to have to hire someone to clean up the grammar on all the players' twitter feeds, lol. Watch him blow out his elbow trying to throw a slider for the first pitch. Wonder if that has ever happened? A first round draft pick getting injured after signing but before playing his first game? With all the weird injuries that have happened in the last decade...?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 07:32 PM) This sucks! They better suspend it to wednesday then. I have plans tomorrow. Idk if I can get back! The entire game would be wiped out, as if it never happened...unless they can get through the top of the 5th tonight.