caulfield12

Nightmares of that Berken guy pitching against the big league Sox team....or did we rock him? It seems like he pitched really well. Carlos Sanchez 3 for 3, up to .364 Rangel Rongey RavIOLIO...was 2/5, up to .389 K. Walker took an 0/5 and 2 K's Saladino, Wilkins and Kenneth "Don't Call Me Ken" Williams, Jr. all below Mendoza line, Saladino really in a tailspin. Mitchell with 11 walks, 11 K's, 5 XB hits and a 1.053 OPS. Here's hoping he becomes our version of Austin Jackson but with more pop in his bat. Definitely hits it hard when he does make contact. Can we combine Tyler Kuhn, Lillibridge and Esobar into one player? Then we'd really have something. Hopefully we get something out of Santos Rodriguez...we seem to be cornering the market on fire-breathing lefties out of the pen.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 08:13 PM) trollin' trollin' trollin' Thanks, Fred Durst.

On the inside, the words "Happy Flight" are engraved. Rafael Furcal coined the phrase once the Cardinals started winning on getaway days. If the Cardinals were getting on an airplane the same day as a ballgame, they had an amazing streak of winning. Hence, they'd wish each other a "Happy Flight" after taking care of business on the field. That's exactly the feeling the White Sox are trying to establish this year. We had that tie game against the Astros before the season started, the loss in Texas and then the 2nd game in CLE. So 1-1-1 in terms of "happy flights."

QUOTE (sunofgold @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 06:36 PM) To their credit, Morel and Beckham play excellent defense. They just need to have some better ABs and be average hitters. Just average! lol! For some reason, I feel more confident that Morel can break out of his slump than Beckham. There really is no answer for the #2 slot. Morel at least can bunt (I think...lol). I know that Beckham cannot bunt. Maybe the answer eventually will be bench Beckham (make him your utility player) and start Escobar and/or Lillibridge and try one of them in the 2nd spot. No guarantee that works but you have to try something. Benching Beckham won't do anything. He has to be playing regularly in Chicago or Charlotte, one or the other. Escobar is definitely not the long-term solution, based on his 666 minor league OPS. Lillibridge MIGHT be, although the odds are he's better off as a limited-exposure, super utility player in the Pablo Ozuna/Craig Grebeck/Joe McEwing mold.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 06:47 PM) Thoughtful post. Escobar could bat 2nd or as you said Fukodome against RH's and Alexei against LH's. Connor Jackson would have to be incredible in the minors to earn any time on the 25 let alone split time with Dunn. Move up Viciedo move down Morel and I'm one of Morel's biggest supporters. Eduardo Escobar has a CAREER OPS of 666 in the minor leagues. Can you think of any player in recent history who has come up with an OPS number of under 700 in the minors and been better than a replacement level player offensively? It just doesn't happen. And then we're going to hit him 2nd? It's just like giving the most plate appearances on the team to Juan Pierre. We can't count on Escobar solely based on a great spring training and 2 hits in 7 AB's early in 2012. It's almost like making Corky Miller the everyday catcher based on his first 10-15 ab's when he was with us...you have to look at his background and record of performance over the last 3-4-5 years.

The main question I would ask is, what is the purpose of this season? Is it to compete for the AL Central or develop for future years down the road? By your decision to not bench Morel and/or Beckham, it seems you have the "we have to find out if these guys can play everyday and be part of the future" idea in mind. On the other hand, can you really "fix" the rest of the offense with 3 platoons if Beckham and Morel put up OPS numbers in the 500's? Based on spring training, Dunn was able to handle left-handed pitching quite well. But if you went by 2010 and the first week of 2011 alone, you would certainly be justified looking at him as a platoon candidate. It just doesn't seem like the kind of decision Ventura is going to make from just 10 or 11 at-bats in the first week of the season, especially since Holland and Harrison are two of the better lefties in the game and Dunn had never seen Wilk before Saturday. I'm also guessing this means you're going to send Escobar down OR Jones/Stewart, yes? Perhaps we can get away with making Nathan Jones the long man, but from the first two times out, this doesn't seem to be what Ventura is looking for out of him... If Lillibridge is splitting time with DeAza, then you're REALLY thin at back-up infield...of course, you could always move Brent from CF to one of the infield positions, but that takes away some of your flexibility. And the players that Escobar and Lillibridge would normally pinch run for are not the players they would replace on the infield (Morel, Ramirez, Beckham). Then you have the economics of the situation. The fact that Dunn and Rios are each owed roughly $40-45 million, and by making them both strictly platoon players, it makes it that much more impossible to ever get those contracts off the books for KW, without eating huge chunks of salary. Yes, it's a compelling argument that Fukudome always does well in April play, but Rios is so sensitive (not sure what would be a better term) that in all probability only playing 25-35% of the time (against LHP) would bring about further deterioration in his skills, attitude and performance. As with Dunn's first handful of AB's, Ventura's not going to go there this early in the season. And finally, Lillibridge looks to have back his REALLY long swing. By projecting them into the line-up based on limited 2012 success, how much is that success likely to repeat itself if you look at Brent's career track record as a major league hitter? 25%? Obviously, he's only getting limited AB's, so it's not fair to judge him based on a few PH appearances...but expecting Lillibridge to hit 15+ homers again is just like projecting Brent Morel to hit 18-24 homers based on the last six weeks of 2011. And we saw how well that performance from the end of last season has carried over to this one.

Mcgrad still hasn't joined this thread but maybe it's coming, if what he posts is anything like the game thread at the end. There's a difference between being negative/pessimistic and bitter, almost hateful towards the White Sox and their owner. If you don't derive any pleasure from something in life, except when it's disappointing...maybe it's better to find a different hobby, like reading....although I can imagine mcgrad getting mad at book publishers or movie studios for putting out terrible product, too. As long as this isn't the last time they're in first place all season long, I'll be contented.

QUOTE (mcgrad70 @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 04:29 PM) No, I'm not joking. Morel is not major league ballplayer. Name me one contending team where he's starts...just one You silly geese on this site need to watch other teams play. Reinsdorf has just deluded your senses as to what constitutes quality baseball. Give him you hard-earned money because you appreciate the game....what a load The same player who was part of the team with the 6th best record in the majors coming into today. Who'd gone 3-2 against the two best teams in the AL (Rangers and Tigers) before this game. Where were you the last 4 games? I can name 29 other teams with players that are struggling. Which teams have the "perfect" line-up that you're talking about, not named the Tigers, Angels, Yankees or Rangers? Did you really expect us to be competing with those teams coming into 2012? Have you watched the Mariners, A's or Twins play this season? The Indians before this series in KC? The Cubs? The Marlins? Which teams do you support with your hard-earned money?

Dunn showed up and would have had his 2nd homer if not for the wind in RF. We would have taken a .233 average if most Sox fans were asked a prediction for Dunn after one week of play. Viciedo with another liner that got out quickly...so low the wind couldn't knock it down. But, as the AB against Valverde demonstrated, he's still a split second behind on fastballs, guessing too much when the opposing pitcher can throw in the mid 90's to try to get a head start. Beckham didn't do anything bad, because he wasn't playing. Reed looked vulnerable for the first time, but Nathan Jones put himself into a horrible situation and pitched out of it. Sale struggled all game with his control and a questionable strike zone after the easy first inning. Questionable decisions by Ventura to let Sale go out again for the 6th and to take out Stewart after a 1-2-3 7th, as well as leaving in Ohman to face right-handed batters. Still, this just felt like one of those 54 games you lose every year. Beckham and Morel have no business challenging Adam Dunn for the team K lead. And questions will abound about Morel, who has accumulated 11 K's in 26 ab's in the 2 spot.

QUOTE (sunofgold @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 04:05 PM) Not sure why Ventura doesn't trust Stewart. He could have even brought Stewart in the sixth to start the inning. He is the long reliever and that seemed like a spot for the long reliever since our Sale threw so many pitches and could only go five. Didn't like Sale starting the sixth. He already threw 100 pitches. Tiggs were having good ABs against him. Sale must have been tiring. Because he got absolutely destroyed every time out at the end of ST and that's still in Robin's mind, probably. That and he had an ERA of near 7 against every team in the majors not named the Twins' AAA/AA line-up. 13 runs for CLE now today against KC. They definitely woke up their bats. Dunn now 7/30, .233. The R/L splits are crazy again, though. AJ with another early season RBI, 8. Doesn't feel like he's started out with 10 RBI's in April for a LONG, LONG time.

We better put away the Orioles, because Verlander is going to face a demoralized Royals team. 8, 11 and 12 runs scored by the Indians against KC this weekend.

You can't throw pitch after pitch after pitch in the same location...eventually Fielder will dial it in, even though that pitch was a bit off the plate.

QUOTE (kapzk @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 03:54 PM) Leaving in Ohman assures that he gave up on the game Well, clearly Ventura trusts the veteran Ohman over what he saw out of Stewart this spring. It will take some time for Zach to re-earn Robin's confidence. It's one thing to face the bottom of the order, it's quite another to go through the heart of the line-up unscathed.

Reached back for a little something extra there, 95 and on the black. Impossible pitch to hit, we've really controlled Cabrera this series.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 03:51 PM) So I thought Reed threw harder than he's shown this year. Anyone know his average fastball velocity? 92-93-94 His bread and butter pitch has always been the slider.

Well, that's what happens when you get behind in the count 0-2. Credit to Ventura for not giving up this game and trying to use Ohman and Reed instead of leaving Stewart in there.

Morel battled there, but you simply can't have 11 k's in 26 ab's out of your 2 hole hitter, especially when he's not hitting for power. To put it in perspective, he's on about the same pace as Cespedes and Dunn, who are both 13/29 in their K/AB rate.

Only the 2nd walk for DeAza on the young season so far. C'mon Morel, we need you.

Chance for Alejandro to pop one out to tie it up. Finally, 3 good swings in one inning off Porcello, finally ran out of gas. At the very least, we're fighting back and putting an ounce of doubt in the Tiggers.

Atta boy, Dayan. Big swing, big pop. Swing hard in case you hit it. Too bad Cabrera made that play or suddenly it would be a very close game, 3-2.

Don't think we'll see Papa Grande Valverde in this game. Not with Porcello retiring 10 in a row and pitch count in the 80's still. Cabrera with a great defensive play at 3rd. Fukudome loses a double there, tough luck. Except for trying to make a bare-handed play on a ball he could have gloved and thrown, Cabrera has played very very well at third, much more comfortable and far better than expected. Valverde's warming, so we at least have a final chance against a new pitcher.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 02:19 PM) Looks like the velo is down a bit for Stewart. Nice play AJ It is a bit strange. Considering his history as a reliever, you'd expect he would throw 92-94 MPH out of the bullpen. Instead, he's at 90-91. Unless he's one of those guys whose fastballs flatten out and have less movement at higher velocities, whereas the sinking fastball is more effective in the low 90's, like what we usually saw out of Jon Garland. At least it was 3 up, 3 down. Bullpen continues to impress, 3 IP and no runs surrendered. Especially considering it's the last two members of our pen against one of the two best offenses in the game.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 15, 2012 -> 02:13 PM) WGN graphic says AJ is batting .273 and has .261 OBP does not compute But an 859 OPS, we'll take that. Surely it will fall into the mid to low 700's eventually. Morel sporting a .359 OPS, that's not so easy to do. Well, it's only 24 AB's, I guess.

Yeah, Dunn's been working the counts a lot more this year, seeing a ton of pitches. Last year, you felt like he was behind in the count 0-2 or 1-2 about 80% of the time and had no chance. What's the odds the Tigers score against Stewart? Well, he had to pitch at some point.

Viciedo's played at least like an average defensive LFer to start this season, and his arm almost allowed him to throw out Jackson at 2B the other day when he was stretching it for a double. He won't get 20 PO's like Alex Gordon did, but I wouldn't be surprised to see 8-10 over the course of the year. 13 k's in 29 ab's for Adam. By the way, when he got doubled off 2nd, was it just bad luck or was it bad baserunning? Fluke? Indians are just killing the Royals this series. Three in a row in KC, all of them slaughters. They even managed to knock out Hochevar, a bit of surprise considering how flat CLE looked against us at home.