Ozzie Ball

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Apr 25, 2014 -> 02:53 AM) I've heard Micah was a legit 1st round prospect until he got injured. I never saw anyone put a 1st round projection on him. BA had him ranked around #150 prior to the draft, which would have made him a late 4th/early 5th round prospect. If he hadn't had surgery and missed two months of the season his draft year then he probably would have gone much higher than the 9th round, and could have possibly been a top #100 draft prospect or better. It does actually say a lot that BA ranked him that highly despite him hitting .225/.303/.388, 8BB, 22SO as a junior.

Braulio Ortiz with 0BB in 5IP, 4K. Just the second start of his career in which he has issued 0 walks. Comes after a 3IP, 6BB effort last time out.

Anderson finished 2-4, 3B, 2 SB (stole home for one of those SB)

What's the logic behind batting Danks leadoff? Not only is he probably the worst hitter in the lineup, but he's probably the coldest hitter, too. I get the lefty righty thing, but his wRC+ vs. RHP this year is -7 with 40 K%. At least he draws some walks I guess.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 03:16 PM) Didn't feel the need to bump the other thread, but those projections for Pito of 26HR, 85 RBI look to be woefully low. Preseason I would have been thrilled to see him hit 30HR this year. Now that would almost be a disappointment. Super impressed with everything he's shown so far.

Both look awesome and it should be a good race for AL ROY. Tanaka has second best xFIP in baseball and excellent 10.74 K/9, 0.61 BB/9. Abreu leads the league in power (well, tied with Pujols) with .341 ISO. Tanaka at 0.9 WAR, Abreu at 0.7. Both are a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 04:37 AM) Meh, he's got a positive career UZR. It's not definitive or anything but dude's got a fairly solid glove and can get there better than you give him credit for. His UZR is marginally positive at +2.5 over 4 seasons (+0.625/year), but with a negative range rating (-6.5 over same period).

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 02:13 AM) Jordan Guerrero making season debut with Kannapolis, for fans of his. IP, BB, SO Done after 2 innings: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 B, 1 BB, 2 SO Nice start for him.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 02:06 AM) Its brutal. Worst idea ever (in regular season). I can live with it in postseason. The process may be a pain at times, but if it results in correct outcomes/decisions being made then it has to be considered progression.

Jordan Guerrero making season debut with Kannapolis, for fans of his. IP, BB, SO

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 01:49 AM) Indeed. I'd like to see some swing and miss too though. 2K's in last 12IP now including his last start.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 12:01 AM) Alright saber guys, please tell why Viciedo's performance is not sustainable. Obviously the BABIP will come down by about 100 points, but that still will leave him with sick ass numbers if everything else holds. Are there any other stats involving his plate discipline and/or power that look totally out of whack and will come back down to Earth? The whole point is that if you knock 100 points off his BABIP then everything else (AVG/OBP/SLG) will not hold. Knock 100 points off each category and his line will look almost identical to his career line (.365/.414/.524 in '14 vs. .269/.312/.437 career). His K% has improved (15.7% in '14, 21.3% career), and typically K% will start to stabilize after around 60 PA's, which he has now reached, so this could be a good sign of increased contact ability from Viciedo. The BB% is also up to 8.6% vs. 5.3% career. This would be great if Viciedo can maintain it, as 5.3 BB% doesn't play well from a corner outfielder without great power. BB% typically won't stabilize until around 120+ PA's, so this may be just small sample size. Power is identical to career line (.164 ISO in '14, .168 ISO career). For his plate discipline, he's swinging at less pitches out of the zone (35.8% O-Zone in '14 vs. 40.3% career), and more pitches in the zone (76.9% Z-Swing in '14, 69.7% career). These could both indicate a better eye at the plate, which would support the improved BB% and K%. Overall there may be some small improvements to Viciedo's game, but I think he's more or less the same hitter as always.

Scoreboard Charlotte- Heath Birmingham- Doyle Winston-Salem- Bucciferro Kannapolis- Danish Charlotte and Birmingham both with early starts.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 02:26 AM) Didn't know Moyes was that hated outside of overly entitled and spoiled United fans. I really think it was the right decision. Even factoring in that it's a transitional period for the club, and that they had an awful summer with Ed Woodward overseeing his first transfer window, and an aging squad, that's no excuse for going from 1st to 7th. Even worse is the performance. You can forgive some poor results if there are signs of positive performances. But that just hasn't been the case. Last year Liverpool were disappointing under Brendan Rogers, but you could see exactly what his strategy was, and exactly what he was trying to do with that team. I cannot say the same about Moyes. He seems very defensive, more concerned with stopping opponents than trying to win games, it feels. Perhaps naive tactically too, no power, pace or creativity to United's game, they simply bang some crosses into the box and hope someone gets on the end of them, very one-dimensional and therefore easy to play against. And that's been the case more or less from his first game to his last. No signs of progression or improvement. As for a successor, I really like Jurgen Klopp. Love the way he has set up his Dortmund teams. Exciting attacking sides full of creativity and purpose.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 01:56 AM) Thanks for the interview. This question might have been asked before, but I'll ask it again: Is he related to Lenny Dykstra? No, but he is related to former 1st round pick Allan Dykstra.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 22, 2014 -> 07:38 PM) As would I. People talk about him as a utility infielder, but his ceiling is pretty high and even if he's just a utility infielder, that's still value from the draft. Most 2nd rounders never make the majors, so that'd be awesome for the Sox. I think he's being over analyzed at this point. Statistically, he has been almost identical to last year (13.8 BB%, 11.2 K%, .185 ISO in '13, 12.64 BB%, 10.3 K%, .177 ISO in '14). Perhaps the problem is a lack of progression? Power has really come on of late so still a great chance that he eclipses last year's ISO. Speed has fully returned after his injury last year (was clocked at 3.42 seconds to 1st earlier this year). I'd be shocked if he slips to the second round and honestly think there's a chance the Sox take him at 3, especially if Rodon/Hoffman are both gone.

Can someone explain the Wendelken love to me? He sounds/looks like a control/command guy (though 2.77 BB/9 last year not exactly great) with marginal stuff. Not sure what's to get excited about there.

FIP is calculated from HR, BB and K (and HBP) and so is not really affected by fluctuations in BABIP. Using Snodgress for an example, his high BABIP is one reason why there is such a large difference between his ERA (10.50) and his FIP (4.47), but is not useful for predicting future FIP. Comparing ERA to BABIP would make more sense. Thanks for compiling the list though.

2 errors for Anderson put him on 9 for the season, same for Basto who had one error.

Basto with his 2nd error today and 8th on the season.

Winston-Salem and Kannapolis both underway. Early home run for Jacob Morris. Error number 7 for Basto in this his 10th game of the season.

Scoreboard Charlotte- Axelrod Birmingham- Jaye Winston-Salem- Goldberg & Blough Kannapolis- TBA

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Apr 16, 2014 -> 02:13 AM) Last one was 92. fastest I have seen. Yeah, Gameday has him hitting 92 three times, nothing above that.

Dykstra excellent 6 IP, 7 H 3 R, 1 BB, 9 SO, 7 GB/1 FB Season: 17.2 IP, 4 BB, 19 SO, 28 GB/2 FB

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Apr 13, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) Anderson's strikeout rate is extremely alarming. 41.0 K% as of now. He's hitting .270 with a .455 BABIP. Yikes. He's yet to walk this season too. That said still very small sample sizes and he has shown excellent power (.243 ISO). Barnum's K% at 44.7%.