mmmmmbeeer

Few thoughts on Lucas' start.... All these Gavin Floyd comps....to me, he looked like a young BMac on the bump. For basically being a one-pitch pitcher last night, he had a pretty damn good outing against a relatively hot team. Those HRs are excusable, to an extent, because hitters knew there was nothing but a fastball coming and it was going to be in the zone. If he was behind 3-1, 2-1, 2-0, even 1-0, Twins were sitting dead red and treated it almost like a 3-0 green light. With all the swings and misses and oppo field foul balls in the first few innings, tardy on 93-94MPH fastballs, I think it's safe to say he looks a few MPH faster to hitters than he's throwing. No wonder this guy was ranked so highly when his true velocity was 98MPH. He worked very well up in the zone. His fearlessness up in the zone reminded me a lot of Q. Obviously he's not on Q's level yet, but he's not afraid to go up in the zone, nor throw inside to back hitters off a bit. Narvaez can't be his catcher. There were a few of those curves that nipped the bottom corner of the zone...a little framing and he might have gained some confidence in that pitch. This could also be a matter of umpires being unfamiliar with his curve and the amount of movement involved. That pitch is going to come around with time and he'll look like a completely different pitcher. I didn't see many changes or sliders. Seeing some of you guys say his change looked good, it must've been straight downward movement because I didn't see much sweep on any changes. If that's the case, maybe he needs to change his grip because with a straight downward tilt on his change his curveball and change both become less effective. I think Lopez impressed me more his first start but he had his secondary pitches working so prob not a fair comp.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 07:53 PM) He did at Vandy. Doesn't come close to resembling that guy now What happened to him? I don't recall any serious injuries he's suffered. Given the Sox decent success the last couple of years with pitching prospects in ml, I don't buy that they ruined his mechanics. May just come down to confidence....we rushed him up far too soon after being drafted and he got knocked around a good bit.

QUOTE (kingranch @ Aug 15, 2017 -> 12:00 PM) Kopech should start on the 18th Thanks, man. I live NW of ATL so BHam is only an hour and a half..two hours from the house. Been wanting to go check out the Barons on a Kopech night but the rest of the roster was never anyone warranting the drive. With Jiminez and Collins up, Kopech night would be great to catch.

When should Kopech's next home start be? I'm only seeing TBD on the Barons' website.

Way too high in the zone this inning. Maybe getting a bit fatigued after all the adrenaline has run its course.

Rodon-esque start thus far.

I didn't watch any of his Charlotte appearances but watched video after we acquired him....I don't remember his change-up looking this good. it graded out at a 45 a couple years ago (can't find a recent grade)...that isn't a 45 change.

He's doing a very good job of working side to side. Will be much more dominant when he becomes more effective working up and down in the zone.

There's that hook!

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 11, 2017 -> 06:22 PM) How did TA reach? Groundball through the right side on first pitch

Wish we'd seen his nasty hook instead of the change-up to try to K Hosmer.

He's just pounding the zone.

Pretty.

I was really hoping he'd made it to Birmingham by tonight. Kopech probably doesn't have many starts left and he starts at home tonight. Probably would've headed over there to catch the game if Eloy was there too.

Appreciate it, fellas. I hadn't even thought of using airbnb.

My brother and I, both living out of state, have made it a tradition to go to Opening Day for the last several years. Given our string of horrible cold, rain, and even snow/ice, we're looking at changing things up next season and heading out to spring training. For you guys who have been, what would be the best hotel to stay at? We're looking to check out games, obviously, but also plan on playing some golf and are both fans of good independent restaurants and bars.

So do we wait to hit Rizzo or just plunk Happ? Or, hell, hit both of them and keep one in the back pocket for Bryant tomorrow?

2IP, 6Ks 2BB 4H 4ER What an odd line.

Speaking of arm side, this ump's arm is going to be tired if Carlos keeps punching out Cub hitters.

That 4 pitch walk to Rizzo should've had him in a 2-2 count. It's his 5th start with no spring training....give the guy a break, jeez.

The worst part of this series, when we lose to the Cubs, is the s*** talking from their fans. But really, what half-serious fan is going to talk s*** about beating a team that is openly and unabashedly tanking? Sure, I hope these are some good, exciting games but if we get swept, who cares? Big picture it does nothing but help our case.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 20, 2017 -> 09:42 PM) Trump's senior team was stunned that sessions didn't resign today after Trump s*** all over him in that nyt interview. https://twitter.com/AshleyRParker/status/88...src=twsrc%5Etfw Trump did not inform his legal team he was giving the interview and did not discuss any topics, answers, or strategy with them ahead of time So stunned, in fact, that they hurriedly leaked Sessions' complicity in working with the Russians during the campaign to WaPo to give Trump the leeway to fire him. This is truly getting out of control. If Trump fires Sessions, recess-appointment to a replacement who has pledged loyalty who immediately fires Mueller and the GOP doesn't boot his sorry ass out of office, they're all traitors in my eyes. It'll be time to start getting prepared for the defense of this country.

With all these injuries happening and an apparent bidding war heating up for Gray, am I the only one who is kind of wishing Gray was traded before Q? I'm very happy with the Jiminez/Cease, but maybe I'm getting spoiled and just want more.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 15, 2017 -> 05:20 PM) It honestly surprises me how much unanimity there is everywhere on Kopech being a top 25 or better prospect in all of baseball. There's no doubting the prodigious talent and the true ace potential, so don't get me wrong because I'm very glad to have him around. But for me, I need to see a pitcher have a walk rate that is somewhere below alarmingly high before I put him in that top level. The only stint in which Kopech had an acceptable walk rate was when he pitched 65 innings in low-A in 2015 (3.74 BB/9, which isn't exactly low but is workable). Otherwise, he's had 5.93 BB/9 (2014, Rookie), 5.02 BB/9 (2016, A+), and 5.87 BB/9 (2017, AA). That's not to ignore his equally-amazing K rate at these levels, but to me I don't see him any higher than, say, 40 or 50 on a top 100 due to these problems. By analogy, I see it like a hitting prospect with a .900 OPS and a bunch of homers but 35% K% at each level. You love the production, but you fear how the strikeout rate has such a big chance of ruining it all. Looking at it another way, Kopech hasn't had a single start this year in which he had fewer than *2* walks. His issues with walks have been remarkably consistent. He's had 6 starts with 2 walks, 3 with 3 walks, 6 with 4 walks, and 2 with 5 walks. There's very little variation, he just always has walks. And in 3 of his starts with only 2 walks, he hit one or more batters. I just want to see a run of starts with good command, but with him hitting his innings wall I don't know that we'll see it this year. Can't argue your point being it's certainly fair. That said, I personally look past the wildness because, A, he has the stuff to pitch around baserunners and, B, he just turned 21 and is open to coaching adjustments which can go a long way in reigning in control issues if there's a flaw in his delivery. I think he's looking at at least another year of seasoning/coaching before he comes to Chicago. A lot can change in that time.

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Jul 15, 2017 -> 10:55 AM) This is not a rebuild. Its simply a salary dump. The main objective is to have the White Sox with the lowest payroll in MLB in 2018 and 2019. When you have income of over $260 million a year and a payroll less than $50 million, you're looking at some enormous profits for the owners. JR did the same thing in 1998+1999. The team barely drew 1.3 million in attendance each of those years but they were 2 of the teams most profitable years with the low payrolls. If the so call rebuild works out, fine. Either way JR and his investors will be making some serious money. I realize that the White Sox are a business. The objective of any business is too make money.Still, I would rather have the team making money with a winning team than what we're going to be subjected to the next few years. So basically you believe that rebuilds are nothing more than a fallacy in any professional league? Gotta disagree.