chw42

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 03:30 PM) Avi stay in game? He's fine. It kind of just grazed him from what I saw in the side view. He also has an elbow pad.

He's got some padding there.

Our 3 and 4 hitters saw 2 pitches. :|

QUOTE (Baron @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 03:27 PM) De Aza hit a home run I feel like Alejandro's going to bounce around from team to team looking good the first few years. Then he'll start being mediocre/bad while making a ton of mental mistakes. Eventually leading him to get traded. Then the process starts all over again.

First K of the year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 03:22 PM) Man I hope he reads this thread for advice. ;-) Everyone would be a better player if they just read internet forums!

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 03:21 PM) Moustakas at 2 with Perez at 8 seems kinda weird... I don't understand why Moose is hitting second. Unless he breaks out this year, it makes no sense.

Gotta be more patient than that Jose.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 03:11 PM) well, it's been 11 years. Please David Robertson...don't be Billy Koch part II.

Just to be that guy...I don't think the Sox have had a ton of luck opening in KC. I still remember how we blew that opener in 2004 because our bullpen melted down.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 03:04 PM) Damn Aoki killed the Sox last year. Butler killed us too. And the ultimate Sox killer, Melky, now plays for us. Now if only Bruce Chen can go to the NL or just stay down in the minors.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 02:59 PM) That pitching is awful It's nothing to write home about, but they have a lot of hitting.

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 09:13 AM) Who the hell is Melvin Upton?? BJ Upton changed his name so we would forget how bad he is at baseball? Maybe he wanted people to stop calling him Blow Job Upton.

I think 84 sounds about right.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 02:49 PM) I can confidently say the following teams have no shot this season: - Braves - Phillies - Dbacks - Twins - Brewers - Rockies - Astros - Rangers I think the Brewers can be decent.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 02:11 PM) This year's been a mess for Green. Supposedly Pep really likes him though and Bayern aren't worried about him. He'll almost assuredly go out on loan somewhere again next season though. It wouldn't be bad for him to play a year in the Netherlands honestly. Yedlin picked up a knock right after the move to England and Spurs want to take it slow with him. He may not make his debut until the fall. I like Zardes a lot too. He showed some nice flashes in their recent friendlies. I'm excited about Rubin. It'll be interesting how the U-20's look this summer in the World Cup. We need someone out of the Rubin, Agudelo, Green group to make a big stride in the next couple years. Maki Tall could be a dark horse for down the line as well if he commits to the US. Edit: And as far as youth soccer goes, I do pay a lot of attention to the YNTs and we have a really strong group of 15-19 year olds right now. Rubin, CCV, EPB, Hyndman, Pfeffer, Canouse, Flores, Novakovich, Gall, Gooch, Haji Wright, Barbir, Gallardo, Josh Perez, Xuxuh, etc...and a bunch of dual nats that could potentially play for us down the road: Zelalem obviously, the Scott brothers (English), Parker brothers (Germany), Tall (France, Ivory Coast), Robert Kenedy Nunes (Brazil). It really is exciting to see how many Americans are drawing interest from prominent clubs in Europe right now. We're probably the most athletic country in the world. We just don't have a good youth system to develop good players. I don't think I'm surprised European teams are looking at Americans for their youth clubs. You can't teach pace and physicality. But you can definitely teach dribbling, shooting, passing, etc.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 01:46 PM) Good call. And there's nothing wrong with that. Just the USMNT can't rely on that if they want to progress. Jozy as what he is, is a complementary piece capable of playing on the big stage, but they can't put him in a position where he is the one they primarily look to and rely on. For better or worse, he's still our best option at the moment IMO. If we're going to be decent at the 2018 WC, we're going to need to find a good forward to replace Dempsey. He'll be too old to be our best offensive player 3 years from now. If he is our best player up front by then, we're going to have some issues. I do like what Zardes did for the Galaxy last year. Now that Keane and Donovan are gone, he's their best attacking player. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses. Edit: apparently Keane's not leaving the Galaxy, I swear I read something that he was going to a few months back. He's a good mentor for Zardes.

Tanaka's done for the day already. I drafted him and Lester in my fantasy league. Not looking good...

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 01:29 PM) The funny thing is, I think he would have fit in perfectly in a spot like Tottenham. Getting service from Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli would have provided him a lot more chances. I think Emmanuel Adebayor a few season ago is what Jozy could have looked like if he figured it out and had a better cast around him. Similar size and skill-set as a striker.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 12:57 PM) Tanaka is getting hammered. Only throwing 88-90, so glad Sox lost that bid lol. He's basically trying to save his arm. I really don't understand the reasoning behind him not getting TJ. He's going to have to get it eventually. Why pitch through it? His stuff is still nasty, but without a 90+ fastball, he's not going to be dominant.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 11:10 AM) So does Bryant make a difference in yesterday's game? I mean the wonder twins got 1 hit and 1 BB. Watch the Cubs suck, then Bryant gets called up with all the hype and pressure on his shoulders. Then he inevitably fails because of said pressure. I swear man, the hype kills almost every Cubs prospect.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 07:27 AM) Jozy is not a target forward who can create his own shots. The problem at Sunderland was they had no one to play up top with him and no one to give any sort of service. He also looked lost on the field a good amount of time but he's hardly awful. You don't score 50+ goals over two seasons in any league (even the high powered Dutch league) by being awful. He's a fine player but with distinct limitations. He's a bulldozer, but he's just not skilled enough like a Diego Costa or even Wilfried Bony to play as a lone striker. If you put him in a 2 striker formation or a formation with a high CF/CAM that can provide, you're right, he can succeed. IMO, a good striker can play by himself. That way, he can succeed in almost any formation/function. I think a lot of USMNT fans expected him to take the next step forward when he moved to the BPL, but it just didn't happen.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 6, 2015 -> 05:06 AM) Hitting is something that will click with you. Once it does, it's awesome. You actually have to think when you hit on All-star difficulty or higher. Guessing the right pitch and location makes hitting so much easier. It's a combination of timing and figuring out the pitcher.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Apr 5, 2015 -> 09:32 PM) So I logged out/in a few minutes ago because I'm having trouble connecting to The Show servers. When I got back, the trophy for earning a diamond item popped up when I got my daily rewards. I was unzipping my pants in anticipation, then when I scrolled to it, it was a sponsorship deal, not a player. After my initial disappointment, I thought, "well, maybe I can still sell it for a bunch on the marketplace." I scrolled through to find mine, and it's going for like 1,500 studs. I'd have been better off getting a decent silver. Ha you got played. This is like pulling Thorgan Hazard instead of Eden Hazard in FIFA.

Heyward is looking great against Lester. He was awful against lefties last year.