elgonzo4sox

On the bright side, Rios's two bases-loaded popups were to the opposite field. Maybe he is improving in his ability to go the opposite field. Or am I grasping at straws here?

I'll be at the game tonight to root our boys on to a .500 record once again - then the season can begin anew. I just hope for patience at the plate. Hitting Chen is almost like hitting a knuckleballer like Wakefield - you have to be patient, let borderline pitches go past (they wil probably fall out of the zone for a ball), and hammer only the mistakes. Take walks, and take what Chen gives you. Chen can be beat, with the right approach.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 12, 2011 -> 07:47 AM) Hollywood Guillen also makes the f***ing line ups. Yes, the lineup is the responsibility of the manager, just like the roster composition is the responsibility of the general manager, but I firmly believe that Kenny and Ozzie discussed the Dunn situation earlier this summer and jointly decided to bat him 3-4-5 no matter what, as a show of confidence with the hope that it would help Dunn break out of his massive slump and get going for the rest of the season. I base this on the public statements made by Kenny and Ozzie both backing Dunn and both saying they had spoken with him and expressed their confidence in him. Also, Ozzie is normally very candid about calling out his players when they suck, and even now he's been guarded in his comments about Dunn's performance (or lack thereof): I think Ozzie has been told by Kenny or the team psychologist not to criticize Dunn publicly since it will just make Dunn's mental state of mind worse. It wasn't until just recently that Kenny publicly stated that he told Ozzie to bench whomever he wanted to, regardless of contract. Lo and behold De Aza materialized, Rios sat for a bit, and Dunn is now sitting versus lefties and batting 7th. We can argue that this should have happened sooner, but I do think Dunn's lineup position was a joint Kenny / Ozzie decision.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 11, 2011 -> 04:49 PM) One hitter in the line-up isn't the reason you win or lose the game. thanks, Chris Rongey Agree, but abysmal production out of one hitter that the team was counting on to fill a key position in the lineup (3, 4 or 5) over the course of an entire season can indeed be the difference between the team winning enough games to take the division or sitting at home in October. I have even heard the esteemed Chris Rongey say this, on this past week's White Sox Weekly when he was using all sorts of negative adjectives to describe Adam Dunn's performance this year. The Sox are now 5-10 in extra inning games - games tied after 9 innings. Those 10 losses are the easiest games to point to where a single well-timed hit from our DH could have easily won the game. One run losses are the next easiest games where a little more production from our DH could have made enough of a difference to put us in first place. A three run bomb every now and then would also be appreciated.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 11, 2011 -> 04:16 PM) Omar batting second really truly hurts our chances of winning on a given day. Juan better have amazing days if we hope to win when Omar is hitting second. Juan had two hits yesterday and it still didn't help too much. Our #2 hitter wasn't our big problem last night - our #7 hitter was. Omar was 1 for 5, with one productive out (advancing Pierre to 3rd to help score the first run) that was also his only LOB. He advanced Pierre to 3rd again in the 7th to keep the rally going, but then PK grounded out again, this time for the third out of the inning. Meanwhile our #7 hitter was 0 for 4, left 5 on base including two in the 8th, and was the only hitter in the lineup not to reach 1B safely all game.

QUOTE (LVSoxFan @ Aug 2, 2011 -> 03:37 PM) My point is that if his psyche is so fragile he can't handle a simple drop in the lineup, then he's mentally weak. So we're totally screwed. At this point KW's and Ozzie's hesitance to drop him looks more like enabling. I tend to agree, except I'll withhold final judgment for a bit longer. Dunn may not be Chicago Tough - he may be Chicago Fragile. Kenny says he likes to get guys who are Chicago Tough, so I wonder how he decided that Dunn was.

QUOTE (LVSoxFan @ Aug 2, 2011 -> 03:16 PM) GREAT post. But your point about moving him in the lineup and Ozzie's refusal to do that, for the sake of Dunn's psyche? For f***'s sake, most people have talked about benching him or sending him down (not gonna happen I know) and his psyche can't handle a simple drop in the order? Another reason to question Ozzie. You're right in that a fragile psyche is not a good sign about Dunn. Now we're moving out of the physical realm into the mental, but I do think it's a bad sign that the Sox are afraid of damaging Dunn's psyche. Contrast that with the Tiger's Brandon Inge, who was also struggling this year (hence Detroit's acquisition of Betemit), and who accepted going on waivers and being reassigned to AAA to try to straighten out his hitting problems. However, I do think that Kenny and Ozzie discussed how to handle Dunn, and Dunn's continued presence in the 3-4-5 hole is a joint decision. Both have given Dunn public votes of confidence. Dunn's presence on the roster is certainly more Kenny's doing than Ozzie's, and although Ozzie does indeed fill out the lineup card, I think both he and Kenny decided keep him up in the lineup as a vote of confidence. There's no way to know for sure, of course, until one of them publishes a tell-all book about their White Sox career years from now. I do think that Adam Dunn is the #1 story of the 2011 season, and it's not a good one, unfortunately.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Aug 1, 2011 -> 07:00 AM) The physics of the swing are that the longer the arc of the swing, the longer it takes the bat to travel to and through the hitting zone. The length of the arc is determined in part by the length of the batter’s arms and the length of his bat. The longer his arms and his bat, the longer the arc. A tall player, with long arms, can reduce the length of the arc by choking up. Choking up also provides that added advantage of increasing the hitter’s control of the bat. A big strong guy like Dunn could choke up, reduce the length of the arc, increase his bat control, and still hit the ball a very long way. The greater number of times that a guy that big and strong can make contact, the greater the number of times a ball has a chance to leave the park. Why is this not obvious to baseball people? He should choke up, and then emulate Konerko’s short and quick swing. This thread is interesting but I'll return to the original topic, the physics of Dunn's swing, to offer my view. I think the physics of his swing are a huge contributor to his problems. The solutions are easy (see below) if Dunn were a kid or instructable, but since he is a veteran with many prior seasons of success, I don't know if Dunn's problems can be fixed. The Sox are not trying the solutions you'd use with a kid. You are absolutely right - Dunn has possibly the longest swing in the major leagues, measuring the total distance traveled by the end of his bat from the start of his swing through the hitting zone (follow through doesn't matter because once the bat leaves the hitting zone nothing more can happen). He's very tall, has long arms, stands away from the plate (unlike Q), uses a long bat, holds it at the knob, and swings with full arm extension. He starts with the bat way back and swings in a huge on-plane arc. Dunn's swing is properly termed a "long" swing. Some people mistakenly say Dunn's bat is slow, because it takes him so long to get his bat from the starting position through the hitting zone (and yes, this is indeed a huge problem for Dunn). However, "bat speed" refers to the speed of the bat as measured when it is in the hitting zone. Dunn's bat speed is plenty high when it is in the hitting zone, which is why he can hit 450 foot home runs if/when he actually makes contact. Dunn also waggles the bat downward (below horizontal) at the start of the swing, a "signature" move that is nearly as bad as Rios's hands-held-low stance, because it means they have to get the bat out of this poor position when they start their swings, which also takes time. Dunn and Rios would say their signature moves are for their comfort and timing purposes, but I would say that moving out of those positions determines the start of their swing, so they've lengthened their swings. A super long swing like Dunn's has only one benefit: when he connects solidly with the ball, the bat speed is great and the ball goes a long distance. It has multiple drawbacks, some obvious, some less so: -- The most obvious drawback is the amount of time it takes to get Dunn's bat into the hitting zone. The longer this time, the earlier Dunn has to make the decision to swing at a pitch, and the earlier Dunn has to judge where the ball is going to be when the ball enters the hitting zone. The result: many more swings and misses, or swings and fouls, or swings and weirdly hit balls that spin wildly into the field of play - and far fewer balls that are hit solidly (one can argue that every time Dunn hits a ball solidly that it should go over the fence, so he's only hit 10 balls solidly so far this season). -- This also creates a huge hole in Dunn's swing: he becomes very susceptible to pitchers with deceiving off-speed stuff, because Dunn has to decide very early to swing. Pitchers know this, and can easily set Dunn up, as CC Sabathia did three times last night, by striking Dunn out on outside sliders nearly in the dirt which Dunn missed by a foot because he had already decided to swing very early in the pitch. -- Dunn's swing is also completely on-plane, which is good for generating bat speed but bad for adjusting to how the pitch is coming towards the plate - in fact he doesn't adjust at all. If the ball isn't exactly where Dunn thought it was going to be when he started his swing, he has 0% chance of hitting it. Many, many other hitters are able to follow the ball to a certain degree and try to make contact - in fact this is exactly what good contact hitters do, sometimes by even throwing their bat at the ball if the hit-and-run is on - but they sacrifice bat speed to do this adjustment during the swing. -- Dunn never varies his swing no matter what the count or the game situation. He doesn't shorten his swing with two strikes. He doesn't try to go to the opposite field when the shift is on. He swings one way, all the time, every time. The opposing pitcher and defense know this, and take advantage of it by putting on the shift. For connoisseurs of hitting, the contrast between Dunn and a good power hitter like Paulie is night and day. Dunn's swing is a simple-minded power swing that never varies. Paulie is a much smarter hitter with completely different mechanics and much better results. Paulie is often able to work the count into his favor by making better judgments on what pitches to swing at, which gets him into more hitter's fastball counts. If behind, Paulie adjusts his swing to try to go to the opposite field or take what the pitcher gives him. AJ also adjusts well to the count, the game situation and the pitch, and he able to get more hits because of his adjustments. Dunn neither adjusts for the count or the game situation (by changing the stance or swing he decides to use) or during the pitch (by changing the bat path during the swing to make better contact). I coach kids, and the solutions to Dunn's problems are easy: 1. SHORTEN THE SWING. Get rid of the waggle. Try starting with the bat 1/4th of the way towards the plate from Dunn's current starting position and only move the bat forward, never backward. Stand closer to the plate and choke up, especially with two strikes. Don't swing for the fences. Watch the ball and move the bat to meet the ball as the ball comes towards the plate. There's no way to turn Adam Dunn into Rod Carew, and these changes will decrease bat speed and power. Dunn doesn't need to do all of these, but he should try some of them to certain degrees. 320 foot home runs into the right field porch at Yankee Stadium count every bit as much as 450 foot ones and are actually better, since a shorter swing gives you a better chance of actually connecting and hitting the ball 320 feet instead of 450. It's been four months, and if there have been any changes or adjustments to Dunn's swing, I haven't seen them. 2. REDUCE THE PRESSURE ON DUNN BY BATTING HIM LOWER IN THE LINEUP AND SITTING HIM AGAINST PITCHERS HE HAS TROUBLE WITH (i.e. lefties). When you're struggling, the added pressure of coming to the plate in key game situations with men on base and a skeptical crowd aggravates the hitter's struggles. No Little League, high school, college or even AAA manager would continue to bat Dunn in the cleanup position after four months of nearly constant struggles and no signs of improvement. So why aren't the Sox doing any of this? I think the Sox and Dunn are afraid to make any fundamental swing changes for fear of causing greater problems (which is hard to imagine) and for fear of losing Dunn's power. Instead the approach taken by Dunn and Greg Walker has been to try to tweak things (like balance) to try to get Dunn back to the ideal Adam Dunn simple-minded long power swing that worked in the past. It's been four months, and it hasn't worked yet. Every single pitcher in the AL knows Dunn is struggling, and they are taking advantage of it. I think the Sox are also afraid of the hit to Dunn's psyche if Ozzie were to bat him lower in the lineup. Yes confidence is very important in hitting and a necessary component of even being able to stand in a batter's box while Justin Verlander throws 100 mph fastballs within a foot of your torso. But I think Dunn has proven that he doesn't react well to pressure (all his prior success has been on second-tier NL teams with zero expectations for winning), so I would move to reduce the pressure and give him the opportunity to start building up some confidence by having some minor successes. I wish the Sox and Dunn would change something. Right now I fear we're doomed for another month of Dunn's struggles until Viciedo finally comes up when the rosters expand, and then Ozzie will finally sit Dunn a little bit.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Jul 29, 2011 -> 03:51 PM) 3Ks, one walk A pitcher who has no idea where the ball's going to end up versus a batter who often swings and misses at straight-as-an-arrow pitches - this is not going to be pretty. In other words it's the #1 random pitcher in the league versus the #1 random hitter. The only way Dunn gets on base versus Wakefield is if he keeps the bat on his shoulders. If not, he could miss the ball by several feet instead of his usual several inches. Lillibridge should be the DH tonight.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Jul 29, 2011 -> 03:56 PM) I don't even know why they are going to play this game. Boston is far too good for us. Might as well rest for three days and take three forfeits. Yeah, I don't know why MLB even bothered playing the 2011 regular season - they just should have jumped ahead to the Red Sox / Phillies World Series and saved everyone a lot of time. OK, on a serious note: we kick Boston's ass, that's why we're playing this game. We match up well against the Beaneaters.

It's official: we need more offense. Scoring 2 and then 1 runs ain't gonna do it...

QUOTE (kapzk @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 09:12 PM) Hopefully we don't see Soria in extras.... if we dont give up a run that is Soria's dealing tonight, unfortunately. Royals have a good bullpen...we have a not so good offense...could be here a while...

QUOTE (mcgrad70 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 08:57 PM) Guillen is just the absolute worst - let these starters finish the damn game Wait a minute - I thought most people didn't want Danks to pitch the seventh, given his high pitch count. Sox can still win. No way to blame Ozzie so far if they lose this one. Can't expect to win many games when the offense scores just one run...

Do Royals fans call that bunt "Yostball"?

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 08:38 PM) This is just awful to watch What did you think during that 1-0 game Danks pitched in 2008 when our only run was scored on a homer? ;-)

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 08:39 PM) 100+ pitches too Danks is from Texas...this heat is nothing for him...

Nice inning, Danks and Morel!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 08:25 PM) This is about where someone unexpectedly kills us. Danks has won 1-0 games before...

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 03:02 PM) I don't get this rotation they're planning on using at all. If it were up to me I'd be going with Humber-Danks-Floyd-Buehrle-Jackson-Peavy Need to avoid overworking Humber. Danks not ready - still needs another rehab start. I'm fine with running all righties against MCab and the Tiggers. Have you been watching Buehrle pitch recently? He's our best lefty right now.

"Big Game" Freddy looking awfully good tonight...

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 10, 2011 -> 02:19 AM) Adam Dunn is screwing everything up with his ineptitude. We aren't going to win squat with him batting third, fourth fifth or sixth. Yes Beckham should have bunted him over. Ozzie gave his reasons for it, said he trusted him to hit it to the right side or get a single. Beckham as we all know may have f***ed up the bunt. Usually Oz goes for the bunt as you know. This time he didn't. Ultimately Lexi slugged a game winning hit. It was not a balk or a s***ty lazy pop up. A real hit. Every manager but Ozzie would have bunted him to third, but he still would have had a slow runner on third who prolly woulda got thrown out at home on the sac fly. We won the game but people still want to second guess, which is beyond me. BTW this pitching matchup no way we should lose Sunday, that's why we probably will. I also think the 9th inning was a show of faith by Ozzie in a slumping Beckham, just like the 8th was a show of faith in Dunn. When Gordon is on he definitely can hit behind the runner - heck he started the year in the #2 hole because of that. It was a Saturday afternoon Fox game and a walk-off opportunity - does anyone remember Gordon's Fox walk-off win when he first came up? It could have been a huge confidence builder if Gordon came through. Conversely, a screwed up bunt would have been a disaster. So Ozzie let him hit away. Runner on second, double play not in order, and we have three chances to get a single to win the game. Our hitters need to hit. I have no problems with how Ozzie managed either the 8th or the 9th. Fortunately, our hitters came through. Ozzie can only do so much to manage around lack of production from the hitters. If we're going to win the division, the hitters need to hit.

QUOTE (zygoat @ Jul 10, 2011 -> 01:01 AM) I didn't understand today why Ozzie would have Alexi bunt over Pierre so they could walk Paulie to get to Dunn. I understand that there were no outs (one out after the bunt) but to take the bats out of the two best hitters in your lineup to face Dunn seemed crazy to me (Thank god for TCQ base knock- he was pumped after that). I know that it was probably the right play with another lineup but it really bothered me today with the situation at hand. Also, why didn't they bunt AJ over after the leadoff double so Teahen could possibly hit a sac fly to win the game? They did it earlier with our best hitters so why not when the situation called again for it? I'm not manager but I would have reversed the calls if I saw both situations. Please don't be offensive in your posts. Thoughts? One possible answer: Ozzie and Kenny have decided that the best way to get Dunn on track is to pretend that everything is fine, and to do absolutely nothing which would demonstrate any loss of faith in him. So Ozzie strictly followed The Book in the 8th. The Sox got their top-of-the-order #1 hitter (Pierre) on base. The Book says that your #2 hitter is a good bat handler who can bunt or hit behind the runner (which of course ignores the fact that Alexei was hot and had already hit a HR), so Ozzie had Alexei bunt Pierre over. This puts the #1 hitter on second with one out for your #3 and #4 hitters to drive him in. The Book says your #3 and #4 hitters are your best two hitters and RBI guys and it is up to them to come through when the table has been set. The problem, of course, is that The Book does not say your #4 hitter should be hitting .163 and in a profound slump. The Sox 8th makes all the sense in the world if you explain it by dropping the names and substituting the batting order positions. By following The Book Ozzie was respecting Dunn, and it became Gardie who showed Dunn disrespect by walking Konerko. Several weeks ago Ozzie was somewhat disrespecting Dunn by batting him as low as 7th. I think Kenny and he got together and decided that they were going to pretend that everything was fine as the way to get him back on track, which is why he returned to the 3-4-5 position in the lineup. I have been advocating disrespecting Dunn even more than they were, by batting him 8th and sitting him against lefties. My theory is that this would help reduce the pressure on Dunn (because he'd come up in fewer game critical situations) as well as improve the Sox's chances to win the game slightly until Dunn gets back on track. But it would show even more of a loss of faith in Dunn by the organization. I also think that, although the Sox could improve their chances of winning games now by following my Dunn strategy, that this season is a lost season if Dunn never gets on track. You can't be a playoff winning team or AL champ with such a profound lack of production from the DH spot. Dunn simply has to get on track for the Sox to have any chance this year. The Sox made their decision to bat Dunn in the 3-4-5 hole back when Kenny signed him to a four year deal, not when Ozzie flled out the lineup card for yesterday's game. But Ozzie is the one taking the heat.

We're now locked into third place at the All Star break. Let's go into the break with a winning streak.

AJ!!!!!!!!!! Alexei!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Two guys who know how to perform under pressure.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 04:39 PM) Wow, terrible. Again, so glad he's playing against a LHP. Not sure what more needs to happen for him to just sit his ass against LHP. Where would Dayan play? Check the stats: JP has reverse splits - does much better against lefties because it's easier for him to go to the opposite field, which is where he gets most of his hits, like the single he just hit. JP and Dunn could platoon in the DH spot, and Viciedo could play in the outfield versus lefties.