ThunderBolt

Floyd should be absolutely deadly against this free-swinging Angels team.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 10:10 PM) He has like a .410 OBP. I'm not worried about his average at all. You're right on with this. Batting Average is a meaningless statistic for a player like Jim Thome. He’s still getting On Base at a spectacular rate.

Jared Mitchell went 2-4 with an RBI. Also, with a CS. Good to see he's starting to be a bit more agressive on the bases.

I don’t know if I can say enough about the job that DJ Carrasco did tonight. He kept us in the game against one of the best offensive teams in the majors. That was incredibly impressive. Naturally, Beckham and Quentin get a lot of credit for their bombs, but frankly, I’m run out of ways to say just how impressed I am with both these players. Finally, another shout out to the luckiest man on earth, Scotty Pods who had a great approach to win the game following a great AB by Jayson Nix.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 01:09 AM) Carlos Quentin? There's no doubt that Q can work a very good at bat, but he's very much a guy who will jump on a pitch regardless of count. While their are exceptions for almost every ballplayer, Q is at his best when he attacks, Q is very good at predicting when he'll get a pitch to hit, whereas Beckham works the count to the point where he forces the opposing pitcher to throw him a good pitch to hit. I wouldn't say their approaches are dramatically different, but I think Q is a bit more aggressive, whereas Beckham has more of a patience-and drive approach. I'm accessing both players by eye though, and I'll admit I leave myself prone to making generalizations and faulty claims this way. If anybody can find some stats on this it would be greatly appreciated. On an off topic note: Here's a weird Trib article of Ryan Braun singing Beckham's praises. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,0,907311.story

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 3, 2009 -> 09:29 PM) And Willy Taveras is just f***ing bad. He got off to a decent start. But wow! He's awful. I could stand face to face with Willy Taveras, and he wouldn't be able to hit me.

This is going to be hard to believe (I haven't actually fully comprehended this feeling yet), but Kyle McCulloch started a game, pitched well, and won. Weird.

How good is Gordon Beckham? He's even caught Derek Jeter's eye.. I’ll admit to being something of a Jeter cynic, but coming from him all of this makes me smile. “The baseball world has taken notice -- starting with Jeter. ''He's playing well,'' Jeter said. ''I got a chance to talk to him a little bit because he's been on second base the whole series. He can hit, that's the bottom line. You throw him in, he pulls it; you throw him away, he hits it the other way. It looks like he's got some pop. ''He hasn't been playing third base very long, but he's been doing a good job there, too, so I'm sure he's going to be here for a long time.'' This might surprise Beckham, but Jeter has been keeping an eye on the kid who wants to duplicate the future Hall of Famer's career on the South Side. ''Yeah, man, he got up here pretty quickly,'' Jeter said. ''But if you have talent, it's hard to keep you down. He's taking advantage of an opportunity, and he's playing well.'' This is what happens after you hit five doubles in four games against the Yankees.” http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/1697...eluca03.article

QUOTE (SockMe @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 12:01 AM) What should I bring to have autographed? 1: Cut a hole in a box 2: Put your junk in that box 3: Make them open the box And that's the way you do it

Chris Young has shown what a lack of plate discipline can do to a so called “power hitter”. Also, look under the reference Jeff Francouer.

Gordon Beckham is all kinds of good. What's amazing is that his major league numbers are nearly identical to his minor league numbers. Ideally, minor league numbers should somewhat project into the majors. For Gordon, they're absolutely spot on. What's most impressed me about Beckham, other then his walk up music, is his incredible plate discipline. Their's not a player on this team who can work as good an AB as the kid, even more incredible is that's he nearly always squares up the ball. Gordon Beckham = as advertised in nearly ever facet of the game.

I’d absolutely do both these moves assuming that Webb’s shoulder checks out, and we’re assured a decent haul for Jenks. These are some pretty big ifs.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 3, 2009 -> 05:46 PM) F*ck me. There’s a special kind of hell reserved for you.

My main problem is the superficiality of this article. You can’t look at this trade in a vacuum.

So, let me get this straight we traded from strength in order to get one of the best pitchers in the game, a pitcher who is out, not with an arm injury, but with an ankle problem. And we somehow compromised the future of our organization? A couple of years of Peavy, and the likes of Dan Hudson, Carlos Torres, Nevin Griffin and David Holmberg in our system beg to differ,

Viciedo is 2-3 with 3 RBI's. Marrero has two bombs. As the Barons have just exploded on Mobile following a bad start from Shirek.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Aug 2, 2009 -> 06:37 PM) It takes a different mentality to be a closer that can handle closing out close games without losing your cool. It also requires mental toughness in so that closers need to be able to consistently forget their bad games and not let it affect their performance in games after blown saves. Isn’t this the case for every pitcher? You have little chance of succeeding at any position in baseball, if you can’t keep your composure and focus on the game.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Aug 2, 2009 -> 06:58 PM) Fernando Hernandez, Justin Cassel and Matthew Zaleski are also on Charlotte's roster. If Hernandez holds his own this month in AAA, he’s a very good bet to be up and potentially contributing for us in September

God, I hope we don’t start judging people on poor grammar. As if you people could think any less of me.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Aug 2, 2009 -> 06:18 PM) Lets say we have $8M to spend in the offseason. (Just completely throwing out a number) Do we get a top flight closer? Or do we get a .375 OBP guy at a position of need (and hope bullpen straightens itself out)? I wanted Rolen this trade deadline so I guess I'm still in the latter camp. Even if i might regret it later on. You absolutely get an offensive player over a closer. I could find you at least ten potential closers in our system, right now. Honestly, I think I could find some in the Red Sox system and the Yankees, as well. There’s no doubt what Papelbon and MO have accomplished is extraordinary, but their accomplishments are extraordinary in that they have proven themselves to be masters in their role, a role I find to be flawed in its basic principle.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Aug 2, 2009 -> 06:04 PM) I wonder if it would be worth it to get Matt Capps... Also, it seems like some people are undervaluing the contributions of closers. Closers are basically the last line of defense in winning ballgames, closers are the stoppers, they are the ones responsible in ensuring that the win is preserved. That sounds like a role that should be paid good money, even up to 8 million a year, to me. How would teams like the Yankees be without Rivera? Or Boston without Papelbon? Without those two lights-out closers, those two teams would definitely have more losses than they do now. So it should be a no-brainer that you should pay whatever it takes for a top closer. I pretty much relate the importance of having a top-notch closer to the importance of having an ace like Buehrle or Peavy. Closer's usually come into a game with a three run lead. The argument for those who find the closer spot to be overrated, (myself being one of the proponents of this theory) says, that a typical major league pitcher should be able to get these three outs regardless, of when these three outs occur in a ballgame. Also, not sure I see how an ACE who can give you seven strong innings is equal in importance to a pitcher who needs only one inning to accomplish his job.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Aug 2, 2009 -> 05:13 PM) Trading Bobby isn't a bad idea, but who in the heck is going to close next year? The closest candidate would be Thornton, but he's never closed before and doesn't have any secondary pitches that he can throw for strikes. If they trade Bobby, Kenny needs to bring in a veteran who can handle the closer spot. We’d really be hurting our bullpen by making Thornton our closer. Ideally, someone from the minors can step up get saves, and gain value. I’m a 100% believer in selling the closer, they’re a replaceable asset.

At least we won the series. I hate to lose today, but we left a really positive message. Our offense is alive and it'd going to be deadly.

BallGame.

Beckham with our last shot.