Chicago White Sox

Limit this to two runs James.

All I ask of Shields is to keep us in the game. Do NOT blow this in the first inning.

194 minutes until first pitch...

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 10:02 AM) I understand why he was pissed though. This game is all about relationships and friends outside the house and one of his good friends (Cara) screwed him and then Tony gave him a BS excuse Leroy’s game may be all about relationships, but at some point you have to prove yourself and not just ride the Bananas wagon every single season. I thought Tony’s reason for voting him in was just. Leroy has been terrible this season and was super aggressive during the troicha interview. And Cara was literally banging the other dude, what did Leroy expect her to do? I think it’s pretty s***ty that Leroy is even in the finals, but at least he had to prove himself to get in.

Score predictions? I think the Sox win this one 6-5. I think Shields goes five innings giving up four runs, but the bullpen & offense are able to pull out the win for us. I’m expecting a multi-hit game for Anderson & one blast from either Abreu or Avi to lead the charge.

Guys, just to be clear, this is a prospect prediction thread.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 1, 2018 -> 02:51 PM) I remember an early season incident of Devin vs. Johnny that was out of nowhere, made me think something was gonna happen between them later. But would Tony and Zach really vote him in? I guess Zach might, but no way with Tony. Got to give credit to Tony for making that power move. Unfortunately he’ll have to face Johnny in the finals. Should be interesting as hell. Also, anyone else think Leroy was acting like huge b**** on this week’s episode? He has no business being in the final and the fact he’s been around nine seasons doesn’t change that.

I’m shocked they haven’t released the lineups yet.

QUOTE (buntforahit @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 09:38 AM) I see a WS rotation of Dunning, Lambert, Cease, Flores and Puckett. Love that rotation! Where's Sheets going to start? The problem is we know Puckett is in the AA rotation per Getz. Dunning, Cease, & Flores are locks for the Dash’s rotation. I think Martinez has the next best case for a spot. That leaves one opening for Lambert, Solorzano, Hickman, or Davis. I was probably wrong to assume Solorzano gets that spot as he was dreadful in 2017 and should probably repeat in Kannapolis. Honestly I have no idea which of those other guys get the spot although Lambert is probably the safest guess.

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 09:33 AM) Positive: After another losing season. Hahn is finally no longer the White Sox GM. 6 Seasons of being "Mired in Mediocrity" is even too much for JR. Hahns contract won't be renewed after the 2018 season. What does any of this whining have to do with PROSPECTS? Good god you’re insufferable.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 09:32 AM) I think he is only on the MLB Pipeline top 100, he was off everything else from what I remember I think BP is pretty high on him, although not sure if he cracked their top 100.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 09:00 AM) For all of them, I'd just say look at Kopech. Last winter I would have been right here saying he's a late 2019 guy because he had so much work to go building up his arm. He then had a dominant, healthy year that has him in AAA and knocking on door of majors really at any moment. If any of them have a healthy and good year it will vault them. The difference between Kopech and Cease is Kopech didn’t miss significant time for pitching related injuries. Kopech got suspended for PEDs and broke his hand punching a teammate. Never once were there questions about his actual durability and ability to take on innings other than the fact he had never done it. Cease has had multiple injuries in his short professional career that have limited his workload. And that’s despite the Cubs handling him with baby gloves and never really ever pushing him. I hope everything clicks for Cease next year and he can take a Kopech line step but even if he does he’s a year behind where Michael was this time last year. I honestly think Cease has a good two years of development ahead of him and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Blake Rutherford slashes .310/.370/.470/.840 for the Dash this year.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 07:27 AM) For some reason I was thinking Dunning would start in AA and Stephens in AAA. Oh well, trust the Sox know what they're doing with their pitchers I’m assuming those moves will happen fairly quickly. As I mentioned in another thread, Dunning made 22 high A starts last year. Overall he was good enough to probably jump to AA. Stephens was pretty good across 16 AA starts last year and turns 26 this September. The clock is somewhat ticking on him. I fully expect within four to six weeks two of Stephens/Guerrero/Adams moving up and making room for Hansen & Dunning. Seems like the Sox may be trying to give those three guys a little bit of time with Collins & Zavala.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 08:27 AM) I've never been less stoked for baseball than I am this year, and that makes me very, very sad. Wow, you were more stoked last year? This year’s team could actually be pretty fun. The position player side is filled with interesting players across the board. Just following Moncada will be worth watching most games IMO. Seeing how Anderson rebounds after a rough sophomore season will be exiciting. If those two can take a big step forward this year that could accelerate the rebuild a bit. Then you got a stud in Abreu and a maybe stud in Avi (another guy who will be fun to follow). You got Castillo coming off a pretty nice and having a good catcher would be pretty sweet. I’m actually super excited to see what we have in Nicky & Yolmer. Even Engel will be somewhat interesting to follow given his elite CF defense and if the bat fails as expected we’ve got a very interesting prospect in Cordell. Honestly, DH is the only spot I’m really bummed about, but at some point Eloy will be up and it won’t really matter because the weakest hitter (likely Davidson) will move to the bench or get cut. The pitching side is more worrisome but at least we open the season with three young talents in the rotation. I’m super pumped to see if Giolito is going to take that next step this year. Despite Lopez’s rough spring, I still have faith in his stuff and feel he’ll eventually prosper by working with Coop on a daily basis. And while I have zero faith Carson Fulmer will ever make it as a starter, I’ll take him over Derek Holland, Mike Pelfrey, Dylan Covey, & David Holmberg who combined for 66 starts last year. Plus I fully expect Rodon & Kopech to be in our second half rotation, which is when things should get really excited. The bullpen is what it is but there are a few guys who will be fun to follow in Jones, Soria, Bummer, & even Santiago. Overall, I am pretty pumped for this season. Hopefully Shields doesn’t s*** on that optimism today.

I’m not sure how anyone thinks Cease could be closer to the major than Dunning. Cease has never thrown 100 innings in a season and has never pitched above low A. He also has huge control problems that need to be ironed out and those will only get more problematic as he faces more advanced pitching. Meanwhile, Dunning made 22 starts in high A and put up 144 innings in his first ful season as a starter. He’ll be up in AA very soon assuming he pitches well to start 2018. And his pitching profile of a groundball pitcher with strong command should allow him to move fast. I really don’t think it’s even close. Cease is a 2020 callup if all goes well and I’m cool with that. Absolutely no reason to rush the kid.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 01:12 AM) On the latest White Sox Talk podcast, they said Dunning is going to start in AA. I don’t know, I’d probably trust Getz over Chuck but that’s just me

Abreu:Under Davidson:Under Moncada:Over Garcia:Over* Anderson:Over Castillo:Over I’m assuming we’re looking at player totals and not necessarily their totals with just the Sox. If not, I’d change my vote for Avi to the under as I doubt he’s still on this roster come August.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 28, 2018 -> 03:55 PM) 77-85 record I’m also going with a 77-85 prediction. I don’t think this is a 77 win team talent wise, but playing 38 games against the Tigers & Royals will help. I also think the additions of Kopech & Jimenez will spur a nice run in the second half of the season.

Right or wrong, I don’t see Nicky batting cleanup against Duffy. I think we see something like this: 1. Moncada, 2B 2. A. Garcia, RF 3. Abreu, 1B 4. Davidson, DH 5. Castillo, C 6. Delmonico, LF 7. Anderson, SS 8. Sanchez, 3B 9. Engel, CF

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Mar 28, 2018 -> 02:33 PM) Where the hell is Hawkins? DH as Birmingham most likely.

Surprise: Nicky Delmonico. I believe he will hit fairy well this year and will flash enough defensively to turn himself into a long-term OF option for us. Dissapointment: Adam Engel. I know some want to believe he might have righted the ship offensively, but I remain skeptical and believe he simply ends up a 4th OF type. Darkhorse: Nate Jones. I think he stays healthy and reestablishes himself as an elite reliever.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 28, 2018 -> 12:57 PM) He will be in WS most likely I’m guessing we see something like for WS: Dunning Cease Flores Martinez Solorzano My guess is Lambert grabs a spot when Dunning moves up.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 28, 2018 -> 11:16 AM) Cordell in April Kopech in May Jimenez in July 100% agree with this.

Didn’t want to include my comments in the recap section, but I’m surprised by a few things. First, I would have thought two of Stephens/Adams/Guerrero would have been bumped to AAA. Really not sure who is going to be in that Knights rotation now. We know Kopech but after that we’re talking about guys like Danish, Covey, & Volstad. Just don’t see why we’re being so conservative with these guys, although I think one of them (probably Stephens) moves up as soon as Hansen is back. Second, I was really hoping to see Curbelo finally hit full season ball this year. That could still happen at some point, but man do I wish it was to begin 2018. Last year he quite good for GF in a SSS and we heard things like “best player on the field”, so I was optimistic they’d actually challenge him despite coming off an injury. Still only 20 years but I’d hate for him not to reach full season ball until he turns 21 even if that is still age appropriate. Also, I think this means Laz Rivera will be the starting SS for Kannapolis. On a less surprising note, the Dash OF shaked out exactly as I expected given the Robert & Adolfo injuries. Will be interesting to see who gets moved up to once Robert is back. Also, I think this pretty much cements where the rest of the key OF prospects are starting. Looks like AA will be Fisher, Polo, Jimenez. Gonzalez starts in low A alongside Dedelow. Not sure who else rounds out that OF but there are quite a few guys coming off productive seasons in rookie ball. I’m personally hoping Destino grabs that last spot.