Chicago White Sox

He might have ate some edibles before the game

KK

Yeah I jinxed that

It’s also great seeing Michael ahead in the count so often

I think we should looking to extend Kopech right now

Honestly that one was 50/50 to begin and Collins didn’t receive all that well to get the call IMO

K

I know the ERA looks nice, but my god are these some ugly Statcast figures:

Actually excited to see what Stiever brings to the table today. His stuff definitely didn’t live up to expectations in his brief time with us last year.

The Padres are still the clear #2 in the NL IMO.

I think it’s more than fair to question whether a manager who has been out of the game 10 years and has managed this team for 20 games total has his instincts up to snuff. His usage of Leury Garcia is evidence he hasn’t figured this roster entirely out yet.

That’s fair and obviously there contextual factors we don’t always have access to as fans. I just personally think it was a poor decision for the reasons I outlined earlier, but not one I’d say is 100% black & white.

It’s also weird how certain fans think these guys get it right all the time simply because they are in baseball. I’m really starting to think you’re a Jerry Reinsdorf burner account.

We have no idea that he’s running scenarios and playing the odds. He easily could be going by gut. Either way, it’s fair to question the decision.

If you want to give him a start, try to do it against LHP when possible and give Eaton a breather. Perhaps there wasn’t a great alternative this week, but La Russa hasn’t been great taking advantage of platoon advantages. Regardless, why doesn’t this same logic apply to Jake Lamb? Wouldn’t he make more sense out in LF today?

Yeah, would love to see that

Collins is fine as the backup catcher for now, but obviously he needs to get going offensively. I’d still bat him in front of Madrigal as I really like Nick in the 9th spot in the order. Leury is the real problem unfortunately. I’d much rather see Lamb out in LF today than hope a struggling Leury can defy the historical odds and magically start hitting RHP at an acceptable rate.

I see zero chance they rock those two in the corners and take Eaton out of the lineup if he keeps producing.

La Russa is quickly making me hate Leury with all the playing time he‘s giving him.

Let’s think about this objectively. The Sox had three options last night once Robert got on base: Do Nothing - Let Grandal, Yermin, & Hamilton each have a shot to drive Robert in from 1st base, but risk a potential double-play taking out your base-runner Have Robert Steal - Potentially allow the same three hitters a chance to drive Robert in from 2nd, but risk a caught-stealing taking out your base-runner Have Yas Sac Bunt - Potentially allow Hamilton & Madrigal a chance to drive Robert in from 2nd, but take away the bat from your hottest hitter, risk a botched bunt attempt, and create an extra force-out opportunity for two ground-ball prone hitters IMO, option #3 doesn’t make sense when you a great base-stealer in Robert. Giving up an out to give 50% of your expected chances of knocking in the winning run to a guy who has been a 67 wRC+ hitter in his career is the definition of insanity. And the reason option #1 was scary (GIDP risk), should also apply to option #3 given the ground-ball rates of Billy & Nick (I fully understand they are faster than Yas). I get it ultimately worked out, but the plan pretty much relied on Madrigal getting a base hit to work whereas option #2 potentially provides more options. I bet if someone ran the actual math having Robert steal has the greatest chance of getting a single run.

But so do the games in May, June, July, August, & September, which is my point. I don’t disagree the early returns look promising, but it’s way too early to declare a victor.

Because the Dodgers we were looking for an MVP type talent if they were moving Verdugo and not prospects?

Which player were we giving up comparable to Mookie Betts?

Beware of an incredibly small sample size, but here are Nick’s stats over his last five games: Slash = .333/.350/.556/.906 wRC+ = 147 | wOBA = .373 BABIP = .333 (career = .340) BB rate = 5.0% | K rate = 5.0% ISO = .222 (6 1B | 2 2B | 1 3B) Hard Hit % = 44.4% (21.8%) Line-Drive % = 35.3% (24.7%) Fly Ball % = 0.0% (15.6%) Not suggesting he can replicate these exact numbers going forward, but what they prove is he’s capable of hitting the ball hard and should be able to drive the ball into the gaps enough to rack up quite a few doubles and the occasional triple. The key for him (as we’re seeing in this stretch) is to avoid fly balls, which will help keep his BABIP running high. If can do that, dude can be a really valuable hitter for us and a unique weapon for us coming out of the 9th spot. Also, don’t look now, but his OAA has already increased from the 8th percentile to the 30th over a similar time frame. Dude will be fine in the field and on the bases, even if he never lives up to the ridiculous pre-draft hype.