Eminor3rd

So wait, they're going to restart the entire game for the makeup of last night?

I legitimately like that greg is offended enough at being called a Royals fan that he considers it a "personal attack," haha.

QUOTE (LDF @ Apr 24, 2015 -> 01:47 PM) you are correct, but i would like to also add being hype and the blood flowing which i am sure these players are pressing to do better. I'd be more inclined to believe that if I had ever seen him any better, but I honestly just haven't. He's talented enough that he's going to get hot for a while when he's guessing well, but he doesn't look to me like he's improved at all since he's been with us. And I just can't by the notion that the coaching staff hasn't been trying to work with him.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 24, 2015 -> 01:40 PM) Some of Avi's at bats really are that bad. How come we have so many hitters that can't relax and take some pitches. He has three walks in 57 plate appearances and seems way too anxious up there. I'm afraid it might not be a matter of patience, but just actual pitch recognition and/or "baseball IQ." I think that was the same issue with Viciedo, and it's really a much more serious problem, because I'm not sure that a simple change in approach can fix it. It's really hard to tell from a fan's perspective, obviously, whether or not a guy is really trying to change. But if he just can't recognize the cues/pick up the spin in time, he's doomed to mediocrity even though he's so physically gifted otherwise.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 24, 2015 -> 01:21 PM) No, but you can't blame losses on the manager all the time, and last night was one of them. You have to score more than 2 runs to win most of the time, especially when you give up 2 in the first inning. If a baskeball coach had a team that was losing 99-98 and one of their players shooting 90% from the line gets fouled as time runs out, is that coach great if the player makes both free throws and they win and dumb if the player misses both free throws and they lose? The offense isn't working, that makes a team look lethargic. This is the truth. These dudes gotta hit, period. If you want a scapegoat, fine, but at least admit that's what you're doing. Personally, I'd much rather blame Avisail Garcia (just using him as ONE example, because he;s the most extreme IMO) for the fact that 80% of his at bats are hilarious-terrible. Better coaching? I don't f'n know, but I highly doubt more reps in the cage are going to fix his mess. I don't think Robin Ventura is up there saying, "Avi, you gotta decide to swing before he even throws the ball, man."

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 24, 2015 -> 01:28 PM) Meatheads? Really? So only the "smart" baseball fans have the secret knowledge about what Ventura has done so well since mid-September, 2012? You're a mod. I would expect more rationalism and less Chris Rongey, to be perfectly honest. *Meatballs

QUOTE (shysocks @ Apr 24, 2015 -> 10:50 AM) Your next mash-up, perhaps?

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 24, 2015 -> 09:29 AM) I'll be there. Seems like a lot of soxtalk.com will be. Maybe a good crowd tonight for once. I'll be at Yankee Stadium, unfortunately But I'll have MLB At Bat running

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Apr 24, 2015 -> 08:50 AM) Not saying some of the players on the White Sox are totally innocent in this event, but the Royals got into it with the third different team last night. We are three weeks into the season. They clearly have some issues. This

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 23, 2015 -> 11:07 PM) I will admit being a lazy drunk watching the game, but fielding has always been quantifiable. As has hitting, as has pitching. Lazy as I am, I will merely say that what sabermetrics is trying to do is to try and find better ways to quantify it. This is a MAJOR step, though. Actual measurements of critical proxies like velocity, angle, speed, positioning, routes, etc. This data, compared to DRS/UZR, could be like comparing a calculator to an abacus.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Apr 24, 2015 -> 09:36 AM) Long time lurker blessing this glorious thread with my first post for an assured victory. Quintana gonna tana Tanas gotsta tana. Welcome to the fray.

A-f***ing-men

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 23, 2015 -> 01:07 PM) Rodon was set up to succeed. He was sent in to face a LH .150 hitter who is 1-9 with 6 strikeouts vs. LHP. It would be pretty hard to find a more favorable match up. If you look at some of the posts of the people who love to rip Robin after the fact and are ripping this move, you will realize if he stayed with Noesi and Noesi didn't get the out, they would be ripping him for not going with Rodon. There were ZERO complaints about going to Rodon in the gamethread until after the fact. I wasn't able to watch that game -- people in the GT were actually upset that Rodon got a relief appearance against a lefty? When Noesi was pitching?

I hate this Royals team more than I can remember hating any team in recent memory. I need the Sox to give me a sweep here.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Apr 22, 2015 -> 10:44 AM) Thanks for reassuring me. I'm confident that most of the guys will hit like they usually do. If you're right, in your assertion that having an inept hitter vs. LHP at cleanup isn't that big of a problem, then we should be fine. I do hope that you're right, but can you understand why it's a concern? LaRoche has a career 88 wRC+ against LHP. That is by no means good, but it's also very much not a disaster, and very much not that far off from what other guys have against the platoon split, and fortunately for us, there are vastly fewer lefties than righties. I am not suggesting that having someone inept is isn't a problem, but the precedent LaRoche has set isn't quite that bad, and certainly, IMO, not bad enough to drag the rest of the team down ASSUMING that team is playing like it's capable. Like Eaton, Garcia, Ramirez, Gillaspie, and Cabrera can't keep sucking, or it'll be a moot point. The good news is that we don't have any reason to believe that they WILL continue sucking.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Apr 22, 2015 -> 10:11 AM) To the last few replies: Hey, just because I was wrong in suggesting someone else, does not invalidate my point. My ability to identify the right guy has nothing to do with this issue. I'm not the GM. I'm glad that Robin is batting La Roche further down, vs. left handed starters. However, vs right handed starters, the same dilemma will occur late in games. It's just that practically everyone has noticeable platoon splits, so you diversify so that a team has to wreck the bullpen to exploit it. There was no way for us to get an elite hitter to plug in there, but we got LaRoche and it's still a major upgrade overall. We'd all love to have the hitter you're imagining, but he just isn't available to us. And missing him isn't our biggest issue. If none of our guys hit like they're supposed to, we're going to lose no matter what. We just gotta ride this thing out.

Aww. Looks like I was too slow

Alright, my turn. Great pitching match-up. A short prayer to Lyle Mouton: Look upon us, O Mighty One. Let's start a winning streak today. Poll if O/U on total K's between both staffs. Staves?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 22, 2015 -> 07:58 AM) LaRoche will be fine. Funny no one was complaining when he hit 3 homers in a week and drove in some big runs. There aren't many left handed hitters who handle left handed pitchers well. This. The reason we're scoring 2 runs per game is because literally all the starters (except Abreu) are performing below expectations, not because LaRoche has a platoon disadvantage.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Apr 21, 2015 -> 02:38 PM) That was a fun game. I forgot who K'ed to end that game but it was borderline. It was Brendan Ryan, and it was very, very clearly out of the zone, haha.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 21, 2015 -> 10:24 AM) The Royals would probably throw at Melky in consecutive games

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 21, 2015 -> 11:53 AM) I love how he's pitching, but I just hope it lasts. He did not look anywhere near this good last year, or any other year for that matter. Only in the sense that NO ONE has ever looked this good over the course of an entire season. Robertson has been a top 5 reliever in the MLB for years now, plenty of precedent that this is for real. The question is when will it decay (which is a legit question), but not "is it true talent"?

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 20, 2015 -> 09:37 PM) Let's keep this momentum! QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Apr 20, 2015 -> 09:44 PM) Winning is fun. Let's keep this one-game winning streak going! Lol

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 21, 2015 -> 06:59 AM) I think the bullpen is nails now. The offense can't possibly continue to be as bad as it's been. Q and Samardzija have to be better. Rodon will eventually move into the rotation. The defense is a huge concern. IMO the Sox worst defenders are Gillaspie, Avi, and Micah, and it seems the opposition hits a lot of balls their way. I have no idea what the pump fake from Avi was last night. I have never seen it, but when he was acquired less than 2 years ago, it was thought he could be a CF. His defense is definitely trending down. Hopefuly these guys can step it up and be adequate. Great point. Micah seems to be a real issue because of his hands. Even that grounder up the middle early on -- yeah, tough play, no doubt, but a ML infielder at least gloves that ball. Maybe he can't fget an accurate throw off in time, but that feels like the 5th or 6th grounder I've seen him bobble or drop this year, and it makes me worry about his defense long-term.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 20, 2015 -> 09:34 PM) The fuse is lit. This was my thought, too -- or it was my hope anyway. I said to my girlfriend. "that inning was the first time I've felt like they could actually hit this whole season." It's been really rough so far, but the guys looked SO excited during the entire rally. I hope this is the turnaround.