The Sir

Call him up. I mean, in all seriousness, fellas, does 2025 really matter? We're trying to win in 2020. Let the man come up and take his growing pains up here already. If we are dependent on Eloy Jimenez for continued success in 2025, we failed to create sustainable success (think Kansas City). If Eloy comes up and rocks it, awesome. See if we can extend him or retain him in FA come the end of 2024. If he wants to leave, whatever- we'll have Bryce Bush, Steele Walker and our 2020-2021 draft class to keep us winning indefinitely.

How did a thread dedicated to the single most important person on the current MLB roster become this distracted and useless? We haven't beaten this horse entirely to death, after all- let's talk more about that k-rate, his batting eye and other MLB stars who developed slowly.

Yeah, that'd help, but even without many walks, the dude has an OPS of .785. Extrapolated over a full year, the dude would get something like 65 XBHs, including 35 homeruns. He's earning his spot, AFAIC.

Did I hear Benetti say "Palk-smash"? I haven't been watching lately...is that a new creation?

How are we only in the top of the third? This game started over an hour ago.

Not that it really matters, with our outfield glut and all, but Jameson Fisher has really fallen off a cliff.

I have MLBTV, but I haven't watched in months. I think that changes today. Don't know how long I'll last, but I'm gonna try.

Like!

This was NOT a good way to avoid getting those notifications.

Hey, let's discuss username conspiracies and the post voting system, instead of interesting debate about what needs to happen so that our main return for the best Sox player in recent memory doesn't flop out of baseball in five years. Cool!

He's 21 for 225 with two strikes, with a .397 OPS. Just picking a random, somewhat similar player in Chris Taylor of the Dodgers, he's got 229 ABs with two strikes for a .558 OPS. Edit: Just trying random 2018 players, including Happ, Gallo, Harper, Abreu, Pederson, Judge, Machado (I didn't say realistic), I managed to find someone with a worse two-strike OPS: Chris Davis. FWIW.

"So if 2020-2024 is a time they intend to win, then why is it not valuable to have Eloy/Kopech work through growing pains at the MLB level when they're reasonably ready. Why do they give a **** whether they control Eloy in 2025." This line from Owen really sums up where I stand. Not so clear with Kopech, but it is definitely time for Eloy to face MLB pitchers and, if there are growing pains, go through them up here. He's got nothing left to prove down here. Challenge him. And IMO, being good in 2025 depends not on whether we control Eloy, but on whether we are able to draft well and develop talent in our farm system (and do some effective FA shopping). To use the Royals as a recent analogy, we could truly go to the moon and be stuck right back here in the doldrums by 2023. Eloy and Kopech can make us legit contenders in 2020, but they're not going to keep us up there forever. Forget about 2025- we'll cross that bridge later.

Couple of quick points: 1) There is always the possibility for improvement, but Moncada’s Ks are worrisome. Being a star will be hard at a 33% K-rate. That has to come down, and this has always been the crux of my argument. 2) “Let them develop” is a fine stance, but let’s face it- our FO hasn’t really earned trust on this one. If I was a Cubs fan, sure, let them develop! Happ, Baez, Almora, Contreras, Bryant...all players on their current roster that were molded by that system into pretty solid MLBers. What proof do we have that this organization develops good hitters? I’m not exactly breaking new ground here. 3) It doesn’t mean trade them or demote them or whatever, but as a fan, can’t we have a Soto? Or even an Acuña? It would be nice if a guy just came up here and RAKED. We haven’t had that since Beckham, who promptly fell off a cliff. Obviously, Moncada’s got time to show his value, but there are valid concerns and some frustration is warranted. I’ll love this team ‘til my last breath, but they haven’t exactly exuded competence in the last decade.

I don't believe in jinxes, so if Eloy is on the opening day roster in 2019, what do people think he's capable of (assuming no injuries)? Maybe I'm being conservative, but I went with 170 hits in 600 ABs with 50 BBs. 30 doubles, 3 triples, 25 bombs. Slash of .283/.338/.806. Am I being too mean or too nice? C'mon folks, I need a prospect to feel good about after the relative failures of Moncada, Anderson, Lopez and Giolito so far.

Are you serious? I’m going to confuse-face your post just because you’re juvenile enough to barf this quasi-confrontational, beta-male garbage on here. How are you actually 30+ years old?

He’s not really in the boat with the others mentioned here, who were all relatively hyped up, but I always liked Dewayne Wise. And yes, I liked him long before the Catch.

They're not really the most important guys, I know, but what happen to the two guys we got for Melky (Andre Davis and AJ Puckett) and the least of the Sale return, Victor Diaz? None of them have played in our system this year. Hurt?

102 R, 48 2Bs, 6 3Bs, 36 HRs, 90 RBIs, 24 SBs, 84 BBs, 282 Ks, .273/.355/882. It would be amazing, and possibly the most absurd stat line in baseball history. I know I'll have crow to eat, and I'm fine with that- I just really want to see that K-rate drop hard, because even without the natural improvement that will come with more contact, those other numbers equal MVP candidate.

QUOTE (Justin @ Apr 13, 2018 -> 12:55 PM) And the HUGE difference being Jose Altuve- even in 2011- made contact with balls in the strike zone 96% of the time- his career contact rate on balls in the strike zone is almost 94%. Moncada is 76%. I want Moncada to be great one day but the odds are really stacked against him. Major swing and miss issues- just like Schwarber. And that stat historically is pretty much set after 300 AB- it doesn't change much. Like DNA...Maybe he just needs glasses. But the Z-contract rate of pretty much anyone that has a long career in MLB is at least 85%. What is the progression of Kris Bryant’s z-contact rate? Because, without looking at the numbers, he improved his K-rate from approximately 30% in his rookie year to 19% last year. So improvement is totally possible. And even as a Moncada “hater”, I’ve noted it seems like he Ks looking a lot (although I don’t have stats on that). That should improve with time.

QUOTE (Footlongcomiskeydog @ Apr 13, 2018 -> 07:05 AM) Rick Hahn should be handed his walking papers if Moncada ends up back in Charlotte this year due to poor play. The kid was supposed to be a can't miss prospect. He has nothing left to learn in the minors. It is time to sink or swim with the big boys. I can agree with this. Despite all of my criticism, and despite the fact that I'm very cautious about Moncada's potential at this moment, I want him to get time. I don't want him to go to Charlotte and I don't even really want him to get bumped down the order. Pete makes a fair and interesting point, but regardless, I'd still have Moncada lead off for 160 games this year. Sink or swim. That said, if Moncada doesn't pan out (and that is far from decided right now), Rick Hahn should be the one to pay the price. The Tatis fiasco was bad enough, but this would be the final straw.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 06:14 PM) His arm is pretty bad TBH. He’s had a few embarrassing throws this season. So his bat sucks, his arm sucks, but he’s fast and makes highlight reel catches every once in a while. Dewayne Wise did that just one time and I’ll remember his name forever as a result, but he wasn’t exactly a long term piece.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 05:59 PM) Basically, xWOBA tracks how hard he hits the ball, its launch angle, and gets a percentage of hit probability based on that data. If xWOBA is higher than wOBA, which weights the actual results of batted balls rather than the stats behind it, it generally means the player has been unlucky. In Moncada's case, the discrepancy is pretty big, so stats like average/OBP/OPS will increase in due time. It doesn't necessarily "negate" the strikeouts. I agree that he strikes out too much. But even with a 35% or so strikeout rate, I think he will still be a good player when you factor in his defense and hitting. As the years go by, I also expect that 35% figure to drop, too. It will take time Ok, that makes sense and I appreciate the explanation. Obviously, I would maintain that you can’t completely blame luck when the PA ends in a K so frequently, but that horse is very, very dead. I also think it’s hard to be even a good player with those kinds of K numbers, but that horse is dead too. If he can bring it down, I have a lot of confidence but that’s the part I’m worried about. Although it does seem like he strikes out looking a LOT, which to me seems logical to expect that to drop as he gets used to the league and the zone and so forth. Would like to see some stats on that one.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 05:59 PM) Now this is something the three of us agree on lol I usually use the enemy’s at bats as my time to take s***s, cook dinner, rough house with the kids, and so on. I hear Engel is a great defender. So, does his arm always suck that bad or was that pop up an exception? Also, why are we being stingy over one run in the 3rd inning. Get the out, please (and of course, it comes back to bite us).

Soxfan49, I like where your heart is at, but regarding Engel, even MiLB games are a stretch. He’s terrible.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 05:45 PM) Um, the guy whose post I just replied too? Maybe you haven’t followed his posts in these game threads, but he talks like Moncada is a talentless hack. The strikeouts are an issue that need to be addressed, but Moncada can still be a damn good player with a higher average K rate and Stryker doesn’t understand or believe that. I think I’ve used detailed hypotheticals to show that’s not the case. If he gets his Ks down, he can absolutely be a star. But if it doesn’t improve drastically, he’s not going to be the player we need him to be.