Jose Abreu

It really is something. Over there, it’s universally understood that the fan was in the wrong, and here, you have all these random narratives that he threw things at a girl? It really isn’t a big deal

If he has a very good season and gets a lucrative contract for it, do you think he'd maintain his new production? If I were a team, I'd be terrified that after paying him he'd revert to his 2020 work ethic/self

Agreed. And while I was disappointed by the lack of mask enforcement during the KC series, it was much better tonight. I've never been within 6 feet of someone for more than ~30 seconds, and even then we were masked and (obviously) outdoors. Overall I'd say it's pretty nice and definitely worth it if you're on the fence

Awesome. I'll take all the anecdotal evidence I can get after reading Greg's post lol

I kind of want Vaughn to get sent down, not necessarily for the year of control but just because of how ridiculous it is to send down a player with a .400 OBP

Getting J&J tomorrow. Has anyone here gotten it? I'm expecting flu-like symptoms for ~24 hours afterwards and hopefully nothing worse

They're even on extended rest since there were 2 days off instead of 1. There's no reason Giolito or even Keuchel should be unable to start tonight

I know the fact that this is a false equivalence was already addressed, but also... where were you?? TA was loathed by many as recently as early 2019. The criticisms of him were so over the top and annoying in 2018 that at one point I just stopped defending him because nobody would actually listen

I was sitting in front of some of his family. It was awesome to hear how excited they were. Despite the low attendance, the atmosphere (especially in the 1st inning) rivaled the buzz I haven't felt since Kopech's debut in 2018

Every time Keller was scheduled to start against us, he mysteriously got pushed back to the next series

Grandal

Just as we expected. Like Jason keeps saying on the broadcasts, I think he just needs that first hit to fall and then he'll be fine. He was seeing the ball better as the game went on last night

It's a 3 game series FYI

Most conspicuously, Giolito, Kopech, Crochet, Lynn, most other relievers -- pretty much every pitcher who I expected to look good (I had low expectations for Keuchel and Cease). I actually thought Yoan looked good tonight- nice defense, reached base twice in his five PAs, and two of the other ones were 100 and 107 MPH exit velocity outs. Robert still struggles with pitch recognition, but this start is much unlike his September slump as he is still barreling up the ball and getting on base, so I can live with the swing and miss. And although these guys are working from an even smaller sample, Grandal, Mercedes, Vaughn, and Collins are all consistently having patient and/or productive ABs that I'm confident will provide success in the long run

Between this and all the bunting, my expectations for the season are definitely lower, even though I'm probably one of the few who is encouraged by how the core players look

Vaughn and Mercedes have pretty much identical minor league strikeout rates. I know Vaughn struck out last night but he projects to be really tough to strike out throughout his career

You're right, but at least (for once) the opening week Soxtalk overreactions are about how good someone might be and not whether someone is a bust

I'm standing by my offseason "Kopech will be the team's best starter as soon as 2023" take, my god he looked amazing. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but aside from thinking he should have had someone warming earlier in the 5th given that Keuchel got shelled in the 4th, I really liked the way TLR managed the pitching in this game. And that's not a thought I've had about a White Sox manager in years

Actually his 2nd, he got one in Detroit in 2018 that the beat writers seem to have overlooked

Don't have a great feeling about Keuchel against this lineup but TLR chose a great lineup himself to put out against a LHP whose weakness is allowing home runs

Exactly, I've been saying this for years -- for as much as Madrigal gets (or got) praise for his high baseball IQ, instincts, work ethic, and so on, Luis Robert has all of that and even more. He has some of the best instincts I've ever seen on the diamond

I remember it as Heuer + Madrigal + Kelley but could be wrong