OmarComing25

Only following on Game Day but it says 93 mph exit velocity on that HR by Napoli, balls hit at that speed almost never leave the park. What did it look like live?

QUOTE (Tex @ May 23, 2016 -> 04:01 PM) I guess smoke and mirrors is too vague, it seem to mean more of a stretch to you than it does me. So insert your phrase for this team is winning more than expected and without continued luck and everything going right, it probably will not continue. They are winning in spite of and not because of the talent level of the team. I do not agree that everything is going right, nor does this team need everything to go right. Plenty has gone wrong and they're still in first place. You're acting like this is a true talent 70-win team. Rollins, Navarro and Avila are all hitting worse than last year, with Jackson and Abreu hitting significantly worse than last year. Sale and Quintana have done amazingly well, but that's almost canceled out by the dropoff we have experienced from Rodon and Danks compared to last year (the 5th spot was a concern going into the year but it's been even worse than expected). Latos had a great start, but has already pitched poorly enough recently to get his numbers back to where projections had him. The bullpen pitched over its head in April, but a lot of that luck was canceled out by the disastrous last couple of weeks. I guess I'm just not seeing all the luck you're seeing. Lawrie and Avi have played above expectations but not outrageously so, Frazier is pretty much in line with what we expected, Melky bounced back to his 2014 numbers, and Eaton has been hitting like this since last May. Since you still haven't answered, who are the smoke and mirrors players? And why does someone playing above expectations mean they're certain to come back down, but someone underperforming doesn't mean they'll go back up? Everything is certainly not "going right", that seems like a gross exaggeration to fit your narrative. Are you that high on the Indians/Royals/Tigers or am I just missing something here? What is the true talent of the White Sox in your opinion? Sure not many predictions had the White Sox making the playoffs, but it wasn't something that was totally unexpected either. Even Fangraphs writer Dave Cameron, who rarely says anything positive about the White Sox, wrote that there was a good chance the Sox would be good this year. No one thought the team was going to keep winning at a .700 win pace, but the talent of this team is still a lot better than you're giving it credit for.

I'd be down for Santana, we're going to need two SP after this season anyway, and the FA class is extremely weak.

QUOTE (Tex @ May 23, 2016 -> 10:40 AM) Looking at soxtalk preseason predictions, most posters did not project a division win. Most of the paid prognosticators left the Sox off the list of division winners. Ok, you didn't really answer the question, but sure. Most of the preseason projections had the Sox finishing around 81-84 wins, right behind Cleveland. Now that they're 26-18 and several games up in the division, if they play the rest of the season out to preseason expectations, they'll be right there for a playoff spot. The Sox were basically like every other AL team, expected to be around .500, which means if you catch a couple breaks you can end up in the playoffs. That's far from a "smoke and mirrors" scenario you're claiming. That'd be more like if the Phillies made the playoffs this year.

QUOTE (Tex @ May 23, 2016 -> 10:27 AM) I fixed this for you. As we have alluded to in a lot of threads, there is a whole lot of smoke and mirror success happening. As long as everyone doesn't regress to the mean at the same time, and for an extended time, we may sneak in. But we could upgrade almost everywhere. The only strategy question is what is the biggest need and what will we have to dig a hole to get? Who is smoke and mirrors? Sure there's a few guys overperforming expectations, but there's also a few guys underperforming expectations, regression to the mean goes both ways. And you're acting like we have a bunch of juggernauts in our division. Every other team in the ALC is pretty flawed themselves. I disagree that we'd have to "sneak in".

The Yankees are 11-5 in their last 16, have almost climbed back to .500, and are just 5 games back. I wouldn't count on them being sellers just yet.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ May 23, 2016 -> 09:21 AM) Is that a thing? I thought the Wall had some kind of magic protecting it against the Walkers.

Bran is going to have a hell of a time going south now that Hodor is gone. If he goes past the Wall, will that break the protection spells and allow the Walkers to go through?

Feels like there's an "x playoff appearances in x years" post in almost every thread. We get it, no need to repeat it ad nauseum.

He's not good. Currently has a 1.7% walk rate and a near .500 BABIP, hardly a guy we should be upset about letting go. He's a 30 year old bench player.

3-8 over the last 11 but a run differential of just -2. Been in every game, hopefully it's a sign it's just been a rough patch. Need to win a series again, no better time to do it.

QUOTE (harkness @ May 21, 2016 -> 04:33 PM) Uhh I'm not sure were watching the same guy. You can tell he has zero confidence up there... he is a panicking man flailing desperately at any and every pitch he sees. I wrote that several weeks ago, and it's still true. In the last two weeks Abreu stopped swinging at strikes again, it's still the biggest issue IMO.

QUOTE (ron883 @ May 21, 2016 -> 03:39 PM) Anybody change there opinions? Remember when I was ridiculed, but it turns out was totally right You're being ridiculed because you're being a troll. Despite supposedly being a Sox fan, you pretty much openly admitted to hoping a Sox player does poorly just so you can tell a bunch of strangers on the Internet that you were right. Keep fighting the good fight though.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 20, 2016 -> 08:06 PM) Home run total for the team is plummeting compared to other teams. Near the bottom of the AL Now imagine it without Frazier.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 20, 2016 -> 07:58 PM) It was a joke Apologies.

I don't like that our last Cy Young wasn't deserving. Black Jack only won because of wins.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 20, 2016 -> 06:47 PM) Anderson is 0-2 so far.. Sigh Sighing over 2 AB?

It's always Jackson with the bases loaded.

I just want the Sox to exist as their own entity, but it's too hard for a lot of the media.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ May 20, 2016 -> 02:26 PM) ABREU IS IN THE TWO HOLE TONIGHT!!!!!!!!! https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/733738256630702080 People forget: we did do this last year. Robin is not as stubborn as some in MLB, though at times it doesnt seem that way. In 32 AB Rollins is hitting .452/.500/.710 with 2 HR against Gee. He really should be in the lineup over Saladino.

QUOTE (soxfan85 @ May 20, 2016 -> 01:37 PM) Ok, it was the "easiest" call of a bounce back season ever, I get it. I was just expressing how it was too damn bad that he sucked with the White Sox, that's all.. It would have been nice to see him succeed here, even though we seem to have the knack for players to come here and perform below their career norms. If he wouldn't have sucked with the White Sox, there wouldn't have been the need for him to have a "bounce back" season. My Lord, I didn't know that by joining this site that I would be among so many future GM's and Front Office personnel. And when I was reading this board last season, I surely didn't see anybody here say "oh, this is just an off year...he will bounce back next season." The VAST majority of people here kept saying "Shark sucks", "Shark is the most overrated pitcher in baseball", "Shark has had one good season," etc., etc., etc. It is much easier to talk about how easy his bounce back season was to predict after the fact, that is for sure. I didn't mean for my post to sound snarky, and plenty of other posters thought the same thing before the season started. I just went back to the thread when he signed with the Giants, and here's what I found: QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 01:13 PM) His style of pitching fits perfect with the Giants. Pitchers park and great team defense. QUOTE (coco1997 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 01:20 PM) Samardzija is going to revitalize his career going back to the NL. I guarantee it. QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 01:33 PM) I bet Samardzija has an ERA around 3 next season. QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 01:44 PM) Still has good stuff and a durable guy with little mileage on his arm. As long as he stop tipping his pitches he'll be fine. A change of scenery would help too. I think this could be a good deal for Giants. QUOTE (daggins @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 01:49 PM) The NL West is so perfect for Shark its comedic. Good pickup for the Giants. QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 01:52 PM) For them, gambling on his durability, relative lack of miles on his arm, and some good years in 2013 and 2014, is worth it. They'll probably get 1000 innings and three good years...and that's enough for a team like the Giants. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 03:00 PM) In that park and division, he will do fine. The only question is could the Giants have gotten similar production for a cheaper pricem QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 11:32 PM) I have a feeling he's going to do pretty well there. There's what 3 pitchers ballparks in that division? He should be fine. There's a lot of posters here who thought he'd have a bounceback year, in fact I read that whole thread and it was the majority.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ May 20, 2016 -> 12:01 PM) I don't doubt they're a bunch of idiots (most fan bases are) - but when trolling some other teams message board, you can expect to be treated with some disdain. No disagreement there.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ May 20, 2016 -> 11:50 AM) Because you, a white sox fan, decided to go over to their message board and start talking s*** (how do you have the time to do that??)? C'mon man. Whats the point? A Royals fan would be received the same way if the roles were reversed? That said, fu** the Royals! I know it's not representative of their fanbase as a whole, but as someone who frequents /r/baseball (Reddit) and Fangraphs a lot, their fans in both communities have become absolutely insufferable over the past year (and this started happening well before the World Series).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 19, 2016 -> 03:36 PM) To tie this idea in a bow and put it to bed, if Tim Anderson has anywhere near the career that Jake Peavy had, that would be a huge win for the White sox and their player development people. I would be thrilled to death if it happens. I too would be ecstatic if Tim Anderson wins a Cy Young.

We're facing the Royals #6 and #7 options at SP plus Ventura, who's been a bottom 10 pitcher in baseball this year (29 BB to 31 K in 42 IP, yuck). Let's sweep them.