At this point you have to assume Eloy is your LF of the future (God forbids he's not). Since they are not RF worthy, you essentially have to pick one of Palka, Nicky, or Davidson to be your 1B or DH of the future.

By that logic you go with the best bat, which in this case is Palka.

Eloy watch.

 

22 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said:

After 1000 MLB PAs, you know what you have with Davidson - a 30ish homer guy. You need to see if Palka actually could be a 40ish homer guy.

I'd jettison Davidson and keep both Palka and Delmonico for now. Delmonico is just finding his 2018 groove IMO.

Davidson can actually play 3B. Ideally he'd play 3B Sanchez would move to a utility role and we'd find ourselves a real DH.

I'd continue to give both of them reps the rest of the season.  Next year will sort itself out.  But Nicky has options (so does Palka), and Palka has earned another shot next season, so Nicky probably starts in AAA next year, or at least once Eloy is up for good.  

Edited August 7, 20187 yr by ChiSox59

Delmonico has been pretty unlucky from a power standpoint this year - and his HR/FB rate is likely to at least double over a larger sample size. That combined with passable defense puts him in 2 WAR territory. You can’t just look at exit velo and cherry pick a few stats. His contact and patience profile make him a far more likely candidate to work himself into a passable regular. 

 

Love me some Palka and want to see him play next year plenty, but I truly don’t understand the desire to jettison Delmonico. Too much emphasis on small sample sizes and surface-level stats. 

5 minutes ago, username said:

Delmonico has been pretty unlucky from a power standpoint this year - and his HR/FB rate is likely to at least double over a larger sample size. That combined with passable defense puts him in 2 WAR territory. You can’t just look at exit velo and cherry pick a few stats. His contact and patience profile make him a far more likely candidate to work himself into a passable regular. 

 

Love me some Palka and want to see him play next year plenty, but I truly don’t understand the desire to jettison Delmonico. Too much emphasis on small sample sizes and surface-level stats. 

I don't think anyone wants to jettison Nicky.  But he has 2 options, and I'd rather him play everyday in Charlotte than sit on the bench in Chicago.  Having depth that can actually play in the bigs at AAA is never a bad thing.  

3 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I don't think anyone wants to jettison Nicky.  But he has 2 options, and I'd rather him play everyday in Charlotte than sit on the bench in Chicago.  Having depth that can actually play in the bigs at AAA is never a bad thing.  

And you're only talking about playing in AAA for about a month tops. He would come back in September.

Edited August 7, 20187 yr by soxfan2014

10 minutes ago, soxfan2014 said:

And you're only talking about playing in AAA for about a month tops. He would come back in September.

I personally was talking about next season.  I'd keep Nicky around for the rest of this season so we don't waste an option, and I don't think there is any issue getting him at bats between LF and DH.  He and Palka each DH and LF against RHP, Davidson sits.  Davidson DHs against LHP, one plays LF. 

But I am also in the leave Eloy in AAA camp, so that's why there are plenty of ABs to go around.  But we don't need to discuss that in another thread.  

If you bring up Eloy, there's really no reason to have both Nicky and Palka on the roster. They're both left-handed LF/1B who would be in line to get most of their ABs at DH. There'd be no rhyme or reason for deciding which one plays on which day at DH.

17 minutes ago, Jake said:

If you bring up Eloy, there's really no reason to have both Nicky and Palka on the roster. They're both left-handed LF/1B who would be in line to get most of their ABs at DH. There'd be no rhyme or reason for deciding which one plays on which day at DH.

So are you saying demote one, trade one, or something else? 

48 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

So are you saying demote one, trade one, or something else? 

I have a feeling it won't be an issue we'll need to worry about.  

4 hours ago, Jose Abreu said:

So are you saying demote one, trade one, or something else? 

I mean while I recognize that it isn't all that high stakes, it's not a decision I'd want to be charged with making. If Leury hadn't gotten hurt, I'd have given some thought to just demoting Engel.

On 8/6/2018 at 3:12 PM, thxfrthmmrs said:

At this point you have to assume Eloy is your LF of the future (God forbids he's not). Since they are not RF worthy, you essentially have to pick one of Palka, Nicky, or Davidson to be your 1B or DH of the future.

By that logic you go with the best bat, which in this case is Palka.

I don’t think any of those guys will be our 1B & DH on our next good team.  We’re going to have a lot of money to spend and adding a veteran middle of the lineup bat makes sense if Sheets, Burger, & possibly Collins don’t appear to be the answer.

On 8/6/2018 at 4:12 PM, thxfrthmmrs said:

At this point you have to assume Eloy is your LF of the future (God forbids he's not). Since they are not RF worthy, you essentially have to pick one of Palka, Nicky, or Davidson to be your 1B or DH of the future.

By that logic you go with the best bat, which in this case is Palka.

Maybe the 1B or DH for the remainder of 2018, but lord help us if any of these three are serving in either capacity full-time going forward after this season.  

5 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I don’t think any of those guys will be our 1B & DH on our next good team.  We’re going to have a lot of money to spend and adding a veteran middle of the lineup bat makes sense if Sheets, Burger, & possibly Collins don’t appear to be the answer.

 

1 hour ago, Fan O'Faust said:

Maybe the 1B or DH for the remainder of 2018, but lord help us if any of these three are serving in either capacity full-time going forward after this season.  

By no means I think they will likely be our future DH or 1B, what I said is that’s the only role they could play given our OF depth and their defensive inefficiency.

Also with the money we have to spend, I would look to spend on 3B, C, and an SP before I do on 1B or DH.

 

Last night's walk off homer was another "vote" for Palka. He does seem to have a flare for the dramatic. But even more significant than when he hit it, is where he hit it. He took an outside pitch, way over the left field wall.  He possesses that kind of power and should be taking more advantage of it. The shift employed against him leaves the left side wide open. It's an invitation for him to hit the ball to that side. He might be well served to take a step back, off the plate, which would afford him more pitches, which he could hit, in that direction. He would still be able to reach the stands and that open left side would afford him more hits. 

Moreover, pitches on the inside corner would then be right in his wheel house. Any pitch, which crowds him, inside should be readily recognized as a ball, given his position, in the batter's box. It is inexplicable to me, how our hitters fail to make any adjustments, regarding where they stand in the box, especially in this era of extreme defensive shifts. I wonder if other teams are equally inept, in that regard.

Edited August 11, 20187 yr by Lillian

On 8/6/2018 at 4:22 PM, southsider2k5 said:

 

So Palka could be among the top rookies this year. No one saw that coming. The Sox have a lot of prospects and some aging rookie comes out of nowhere. 

Give me the guy with 35 HR upside. 

Mostly because he's just this years sexy surprise player. As opposed to Delmonico who was last year's... and I'm gullible like that.

On 8/6/2018 at 5:22 PM, southsider2k5 said:

 

Just has to be taken with a grain of salt since he's 26. However, doing this without all of the experience - it does make you think that perhaps he could hone his approach more. Improve in the obvious areas where he struggles.

We can enjoy Palka for now and next summer he might become a trade target.