1 hour ago, TomPickle said:

Guess it was an oblique, but still I was closer .

 oblique is an abdominal muscle so you were correct.

Edited August 2, 20196 yr by ptatc

17 minutes ago, ptatc said:

wow. mediocre owner.  that's the most positive things you've ever said about mangement.

His unorthodox approach to owning a baseball team worked once, so I'm willing to not quite put him in bad ownerhip territory. That is reserved for Loria and The Pirates owner. 

Edited August 2, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

SSS but that's quite the slash line

 

6 hours ago, ptatc said:

everything and anything to be negative about management. 

I really don't understand the constant and malicious hatred

43 minutes ago, ScooterMcGee said:

I really don't understand the constant and malicious hatred

It wasn't me spewing hate towards them. But umm, the worst record in the AL over the last 10 years and the same executives that engineered this amazing feat are still in place? Seems pretty easy to understand to me.

3 hours ago, Sarava said:

It wasn't me spewing hate towards them. But umm, the worst record in the AL over the last 10 years and the same executives that engineered this amazing feat are still in place? Seems pretty easy to understand to me.

Better yet, promoted!

3 hours ago, Sarava said:

It wasn't me spewing hate towards them. But umm, the worst record in the AL over the last 10 years and the same executives that engineered this amazing feat are still in place? Seems pretty easy to understand to me.

Yeah I criticize Management for not spending money to put the team over the top. They're average for the most part, but being behind in analytics and PD sucks, and it hurts them. They seem to want to cling to old school baseball thought as long as possible and are slow to catch up. They're also inefficient in how they allocate their resources. The Nate Jones trade Wednesday was a head scratcher to say the least. They should be spending every dollar possible on their draft slot and international pool right now, and they're not doing it internationally. 

It isn't  necessarily a negative comment that I thought that the Sox subscribe to the Japanese firing convention. That's sorta a Milton/office space thing. (Obviously in real life the employee is still getting paid) The whole point is to bore the employee until they leave on their own for a better opportunity. 

Edited August 2, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

3 hours ago, Sarava said:

It wasn't me spewing hate towards them. But umm, the worst record in the AL over the last 10 years and the same executives that engineered this amazing feat are still in place? Seems pretty easy to understand to me.

They don't have the worst record. Baltimore and Seattle are worse and they are tied with KC and Minnesota from 2008-2018. If you include Houston between the NL and AL they are only 2 wins off. So near the bottom but not the worst, for the record.

6 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Yeah I criticize Management for not spending money to put the team over the top. They're average for the most part, but being behind in analytics and PD sucks, and it hurts them. They seem to want to cling to old school baseball thought as long as possible and are slow to catch up. They're also inefficient in how they allocate their resources. The Nate Jones trade Wednesday was a head scratcher to say the least. They should be spending every dollar possible on their draft slot and international pool right now, and they're not doing it internationally. 

It isn't  necessarily a negative comment that I thought that the Sox subscribe to the Japanese firing convention. That's sorta a Milton/office space thing. (Obviously in real life the employee is still getting paid) The whole point is to bore the employee until they leave on their own for a better opportunity. 

Saving money on the draft slot when they signed nearly every worthwhile player is a bad thing?

I agree with the international money.

11 minutes ago, ptatc said:

Saving money on the draft slot when they signed nearly every worthwhile player is a bad thing?

I agree with the international money.

No, but I loved their strategy this year. It was really good. Obviously every dollar possible and every dollar available are not the same thing every year. They nearly got to the 5% overage so that's what they should be doing( or attempting to do, as it's up to the middle round HS kids if they want to sign or go to college) perennially. 

Edited August 2, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

10 hours ago, Jose Abreu said:

SSS but that's quite the slash line

 

Great look at Collins' hands here. His hands are a smidge higher towards his ear and now his path/timing mechanism is a drop down hitch and through the ball instead of pulling his hands back, to where he starts them now, and then dropping down and then driving them through the zone. It's literally just a split second timing change but it may be allowing him to get to the ball just quicker enough to make all the difference.

That little hitch he has is now just basically his load. Before it used to be he pulled his hands back and up and then started his path to the ball. It's so small but maybe that with his approach has helped.

Edited August 2, 20196 yr by Look at Ray Ray Run

3 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Great look at Collins' hands here. His hands are a smidge higher towards his ear and now his path/timing mechanism is a drop down hitch and through the ball instead of pulling his hands back, to where he starts them now, and then dropping down and then driving them through the zone. It's literally just a split second timing change but it may be allowing him to get to the ball just quicker enough to make all the difference.

Part of it is also the approach. Similar to what Moncada did, he is using his" good eye" to be aggressive and identify good pitches to hit, instead of being passive and looking for a walk.

Now his load is simple and much smoother.  His hands are in a much better position when he gets his front foot down. Makes you wonder why the hell they didn't do this sooner.  

1 minute ago, ptatc said:

Part of it is also the approach. Similar to what Moncada did, he is using his" good eye" to be aggressive and identify good pitches to hit, instead of being passive and looking for a walk.

Absolutely. He's attacking his pitch early instead of letting the first one go. You also have to be smart enough to know your pitch.

Theres usually never just one reason you've improved. I think its promising that there are two small changes paired with his results. We'll see how it holds and pitchers will adjust to his plan of attack as well. I'd love for his bat to spend a little more time in the zone still. There's still a lot of dead space at the beginning of his swing but that'll probably never change.

1 minute ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Now his load is simple and much smoother.  His hands are in a much better position when he gets his front foot down. Makes you wonder why the hell they didn't do this sooner.  

Players have to be willing to change. You can coach them up all you want but if theyve had success, it's harder to get them to change something that theyve been doing their entire life. 

His struggles in the big leagues may have helped to convince him that some small changes needed to happen.

2 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Players have to be willing to change. You can coach them up all you want but if theyve had success, it's harder to get them to change something that theyve been doing their entire life. 

His struggles in the big leagues may have helped to convince him that some small changes needed to happen.

I get it but it's not like he was tearing it up down there.  He's had his share of ups and downs.  Either way it's great to see.  He's gotta be confident as all hell. I bet he's running to the yard everyday.

14 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Players have to be willing to change. You can coach them up all you want but if theyve had success, it's harder to get them to change something that theyve been doing their entire life. 

His struggles in the big leagues may have helped to convince him that some small changes needed to happen.

Giolito is the biggest example of this. He totally sucked in his first few stints in the bigs and completely overhauled his delivery and arsenal. I saw the talent forever, but if he kept his long arm swing even with all of his other changes I'm not sure that he'd be as effective. 

Edited August 2, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

26 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Now his load is simple and much smoother.  His hands are in a much better position when he gets his front foot down. Makes you wonder why the hell they didn't do this sooner.  

I'd be interested to see the vids from his first half last year in birmingham. There was a time when they were trying to smooth out his hitch and he ditched it because it was affecting his production/felt unnatural and he went back to his college swing and was raking for a bit.

I wonder if this is back to that swing or a modified version of it he's bought into.

 

1 hour ago, ptatc said:

They don't have the worst record. Baltimore and Seattle are worse and they are tied with KC and Minnesota from 2008-2018. If you include Houston between the NL and AL they are only 2 wins off. So near the bottom but not the worst, for the record.

Wouldn't the last decade be 2009-2018?

Collins is now at a 280 BA with 395 OBP.

 

I take a 40 point drop in both of those all day with his power profile.  

11 hours ago, SoxAce said:

Not to mention he is much more aggressive. His hits were from an 0-1 count, 0-0 1st pitch, and a 1-1 count. Usually he would be trying to work the count and look for a walk. He's pretty much been Moncada in AAA so far.

Moncada - speed + plays C = very valuable player.

Collins in 13 games since being demoted to AAA for Wellington Castillo:

.383/.474/.574, 1.048 OPS, 170 wRC+, 14.0 BB%, 17.5 K%, 6 2Bs, 1 HR, 8 BB, 10 K, 16 RBI, 7 R. 

If Collins could keep his K rate around 20% I would be ecstatic. 

1 hour ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I get it but it's not like he was tearing it up down there.  He's had his share of ups and downs.  Either way it's great to see.  He's gotta be confident as all hell. I bet he's running to the yard everyday.

His lowest professional wRC+ is 126 (this year). Even with his ups and downs he has been 30%+ better than his peers at nearly every level. That's pretty good - certainly good enough to trust in yourself.

As a baseball player I pray to god he's not trying to justify his minor league career by looking at his wRC+.

There's nothing to justify because he has been really good