As long as we are using 2019 splits, what about .313/.360/.482? That's Adam Engel vs. LHP in 2019.

Glad that oddity was cleared up.

Fav bullpen milb candidates:

Salazar and Cingrani

43 minutes ago, SonofaRoache said:

The premise is that those 10 to 15 games missed early on can be the difference between winning a division or not. You don't need stars there, just some sort of competence where they wouldn't be a complete liability. 

That's where we probably disagree then. I don't think Leury, Mazara and Mendick are complete liabilities. I actually like all three of those guys to a certain extent. I think a 2-3 week stretch of good baseball out of those guys is realistic. I also think those 2-3 weeks to start the season may be stronger than what you may get out of a Madrigal or Robert in their first taste of MLB action. I get that every game is important in a bad division, but I don't think its crippling to have those guys on your roster. I'm most fine with Leury, least fine with Mendick. 

1 hour ago, BrianAnderson said:

My own personal opinion that 2-3 weeks of Garcia, Mendick, Mazara is not hurting this team in any way. It's more likely than not that a Robert and Madrigal will struggle as most rookies do with their first taste of big league action. Also I think people get really excited around all these deals, sometimes fail to realize that this team while improved still has some real deficiencies. 

Yep if anything it will be pitching that is the ultimate reason for the Sox making or not making the playoffs .

Edited December 27, 20196 yr by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

1 hour ago, tray said:

It is difficult to address the weakness of having a guy like Mazara with bad splits in the line-up. You want him to be up in the lineup 7th, 8th and 9th innings to get the big  hit when you need it. However, let's say the Sox are in a close game is the the 4th inning with men on 1st and 3rd and one out.  Mazara comes up. You are the opposing Manager and know  Mazara's splits so you signal for your big Lefty out of the pen.Mazara obliges your strategy by grounding into an inning ending, rally killing, game changing, ball-busting double play.  Or you are Renteria and you anticipate a signature Mazara gidp so you pinch hit Engel for Mazara. Engel who is forced to come in cold (w/o warming up) , probably whiffs anyway but whatever happens, you now have Engel or another weaker bat in the line-up for the last 4-5 innings of a game you need some runs to win.

My point (which I probably should have condensed) is that bad splits are not that easily addressed with a platoon regime.  And, IMHO, a Mazara and Puig  platoon is just a head shaker. Even if the Mazara platoon mate is not as goofy as Puig, I still think it isn't an ideal situation. Platooning might only compound problems by having two incomplete players that never gain consistency because they are always being substituted for, passed over, and not  given the confidence that they need to possibly become legit full time starting players.

Talk about a fucking slippery slope.

5 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Yep if anything it will be pitching that is the ultimate reason for the Sox making or not making the playoffs .

Yep. Not worried about Giolito/Keuchel. One of Kopech/Cease/Lopez has to step up, and Gio Gonzalez is what he is at this point: a 5th starter. 

Also, after Mazara made his changes in the MLBN video, he slashed .287/.320/.859. Had a .539 SLG and a .252 ISO, with a 110 wRC+. 

There are reasons to be skeptical about Mazara, but there are also reasons to be hopeful. 

Edited December 27, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

Agreed. And not for lack of talent (bullpen could use that though) ... it's just a young group of guys and guys who have historically been up and down a bit. 

Kopech is likely to have stretches where he has control issues and looks terrible. I mean you look at all young pitchers (mostly) and you see it. Your top of the top guys usually struggle for a bit before learning. Seeing as Kopech has been off for a year and has had a history of trouble in the past? He's not going to have the luxury of learning against AAA guys so much .... so although his stuff is filthy, it'll be a roller coaster in 2020 and probably even 2021 with him. I mean hell, look at Lopez, he's still after 2 years having struggles and he was a top 20 prospect. Likewise with Cease. And we all know Rodon's story plus his year off too. Throw in innings limitations and we're going to have some frustrating stretches this year that are balanced by stretches that we look like world beaters. That'll be 2020 in a nutshell and i think we come up a bit on top of .500 at the end. 

The need for a platoon upgrade over Leury and Engel has been overblown. Any platoon guys left are only marginal upgrades when all things considered.

Also with the 3 batter rule, the way to combat teams bringing in a LOOGY type to face Mazara is to put a lefty killer after him.

 

You gotta be f'in kidding me Hector. 

20 minutes ago, shipps said:

Correction: I view this as Puig’s camp using the Sox as leverage against Miami. I bet he ends up in Miami. 

Edited December 27, 20196 yr by Stealth G.O.A.T.

10 minutes ago, shipps said:

As Charlie Murphy said, "WRONG!"

2 minutes ago, Stealth G.O.A.T. said:

I view this as Marlins using Sox as leverage and he ends up in Miami. 

Why would the Marlins use the Sox as leverage?

3 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Why would the Marlins use the Sox as leverage?

My apologies. I misspoke. Puig’s camp using the Sox as leverage against Miami to get a deal done with them. 

Just now, Stealth G.O.A.T. said:

My apologies. I misspoke. Puig’s camp using the Sox as leverage against Miami to get a deal done with them. 

Oh that makes total sense.

Real question is why would the Sox have their two minions (Bob & Bruce) debunk this rumor?  The general rule is thumb is don’t comment unless necessary.

they're committed to Nomar Mazara - Nightengale

Texas gave this guy away for a reason or reasons that we may become more familiar with a few months into the season.  Maybe the Rangers gave up on him too soon (after 4 years) , at least that is the hope, but committing to him ?   OK, hope springs eternal for 2020.

Edited December 27, 20196 yr by tray

45 minutes ago, thxfrthmmrs said:

The need for a platoon upgrade over Leury and Engel has been overblown. Any platoon guys left are only marginal upgrades when all things considered.

Also with the 3 batter rule, the way to combat teams bringing in a LOOGY type to face Mazara is to put a lefty killer after him.

That is a very good suggestion.

1 hour ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Don't be surprised to see Mendick in the OF for some ST games.

Mandick could be our Benzo. I hope. 

54 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

Agreed. And not for lack of talent (bullpen could use that though) ... it's just a young group of guys and guys who have historically been up and down a bit. 

Kopech is likely to have stretches where he has control issues and looks terrible. I mean you look at all young pitchers (mostly) and you see it. Your top of the top guys usually struggle for a bit before learning. Seeing as Kopech has been off for a year and has had a history of trouble in the past? He's not going to have the luxury of learning against AAA guys so much .... so although his stuff is filthy, it'll be a roller coaster in 2020 and probably even 2021 with him. I mean hell, look at Lopez, he's still after 2 years having struggles and he was a top 20 prospect. Likewise with Cease. And we all know Rodon's story plus his year off too. Throw in innings limitations and we're going to have some frustrating stretches this year that are balanced by stretches that we look like world beaters. That'll be 2020 in a nutshell and i think we come up a bit on top of .500 at the end. 

Kopech's target date is May 1 per Steve Stone's pet parrot. 

5 minutes ago, pcq said:

Kopech's target date is May 1 per Steve Stone's pet parrot. 

That doesnt get the year of control back. Dont see May 1st happening

Edited December 27, 20196 yr by MeanJoeCrede

Kopech’s control is hard to predict.  Generally, that’s the last thing to come back after TJS, but he’s 18 months out from surgery.  By his own admission, he had a small case of the yips in the first half of 2018, after that his control was quite good.  If I were betting, I would take 2020 Kopech command/control over 2020 Cease.

1 minute ago, pcq said:

Kopech's target date is May 1 per Steve Stone's pet parrot. 

Sunday, May 3 vs Baltimore. You heard it here first. ?

6 minutes ago, flavum said:

Sunday, May 3 vs Baltimore. You heard it here first. ?

No shot. They will wait 4 weeks and get his year of control back.