September 3, 20205 yr can't say it wasn't earned He has no path to being a starter on this club next year anyway so he might as well learn to relieve.
September 3, 20205 yr Reynaldo had that incredible arc of a flawed player being followed by soxtalk. Step 1 - Yell at any prospect writers who say he could be a bullpen arm and has trouble with command and keeping his velocity over multiple innings. Step 2 - Trash him in every start Step 3 - Still manage to put a placeholder era of 3.5 for each upcoming season expecting him to be good Step 4 - Trash him every start for having no command and failing to hold his stuff, demand he be placed in bullpen or DFAd Step 5 - Yell at any prospect writers who allude that a different sox prospect may have limitations.
September 3, 20205 yr 8 minutes ago, bmags said: Incredibly lucky over multiple starts, I agree. Sorry, but that is Cease's role now.
September 3, 20205 yr 15 minutes ago, TomPickle said: Sorry, but that is Cease's role now. Shhhh don't tell anyone. Cease's career path looks eerily similar so far. Cease has worse command than Lopez. Edited September 3, 20205 yr by Jack Parkman
September 3, 20205 yr You can't be a starter or reliever at the major league level if you habitually walk the world. I feel it is very hard to keep any kind of rhythm when you work slowly like Lopez or Fulmer type guys.
September 3, 20205 yr I still think fans would be OK if Lopez kept starting. He still is loved by those who would never question a Sox trade. Just my take. He's still fine with the fans.
September 3, 20205 yr 29 minutes ago, bmags said: Reynaldo had that incredible arc of a flawed player being followed by soxtalk. Step 1 - Yell at any prospect writers who say he could be a bullpen arm and has trouble with command and keeping his velocity over multiple innings. Step 2 - Trash him in every start Step 3 - Still manage to put a placeholder era of 3.5 for each upcoming season expecting him to be good Step 4 - Trash him every start for having no command and failing to hold his stuff, demand he be placed in bullpen or DFAd Step 5 - Yell at any prospect writers who allude that a different sox prospect may have limitations. The stuff is there, that is the frustrating part. He has incredible stuff. He just has no ability to locate or repeat his pitches. Until he does that, he won't be much of a reliever either.
September 3, 20205 yr 1 hour ago, Dick Allen said: He has sucked, but he's a better piece to throw in the bullpen than Flores. I am not a fan of this move. I tend to agree - my hope is they have a plan in place for what he's going to work on and than we'll see him back in a couple weeks. He has the stuff, just needs to get everything figured out ultimately.
September 3, 20205 yr 1 minute ago, greg775 said: I still think fans would be OK if Lopez kept starting. He still is loved by those who would never question a Sox trade. Just my take. He's still fine with the fans. Wut
September 3, 20205 yr 7 minutes ago, poppysox said: You can't be a starter or reliever at the major league level if you habitually walk the world. I feel it is very hard to keep any kind of rhythm when you work slowly like Lopez or Fulmer type guys. Refusing to attack the zone and constantly nibbling around the edges w/o stellar control is no recipe for success either. Edited September 3, 20205 yr by SouthWallace
September 3, 20205 yr 2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said: The stuff is there, that is the frustrating part. He has incredible stuff. He just has no ability to locate or repeat his pitches. Until he does that, he won't be much of a reliever either. I really hope him going max effort brings back that electric stuff I saw in his first 2 innings of his first few starts, but hard to watch him recently. If bullpen brings his velo up to 97-98 and just doing fastball/slider combo he could pan out there.
September 3, 20205 yr 15 minutes ago, greg775 said: I still think fans would be OK if Lopez kept starting. He still is loved by those who would never question a Sox trade. Just my take. He's still fine with the fans. Don't go back to old Greg, alright? You either aren't reading the comments here or you're being passive aggressive to those who wanted a rebuild or both. Either way, I think 90% of us are fine with him being in Schaumberg.
September 3, 20205 yr What I can't figure out is why the Sox have virtually eliminated the curve ball from his repertoire. Wasn't that his best pitch besides his fast ball?
September 3, 20205 yr 30 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said: Shhhh don't tell anyone. Cease's career path looks eerily similar so far. Cease has worse command than Lopez. And 3 times the stuff. You can't even compare the electricness and the crispness of each others pitches. And that isn't a knock on Lopez. Lopez has good stuff - not great, or elite, good. Cease has elite stuff (but a slight frame that will likely always hinder his true-up side as that frame will have to impact his ability to go deeper into games). Cease has to develop at the major league level - but his stuff maintains throughout the game.
September 3, 20205 yr 19 minutes ago, greg775 said: I still think fans would be OK if Lopez kept starting. He still is loved by those who would never question a Sox trade. Just my take. He's still fine with the fans. No, no he isn't. Most fans recognize that he has struggled most of last season and all this season so far. This needed to happen.
September 3, 20205 yr 7 minutes ago, Vulture said: What I can't figure out is why the Sox have virtually eliminated the curve ball from his repertoire. Wasn't that his best pitch besides his fast ball? He was fastball slider for sure.
September 3, 20205 yr 24 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said: The stuff is there, that is the frustrating part. He has incredible stuff. He just has no ability to locate or repeat his pitches. Until he does that, he won't be much of a reliever either. That stuff is gone though. He now throws 92-95 with mediocre changeup and a poor slider. Unless he can get back 3 mph on his heater, he’s a lost cause.
September 3, 20205 yr 7 minutes ago, hogan873 said: No, no he isn't. Most fans recognize that he has struggled most of last season and all this season so far. This needed to happen. He’s got to be the worst pitcher in baseball from 2019-2020
September 3, 20205 yr 10 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said: And 3 times the stuff. You can't even compare the electricness and the crispness of each others pitches. And that isn't a knock on Lopez. Lopez has good stuff - not great, or elite, good. Cease has elite stuff (but a slight frame that will likely always hinder his true-up side as that frame will have to impact his ability to go deeper into games). Cease has to develop at the major league level - but his stuff maintains throughout the game. No I get it. The huge issue was that the only MLB quality secondary that Lopez had was his curveball and the Sox had him ditch it. Cease does have way better secondary pitches. I have no idea what it is with the Sox aversion to curveballs though. They had three guys with above average to plus-plus curves and they all ditched them. (Giolito, Cease, Lopez)
September 3, 20205 yr 2 minutes ago, Tony said: I have plenty of gripes with Cooper, but I refuse to believe the Sox are responsible for his declining stuff. There is no way a pitching coach, or organization can screw with an arm that badly. I know that isn't what you are suggesting here, I just don't know what happened to ReyLo, and that guy that pitched against Atlanta, which I'm sure is where the Sox fell in love with him. Yeah I think he’s injured. I’m not blaming Cooper for the velocity issues.
September 3, 20205 yr 7 minutes ago, fathom said: That stuff is gone though. He now throws 92-95 with mediocre changeup and a poor slider. Unless he can get back 3 mph on his heater, he’s a lost cause. I agree. His fastball is mostly average now. His secondary stuff is inconsistent. And everything plays down because he has no command.
September 3, 20205 yr He pitches like a guy with no confidence. There isn't a huge difference between his velocities. His first year here his fastball was 94.5 on average. This year it is 94.1. He was at 95.5 in 18 and 19. What is really down is his slider going from 86.3 in 17 to 82.0 here. He was 83.9 in 18 and 84.1 in 19. His curve and charge are in his norms I think he is throwing nothing with confidence right now. He looks and acts lost. I think he could use the time to start over and hopefully rebuild his confidence against the camp guys instead of real major leaguers.
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