We're spending so much time talking about adding or not adding players ...  Why not talk a bit more about the players we have?

One of the most intriguing things I've read since the Sox returned to the field is what Lucas Giolito did to bulk up his lower body.  

Here's what James Fegan of the Athletic wrote today: Ethan Katz said a bulked up Lucas Giolito was sitting 96-97 mph in his live BP yesterday.

That seems like a few ticks up from last year, when Giolito fell to 3rd in the Sox starting rotation behind Lance Lynn and Carlos Rodon. 

Is Giolito ready to regain his role at top dog in the Sox rotation, not by decline from anyone else, but by leapfrogging Lynn and keeping Cease and Kopech at bay? 

One the reasons I argued all offseason for the Sox to keep Rodon is because he offered quality when healthy that the Sox could not replace, and left-handed quality no less. Well, the pain of him leaving would be lessened a great deal if Lucas Giolito took a few steps forward and became an ACE who could match up against any opponent. 

What do people think?  I guess we'll have to see it to know.  

This is Cease's breakout year. He'll be our ace

Is this supposed to distract from the Correa news?

In reality, that kind of success the next two years means a Rodon-like departure due to JR’s reluctance to give long term pitching deals to anyone with TJ surgery in their past history.

He does need to be better than Lynn, and so does Dylan.   But how Kopech turns out might be most important of all.

 

At any rate, Parkman will give you a 4000 word extended essay on this topic.

6 hours ago, CeaseAndExist said:

This is Cease's breakout year. He'll be our ace

I actually agree with this. I think Cease is going to have a very big year.

7 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

At any rate, Parkman will give you a 4000 word extended essay on this topic.

I laughed, but this is a pot-kettle situation if ever.

Yes . Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Yes. /thread

No. /Restart 

 

 

 

On 3/19/2022 at 12:25 AM, VAfan said:

We're spending so much time talking about adding or not adding players ...  Why not talk a bit more about the players we have?

One of the most intriguing things I've read since the Sox returned to the field is what Lucas Giolito did to bulk up his lower body.  

Here's what James Fegan of the Athletic wrote today: Ethan Katz said a bulked up Lucas Giolito was sitting 96-97 mph in his live BP yesterday.

That seems like a few ticks up from last year, when Giolito fell to 3rd in the Sox starting rotation behind Lance Lynn and Carlos Rodon. 

Is Giolito ready to regain his role at top dog in the Sox rotation, not by decline from anyone else, but by leapfrogging Lynn and keeping Cease and Kopech at bay? 

One the reasons I argued all offseason for the Sox to keep Rodon is because he offered quality when healthy that the Sox could not replace, and left-handed quality no less. Well, the pain of him leaving would be lessened a great deal if Lucas Giolito took a few steps forward and became an ACE who could match up against any opponent. 

What do people think?  I guess we'll have to see it to know.  

Is a bulked up Giolito going to hit and play RF.  This annual tradition of VAFan doing his whitewashing of non-moves and mediocrity is comical.   Thread after thread of this nonsense. It’s the first week of spring training.  Maybe we can get a thread of X player is in the best shape of his life.  Maybe another on how X player is going to rebound based on something that happened this week. Coach X said that this random player is crushing front side flips in the cage.   PFPs look amazing from this other player

Edited March 21, 20224 yr by southsideirish71

1 hour ago, southsideirish71 said:

Is a bulked up Giolito going to hit and play RF.  This annual tradition of VAFan doing his whitewashing of non-moves and mediocrity is comical.   Thread after thread of this nonsense. It’s the first week of spring training.  Maybe we can get a thread of X player is in the best shape of his life.  Maybe another on how X player is going to rebound based on something that happened this week. Coach X said that this random player is crushing front side flips in the cage.   PFPs look amazing from this other player

Cespedes has two homers already and has made some amazing plays and throws on backfields, Adolfo looking good and healthy for the first time in 2-3 years and Colas and Burger in the best shape of their lives, except for the dreadful sunburns caused by the new mesh hats from New Era, everything is hunky dorey.

Not starting Lucas game 1 ruined the whole series IMO.  

5 minutes ago, Jerksticks said:

Not starting Lucas game 1 ruined the whole series IMO.  

Not having the urgency to secure home field until the final 2-3 weeks, along with burning out Rodon the first four months of the season...they definitely wouldn't have treated him like that were he until team control for 2022.

4 hours ago, southsideirish71 said:

Is a bulked up Giolito going to hit and play RF.  This annual tradition of VAFan doing his whitewashing of non-moves and mediocrity is comical.   Thread after thread of this nonsense. It’s the first week of spring training.  Maybe we can get a thread of X player is in the best shape of his life.  Maybe another on how X player is going to rebound based on something that happened this week. Coach X said that this random player is crushing front side flips in the cage.   PFPs look amazing from this other player

The overwhelming negativity on this site gets horribly tiresome for at least some of us.  I enjoy having a reputation of being optimistic about the Sox, since it clearly stands out.  It's so easy to be a naysayer.  And how many Conforto threads do there have to be before you say -- ENOUGH!!!  

There is a lot RIGHT about this Sox team.  Why not celebrate it at least SOME of the time?? 

 

Nope.  Kopech is the new ACE

14 hours ago, VAfan said:

The overwhelming negativity on this site gets horribly tiresome for at least some of us.  I enjoy having a reputation of being optimistic about the Sox, since it clearly stands out.  It's so easy to be a naysayer.  And how many Conforto threads do there have to be before you say -- ENOUGH!!!  

 There is a lot RIGHT about this Sox team.  Why not celebrate it at least SOME of the time?? 

 

You can be a fan of the team and not carry water for everything they say.    Everyone agrees this is a talented team.  I think the issue is that most believe that we need to move a few more chips into the center before we call this a done deal.  Last year's playoffs showed that.  Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is not logical.  We are in the midst of the competitive window we have been waiting for.  This is the time to strike.  All of the chips should be moved in.    The time to win is now.  Not in 5 years.  Not waiting for some mythical prospect that has never played a single minor league game because you signed him this offseason.  Now.  And defense does matter to some point.  You can't just toss every DH/1B type all over the field and expect magical things.  Andrew Vaughn has impressed with his ability to play LF last year.  But it's LF, the easiest position in the OF where we have historically have had butchers over there.  Now, what is the plan to move him over to RF?  You think that is going to help out Giolito when a fly ball goes down the line.  Maybe it's to have Engel over there.  What happens if superman gets hurt again.  Plus he truly hasn't proven that he can hit over the course of a year yet.  Sheets is a 1B/DH type.   You might be able to hide one defensive liability in the OF, you can't have two and hope that our CF can cover that.  It doesn't work like this.  

 

This offseason they needed a RF.  A true RF.  

It would have been nice to get another SP.   A good one.  Not something from the repo bin.

It would be nice to have a backup catcher.  Someone who can call a game.  

Instead we decided to double down on relief pitchers and a 2b.  

On 3/20/2022 at 7:26 PM, caulfield12 said:

Not having the urgency to secure home field until the final 2-3 weeks, along with burning out Rodon the first four months of the season...they definitely wouldn't have treated him like that were he until team control for 2022.

Imagine that, the Sox management team lacking enough foresight to prevent Rodon from burning out too early.Nothing was really at stake anyway, just a World Series.

7 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Imagine that, the Sox management team lacking enough foresight to prevent Rodon from burning out too early.Nothing was really at stake anyway, just a World Series.

I'm not sure what it was.  You would have thought the two season series would have raised some warning flags or sirens at 35th & Shields.

Maybe because the Astros were a .500ish team for 60 odd games in 2020 before turning it on into the post-season?

No Verlander?

I can't figure it out.  You could go up and down the day to day line-ups and know we were going to be in for a world of hurt, particular Lynn.  The Astros' veteran hitters were nightmare match-ups for guys like Rodon and Cease, because they were so patient and largely didn't swing at pitches outside of the zone.

 

Maybe having some pressure from the Twins and Tigers and Indians' pitching will keep the Sox front office and coaching staff more honest this time around?

That and the fact that the Blue Jays, Mariners, Twins, Tigers and Rangers should be MUCH better than they were last season.

And that still leaves the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Astros to deal with.

1 minute ago, caulfield12 said:

I'm not sure what it was.  You would have thought the two season series would have raised some warning flags or sirens at 35th & Shields.

Maybe because the Astros were a .500ish team for 60 odd games in 2020 before turning it on into the post-season?

No Verlander?

I can't figure it out.  You could go up and down the day to day line-ups and know we were going to be in for a world of hurt, particular Lynn.  The Astros' veteran hitters were nightmare match-ups for guys like Rodon and Cease, because they were so patient and largely didn't swing at pitches outside of the zone.

 

Maybe having some pressure from the Twins and Tigers and Indians' pitching will keep the Sox front office and coaching staff more honest this time around?

That and the fact that the Blue Jays, Mariners, Twins, Tigers and Rangers should be MUCH better than they were last season.

And that still leaves the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Astros to deal with.

I know what it was. It was the same guys at the helm that created the mess in the 1st place, bolstered by Reinsdorf's bromance with TLR .

All we kept hearing about is how the Sox upgraded so much behind the scenes. Better scouting and development, more slo mo camera's ,more biomechanics, Katz the new pitching savior and on and on.

But when it came time to actually use all that stuff in regards to handling Rodon it was the same old story. Big hard throwing stud getting stronger as the game went on , finishing strong, throwing a complete game no hitter. Never mind the fact that he pitched only 42 innings the previous 2 years combined or that his health was at stake. Nope just treat him like Sandy Koufax. Burn him up, then he becomes the fall guy for being the same old Rodon, too injury prone to give a QO or a contract. Fans don't look at how we actually used him. All they see is Rodon not able to pitch as usual and we endlessly debate about how unstable he is and Sox management knows him best and the front office walks away scot-free to pump more guff into our heads about lineup balance, better defense and more starting pitching as goals for the off season.

Hahn is just so bad. And fired. 

He's bad and fired.

So the Sox clearly have a big trade in the works and barely any mention of it. I watched the Robert Murray clip and got me quite intrigued.  Also I saw where Dombrowski said he had one more move coming up in next few days.

6 minutes ago, fathom said:

So the Sox clearly have a big trade in the works and barely any mention of it. I watched the Robert Murray clip and got me quite intrigued.  Also I saw where Dombrowski said he had one more move coming up in next few days.

Clear based on what?

That one video link that was vague on details?

Phillies yet again?

 

https://www.thegoodphight.com/2021/7/23/22575765/lets-make-a-fake-deal-phillies-get-bryant-kimbrel

 

Medina, Miller, Morales and O'Hoppe was the offer for Bryant AND Kimbrel when Craig's value was sky-high last summer, but O'Hoppe alone for back-up catcher would probably be the extent of it.

Marchan was also mentioned a ton before, and Dominguez (reliever)?

Edited March 22, 20224 yr by caulfield12

11 minutes ago, fathom said:

So the Sox clearly have a big trade in the works and barely any mention of it. I watched the Robert Murray clip and got me quite intrigued.  Also I saw where Dombrowski said he had one more move coming up in next few days.

Wrong thread, sorry...will post there

Fwiw, MLBN had their Top 10 Right Now show last night and Giolito came in as the #10 SP in all of baseball.