Time to put that Opening Day game debacle behind us.

Next game is Wednesday, White Sox….conditions are perfect….time to get down to business…

 

 

By the way, for those of you who will be scoring at home, the probable pitching matchup is Dylan Cease vs Logan Webb

I absolutely loath weekday day games. 

23 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I absolutely loath weekday day games. 

They’re awful.

1 minute ago, Snopek said:

They’re awful.

Only 20 more

Hopefully the second time around the rotation will go better. Bats need to show up Wednesday.

Webb and his super sinker against this lineup will not be fun 

1 hour ago, flavum said:

Only 20 more

Hopefully the second time around the rotation will go better. Bats need to show up Wednesday.

Well already they've scored three runs or less in four of the five games. If memory serves at the end of last year they scored three runs or less in exactly half of their games. Tough to win that way, puts a lot of stress on the pitching staff.

Usually, when a team scores a lot of runs in a game (like 12), they struggle to score the next day.  Unfortunately, the Giants get a day off to rest.

Weather looks great to get the next 8 games in. Giolito gets opening day in Pittsburgh. High 60s in Minnesota next week. Do we need a catch-all thread?

2 minutes ago, flavum said:

Weather looks great to get the next 8 games in. Giolito gets opening day in Pittsburgh. High 60s in Minnesota next week. Do we need a catch-all thread?

Yes please, I like the catch-all threads even though I think they fell out of favor with some of the mods.

The best way to put a embarrassing debacle loss behind us is to have Dylan Cease pitch another stud game. We need that game from our stud Dylan more than ever now.

Yet I am concerned about the early offensive struggles due to some of the offensive flaws we had last year that are still showing up again this year early on. 

We hammered the point at nauseum last year how much our hitting coach and manager sucked and how we we had poor plate discipline, along with hitting too many groundball outs, not enough launch angle and getting more walks to increase the men on base. Well folks, it hasn't really changed much. In yesterday's game, the Sox had 16 outs produced by groundballs. We still can't draw many walks either. We had 2 BB's yesterday and we are currently 28th in walks with 2.2 per game. Furthermore, last year we were dead last in MLB in pitches per plate appeances at 3.78 and through 5 games this season, the Sox are 29th at 3.65 Pit/PA. 

I know its only 5 games and we shouldn't be panicking. However shouldn't we see some improvement in the areas we were terrible at last year? I'm not saying it has to equate to more wins right now, but all the leading teams in 2023 in these type of OBP% stats so far, are the same great winning teams from last year like the Dodgers, Braves, Brewers, Padres and Yankees. 

Edited April 4, 20233 yr by The Kids Can Play

17 minutes ago, The Kids Can Play said:

The best way to put a embarrassing debacle loss behind us is to have Dylan Cease pitch another stud game. We need that game from our stud Dylan more than ever now.

Yet I am concerned about the early offensive struggles due to some of the offensive flaws we had last year that are still showing up again this year early on. 

We hammered the point at nauseum last year how much our hitting coach and manager sucked and how we we had poor plate discipline, along with hitting too many groundball outs, not enough launch angle and getting more walks to increase the men on base. Well folks, it hasn't really changed much. In yesterday's game, the Sox had 16 outs produced by groundballs. We still can't draw many walks either. We had 2 BB's yesterday and we are currently 28th in walks with 2.2 per game. Furthermore, last year we were dead last in MLB in pitches per plate appeances at 3.78 and through 5 games this season, the Sox are 29th at 3.65 Pit/PA. 

I know its only 5 games and we shouldn't be panicking. However shouldn't we be see some improvement in the areas we were terrible at last year? I'm not saying it has to equate to more wins right now, but all the leading teams in 2023 in these type of OBP% stats so far, are the same great winning teams from last year like the Dodgers, Braves, Brewers, Padres and Yankees. 

It is early but the approach at the plate is extremely concerning because it is identical to last year so far.  Hopefully it changes and it is a very small sample size but it isn't promising that the offensive approach has not changed at all even if it is early.

Rain tomorrow 

1 minute ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Rain tomorrow 

At worst, it gets pushed back a couple hours. They’ll play.

17 hours ago, ChiSox59 said:

I absolutely loath weekday day games. 

I do too, but I'm pretty sure Dylan Cease doesn't hate them, as I recall he had a really good ERA last season in all his day games whether home or away. 

18 minutes ago, whitesoxfan99 said:

It is early but the approach at the plate is extremely concerning because it is identical to last year so far.  Hopefully it changes and it is a very small sample size but it isn't promising that the offensive approach has not changed at all even if it is early.

Maybe because most of the same players from last year are back again this year? Hitting coaches do not matter that much in the big leagues. 

3 hours ago, The Kids Can Play said:

I do too, but I'm pretty sure Dylan Cease doesn't hate them, as I recall he had a really good ERA last season in all his day games whether home or away. 

Yeah, we need to line up Cease with the day games, and make sure Giolito does NOT get day games. Gio has expressed how much he hates them because he can't go through his full routine, and that was before he got shelled for 8 runs or whatever it was on Marathon Monday in Boston.

In case anyone didn’t know… Andrus is looking for career hit 2,000.

Edited April 4, 20233 yr by ShoeLessRob

16 minutes ago, ShoeLessRob said:

In case anyone didn’t know… Andrus is looking for career hit 2,000.00.

He's been looking for it for the last several days. A really slow start.

18 minutes ago, ShoeLessRob said:

In case anyone didn’t know… Andrus is looking for career hit 2,000.00.

Been looking for it for awhile. Andrus deserves a spot on the bench next few games.  Let Romy play for a few days, Elvis has been dreadful. 

1 minute ago, ChiSox59 said:

Been looking for it for awhile. Andrus deserves a spot on the bench next few games.  Let Romy play for a few days, Elvis has been dreadful. 

The most realistic scenario is that Andrus just sucks. Aside from the short stint with the Sox last year, he's been a pretty lousy hitter the past 3 seasons. Hopefully Romy or Lenyn can step up and take the starting job from him. 

14 minutes ago, ron883 said:

The most realistic scenario is that Andrus just sucks. Aside from the short stint with the Sox last year, he's been a pretty lousy hitter the past 3 seasons. Hopefully Romy or Lenyn can step up and take the starting job from him. 

Yeah, probably.  I think Elvis can still be a useful guy to have around.  I liked the signing for $3M.  He provides insurance for a TA injury that won't leave us with a huge defensive liability out there.  Even if Elvis is the guy he's been for the lionshare of the past half decade, he is still worth having around as a bench peice.  I just don't think the Sox should pigeonhole him into 2B every single day.  As I said when the Sox signed him, best case scenario is Romy, Sosa or JRod ripping that job away from him ASAP. 

27 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Yeah, probably.  I think Elvis can still be a useful guy to have around.  I liked the signing for $3M.  He provides insurance for a TA injury that won't leave us with a huge defensive liability out there.  Even if Elvis is the guy he's been for the lionshare of the past half decade, he is still worth having around as a bench peice.  I just don't think the Sox should pigeonhole him into 2B every single day.  As I said when the Sox signed him, best case scenario is Romy, Sosa or JRod ripping that job away from him ASAP. 

he is a much better option to step in and help the infield in any capacity than Leury was. Great signing even if he falls back to the norm. Also...Romy needs a chance to play and impress...but Grifol is going to push Elvis hard until he gets #2000 

One issue they finally undressed was not giving up more HR to the visitors in their home park. That was really annoying last year. 1-7  after one game. 

On 4/4/2023 at 7:31 AM, MikeKreevich said:

Usually, when a team scores a lot of runs in a game (like 12), they struggle to score the next day.  Unfortunately, the Giants get a day off to rest.

it's the HR Derby effect. day off probably won't help them reset their swings either, we shall see