28 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Must win game today.  The good news is we got Clevinger on the mound.  While he may be tripping balls, he will also be throwing strikes.  Also, given that we’re facing our old friend Squez, this should be an auto winner.

That last sentence sounds like the kiss of death.  Might as well be Bruce Chen…

47 minutes ago, Jerry McNertney said:

Lousy play must be contagious in the White Sox organization. Charlotte was swept in a doubleheader yesterday. They were beaten 4-0 and 17-0. Yeah, 17-0.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice offense.

The concerning thing to me is this team is getting killed with guys like Robert and Moncada and TA and Cease  basically playing about as well as they can.

1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

The concerning thing to me is this team is getting killed with guys like Robert and Moncada and TA and Cease  basically playing about as well as they can.

I’d be more concerned if those guys looked like s%*#, tbh. Our offense actually is looking pretty good. If Robert and TA and Yoan have good seasons and stay healthy, Sox will be fine. 

48 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

The concerning thing to me is this team is getting killed with guys like Robert and Moncada and TA and Cease  basically playing about as well as they can.

It always comes down to pitching and the Sox are woefully short especially in the bullpen.

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Must win game today.  The good news is we got Clevinger on the mound.  While he may be tripping balls, he will also be throwing strikes.  Also, given that we’re facing our old friend Squez, this should be an auto winner.

I fully expect for VV to dominate our lineup first time through to freak out the gamethread....then we should get to him.

1 hour ago, Dick Allen said:

Nice offense.

Getting shut out in both games of a DH is pretty hard to do

I see Elvis is still immune to having days off, unlike literally everyone else. Can’t someone ask Grifol what gives?

1 hour ago, wegner said:

I fully expect for VV to dominate our lineup first time through to freak out the gamethread....then we should get to him.

Yup, that feels about right to me.  Still think we get to him eventually.

1 hour ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I see Elvis is still immune to having days off, unlike literally everyone else. Can’t someone ask Grifol what gives?

Trying to get him to 3000 hits???

I have zero confidence in the pitching to not give up 6+ runs again. Expecting another loss.

4 hours ago, DirtySox said:

Starting pitching needs to get their s%*# together. I think the offense will be fine. Let's get it.

Even if the starter is effective, the bullpen is gasoline!

Some notes and speculation on post-Katz lab Clevinger, based on pitch data from his first start:

• His velocity is up.  After averaging 95.5mph in 2019, the fastball was down to 93.6mph last year. Against Houston, it was back up to 94.7mph and might still gain a tick or two. 
• The slider has ticked up slightly from 79.9mph last year to 80.5mph. It averaged 80.7mph in 2019.

The most interesting thing? It's possible he's changed the shape of his fastball to more closely resemble what it was back then too:

• 2019 Fastball: 12.2in drop, 5.3in break
• 2022 Fastball: 14.2in drop, 8.7in break
• 2023 Fastball: 11.9in drop, 5.7in break

With the old shape, the combo was very effective and both pitches had a negative run value. Last year, the fastball was a neutral 0 RV and the slider was his worst pitch (6 RV). Katz is a big fastball/slider tunneling guy, and I suspect the 2019/2023 fastball shape tunnels better with the slider (which hasn’t actually changed too much), making both more effective (negative RV on both through the obviously small 2023 sample).

Remains to be seen how it holds up and how/if/when they work in his other pitches, but the numbers stood out to me and I assume this was at least one of the potential fixes the team thought they could make.

Another interesting tidbit: 2018-9 Clevinger was a much faster worker, averaging the now standard pace of ~15 seconds between pitches. Last year, he was at 19 seconds. Maybe that was impacted by the TJ/knee recovery, but it’ll be interesting to see if he’s also a “helped by the pitch clock” candidate.

Our Ace team leader going tonight. I am mildly amused by new managers who act like they possess all the tools for success. 

https://www.si.com/mlb/athletics/news/shintaro-fujinami-as-advertised-in-first-spring-start

$3.25 million

Currently throws 95-98 mph.  Has held TB without a run in the first 3+.

Sad we're getting outscouted by the freaking A's simply due to geographic proximity.

 

 

Man, the Rays are going to be tough to beat this year...not the greatest level of competition from opponents so far but they have a really good vibe around that team going now and just keep rolling along.

Edited April 8, 20232 yr by caulfield12

5 hours ago, wegner said:

You seem to keep insinuating in your posts that LaRussa was not a problem.  He clearly was.  Not the whole problem, but a pretty damn big one.

LaRussa was a zombie. He clearly was a pretty damn big problem totally agree. I'm saying the problems seem to run deeper. Perhaps making millionaires out of young men too soon steals their motivation?

37 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

https://www.si.com/mlb/athletics/news/shintaro-fujinami-as-advertised-in-first-spring-start

$3.25 million

Currently throws 95-98 mph.  Has held TB without a run in the first 3+.

Sad we're getting outscouted by the freaking A's simply due to geographic proximity.

I was going to joke about you jinxing him as he proceeded to give up a few, but then I looked at his previous start where he gave up 8ER in 2.1IP to the Angels. His ERA on the season is higher than any of our starters, his WHIP is 2.25, and he's only managed 6.2IP through two starts.

Of course, a small sample size doesn't say much about what he'll be for the season...but presumably, if Hahn had signed him for that price, everyone would currently be accusing the org of trying to cheap out on the international market or something rather than complimenting the scouting department.

5 minutes ago, soxrwhite said:

I'm saying the problems seem to run deeper. Perhaps making millionaires out of young men too soon steals their motivation?

Especially poor foreign young men of color amirite

16 minutes ago, soxrwhite said:

LaRussa was a zombie. He clearly was a pretty damn big problem totally agree. I'm saying the problems seem to run deeper. Perhaps making millionaires out of young men too soon steals their motivation?

That's the least of our worries. We need to find some guys that can get outs.

Edited April 8, 20232 yr by chitownsportsfan

Was supposed to go to this game And I cancelled

scintillating start so far

47 minutes ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

I was going to joke about you jinxing him as he proceeded to give up a few, but then I looked at his previous start where he gave up 8ER in 2.1IP to the Angels. His ERA on the season is higher than any of our starters, his WHIP is 2.25, and he's only managed 6.2IP through two starts.

Of course, a small sample size doesn't say much about what he'll be for the season...but presumably, if Hahn had signed him for that price, everyone would currently be accusing the org of trying to cheap out on the international market or something rather than complimenting the scouting department.

TB pitching coaches can fix him lol.

I mean...the White Sox are just lighting money on fire the last two years.

Would much rather have 5-6 lottery tickets with live arms than whatever it is we have now.

Between Leury, Kimbrel/Rodon, Kelly, Diekman, Harrison, Andrus (2023)...

Clevinger is the second best starter on the team.  He’s excellent.

Pirates seem to have a lot of momentum...crowd support on their side for the moment.

Just now, caulfield12 said:

Pirates seem to have a lot of momentum...crowd support on their side for the moment.

They’re the home team.  I’d hope the crowd was on their side.