Kopech vs. Faucher.  540CT first pitch.  Let's win a series. 

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The White Sox will have to play much better if they hope to win one of the games this weekend at Tampa Bay.

6 minutes ago, Jerry McNertney said:

The White Sox will have to play much better if they hope to win one of the games this weekend at Tampa Bay.

That's a bold strategy, Cotton.

Gonna sweep the Rays. Ez.

The Rays had an off day yesterday which will help them set up their pitching and gave them time to scout the Sox.  Hope I'm wrong, but have a feeling they are going to have a solid scouting report on Kopech and will pounce early and often tonight. 

Rays are bullpenning.  Sox offense needs to step up.

45 minutes ago, LittleHurtCG said:

The Rays had an off day yesterday which will help them set up their pitching and gave them time to scout the Sox.  Hope I'm wrong, but have a feeling they are going to have a solid scouting report on Kopech and will pounce early and often tonight. 

Today is a big day.  Bullpen day for the Rays.  Getting deep into it would be great.  Tomorrow has two Cy frontrunners going, so probably won't get too deep into their pen tomorrow.

The Rays are so interesting.  You look at their roster, and even their stats to date, and outside of Wander and to a lesser extent Arozarena, their lineup is so.....ordinary.  The Lowes have both been good, but we're talking about guys like Yandy DIaz, Manny Margot, and Issac Paredes playing huge roles on the club.  Obviously its an amazingly coached organization, but this isn't some 110+ win squad.  Even their pitching outside of McClannahan doesn't pop off the page.

They're definitely a very well run organization. Its impressive how much production they get from their roster. 

54 minutes ago, LittleHurtCG said:

The Rays had an off day yesterday which will help them set up their pitching and gave them time to scout the Sox.  Hope I'm wrong, but have a feeling they are going to have a solid scouting report on Kopech and will pounce early and often tonight. 

Hopefully they haven't stopped laughing.

42 minutes ago, LittleHurtCG said:

The Rays had an off day yesterday which will help them set up their pitching and gave them time to scout the Sox.  Hope I'm wrong, but have a feeling they are going to have a solid scouting report on Kopech and will pounce early and often tonight. 

 

42 minutes ago, LittleHurtCG said:

The Rays had an off day yesterday which will help them set up their pitching and gave them time to scout the Sox.  Hope I'm wrong, but have a feeling they are going to have a solid scouting report on Kopech and will pounce early and often tonight. 

I hope you're wrong too, but the Rays not only have one of the best coaching and scouting staffs in baseball to analyze Kopech in detail and be prepared for him, but they have the top offense in almost all major MLB categories and have the best record at 16-3. 

BA     #1 .288
OBP  #1 .360
SLG   #1 .542
OPS   #1 .903
RUNS #1 133 - 7 per game
2B      #6  38
HR     #1  42
TB     #1  354

Of course this is what a great consistent winning organization does, especially when they don't have the payroll dollars like the top 8 big dogs do, 1-8: NYM, NYY, SD, PHI, LAD, LLA, TOR and ATL all over 200 million. The Rays are 28th in payroll at 75 million.

1 minute ago, The Kids Can Play said:

 

I hope you're wrong too, but the Rays not only have one of the best coaching and scouting staffs in baseball to analyze Kopech in detail and be prepared for him, but they have the top offense in almost all major MLB categories and have the best record at 16-3. 

BA     #1 .288
OBP  #1 .360
SLG   #1 .542
OPS   #1 .903
RUNS #1 133 - 7 per game
2B      #6  38
HR     #1  42
TB     #1  354

Of course this is what a great consistent winning organization does, especially when they don't have the payroll dollars like the top 8 big dogs do, 1-8: NYM, NYY, SD, PHI, LAD, LLA, TOR and ATL all over 200 million. The Rays are 28th in payroll at 75 million.

Its also worth noting that the Rays have had a very, very, very soft schedule to date.

v. Tigers (3), @ Nats (3), vs. A's (3), v. Red Sox (4), @Jays (3), @ Reds (3)

The only series versus a good team they went 1-2.  

Now, the Sox basically fit right into with those bad teams at this point, but the only two clubs you can really say are better than the Sox are the Jay and Red Sox, and Red Sox are very, very meh. 

 

5 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Its also worth noting that the Rays have had a very, very, very soft schedule to date.

v. Tigers (3), @ Nats (3), vs. A's (3), v. Red Sox (4), @Jays (3), @ Reds (3)

The only series versus a good team they went 1-2.  

Now, the Sox basically fit right into with those bad teams at this point, but the only two clubs you can really say are better than the Sox are the Jay and Red Sox, and Red Sox are very, very meh. 

 

I guess there is always a contrarian in the audience. Based on your analysis the Rays are an overrated team earning this lofty record against inferior teams. Based on that the Sox should sweep the Rays or no less than 2 of 3.

1 minute ago, The Kids Can Play said:

I guess there is always a contrarian in the audience. Based on your analysis the Rays are an overrated team earning this lofty record against inferior teams. Based on that the Sox should sweep the Rays or no less than 2 of 3.

I didn't really say that.  I just presented the facts.  But no, I don't think the Rays are going to continue their 137 win pace once their schedule gets harder.  They probably don't even win 100 games, tbh.  So if that makes them "overrated", sure.  

The Sox wouldn't sweep the Sugarland Skeeters playing like they're playing since TA went down.  They need to be much better to win any series against a major league team. I certainly don't expect the Sox to sweep the Rays.  But winning the series isn't beyond the realm of possibility if they play good baseball. 

Power shows up this game

 

 

18 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I didn't really say that.  I just presented the facts.  But no, I don't think the Rays are going to continue their 137 win pace once their schedule gets harder.  They probably don't even win 100 games, tbh.  So if that makes them "overrated", sure.  

The Sox wouldn't sweep the Sugarland Skeeters playing like they're playing since TA went down.  They need to be much better to win any series against a major league team. I certainly don't expect the Sox to sweep the Rays.  But winning the series isn't beyond the realm of possibility if they play good baseball. 

Of course they are not going to keep this insane pace up and set a new W-L record, nor did I say or imply that. I do think they will win 95ish wins, which would be great considering the balanced schedule.

My only point regardless of their hot start was the fact the Rays win every year. They do it in a way that the Sox FO is clueless and ignorant to, which is the Rays scout, draft and develop better than most teams, especially the Sox, due to their small payroll which forces them to be great in those areas.

Saying the Sox could possibly win the series based on "if they play good baseball" is of course true in any game, but is it realistic? With Kopech and Lynn struggling and the worst bullpen in baseball, taking one game maybe if Cease pitches great is a possibility. Even then based on the number of dead weight hitters in the Sox lineup, I'm just not seeing it. I'm tired of being optimistic and having them let me down. Until they prove they can win consistently and actually win a series, I'm not buying the fantasy.

Edited April 21, 20232 yr by The Kids Can Play

32 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I didn't really say that.  I just presented the facts.  But no, I don't think the Rays are going to continue their 137 win pace once their schedule gets harder.  They probably don't even win 100 games, tbh.  So if that makes them "overrated", sure.  

The Sox wouldn't sweep the Sugarland Skeeters playing like they're playing since TA went down.  They need to be much better to win any series against a major league team. I certainly don't expect the Sox to sweep the Rays.  But winning the series isn't beyond the realm of possibility if they play good baseball. 

Alas they are no more....rebranded the Sugar Land Space Cowboys....but I see your point 

Just now, wegner said:

Alas they are no more....rebranded the Sugar Land Space Cowboys....but I see your point 

Wow, love that name.  That definitely raises them into my top 5 minor league team names along with the Amarillo Sod Poodles, Rocket City Trash Pandas, Montgomery Biscuits, and Lansing Lugnuts. 

5 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Wow, love that name.  That definitely raises them into my top 5 minor league team names along with the Amarillo Sod Poodles, Rocket City Trash Pandas, Montgomery Biscuits, and Lansing Lugnuts. 

Trash Pandas is awesome

I do love my Kannapolis Cannon Ballers cap and they're a Sox affiliate so they might be my favorite

Phillies bullpen embarrassed the Sox.  Imagine what a good bullpen will do.

2 hours ago, DirtySox said:

Gonna sweep the Rays. Ez.

try winning 2 in a roll, then you can bop your baloney

3 hours ago, LittleHurtCG said:

The Rays had an off day yesterday which will help them set up their pitching and gave them time to scout the Sox.  

So did we. 

3 hours ago, DirtySox said:

Gonna sweep the Rays. Ez.

It would be pretty white sox to beat the rays while losing to losing teams. 

I feel like we are running head first into an ambush

Like a little league team vs a major league

1 hour ago, Harry Chappas said:

Phillies bullpen embarrassed the Sox.  Imagine what a good bullpen will do.

You mean like the Phillies bullpen at 5.99 ERA thru 20 games, as opposed to tonight's TB bullpen thru 19 games at 2.89 bullpen and #1 overall team ERA at 2.57.

 

 

Eloy at cleanup, I love it...