May 8, 20232 yr Life has been insanely busy. I haven't been around much, at all, this year. I have been watching, unfortunately. I suppose that I didn't care to log in only to be miserable around a bunch of others who are equally as miserable. I already spend most games fuming with frustration. No need to add more. The Eloy news made me shake my head and laugh. What else can you do, at this point? He was just starting to get hot. So, of course, that happens. This being said... Outside of the extra inning loss to Minnesota, which made me want to gouge my eyes out (Seriously... what's more of a lock than this team failing to plate a run with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs? It makes the current extra inning format TORTURE as a fan of this team!), I'm actually starting to open up the door to giving this team another shot. They're only 7 out in a bad division. If they can take 3 of 4 here and get a bit healthier. I could see us looking up a month from now and being squarely in the central mix and pushing back towards .500. Maybe we look back on that April stretch as simply a god awful period of baseball we played, before we got it together? Our schedule over the next month is not bad and we play mostly at home. A lot of division games lined up to make up some ground, too. Tonight, Cease has to come out hot against a poor KC lineup, though. We aren't going anywhere if he can't figure this out. Hopefully we can keep yesterday's onslaught up against Greinke, who has been struggling pretty bad. No excuse for dropping this game tonight. Obviously, the hurdle that seems utterly impossible for this team to overcome, is being able to sustain ANY semblance of health for a period of time. Instead of continuously cycling out one key piece for another. It will be nice to have Hendricks back. God knows the bullpen needs it. The fact I am willing to show optimism, though, only means that tonight will be sheer and utter misery. I will read this post later tonight and laugh/mock myself while cursing the White Sox, Cease, etc. I'm going to try and watch with hopeful eyes again, though. I realize how bad this is/has been, TRUST ME. I just don't want the season to have been lost in April. For chrissake, they're the only reason I paid in full before the season for MLB.TV living out of market. lol
May 8, 20232 yr Baseball is so hard to predict, and I didn't think the team was as bad as it appeared during the losing streak. But I'm short on optimism. They have to play well for an extended period of time before I can feel good about this team. And, for some reason, they don't play well in Kansas City. Tonight's game is not a given. Other than that, they are fortunate to be in the AL Central. Regardless, they have to get to .500 first, and that will take a while.
May 8, 20232 yr Based on the hole that they’ve dug themselves, they can’t afford another bad season vs the Royals. 9-4 minimum this season. They have to be a team we bury really. Like 11-2.
May 8, 20232 yr I do have some optimism but that optimism is tied into the division being awful. So yeah even the optimism is a problem.
May 8, 20232 yr 7 minutes ago, Richie said: Life has been insanely busy. I haven't been around much, at all, this year. I have been watching, unfortunately. I suppose that I didn't care to log in only to be miserable around a bunch of others who are equally as miserable. I already spend most games fuming with frustration. No need to add more. The Eloy news made me shake my head and laugh. What else can you do, at this point? He was just starting to get hot. So, of course, that happens. This being said... Outside of the extra inning loss to Minnesota, which made me want to gouge my eyes out (Seriously... what's more of a lock than this team failing to plate a run with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs? It makes the current extra inning format TORTURE as a fan of this team!), I'm actually starting to open up the door to giving this team another shot. They're only 7 out in a bad division. If they can take 3 of 4 here and get a bit healthier. I could see us looking up a month from now and being squarely in the central mix and pushing back towards .500. Maybe we look back on that April stretch as simply a god awful period of baseball we played, before we got it together? Our schedule over the next month is not bad and we play mostly at home. A lot of division games lined up to make up some ground, too. Tonight, Cease has to come out hot against a poor KC lineup, though. We aren't going anywhere if he can't figure this out. Hopefully we can keep yesterday's onslaught up against Greinke, who has been struggling pretty bad. No excuse for dropping this game tonight. Obviously, the hurdle that seems utterly impossible for this team to overcome, is being able to sustain ANY semblance of health for a period of time. Instead of continuously cycling out one key piece for another. It will be nice to have Hendricks back. God knows the bullpen needs it. The fact I am willing to show optimism, though, only means that tonight will be sheer and utter misery. I will read this post later tonight and laugh/mock myself while cursing the White Sox, Cease, etc. I'm going to try and watch with hopeful eyes again, though. I realize how bad this is/has been, TRUST ME. I just don't want the season to have been lost in April. For chrissake, they're the only reason I paid in full before the season for MLB.TV living out of market. lol Nice post Richie. Despite the obvious flaws in the bullpen it would help immensely to either sweep or take 3 of 4 against KC. Of course just when we start to think they can put a little run together injuries and inconsistency rear their ugly heads. Have to win the 1st game against KC.
May 8, 20232 yr 9 minutes ago, flavum said: Based on the hole that they’ve dug themselves, they can’t afford another bad season vs the Royals. 9-4 minimum this season. They have to be a team we bury really. Like 11-2. If they sweep the series, they're 7 games from .500. Which is remarkable in several ways.
May 8, 20232 yr There's no do overs for the record. That's all that matters. Oh, and a bunch of guys are injured.
May 8, 20232 yr I just had this exact conversation with a good buddy of mine. In my opinion the month of May will set the tone for the rest of the season. We are currently hot, and play a favorable schedule including division foes. Not saying they need to right the ship and get to .500 before the end of May, but the headway has to start now. If things go well, I'd expect us to be 2 to 3 games back in the division. Edited May 8, 20232 yr by Slayer12
May 8, 20232 yr They've found a little consistency in the bullpen with Santos and Middleton. They've gotten rid of a lot of the dead weight there. Hendriks is back at the end of the month hopefully. Losing Eloy while he was hot really hurts. Robert is picking up the slack, though. They definitely need to cut the black holes out of their lineup, but it's going to be hard given their injuries and lack of depth. Starting pitching has been bad. Gio has been their best starter, and the rest have been disappointing. Need more consistency here - starters can't really give up more than 3 runs given this team's love of scoring 3 runs or less per game. This is where I'm most concerned - Cease will be fine, though I don't think he'll be the CY runner up again. Gio should stay in the 3-4 ERA range, which is fine. Lynn and Clevinger might be washed - Lynn has lost too much velocity and Clevinger has no command. Kopech likely belongs in the bullpen unless he can bring the curve and changeup to a decent spot. The slider should be dropped. Overall, if they were in any other division I think they'd be buried. This division is absolute trash, though, so if the Sox can find a way to win most of the series they play I bet they'll be in contention all year.
May 8, 20232 yr 24 minutes ago, Quin said: If they sweep the series, they're 7 games from .500. Which is remarkable in several ways. Agreed. But even 3 of 4 puts them 9 under which is already a 5 game improvement from their rock bottom. A pretty nice amount to make up in just over a week. Gotta keep pushing and have a nice, solid May.
May 8, 20232 yr Bargaining stage... or denial? Contending for a World Series is no longer something that even front office execs can say with a straight face... I mean, 2/3 against what was supposed to be one of the 3-5 worst teams in baseball is something... but the Tigers are playing their best baseball in years and they have been the only divisional rival the Sox have dominated. KC, not so much unless you go back to 2000's, and even down the stretch in 2005 a royal pain in the ass.
May 8, 20232 yr I don't have any real hope of them being a playoff team this year but I do have hope of them at least being a competitive enjoyable team to watch the remainder of the season, which they haven't been for a while.
May 8, 20232 yr They can turn things around and be Hot the rest of the way, still can't trust them. They've proven the past two years that all that they can maintain is SUCKAGE.
May 8, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, ThirdGen said: I don't have any real hope of them being a playoff team this year but I do have hope of them at least being a competitive enjoyable team to watch the remainder of the season, which they haven't been for a while. If they're not going to be a playoff team, I don't have much interest in them just being competitive. Hovering around .500 does nothing for me. Bring on total chaos instead.
May 8, 20232 yr 19 minutes ago, Snopek said: If they're not going to be a playoff team, I don't have much interest in them just being competitive. Hovering around .500 does nothing for me. Bring on total chaos instead. You are totally correct and bringing on total chaos instead can't be emphasized enough. Being competitive and hanging around .500 in the worst division in baseball could be a disaster. The worst scenario is the Sox get close to .500 and close to first place in the worst division in baseball near the trade deadline. Then genius Hahn avoids selling off the Sox assets, and perhaps even becomes a dumb buyer to give away more prospects from our weak farm system. The trades he makes end up being horrible, as most of them are. It's not like we haven't been used to losing. Since the 2005 World Series title, over the next 17 seasons, the Sox have seen only 5 seasons over .500, 3 years in the playoffs and one playoff win. This team will show you a few glimpses of greatness to tease you, but far more days of dumb losing baseball. If we're not going to make the playoffs, then I'm not up for being competitive. They might as well have a disaster finish and lose over 100 games, to hopefully have a small chance at the FO being fired.
May 8, 20232 yr Beating the sad-sack Royals won't mean much on its own; but if we follow that up with series wins v. Astros and Guardians, it gets interesting for this division.
May 9, 20232 yr Just stop with this non sense. They’re getting pasted right now by the shitty royals 9-4!! In the 6th inning. Don’t do this to yourself.
May 9, 20232 yr 5 minutes ago, flavum said: 2-5 this week, please. Let’s just get this over with. And what result will actually happen? Realistically what will the changes be at the end of the year? Edited May 9, 20232 yr by The Beast
May 9, 20232 yr 7 minutes ago, The Beast said: And what result will actually happen? Realistically what will the changes be at the end of the year? Hopefully something, it will be better than floating around .500 again and keeping the same stale routine going.
May 9, 20232 yr 3 hours ago, The Kids Can Play said: You are totally correct and bringing on total chaos instead can't be emphasized enough. Being competitive and hanging around .500 in the worst division in baseball could be a disaster. The worst scenario is the Sox get close to .500 and close to first place in the worst division in baseball near the trade deadline. Then genius Hahn avoids selling off the Sox assets, and perhaps even becomes a dumb buyer to give away more prospects from our weak farm system. The trades he makes end up being horrible, as most of them are. It's not like we haven't been used to losing. Since the 2005 World Series title, over the next 17 seasons, the Sox have seen only 5 seasons over .500, 3 years in the playoffs and one playoff win. This team will show you a few glimpses of greatness to tease you, but far more days of dumb losing baseball. If we're not going to make the playoffs, then I'm not up for being competitive. They might as well have a disaster finish and lose over 100 games, to hopefully have a small chance at the FO being fired. cmon lottery Edited May 9, 20232 yr by Chick Mercedes
May 9, 20232 yr 7 minutes ago, T R U said: Hopefully something, it will be better than floating around .500 again and keeping the same stale routine going. People who want change here better stop pouring money into the team this year then.
May 9, 20232 yr 9 hours ago, Richie said: The fact I am willing to show optimism, though, only means that tonight will be sheer and utter misery. I will read this post later tonight and laugh/mock myself while cursing the White Sox, Cease, etc. I'm going to try and watch with hopeful eyes again, though. I realize how bad this is/has been, TRUST ME. I just don't want the season to have been lost in April. For chrissake, they're the only reason I paid in full before the season for MLB.TV living out of market. lol The Sox come at you fast. At least you called it. Trying on the pollyanna pants even for a short while might be better for mental health, idk. So might be giving up. I mean, look at the roster with fresh eyes. Pollyanaism is interesting, like a survival mechanism for some. Others go the other way. Born of the same desperation i suppose
May 9, 20232 yr 9 hours ago, Quin said: If they sweep the series, they're 7 games from .500. Which is remarkable in several ways. Where will they be if they get swept?
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.