3 minutes ago, mmmmmbeeer said:

Reads like his 4seam usage is way down, rather than way up. He’s throwing his sinker regularly in triple digits. If he can get sinker movement at that velocity, it makes sense he’d essentially dump the 4 seamer.

That is what my eye test tells me - he is throwing a sinker that is pure lethal. 102 mph sinker is something I’ve never seen thrown.

7 hours ago, mmmmmbeeer said:

Reads like his 4seam usage is way down, rather than way up. He’s throwing his sinker regularly in triple digits. If he can get sinker movement at that velocity, it makes sense he’d essentially dump the 4 seamer.

I typed in backwards, its usage should be up +20%

The bullpen has really flourished for a while now. Forget giving away a prospect for a reliever, A starter is still a need.

He’s getting a 30.6% whiff rate on the 4 seamer, which is 54th overall in the MLB or roughly the 89th percentile. Being able to throw the 4 seamer at the top of the zone after pounding them with 100+ MPH sinkers give him a second major weapon on top of the sweeper. As @chw42 stated, between this and the arm angle change, there is reason to believe his production can mostly stick. Obviously I don’t expect him to carry a 0.00 ERA the rest of the way, but he looks like an actual dude out there now vs. a DFA candidate pre changes.

39 minutes ago, soxrwhite said:

The bullpen has really flourished for a while now. Forget giving away a prospect for a reliever, A starter is still a need.

… and then use Schultz out of the bullpen in controlled situations. Give him reps with lots of time in between his innings to work on his command.

When this trade happened, it seemed like the thought was Hicks was the extra piece, along with salary, while Sandlin was the real target. While the jury is still out on Sandlin, Hicks has seemed to find success again. He has looked damn near unhittable since returning. The odd trade that looks to have worked out, just not in the way we thought. If Sandlin ends up being good, this could be a really good trade for the (White) Sox.

To see Hicks out there in high leverage from where he was earlier in the season is amazing. Then yesterday Siranthony was out there in the 11th with the game on the line. Knock on wood, both these guys could be major parts of getting to the finish line with 1/3 of the season to go.

11 hours ago, AntMan26 said:

Feels like a shady drug deal.

Tell the AL Central we back up

1 hour ago, hogan873 said:

When this trade happened, it seemed like the thought was Hicks was the extra piece, along with salary, while Sandlin was the real target. While the jury is still out on Sandlin, Hicks has seemed to find success again. He has looked damn near unhittable since returning. The odd trade that looks to have worked out, just not in the way we thought. If Sandlin ends up being good, this could be a really good trade for the (White) Sox.

This seems like what Yankee or Dodgers fans expect after decades of stuff always working out in their favor.

I like it.