SALE

 

DE AZA

 

AJ

 

CUBAN CONNECTION

 

BULLPEN

 

Bullpen very encouraging early. Some nice young arms and the team hasn't starting hitting yet (mostly).

Sale looked great. The Sox look like they have 5 starters that are going to give them a chance to win everyday...can't ask for anything more than that...well, maybe some offense.

 

It was interesting seeing Sale pitch as a starter as opposed to relief. He transitioned into it like a pro. No soft spot in the rotation...team may not win the Central, but talk of 100 losses probably not smart.

Sale looked great. The Sox look like they have 5 starters that are going to give them a chance to win everyday...can't ask for anything more than that...well, maybe some offense.

Let's see more out of Humber...to me, he's a greater concern than Sale, who I think ends p being our best SP...

Let's see more out of Humber...to me, he's a greater concern than Sale, who I think ends up being our best SP...

 

He is already.

 

I'm optimistic about Humber. I think he'll be one of the better 5th starters in the AL. 190 innings. 17-19 quality starts. I could see that.

Not trying to be Mr. Negative already, but Adam Dunn needs to just be shutdown permanently or sold for scraps with us eating salary. He cant play.

Let's see more out of Humber...to me, he's a greater concern than Sale, who I think ends p being our best SP...

 

Although Humber fell off a cliff toward the end of last season, he was just too good for too many starts not to be at least a serviceable fifth starter.

Great pitching so far this season, but man the offense is just ABYSMAL... Beckham still looking completely lost, Morel taking a huge dump after a strong September and pretty strong spring. Gotta wonder if he's still having back issues...

Great pitching so far this season, but man the offense is just ABYSMAL... Beckham still looking completely lost, Morel taking a huge dump after a strong September and pretty strong spring. Gotta wonder if he's still having back issues...

 

looks all mental to me.

Through 4 games we're pretty much what I expected, we have a great bullpen, a good rotation if they're healthy and a lineup with a lot of holes in it. This is pretty much what I'm expecting all year.

looks all mental to me.

 

Half this team is seemingly headcases...

Not trying to be Mr. Negative already, but Adam Dunn needs to just be shutdown permanently or sold for scraps with us eating salary. He cant play.

 

His pitch selection is way better this year. He is laying off the high fastball and the pitches inside

Half this team is seemingly headcases...

 

Every fanbase says that.

Every fanbase says that.

That's because baseball is such a mentally grueling sport. That's just the way it is.

Dunn looks fine to me. He's seeing the ball, putting good swings on the ball, and his bat speed is there. I think for him, there's a mental hump that he needs to get over. Anybody on here who has ever played any sort of sporting activity at any level has gone through some sort of extended slump, and your self-confidence is crushed. Even when you start doing the small and fundamental things well again, you still need the self-confidence to know that you can do it and that you've done it before. I think that's the phase Dunn is in right now. He'll slowly start doing things well and then he'll bust out and hit 7 homers in a week or something stupid. There were a couple swings he put on balls tonight that I thought looked really good.

Dunn looks fine to me. He's seeing the ball, putting good swings on the ball, and his bat speed is there. I think for him, there's a mental hump that he needs to get over. Anybody on here who has ever played any sort of sporting activity at any level has gone through some sort of extended slump, and your self-confidence is crushed. Even when you start doing the small and fundamental things well again, you still need the self-confidence to know that you can do it and that you've done it before. I think that's the phase Dunn is in right now. He'll slowly start doing things well and then he'll bust out and hit 7 homers in a week or something stupid. There were a couple swings he put on balls tonight that I thought looked really good.

 

 

I agree with you, but then I expected that bust out 7 homer week last year.

Nice win, if this team is gonna compete these are the ones we gotta win, just can't shoot ourselfs in the foot, Dunn seems fine remember he's not gonna hit over .265 so don't count on that, he seems to be taking good at bats and that's what counts. Santiago is tha man, he's sneaky with the fastball and throws harder than you think, he's aggressive and has good moxy and makeup he's not afraid

Nice win, if this team is gonna compete these are the ones we gotta win, just can't shoot ourselfs in the foot, Dunn seems fine remember he's not gonna hit over .265 so don't count on that, he seems to be taking good at bats and that's what counts. Santiago is tha man, he's sneaky with the fastball and throws harder than you think, he's aggressive and has good moxy and makeup he's not afraid

 

Precisely, good Dunn or 'old' Dunn is still .250 hitter. As long as he gets on base and hits a homer once every few days we're in good shape.

Sale looked awesome, although I thought he might have blown off the mound a few times when the winds gusted. De Aza is looking like a good leadoff guy. Viciedo is hitting the ball and getting on base, the mammoth homeruns should be coming soon. Dunn looks a lot better at the plate this year. He's making contact. I think he'll start hitting more HRs soon and be back to near career norms. Konerko is just ridiculous. Is the guy going to keep getting better with age?

Surprised no one here mentioned how much work Alexei and Morel, and to a lesser extent Beckham, are doing in trying to drive the ball the other way. Morel's didn't always produce hits, but the guy is simply lining every pitch he swings at to RF. Compared to last year where every ball he hit to right was a short roller I think this is a good sign, Manto probably has him working on spraying the ball with more authority to the OF, which is something that could really help him.

 

Alexei was clearly working that way also and got at least 1 hit out of it. Alexei was the bigger surprise on that to me, because we all saw Alexei's slow grounder to the left side swing last year produce a guaranteed double play every time someone got on first. Seemed like he forgot how to spray the ball around completely last year, and now he's lining the ball with authority to RF.

 

Viciedo swatted a ball that way too. Beckham, couldn't exactly tell what he had, he put one good swing on a pitch but fouled it off then put a bad swing on the next pitch.

Dunn looks fine to me. He's seeing the ball, putting good swings on the ball, and his bat speed is there. I think for him, there's a mental hump that he needs to get over. Anybody on here who has ever played any sort of sporting activity at any level has gone through some sort of extended slump, and your self-confidence is crushed. Even when you start doing the small and fundamental things well again, you still need the self-confidence to know that you can do it and that you've done it before. I think that's the phase Dunn is in right now. He'll slowly start doing things well and then he'll bust out and hit 7 homers in a week or something stupid. There were a couple swings he put on balls tonight that I thought looked really good.

 

I agree with this completely. Add to that laying off of pitches he knows he can't hit, and he is looking way better, even if the average doesn't reflect it.