Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox

 

#WhiteSox GM Ken Williams on a live telephone chat speaks about Rio and Dunn: "Robin has put Rios in a position to success...."

 

"He’s comfortable where he is in the order. Dunn is 1 of the best on base percentages that we have. Let’s not be the ones 2 mess this up."

Fans just want to think of ways to help the offense, even though we have a pretty decent one, fans always think it could be better.

 

 

If the Sox come up 1 or 2 games short of the postseason, is it fair to criticize Robin for not adjusting when things need a change? Such as sticking with Morel in the 2-hole way too long, having Santiago close out of spring training, not batting Rios-Dunn-Konerko 3-4-5, taking Sale out of the rotation abruptly in May, and pulling Quintana from a 1-0 game in LA with only 77 pitches?

 

I may forgive him for the last one, but there have been some management mistakes this year that may cause Kenny to come up short making the playoffs again.

Thats the risk you take with a rookie manager. You have to wonder if they would have chosen to hire a rookie if they had known they'd be contending this year.

Also from the same conference call... I wonder if Ozzie felt that backhand in Miami?

 

Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox

 

KW on Robin & coaching staff: "They’ve been outstanding..."

 

"I thought it'd take until June 2013 that they'd really feel comfortable in their managerial & coaching shoes..." -KW

 

"But (Robin) had such a familiarity with all of coaching staff, players & office staff..." - KW

 

"It’s been a joy 2 have them & it's been a great comfort 2 me." - Ken Williams

Assume that you have these six guys to place 1-6 in your lineup. In which order would you put them?

 

Player A: 4th in BB/PA, 6th in SLG

Player B: 1st in BB/PA, 5th in SLG

Player C: 3rd in BB/PA, 4th in SLG

Player D: 5th in BB/PA, 1st in SLG

Player E: 6th in BB/PA, 2nd in SLG

Player F: 2nd in BB/PA, 3rd in SLG

Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox

 

#WhiteSox GM Ken Williams on a live telephone chat speaks about Rio and Dunn: "Robin has put Rios in a position to success...."

 

"He's comfortable where he is in the order. Dunn is 1 of the best on base percentages that we have. Let's not be the ones 2 mess this up."

 

Dunn since May 30:

 

Batting .180, with a .303 OBP. The homers and RBI's have been good though. Rios will be on base if he bats 3rd.

 

Rios since May 29:

 

Batting .350, with a .363 OBP.

 

Why not try it for a week? See how it goes. It shouldn't be that big of deal to slightly change a lineup.

Thats the risk you take with a rookie manager. You have to wonder if they would have chosen to hire a rookie if they had known they'd be contending this year.

 

What's the guarantee that they'd be contending with someone other than a rookie manager. Sometimes the competence of being a former player is enough to generate buy-in from a struggling group of players.

Assume that you have these six guys to place 1-6 in your lineup. In which order would you put them?

 

Player A: 4th in BB/PA, 6th in SLG

Player B: 1st in BB/PA, 5th in SLG

Player C: 3rd in BB/PA, 4th in SLG

Player D: 5th in BB/PA, 1st in SLG

Player E: 6th in BB/PA, 2nd in SLG

Player F: 2nd in BB/PA, 3rd in SLG

 

B

A

F

D

E

C

 

Why not try it for a week? See how it goes. It shouldn't be that big of deal to slightly change a lineup.

I'd say in this case it's special. These two have proven that they can completely s*** the bed for extended periods - so if it's working it's working.

B

A

F

D

E

C

 

That would make a very interesting lineup, for sure!

 

My theory is that I want B and F at the top of the lineup because they walk a lot and I need good hitters behind them to drive them in.

I want C right after those two because he's hitting well enough to drive them in but also walks enough that he still needs good hitters behind them.

I want D and E after C because they are going to drive in the runs and they won't have many wasted walks with no more good hitters behind them.

As for A, I can live with batting him first to have another decent OBP guy on base for my best hitters but I can also justify batting him sixth so my five best hitters all get more plate appearances.

 

So I would do A-B-F-C-D-E or B-F-C-D-E-A

Why not flip Dunn and AJ?

 

The argument that Stone was making the other night was that this lineup was designed to go LRLRRL to not allow a manager to plug in a single "matchup" reliever for three batters in a row (By flipping Rios and Dunn, you have a situation where 2-3-4 are RRR)

 

I get that, but with AJ batting 3rd and Dunn batting 6th we still would have LRLRRL. Dunn is really in a slump of late and not helping the top of the order enough.

Publicly KW will say Robin was the right man for this team to contend. Privately I don't think he thought this team had a chance of being good this year and wanted Robin to grow with the team for a few years...

Why not flip Dunn and AJ?

 

The argument that Stone was making the other night was that this lineup was designed to go LRLRRL to not allow a manager to plug in a single "matchup" reliever for three batters in a row (By flipping Rios and Dunn, you have a situation where 2-3-4 are RRR)

 

I get that, but with AJ batting 3rd and Dunn batting 6th we still would have LRLRRL. Dunn is really in a slump of late and not helping the top of the order enough.

 

Dunn since May 30:

 

Batting .180, with a .303 OBP. The homers and RBI's have been good though. Rios will be on base if he bats 3rd.

 

Rios since May 29:

 

Batting .350, with a .363 OBP.

 

Hitting is a very streaky thing by nature. By the time you switch the lineup around, the hot guy may have gone cold and the cold guy may have gotten hot. I would use full season stats to make lineups before going by any 30 or even 60 day stretch.

Edited August 8, 201213 yr by HickoryHuskers

It would take this team completely flopping -- like suddenly 4 or 5 games out -- before a change is made and by that time it would more than likely be too late. This lineup as constructed (for the most part) has been in first place for 70+ days, in a traditional baseball kinda way it makes sense to stick with what has been working, superstition etc.

 

But if you got balls, you change it so your best players are making the lineup better and you push towards the playoffs like that. Time will tell what kind of manager Robin is.

That would make a very interesting lineup, for sure!

 

My theory is that I want B and F at the top of the lineup because they walk a lot and I need good hitters behind them to drive them in.

I want C right after those two because he's hitting well enough to drive them in but also walks enough that he still needs good hitters behind them.

I want D and E after C because they are going to drive in the runs and they won't have many wasted walks with no more good hitters behind them.

As for A, I can live with batting him first to have another decent OBP guy on base for my best hitters but I can also justify batting him sixth so my five best hitters all get more plate appearances.

 

So I would do A-B-F-C-D-E or B-F-C-D-E-A

 

I got torn with where to put A. Not a lot of walks or power relatively. I prefer more power out of the 6 spot, but more OBP in the 2 spot. I like B leading off, walks a lot, and you aren't wasting a high SLG with no baserunners. F-D-E are very solid in the 3-4-5 spots IMO.

Publicly KW will say Robin was the right man for this team to contend. Privately I don't think he thought this team had a chance of being good this year and wanted Robin to grow with the team for a few years...

 

Except he just said the opposite. He figured it would take him a season and a half to get things figured out.

Except he just said the opposite. He figured it would take him a season and a half to get things figured out.

 

"feel comfortable in their managerial & coaching shoes..." doesn't sound like "contending for division title" to me. I took that as feeling comfortable with coaching a baseball team with no prior experience. You can feel comfortable doing that while losing A LOT.

If the Sox come up 1 or 2 games short of the postseason, is it fair to criticize Robin for not adjusting when things need a change? Such as sticking with Morel in the 2-hole way too long, having Santiago close out of spring training, not batting Rios-Dunn-Konerko 3-4-5, taking Sale out of the rotation abruptly in May, and pulling Quintana from a 1-0 game in LA with only 77 pitches?

 

I may forgive him for the last one, but there have been some management mistakes this year that may cause Kenny to come up short making the playoffs again.

 

Leading the league in blown saves doesn't help either.

 

I knew that a large segment of White Sox fans would never agree with the Dunn experience. We have two more years of hearing about it. Joy

Our 3-hole hitter is hitting .177, with a .691 OPS since May 30 (62 games).

 

 

Our 3-hole hitter is hitting .177, with a .691 OPS since May 30 (62 games).

So what. He draws a lot of walks. Dunn is a good guy to have on the team. Not at the level he is paid, but he shouldn't bat 3rd. His average is getting pretty low, but he seems to have some support at the .204 or .203 mark. When he dips this low, he's been getting it up to about .215 the last few times before tailing off again. He's due to get hot. They are going to need him to get hot, especially without Paulie.

So what. He draws a lot of walks. Dunn is a good guy to have on the team. Not at the level he is paid, but he shouldn't bat 3rd. His average is getting pretty low, but he seems to have some support at the .204 or .203 mark. When he dips this low, he's been getting it up to about .215 the last few times before tailing off again. He's due to get hot. They are going to need him to get hot, especially without Paulie.

 

He been awful, and he needs to have a good road trip. Hopefully he hits four homers this week, and they can take down that ridiculous sign in right field.

He been awful, and he needs to have a good road trip. Hopefully he hits four homers this week, and they can take down that ridiculous sign in right field.

Yeah, 396 is getting a little rusty.

Dunns good times were pretty much tied to Konerkos. Dunn started to fall off as soon as Konerko's wrist became an issue.