See BS, Chicago!

 

I had to. It was in the spirit of Lionel Hutz. No, money down!

 

He can change his approach all he wants his swing is fundamentally broken. Beckham has one of the longest swings in MLB. The next inside fastball he turns on will be the first of his career. Maybe 2nd. He also generates very little bat speed for such a long swing. I think at this point the success of his rookie year was him guessing fastball time and time again and with no scouting report on him he was able to take quite a few into the gap in right.

 

He should probably just go back to being a complete guess hitter. Might run into one from time to time. He has no plate coverage either, that's another problem. Unless it's in his incredibly small wheelhouse (out over the plate and slightly down) he isn't going to do s*** with it.

 

Look at this heat map:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/hotzones/_/i.../gordon-beckham

 

pathetic.

 

It's f***ing sad he's back. Reminds me of Hinrich coming back to the Bulls. Why can't we quit these guys?

Fielding % and range factor combined are a pretty good indicator. Sanchez at second had better range as well. To put the fielding % in real numbers, they both played about 60 games at 2nd base. Sanchez got to more balls and made 4 errors and Johnson made 9 errors.

 

Except that fielding percentage and range factor are not good indicators because they are dependent on scorekeepers and pitching staffs or the lineups you face. There can be a guy with a fielding percentage of .995 but it doesn't mean he's a good defender, merely a defender with good enough hands and a good enough throwing arm to avoid making errors. With regards to range factor, it simply measures how many putouts and assists you make per inning. If you field behind a flyball pitching staff or strikeout pitching staff, your number is already going to be artificially low. What if it's a righty heavy lineup with a bunch of pull hitters? These things have to be taken into consideration when looking at statistics like these.

 

Beyond any of this, players in the minor leagues will be more raw defensively, but it's something that they can improve over time and much of the time, there is a drastic improvement that occurs within the first year or two of playing in the major leagues.

 

That's why I don't feel comfortable dictating that someone is or is not a good fielder based on those two metrics...quite often, they are wrong and there is no indication that they will show success.

I'm always happy when the choices are not between bad and really bad. This is between two decent choices. FWIW, I am leaning towards Micah.

 

A not so bold prediction, no one will start more than 100 games at 2nd. I see whomever starts the season giving way at some point for a stretch. With viable options Robin will not need to be patient with the starter coming out of spring training. As spring leads to summer the position will finally settle in.

 

I'd also not dismiss Beckham so easily. Baseball always seems to find it easier to give a guy a third, fourth, fifth chance before someone gets an extended 1st chance.

If this is representative of how Micah turns double plays, I don't want to see him at second:

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v43049883/cwsoak-sa...-vs-as/?cid=cws

 

He makes several plays on this clip, but the one that caught my attention was the double play. The play starts at :25, and demonstrates his foot work at the bag, and a not very pretty throwing motion.

He'll have to do better than that

Edited March 9, 201511 yr by Lillian

If this is representative of how Micah turns double plays, I don't want to see him at second:

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v43049883/cwsoak-sa...-vs-as/?cid=cws

 

He makes several plays on this clip, but the one that caught my attention was the double play. The play starts at :25, and demonstrates his foot work at the bag, and a not very pretty throwing motion.

He'll have to do better than that

 

Slow runner...but he shouldn't have been so lazy mechanically, bad habit to get into.

 

And he's left-handed, c'mon!

Edited March 9, 201511 yr by caulfield12

If this is representative of how Micah turns double plays, I don't want to see him at second:

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v43049883/cwsoak-sa...-vs-as/?cid=cws

 

He makes several plays on this clip, but the one that caught my attention was the double play. The play starts at :25, and demonstrates his foot work at the bag, and a not very pretty throwing motion.

He'll have to do better than that

 

Welcome to having young players around. Those are habits the coaching staff will break.

Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 2m2 minutes ago

 

Ventura on Micah: 'You notice his speed and range. Even his at-bats you see what people are talking about. He's in the middle of everything'

I don't care if it is Spring training.. 6 hits in a row is impressive.

I don't care if it is Spring training.. 6 hits in a row is impressive.

 

It is and I suddenly have realized that the Sox' plan might be to use Beckham almost exclusively as a defensive replacement for Micah. I might be OK with that plan as it maximizes both players' utility.

If this is representative of how Micah turns double plays, I don't want to see him at second:

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v43049883/cwsoak-sa...-vs-as/?cid=cws

 

He makes several plays on this clip, but the one that caught my attention was the double play. The play starts at :25, and demonstrates his foot work at the bag, and a not very pretty throwing motion.

He'll have to do better than that

 

I think he did that because he knew he had plenty of time to get the runner.

I think he did that because he knew he had plenty of time to get the runner.

 

I honestly didn't watch the play until after reading your comment. Yea, that...was awful. He is almost falling into LF and that is a looped throw for a MLB 2B. It's 90 feet you should easily be able to gun it over at this level and if you're falling backwards that's not "taking your time" that's a bad habit. Plus, he is going to face more aggressive slides in the real games.

 

That said, I think we've been spoiled by Beckham and Sanchez. If the kid hits as much as the Sox seem to believe he will, well, ok. Hopefully his range is better than advertised as well that can make up for arm weakness.

Edited March 11, 201511 yr by chitownsportsfan

http://m.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article/112...sox-drop-royals

 

The dreaded Merkin puff piece on Johnson has arrived.

 

"You notice his speed and his range, even his at-bats, you start seeing what people are talking about and he's getting in the middle of everything," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "He had some nice turns defensively, I thought he showed some of the range. He had the one ball that came out of his glove, but he still was able to get to it. He just continues to play hard and play with purpose."

 

#thechosenoneprodigalJOHNson

Edited March 11, 201511 yr by caulfield12

I don't care if it is Spring training.. 6 hits in a row is impressive.

His approach at the plate is also impressive. He is going to have his ups and downs as he is still young and raw, but he's a really good 2B prospect.

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/micah-...second-base-job

Edited March 16, 201511 yr by WhiteSoxLifer

Seems like it's Micah's to lose now.

"Unless Johnson blows everyone away in Spring Training, I expect the White Sox to stash him in Charlotte...."

 

I think so far Micah Johnson is blowing everyone away. Wow

"Unless Johnson blows everyone away in Spring Training, I expect the White Sox to stash him in Charlotte...."

 

I think so far Micah Johnson is blowing everyone away. Wow

 

As of March 16, he has lapped the field for the 2nd base job. We'll see if that holds up over the next couple of weeks, but as of today he is the clear leader for the job.

Didn't Micah have a huge spring last year as well? IMO this "competition" was stacked in his favor. But give him credit for hitting. Now, keep it up and carry it through.

 

If he could be Ray Durham someday, that would be really sweet.

Edited March 16, 201511 yr by Dick Allen

Micah is leading the team in a lot of categories sofar.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/springStats/_/team/chw

Micah is leading the team in a lot of categories sofar.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/springStats/_/team/chw

Bonifacio certainly is not..................

Of course, Micah has options and Beckham and Bonifacio do not.

Of course, Micah has options and Beckham and Bonifacio do not.

I'm not sure what you're hinting at here since there's room for all three and that's the most likely outcome at the moment.

speedy micah johnson is having big spring, hitting .458 (.519 obp) as he tried to win #chisox 2B job

https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/577613672303882241

It's still early yet in ST. (I keep reminding myself) Micah's facing a lot of AAA pitchers and invites but still he's workin it. Be nice to see his speed on the team and I like how he's going with the pitches. I really didn't expect much out of 2b this yr. but the way he's looking we might have us a pretty darn good ballplayer.

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/micah-...second-base-job

 

 

While the scout still isn’t sold on Johnson’s bat despite an early .455 batting average, the speed plays in his eyes.

 

“I’m not a big believer in the bat playing as an everyday guy,” he said. “But I do love the aggressiveness and speed component of his game. If he plays a good second base and uses his speed offensively, they can put up with the light bat." Said another AL scout: "Looks like a dude on a mission in camp right now. Playing well and been causing a ruckus all over with his speed.

"Not sure I've seen his jersey clean past the third inning yet this spring."

Edited March 17, 201511 yr by caulfield12