Sox - Cubbies exhibition game on ESPN Sunday night

[Mingo]

Some notes on last night's 5-3 win:

*Keuchel looked absolutely masterful out there in his 5 innings of effortless one-hit work. Granted, he didn't face the entire Cubs starting lineup, but that's still not taking away how he kept the hitters guessing and keeping the ball down & away from them. 10 of his outs resulted from ground balls, and I think only 3 balls in total left the infield. Amazing.

*The Sox have scored a total of 12 runs in their two games, 11 of them in just two innings. As impressed as I am with those two explosions, it would be nice to see a few more scattered in other innings.

*Danny Mendick did not help his cause to show he's a capable backup at SS with those back-back miscues, leading to all unearned three runs. But I suppose we can cut him some slack. He's otherwise pretty dependable.

*If the Sox and Cubs played an entire 162 game schedule against each other, Jimenez would set every offensive run producing record in history. He just loves playing against the team that traded him.

I and just love groundballs by the opposing team at GRate field.

Keuchel and Gio will mean far fewer HRs by the Twinkies.

 

[richig07]

I and just love groundballs by the opposing team at GRate field.

Keuchel and Gio will mean far fewer HRs by the Twinkies.

Kuechel has a lot of Buehrle in him. I think it's going to be a good fit.

 

[Mingo]

White Sox big ratings winner in recent exhibition games. White Sox are also the hottest bet in Vegas for the WS - if you can believe that.

 

[Jiddy]

White Sox big ratings winner in recent exhibition games. White Sox are also the hottest bet in Vegas for the WS - if you can believe that.

Give me link so I can spam friends and proclaim paper championship.

 

[richig07]

White Sox big ratings winner in recent exhibition games. White Sox are also the hottest bet in Vegas for the WS - if you can believe that.

They've gone all the way from 60/1 down to 20/1 to win the whole thing.

Rather startling that we're suddenly the "sexy" team. We have yet to do anything. It is exciting seeing the country take notice, though.

 

[Jiddy]

They've gone all the way from 60/1 down to 20/1 to win the whole thing.

Rather startling that we're suddenly the "sexy" team. We have yet to do anything. It is exciting seeing the country take notice, though.

It's not startling at all. I've said from the beginning that the pressure on this team to win was going to be big...ever since that juggernaut "Sox will be a dynasty" article and its ilk...This whole thing could get real negative real fast. That's why it's imperative we win off the bat...And our first 16 of 22 is vs over .500 teams from the previous year. Buckle up.

 

[Mingo]

Give me link so I can spam friends and proclaim paper championship.

Jiddy - I heard it on this podcast link:

Podcast: 2020 MLB Bets with Joe Ostrowski

The discussion about these particular odds are right at the beginning.

 

[ThereIsNoPlace]

Subs Cuck

 

[richig07]

It's not startling at all. I've said from the beginning that the pressure on this team to win was going to be big...ever since that juggernaut "Sox will be a dynasty" article and its ilk...This whole thing could get real negative real fast. That's why it's imperative we win off the bat...And our first 16 of 22 is vs over .500 teams from the previous year. Buckle up.

I was thinking more that the pressure to "win" (divisions, playoff berths, etc.) would come in 2021. I still personally view it like that. I don't really feel like it has been until recently where casual fans realized that we had this talent stocked up. People who follow baseball closely along with farm systems, etc. They've always talked pretty positively about our direction. This whole thing where your typical Joe is now saying we're going to make a run? That's a new level.

I think the pressure this year (if we are being reasonable) is to be competitive. I also think the pressure comes more on an individual level for the young guys. I think there's pressure on Robert, Eloy, Moncada, Cease, etc. I don't anticipate that people would be very upset if we finished over .500 and fell short of the playoffs. With those guys pacing nicely with their development.

Sometimes rebuilds jump a year and go straight into contending like ATL, HOU, or the Cubs in 2015 (I'm tired of that comparison too). I just have problems putting that onus on a team. It's a big ask. We won 72 games last year.

You know I am a big supporter of what this team has been doing the past few years. I've been telling people to wait for 2020 for a long time. I just hate the idea that some fans will actually be upset and throw away the baby with the bath water if we're not quite "there" yet. It's still a process. Our window is creaking open and could allow us to get through early. This is not yet a "Start winning shit now or deal with my wrath!" season, though. Not in my eyes.

 

[Jiddy]

I was thinking more that the pressure to "win" (divisions, playoff berths, etc.) would come in 2021. I still personally view it like that. I don't really feel like it has been until recently where casual fans realized that we had this talent stocked up. People who follow baseball closely along with farm systems, etc. They've always talked pretty positively about our direction. This whole thing where your typical Joe is now saying we're going to make a run? That's a new level.

I think the pressure this year (if we are being reasonable) is to be competitive. I also think the pressure comes more on an individual level for the young guys. I think there's pressure on Robert, Eloy, Moncada, Cease, etc. I don't anticipate that people would be very upset if we finished over .500 and fell short of the playoffs. With those guys pacing nicely with their development.

Sometimes rebuilds jump a year and go straight into contending like ATL, HOU, or the Cubs in 2015 (I'm tired of that comparison too). I just have problems putting that onus on a team. It's a big ask. We won 72 games last year.

You know I am a big supporter of what this team has been doing the past few years. I've been telling people to wait for 2020 for a long time. I just hate the idea that some fans will actually be upset and throw away the baby with the bath water if we're not quite "there" yet. It's still a process. Our window is creaking open and could allow us to get through early. This is not yet a "Start winning shit now or deal with my wrath!" season, though. Not in my eyes.

It's not about the fans so much as the players. I don't expect sh*t out of us other than a 30-35 win type deal. The problem is the negativity creates all the bullsh*t and can kill the clubhouse if we come out and go like 8-14 in our first 22...and roll from there. If we don't compete respectably, Mingo better hope the Grandal factor is working overtime is all I'm saying.

These guys are young. Having an entire fanbase turn into the Chinese Groundspeople from Major League on them is not a good thing. Right now they're on Cloud 9 because the hype machine is going full bore. Tim Anderson is running his yap on ESPN before they've done a goddamn thing. Now, he's your typical loudmouth extreme case, but I guarantee the less talkative ones are riding the wave.

 

[richig07]

It's not about the fans so much as the players. I don't expect sh*t out of us other than a 30-35 win type deal. The problem is the negativity creates all the bullsh*t and can kill the clubhouse if we come out and go like 8-14 in our first 22...and roll from there. If we don't compete respectably, Mingo better hope the Grandal factor is working overtime is all I'm saying.

These guys are young. Having an entire fanbase turn into the Chinese Groundspeople from Major League on them is not a good thing. Right now they're on Cloud 9 because the hype machine is going full bore. Tim Anderson is running his yap on ESPN before they've done a goddamn thing. Now, he's your typical loudmouth extreme case, but I guarantee the less talkative ones are riding the wave.

Tim Anderson also said "I'm fine being the face of the White Sox" and I wasn't aware that anyone had nominated him. lol. He's a talented enough player. Seems like a solid young man. I don't think he even winds-up being in the conversation for our best player in a year or two, though. He better flip a lot of bats if he wants to keep standing out.

 

[Jiddy]

Tim Anderson also said "I'm fine being the face of the White Sox" and I wasn't aware that anyone had nominated him. lol. He's a talented enough player. Seems like a solid young man. I don't think he even winds-up being in the conversation for our best player in a year or two, though. He better flip a lot of bats if he wants to keep standing out.

"Face of the White Sox"

That's an interesting thought.

We've got a lot of players you could throw in that ring, but honestly I wonder how many would even be recognized sitting in a restaurant outside of Chicago?

I mean...If Lucas Giolito walked into a local pub near my house in Florida, well yeah I'd know him, but would anyone else? LOL prob not.

Considering our big FA signing came out of Milwaukee...we can't even really ride that train.

ESPN wants to make it Luis Robert though...Well, that or they went into panic mode when Moncada was out of the lineup and Giolito wasn't starting that they were like "STAT, GET ME ONE OF THESE GUYS TO TALK ABOUT." lulz

 

[richig07]

"Face of the White Sox"

That's an interesting thought.

We've got a lot of players you could throw in that ring, but honestly I wonder how many would even be recognized sitting in a restaurant outside of Chicago?

I mean...If Lucas Giolito walked into a local pub near my house in Florida, well yeah I'd know him, but would anyone else? LOL prob not.

Considering our big FA signing came out of Milwaukee...we can't even really ride that train.

ESPN wants to make it Luis Robert though...Well, that or they went into panic mode when Moncada was out of the lineup and Giolito wasn't starting that they were like "STAT, GET ME ONE OF THESE GUYS TO TALK ABOUT." lulz

This is totally not fair to the kid - since we haven't seen much out of him yet. However, Robert strikes me as the most primadonna out of the bunch. He definitely carries an aura of "superstar" around with him. Whether it's on the field or on social media. Makes sense as he's been told he's the "Next Mike Trout" since he was a teenager. Maybe time will prove me wrong.

Moncada seems like a quiet grinder type. His demeanor doesn't seem to budge much. Eloy is sort of your big goobery fun loving pal, which could garner a lot of fanfare. Not to mention, he's going to hit a lot of HR's in his career. 30+ as a rookie despite missing 40 games. 50+ HR's seems well within reach in a full season. That always brings the media around.

Right now, Giolito could be the most noticeable in public just because he's like 10 feet tall. Then again, TA has made headlines with the bat-flipping and just won the batting title. So, I don't know. Time will tell.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Every commercial or promo you saw last year that involved a Sox player, it would be Abreu virtually every time. So far this year every commercial or promo showing a Sox player has been TA. So like it or not, at least for the present, he is the face of this team.

 

[idseer]

is tonight's game televised?

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

It's on NBC Sports, altho I'm not sure if it will be blacked out. Usually those games are blacked out, at least out here in Vegas. However, the second game against the Cubs was shown, so maybe this one will be as well. And MLB is showing an edited replay later tonight.

 

[idseer]

It's on NBC Sports, altho I'm not sure if it will be blacked out. Usually those games are blacked out, at least out here in Vegas. However, the second game against the Cubs was shown, so maybe this one will be as well. And MLB is showing an edited replay later tonight.

actually i just decided to cough up $37.50 for the whole season (such as it is) on mlb tv. game starts in 5 minutes.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

actually i just decided to cough up $37.50 for the whole season (such as it is) on mlb tv. game starts in 5 minutes.

That's a really good price. But can those games from MLB.com be watched on the telly, or are they only shown on the pc, cell phone, tablet, or some other similar device? Tech-ig'nant here. I do know that for the next three days, which will cover the two Sox/Twins contests, MLB Innings will be showing all games for free. And I'm going to keep testing the local NBC Sports channel (665 on DirecTV) to see if this wacky season they'll be showing Sox games without a subscription. They televised all three preseason games, but then again that's just preseason.

 

[Jiddy]

actually i just decided to cough up $37.50 for the whole season (such as it is) on mlb tv. game starts in 5 minutes.

$37.50? That's not bad. Can you get it on a smart tv?

 

[Jiddy]

That's a really good price. But can those games from MLB.com be watched on the telly, or are they only shown on the pc, cell phone, tablet, or some other similar device? Tech-ig'nant here. I do know that for the next three days, which will cover the two Sox/Twins contests, MLB Innings will be showing all games for free. And I'm going to keep testing the local NBC Sports channel (665 on DirecTV) to see if this wacky season they'll be showing Sox games without a subscription. They televised all three preseason games, but then again that's just preseason.

Ninja'd! LOL. Now a-googlin' we will go...