Series Thread: White Sox vs Rangers

[Mingo]

The Sox face Dane Dunning tonight. Dunning's era thus far is 0.60 - I suspect we will see Stiever called up to battle Dunning. How many of us would have rather have traded Cease at this point than Dunning? If I recall the Rangers wanted one or the other for Lynn. I don't think the Sox will pitch Cease tonight - even though he should be rested enough for it - because they don't want that direct of a comparison.

If Abreu is truly out of his batting funk - it should be rock'em sock'em for the White Sox.

 

[idseer]

The Sox face Dane Dunning tonight. Dunning's era thus far is 0.60 - I suspect we will see Stiever called up to battle Dunning. How many of us would have rather have traded Cease at this point than Dunning? If I recall the Rangers wanted one or the other for Lynn. I don't think the Sox will pitch Cease tonight - even though he should be rested enough for it - because they don't want that direct of a comparison.

If Abreu is truly out of his batting funk - it should be rock'em sock'em for the White Sox.

yes, as of now looking back ... i'd have preferred trading cease. i wonder who made the decision and precisely why.

 

[Jiddy]

And here I thought Cease would lock it down aftwr surviving the first...

 

[idseer]

not really seeing much signs of change with these guys. almost 20 games in and they've been nothing short of disappointing.

 

[idseer]

what a lousy catcher yasmani is! how much is he making this year?

 

[idseer]

abreu 0-5. guess he's not really heating up all that much.

 

[idseer]

above .500 ..... finally!

 

[Mingo]

not really seeing much signs of change with these guys. almost 20 games in and they've been nothing short of disappointing.

I think I am - by general nature - a little more optimistic than you are Iddy.

1)The hitting seems to be coming around - as Abreu has heated up and Moncada has a big game last night - Robert seems to have worked his way past wild 3rd strike swinging - Mercedes continues to mash.
2) Madrigal, Anderson and Eaton give the Sox 3 lead off hitters in a row 9-1-2. Anderson looks like he will contend for the league batting title once again.
3) The Sox are near the league leaders in run differential.
4) The defense - while still shoddy at times - is much improved over the start of the season.
5) Vaughn is showing signs of life at the plate - and has done well in the outfield
6) Abreu and Moncada are playing gold glove defense down the lines.
7) Hendriks is stepping up as a closer
8) At least we are not the Yankees
9) The Twins are off to an awful start
10) The starting rotation is proving to be one of the best in the league.

The only real short comings is the bullpen - and there I think they will figure it out.

 

[idseer]

I think I am - by general nature - a little more optimistic than you are Iddy.

1)The hitting seems to be coming around - as Abreu has heated up and Moncada has a big game last night - Robert seems to have worked his way past wild 3rd strike swinging - Mercedes continues to mash.
2) Madrigal, Anderson and Eaton give the Sox 3 lead off hitters in a row 9-1-2. Anderson looks like he will contend for the league batting title once again.
3) The Sox are near the league leaders in run differential.
4) The defense - while still shoddy at times - is much improved over the start of the season.
5) Vaughn is showing signs of life at the plate - and has done well in the outfield
6) Abreu and Moncada are playing gold glove defense down the lines.
7) Hendriks is stepping up as a closer
8) At least we are not the Yankees
9) The Twins are off to an awful start
10) The starting rotation is proving to be one of the best in the league.

The only real short comings is the bullpen - and there I think they will figure it out.

yes, we do see things a little differently.
yes we're not the yankees and yes the twins are off to a slow start as well. but those things don't mean anything.
i'd be very surprised if yermin ends up over .250.
madrigal's defense is not good.
abreu is not heating up unless you're basing it on one game. 10 games ago he was hitting .200. he's now at .205! (.005 isn't very hot imo)
moncada has brought his average up a little but still doesn't impress me much.
eaton is not a leadoff hitter imo as a .250 hitter who strikes out a lot! and his fielding is questionable.
madrigal may be able to bat first but i think he's much more effective down in the order.
the defense still sucks!
abreu and moncada are not ggr's imo. tho they are improved.
vaughn might (should) be coming around.
hendriks has given up 3 hr's in 8 innings. not what i want to see.
starting pitching with rodon and a healthy lynn looks good but cease doesn't and keuchel doesn't. even giolito's 5.79 era worries me. fact is he's pitched one good game out of 4.
they are a .500 team right now and that run differential hasn't helped much. hopefully that changes. i want to see ten more games before i acknowledge they're turning it around.

 

[Jiddy]

I'm pretty particular with being unhappy when players hit around the Mendoza line...That's pretty sh*tty. BUT...On an aggregate perspective needs to be taken. We, right now, despite our shortcomings, have the 5th highest team batting average in the majors 19 games in. We also are 5th in runs scored...And we've been without Eloy the whole time and TA just came back.

We're also one of only 12 teams with a team ERA under 4.

We've also only actually lost 1 series. The first one, which was days after the Eloy Downer. So that created a negative light.

The stats say we should start to rise. I believe it. I've said it before when being a downer myself: We are not in a vacuum. What other teams are doing matters just as much. And right now? We're doing better...much better than most of the other teams in baseball. The record will follow...Just need time.

 

[Jiddy]

Oh...And FFS...We played Nicky Delmonico over Yermin Mercedes. That actually happened. I know a prospect ain't sh*t until they are...but we pay our prospects big money long-term before ever stepping on a MLB field....How does a team with that much confidence in prospects make that significant of an error in player judgment?

 

[Mingo]

yes, we do see things a little differently.
yes we're not the yankees and yes the twins are off to a slow start as well. but those things don't mean anything.
i'd be very surprised if yermin ends up over .250.
madrigal's defense is not good.
abreu is not heating up unless you're basing it on one game. 10 games ago he was hitting .200. he's now at .205! (.005 isn't very hot imo)
moncada has brought his average up a little but still doesn't impress me much.
eaton is not a leadoff hitter imo as a .250 hitter who strikes out a lot! and his fielding is questionable.
madrigal may be able to bat first but i think he's much more effective down in the order.
the defense still sucks!
abreu and moncada are not ggr's imo. tho they are improved.
vaughn might (should) be coming around.
hendriks has given up 3 hr's in 8 innings. not what i want to see.
starting pitching with rodon and a healthy lynn looks good but cease doesn't and keuchel doesn't. even giolito's 5.79 era worries me. fact is he's pitched one good game out of 4.
they are a .500 team right now and that run differential hasn't helped much. hopefully that changes. i want to see ten more games before i acknowledge they're turning it around.

I think you missed my point on Madrigal, Anderson and Eaton - all three get on base and have speed on the base paths - Anderson Obp - .349 - Eaton Obp - .355 - Madrigal obp .359 - I don't know what you want in a lead off hitter, but getting on base and being a threat to steal is integral to setting up the offense. Both Eaton and Madrigal have long at bats - making the pitchers work and letting the other batters see the pitching patterns. Having them bat consecutively 9-1-2 is a big advantage over other teams.

I don't know what you want to see out of Mercedes - 63 at bats is a decent sample - his two strike hitting is marvelous and currently batting .429 - he just won't go away.

Abreu and Moncada have not won gold gloves, but they are fielding their positions way above average and both have shown an upward trend in that ability that hasn't topped out yet. Abreu has made several terrific plays this year already.

If you haven't seen improvement in this team over the beginning of the season you need to take the lemon out of your mouth.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

We have to remember that iddy is the board curmudgeon. Every board needs one.

 

[Mingo]

We have to remember that iddy is the board curmudgeon. Every board needs one.

I love Iddy. He is the grain of sand in every oyster that produces a pearl.

 

[Jiddy]

We have to remember that iddy is the board curmudgeon. Every board needs one.

I say we demand he recognize the greatest move ever in trading Dane Dunning after we lit him up yesterday. Force the balance between happy and grumpy.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I say we demand he recognize the greatest move ever in trading Dane Dunning after we lit him up yesterday. Force the balance between happy and grumpy.

I can picture iddy tied to a chair with us circling him and chanting:

Praise the White Sox
You must be happy
Praise the White Sox
You must be happy
Praise the White Sox
You must be happy

 

[idseer]

If you haven't seen improvement in this team over the beginning of the season you need to take the lemon out of your mouth.

i see the team in terms of wins and losses. and i don't like what i'm seeing. how lemony is that?

 

[idseer]

I can picture iddy tied to a chair with us circling him and chanting:

Praise the White Sox
You must be happy
Praise the White Sox
You must be happy
Praise the White Sox
You must be happy

and just what do we think of this cult-like picture?

 

[Mingo]

i see the team in terms of wins and losses. and i don't like what i'm seeing. how lemony is that?

Even that picture is one to the plus side.

 

[idseer]

Even that picture is one to the plus side.

<eyeroll>