YourWhatHurts

I loved the decision to walk Pujols (runner on 2nd anyway) to get to the Hendriks vs. Iglesias matchup. I saw bitching about this in the game thread but 1) Pujols homered earlier, 2) Pujols' decline is often overstated because it seems to be interpreted more relative to his own prior performance and not so much relative to the rest of the league, and 3) there is no way in hell even a depleted Pujols is less dangerous than Jose freaking Iglesias. That pitch Iglesias (from Hendriks) flied out on, Pujols hits out. Great move by TLR. Also I don't mind Hendriks getting the rocky debut out of his system. Maybe he'll relax a bit. I'm still very worried about that contract but we'll see. Hopefully he's good. I wouldn't have done that though and Hahn's FA record still blows.

Dude isn't fluffy tho. He's thick but like a burrito overstuffed with carne y queso.

If Yermin keeps it up, when he's gone they'll keep the whole body.

Ok is that final? Because that's okay with me if it is. If it's final then we need to popularize it.

I was thinking about nicknames this morning. I had a few, forgot most of them. But one was Altuve Grande / Madrgial Mejor or something like that. Others were Chalupa and Beef Tank.

Go for it. LOL I should apologize. I actually edited and reposted your artwork without your consent. Good thing you're not one of MLB's lawyers.

^Here now it's more professional

If Yermin isn't put into the lineup after yesterday's game, TLR deserves to be fired. But I don't think that will be the case.

So whoever made that goes to all that detail and can't bother to adjust the wording at the bottom? smh

Does Yermin have a nickname yet? If not, that should be a thread. One of Yermin's main backers should make it though, not me.

It's really amazing to think, developmentally, how much Hahn may have set the Sox back by signing EE last year and taking ABs away from Collins and Yermin. I think it's easy to criticize Hahn but also every other GM in the league. Yermin was probably a guy who was available for a the kind of prospect that would slot in our system in the 20s somewhere and is someone who was at the MLB minimum, prearb with 6 years control and all of his options left. Every other team passed on this guy too, so every other team can also be criticized. It's great to think about that bat helping this team now, either on the field or in trade, if he continues to hit. I love the bat control on this guy and he really does seem to have a good plan at the plate. The reports of him loading up and coming out of his shoes on the first pitch, then tightening things up and poking a base hit somewhere later on with 2 strikes, look to be accurate.

If he's going to call Kris Bryant "KB" to "fit in" while also making sure to remind the viewer at home that stats like batting average, ERA, pitcher wins, etc. (presumably) are all dumb, then he's missing the boat by a mile, and definitely doesn't know the fan base or any fan base for that matter. On a slightly different note, as a baseball fan, I know I can go read all that shit on fangraphs if I want to. But on a baseball broadcast, I like hearing former players talk about situations and how the game is played. I want a player's view of the game, not a statistician-who-never-played's view of how I should interpret how they think the game is supposed to be played based upon their algorithms or whatever. Also these people like Boog really need to get the picture of a guy sitting at home with a beer in his hand who spent all day working and now is just trying to relax. He probably doesn't want to hear some ugly fat charmless ESPN hatchling spit stats speak all night.

Obviously you do, cancel culture anti-Cubs guy.

It's nice to see him on a different level mentally in his next chance at a big pressure situation. Sure it's the regular season but it's still Trout, Ohtani, Rendon & Pujols he's looking at. Foster on the whole is probably the best RP scouting and player development story the Sox have. But who knows because Heuer, Marshall, and Bummer are all in that pen as well.

Boog is a real piece of work. There's a quote from him in an Athletic article about not wanting to put "dumb" IIRC stats on the broadcast. He's a pure advanced stats guy who thinks he's smarter than the viewer at home, and he's so unaware of it he makes comments like that. No personality, no charisma, his stories suck... this may be the worst PBP guy in baseball. Actually just the other day I was thinking the following: "Maybe now Cubs fans can understand what it was like to swap John Rooney for Chris Singleton." Except Boog is even worse than a green and clearly uncomfortable Singleton getting handfed from Farmer for a whole year. I mean he's really beyond terrible.

Here's a nice thing to think about: The Sox defense was shit and gave up 3 unearned runs with the potential to give up more, and Hendriks looked like shit, and in total the team gave up 8 runs, but the Sox have so much more talent on their roster than the opposing team -- which also has Trout, Ohtani, Rendon, and Pujols hitting in a row and certainly isn't starved for talent -- that they can even have an absolute shit game like this and still win it. I think the most telling good signs are that part, and of course Foster and Kopech specifically out of the pen. This is a team that can conceivably pull a starter in the 4th down by 6 and still walk away with a win. It's the most talent they've had in many, many, many years. And I do think they'll need it because I don't trust their SP outside of Giolito, though I am in love with Cease's potential and hope this is a real growth year for him. But I've seen the Rodon thing way too many times to be optimistic, and I think today's Dallas is probably more like the Dallas going forward than last year's Dallas, and I think Lynn is a #3 at best, whose years in TX were an aberration. But they can still win it all, in theory, just by having arguably the best and most complete offense in baseball and perhaps easily the best bullpen in all of baseball.

Leury is our bench guy. If he's out there at the end of the game with the bat then that's not on him. Overall the offense didn't show much. The problem was the defense. Hawk: first rule of baseball is catch the baseball. Mercy.

How was Bummer bad? He got a double play ball and was fighting the ump.

Highly probable imo but not bold tho

Agree, but that's still pathetic that the Sox can't get the challenge in. As an aside I remember madrigal on 1st in the last spring training game I saw and he was like one pussyhair from getting picked off multiple times. I bet madrigal-related incidents are going to get us out of a lot offensive opportunities this season. I expect pickoffs, cs, more base running blunders, etc.

Not sure how bold it is, but the Sox upgrade 2b by the deadline. I think it's a long shot because they'll be good enough to contend but I want Semien back. Here's bold for you: Sox acquire Javy Baez to play 2B at the deadline... Boom.

This is sig worthy. 1) call the pitch low and away 2) Ole! Great plan Yaz you genius

Hey at least Cubs fans on Hulu subscriptions won't have to listen to that god awful Boog guy again. Holy smokes what a downgrade that was, going from Kasper to him. Mercy!

The Cubs better throw Hoerner into that deal then. I still wouldn't do it though. Bryant is still a 3B, Hoerner is a really nice looking young player but the MIF FA market is incredibly good, and due to Bryant's lengthy injury history, Vaughn is probably the best hitter in the deal as soon as 2022, and maybe even in 2021. Still, Hoerner + Bryant for Vaughn is a lot more fair than just Bryant for Vaughn. ATM, I think Collins + Ruiz + Dalquist for Bryant would get that deal done. And for the Sox I wouldn't even do that, and if targeting an expensive corner OF, I'd look at Haniger, Marte, Eduardo Escobar, Blackmon, etc. someone like that over Bryant, with more OF experience and/or more versatility around the diamond. I think if Bryant had really any value at all, the Cubs would have traded him long ago. I don't think he's worth even half of what they got for Darvish + Caratini and that's really saying something.