South Side Hit Men

I have J. A. Happ in the Soxtalk Yahoo league. Glad I sat J. A. Happ tonight, won’t start lefties vs. the Sox, unless ERA/Ratio do not matter at that stage of the matchup.

What did he spew? I’m enjoying the radio broadcast.

Vaughn made that pitch his b****!

As did the Sox with Colome.

Congratulations Jose Abreu on your 15th Triple and 700th RBI in MLB!!! And Yermin knocks him in!!!

Having caught up on watching the condensed games, didn't realize Benintendi misplayed Vaughn's catchable ball which would have ended the top half of Saturday's first inning at 3-0. Also, the Tim Anderson swing at the Minor non pitch on Sunday was hilarious.

Leury had to play with the injuries to start the year. I would have preferred Mendick be up all year filling in for the INF, and Garcia playing the Engel role. That said, if anyone is coming out of a game at this point, it should be Leury for a hitter, not Vaughn. The bunting needs to stop as well, this isn't the 1970s/1980s, this roster has too many hitters to continue to have Garcia/Hamilton blow a late inning, or give up outs when you have excellent hitters (9-1-2-3) next. Hamilton can PR or play defense say in the 9th, or a defensive replacement for Mendick in RF. it seems like a push button move for Tony at this point to take out Vaughn at the 7th, many times in close games. In terms of go forward, the bench players should play 1-2 games a week, but not 3-4 bench players starting in the same game. I don't agree with Abreu, Anderson, Robert (played every game until hurt) and Moncada trying to play 162, and sitting only out when they are hurt. Resting these guys at least 1 or 2 games per month will make a difference down the stretch.

Really don't like the continued pulling of Vaughn in the 6th-7th. Sunday he pulled Vaughn, after a spectacular fielding play, while leaving Mendick in RF. Tony pulled Vaughn again last night, wasted an out bunting Garcia. Vaughn would have scored anyway after the top of the order hit, Abreu would have came up with two on in the seventh if Tony didn't waste yet another out playing small ball. White Sox Hitters 2021 Innings 7-10: (updated through yesterday) 5 H 17 ABs: Andrew Vaughn .294 (Above average fielder, per Tony, above average hitter) 4 H 48 ABs: Tony's late inning LF Preferences .083 (Some above average fielders, the bottom two are below average, all are dreadfully below average hitters) Leury Garcia .120 (3/25) Billy Hamilton .077 (1/13) Jake Lamb .000 (0/6) Nick Williams .000 (0/5)

White Sox attempt their first five game win streak of the season, against probable left handed starter J. A. Happ. No Jake Lamb, no cry!

MLB correctly fixed this last season, but then ownership reversed it to extract a 16 + team playoff farce. Hoping this is the last season, but not before Dylan Cease hits for the cycle.

DJ was calling for Grandal to call the curve more last night, says it's Cease's most effective pitch in terms of staying in the strike zone and being least susceptible to be hit by opposing hitters. I'm glad White Sox pitchers now have permission to throw a curve ball under Ethan Katz.

Glad my game thread was the vehicle for this milestone. Congratulations Sox Talk!

The Sox moved from shifting on 29.3% last season (22nd) to 20.6% (28th) this season. The primary decrease, from 15.% to 6.1%, is against RHB, which has resulted in an increase of OBP from .300 to .318. The Rockies and Braves rank 29th and 30th. League average is 33-34% https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/visuals/team-positioning?teamId=145&venue=home&firstBase=0&shift=1&batSide=&season=2021 https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/visuals/team-positioning?teamId=145&venue=home&firstBase=0&shift=1&batSide=&season=2020

Tony and Yermin both touched on the work Yermin put in during the week, when they caught his swing getting longer the previous week, and then also working on the adjustments of when they attack him outside to stay within himself. Ethan Katz gets most of the mentions here due to the great start by the staff, but the Sox also added extra coaches to the team this year, with Jerry Narron, and I believe a new position of "Assistant Hitting Coordinator" (Ryan Johansen). Also added the position for Dave Duncan's son for analytics.

Yes, I remember. Would like to see that continue, and also add Jose to the mix, especially when he's clearly hurting. Just thinking about the long term, need the core ready for 185ish games.

My only concern coming out of the game was Abreu, and good to hear he should be OK. That said, would like to see him and others rotate coming out late in games with larger leads. Beyond Tony's fixation on replacing Vaughn in the 7th, the core is playing nearly every game / inning. Jose hasn't had a game off since 2019 (played 159 that season). Liked the flexibilty and creativeness covering for Eaton, wouldn't mind Jose DHing or possibly having a day off at some point with the heavy schedule coming up.

Having family in Vegas and spent over a year there over time, I agree. The season ticket bases are using the tickets to scalp for hockey and football to out of town people. The Knights do have tremendous community backing as being the first professional / non minor league team. A baseball season is 81 games, much higher seating capacity, their cable tv revenue for hockey is not very large. Many just watch at casinos or bars, don't pay for cable subscriptions. Raiders don't worry because they televise games for free. Montreal could sustain a team if properly run. Charlotte and Nashville are growing, and will likely continue to grow and are better American city options. https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nba-market-size-nfl-mlb-nhl-nielsen-ratings/

The Yankees coach tested positive and he got the damn vaccine. Any or all three of these players may also have gotten vaccinated. https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/news/new-york-yankees-third-base-coach-phil-nevin-tests-positive-coronavirus

Will return mid afternoon tomorrow to create the game thread tomorrow. Go Sox!!!

They really need to take away his mitt. Not sure he can even be good at 1B. The open question is can he successfully bat as a DH, many players can't make that transition.

When teams are going good, they can win via station to station or long ball. As long as they can play solid vs. RHP, they will continue to play well. They may not beat every LHP, but they are heavy favorites each game, including Happ tomorrow.

Perhaps Mendick.

Yeah, I forgot about him. 1B and 3B is where he should play, good point. Don't like him in LF, however.

Hope Abreu is OK, may want to rest him for the 9th, shift Grandal to 1B and Collins at Catcher.