hogan873

Cordell's getting the start, and Moncada is back in the lineup. Nice.

I agree. Fulmer actually looked good in the relief appearance earlier. That should be where he is used and let Banuelos start.

I think one of the biggest thing lost in all of this was Tim's reaction. He seemed to take it well and was talking to Maldanado like "I get it, we're cool". It was after the benches emptied that things spun out of control. As for Tim, I love it. This team has needed an attitude and he brings it. Yeah, they suck right now, but he's going to be a big part of the future. When (hopefully) his team gets good, they're going to need to bring that type of attitude. As someone else posted earlier, we saw yesterday who the leader of this team is.

Good for Cordell. Hopefully Giolito will be okay after returning. He looked really good yesterday.

I've liked Jason since he started with the Sox, but now I have a deeper respect for him. I love his commentary about being better and just getting the guy out. And now he's probably the newest member of the "Joe West is a Moron Club".

I was really surprised he made the team out of spring training.

Yonder is not a great hitter, but he's not a .180 hitter either. He'll have games like last night, and he'll have stretches where he doesn't touch the baseball. He'll most likely end up where he typically is, which is .250 with 20+ HRs. Nothing exciting, but I still like his presence in the lineup and on the field. He's a decent 1B and is a HR threat from the left side.

What a fun game to watch. Lopez looked really good, his best start of the season. If he can keep it up, things look a lot better for the team. Moncada is a beast. He looks so confident out there, and he's absolutely killing the baseball right now. Leury looked good; let's hope he can stay healthy. He could put up some good numbers. Yonder somehow got four hits and was a triple away from the cycle. What was impressive was him taking the ball to left field a couple times. I know he's not a great hitter, but he's not a .180 hitter either. I think it's time to send Palka down. He's not seeing the ball and maybe needs to work on his swing in AAA. I'd rather see Delmonico or Cordell right now. This team is still not ready to compete. They need Lopez to do what he did last night every time he pitches, and they need Giolito to look more like the guy from his first start. That will help. That and one more solid SP will make this team interesting in the shitty AL Central. Personally I'm loving the wins, but I'm watching individual performances of the future more.

He's a different player at the plate compared to last year. I like the stat breakdown, and it shows why we're seeing him be more successful. I've always loved his attitude, and now he's playing to back up that attitude.

I started watching the game last night when it was already 3-0. My son had been watching it and promptly told me that Santana sucked. He did look pretty bad early, but he seemed to lock in and pitch better towards the end. He doesn't have much velocity, but if he can command his off-speed stuff, he could be a serviceable innings-eater. It's hard to be patient, even going into a season that we knew was going to be rough. But yesterday's game made me feel better about giving these guys a chance.

I may be uninformed, but I don't see how Narvaez would be worth more at the trade deadline than Colome. If Colome continues to pitch well, he could fetch an interesting prospect; as some suggested a low top 100 guy. Good closers are a premium. It's nice that the Sox have one right now, but they don't really need him now. Why not build his value by letting him close and prove that he can do it. On a side note, I was unimpressed with the McCann signing, but he's not been too bad so far. He's hitting better than Castillo, and he seems to handle the pitchers well. As it stands, he and Castillo are splitting the duties almost 50/50. If that keeps up, I wouldn't be surprised to see him outperform Castillo.

Hopefully Santana's first start was more shaking off the rust. He needs to eat innings and be moderately effective, like Nova was the other day.

A bomb. First of many.

I like what I see from Eloy so far. He's getting hits and seems to be seeing the ball well. The HRs and doubles will come, and they'll come in bunches. I think we'll see him being a little more aggressive after the first HR, which could lead to more strikeouts and pop flies. But, he's a very good hitter and he'll adjust. Expect an up and down season from him. Overall, though, I expect good results.

I don't know if anything will happen due to this atrocious start. I believe something needs to happen, but I have my doubts. My biggest concern is that the starting pitching has been so bad. The team is essentially out of it after the 3rd inning, and the bullpen is getting worn out. I know all of these players are professionals, but this has to be affecting them. Guys like Moncada, Anderson, and Jimenez that we have high hopes for, and why we watch the games, can be affected by the way the team is playing. Just like good baseball, bad baseball is contagious. And that's what we're seeing now. Palka has no business being on this team. Rebuild or not, he needs to go down to AAA. I'd say Cordell has earned some more playing time. Hell, Engel would be a better option right now. Sanchez looks like a shadow of himself compared to last season. I'd rather see Rondon getting more time in the field. Someone probably needs to be fired. Maybe it's too early, but if this continues most other teams would be making changes. I just have a bad feeling that nothing will change. The team will continue to struggle (a lot), and nothing will be done about it. At the rate they're going, they will end up losing more than 100 games this year.

So is Lopez bad or is he just struggling? It seemed like he had some flashes of being really good last year. This year he's looked atrocious.

True. But if a pitcher throws in the mid-90s but straight as an arrow, they'll get pounded. A mix of speed, good off-speed, and movement is needed. However, if a pitcher lacks speed but has good movement and location, they can be successful.

Chris Davis: Hold my beer.

Does Palka get his first hit today?

Bullpen got decimated over the weekend. I imagine he'll be used in that capacity. Especially if Santana is reinstated for tomorrow.

I'll agree and disagree. I love getting to a game or two a year with the family. But it's a pain in the ass. Parking, getting through security, lines at concessions, etc. I won't complain about the cost of concessions, because I choose to have a beer or two and to let the kids buy some food. Fans can bring in their own food and water, and we'll do that as well. It's A LOT easier to sit my lazy ass in my recliner with a handful of beers. But I still want to be at the game. It's just fun to be there. Opening all the stands, however, is a different story. They will plan ahead of time based on expectations. Scheduling which stands and how many people to schedule has to be based on attendance projections. Sometimes they'll get it wrong. On a much smaller scale, a friend of mine is good friends with the owners of the Joliet Slammers and has season tickets. He invites me and my family regularly, and I'll see days when there are 1000 people there and every stand is open and other days when there are 4000 people and half the stands are open. Having talked to the owners and event coordinators, they say it's tough to project sometimes. They'll have 800 tickets sold ahead of time and then 1500 walk-ups some days while other days they'll have 1000 tickets sold and only half them show up with only a couple hundred walk-ups. Obviously the Sox should be more organized and have a better idea of attendance, but I'm sure there are still failures.

He's completely locked in and is seeing the ball better than just about anyone. He'll cool off and have some cold spells. But, as long as he doesn't make any drastic changes to his approach (or isn't forced to do so), he could easily hit in the high .200s with 25+ HRs.

I grew up near Pittsburgh and was a Pirates fan, but I wasn't a huge baseball fan. We moved to NC when I was 13, and there are no baseball teams around there. The only games I could routinely watch were Braves games on WTBS. This was in the late 80s before they became a perennial playoff team. I watched a ton of games on my 13" TV in my room. I wasn't really a Braves fan, but I was becoming more of a baseball fan. When the Pirates bad their good team in the early 90s, it was exciting. I still couldn't watch many of their games, but I followed them in the paper. I was able to go to game 6 of the NLCS in 1991 in Pittsburgh. They lost that game, and the game the next day (to the Braves). The 1992 season was another heartbreaker (to the Braves). The dismantling of the team in 1993 cooled my interest in the Pirates, and the strike in 1994 cooled my interest in baseball altogether. I've lived in Alaska, Connecticut, and Maryland since then before moving to Illinois in 1999. I met my wife here, and she was a big Sox fan. Because of her and her fandom, I got back into baseball and am now a die hard Sox fan. It's been tough to be a Sox fan the past few years, but I still see the future. The coming years look very exciting. I've never been knowledgeable about the minor leagues until the last couple years. Now I'm a self-proclaimed expert on the Sox farm system and argue constantly with other "less informed" fans who do nothing but b**** and talk shit about the team. My son and I have been saying "2020!" for the last year or so. We get laughed at, and maybe they'll have the last laugh. But, I still think things are going to look a lot better next year and beyond.

For his first at-bat once he's called up, he needs to stroll to the plate in a top hat and cape. Then when he gets his first hit there's just a puff of smoke and a rabbit is standing at 1st base.

The first post of this thread was about him batting .154. Almost exactly one year later he's hitting .450. Same sample size essentially. Obviously he won't hit .450 all season, but this is a very encouraging start. It'll be very interesting to see how he looks in a month or so.