Rowand44

QUOTE (shipps @ Apr 19, 2017 -> 02:46 PM) Could it possibly be the evolution of Avi's swing coming to fruition the same way as Donaldson's. Avi pulling that ball for the bomb last night was the biggest eye opener to me. He hasnt been able to pull for power in all the time he has been here. As others have mentioned, he had that stretch a few years back where he was pulling a bunch of homers. We're all hoping that something has clicked and there's some positive signs for sure but don't get too excited yet.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Apr 19, 2017 -> 03:45 PM) Kluber, Tomlin and Bauer are where they usually are in April. From 2015-2016, on the Mets Thor's velocity went up, Colon remained the same and DeGrom and Harvey saw similar dropoffs to the Cubs' SP. For the Royals, Ventura and Volquez stayed the same, Young's went up, while Cueto was down about 1 mph. So it seems like there's a mixed bag of results. I'll probably look at some of the other past Champions/Runner ups later. It's just weird to see Hendricks throw 84 mph fastballs out there today. Interesting. Like I said, I haven't looked it up so I was just intrigued to see what the data was on that. I also kind of just thought Hendricks was regressing to the mean after his season last year, didn't realize his fastball was that down.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Apr 19, 2017 -> 03:13 PM) So every single Cubs starter is down at least 1.5 ticks in velocity, with Hendricks and Arrieta down almost 3, and all 5 are in the top 20 in the MLB for velocity loss compared to last season. It seems pretty odd that all of them would experience such a big dropoff, so it has to be intentional, right? Are they easing everyone in after the long playoffs last year so that their arms are fresher later in the season? How's that data look on the Indians side or the past Champions/Runner ups in the Series? I legit have no idea and it'd be interesting to see if that whole extra month really hurts in that regard.

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 19, 2017 -> 06:33 AM) Well, I didn't see that elimination result coming. I did. But maybe that's cause I read spoilers.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 18, 2017 -> 07:45 PM) Good god, not a good sign for Renteria's in-game strategy. I'm not watching but I'm going to guess that's something Jose did on his own.

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Apr 18, 2017 -> 05:31 PM) Schwarber is horrible defensively...far worse than Garcia. Schwarber's weight has to be a concern for any National league team because there is no DH there. Schwarber looks like a tank. When you say literally all numbers, which ones are you referring to ? Schwarber is a .240 hitter since he has been in the league but did hit a lot of home runs last season. I'm seeing a lot of downside to Schwarber because of his weight, his lack of speed, and the serious knee injury he sustained. Cubs gave up on him as a catcher and soon his defensive liabilities might be exposed in the outfield like they were during the 2015 playoffs. I think the comparison is instructive for demonstrating how perceptions sometimes precede reality and stats/ facts. There's no weird perception vs. stat/facts here because perception is reality in this case. Schwarber so far in the major leagues has a career .825 ops, 126 ops+, and 128 wRC+. Avi has a career .709 ops, 97 ops+ and 93 wRC+. Schwarber put up a 1.042 ops in the minors, Avi put up a .738 ops in the minors. Numbers will tell you that Schwarber isn't far worse than Garcia defensively but they will tell you they both currently suck. Schwarber has played about 60 games in his life out there and Avi has played years and years out there and isn't getting any better. Even if you think Schwarber is always going to be a bad outfielder it stands to reason he's going to improve at least a little bit. I guess we can throw in Schwarber's awesome post season numbers but I'm not going to use a 14 game sample size to make a point which is funny considering that small of a sample size is why we're having this conversation to begin with. So to summarize, Schwarber has outproduced Avi at every level and when I say outproduced, he's destroyed his numbers at every level, he's about 2 years younger, is under contract for a few more years but you wouldn't trade Avi for Kyle because you think he's fat. Got it.

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Apr 18, 2017 -> 04:58 PM) Any offensive or defensive stats to back up some of the opinions here? Literally all of them outside of these 2 weeks. Not to mention Schwarber is close to 2 years younger and is under contract for longer.

I wonder what Theo/Jed's reaction would be if Rick proposed that deal to them. Would they ever answer a call from the Sox again?

Oh Jebus.

Alpha just out here openly defending white supremacists. Good stuff.

I think Valpo is going to be your 10th Valley team. Obviously not Wichita and the Valley is going to be a bad 1 bid league for a while but it could be a worse replacement.

Another good one from Alec keeping the walks down.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 17, 2017 -> 04:57 PM) Years of watching sports has taught me to separate the personal form the professional side and to irrationally hate, actually, Timo alone taught me the latter. Haha fair enough. I definitely understand that.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 17, 2017 -> 04:36 PM) Even by SNL standards it was insultingly bad. The man has zero talent and even less comedic courage/integrity. I've never found him funny either so it's always been weird to me how popular he became. That said, he seems like a good enough dude so I've never really had a problem with him.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 17, 2017 -> 03:43 PM) Jimmy Fallon is the biggest f***ing hack in the history of television. I legitimately hate him, his dumb face angers me. Just felt the need to throw that out there. Didn't like SNL this weekend I take it?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Apr 17, 2017 -> 03:34 PM) By NBA HOF standards, Chris Bosh is a HOFer. Baseball HOF...probably not, cause he was never truly "elite". Different standards in the NBA though, imo. I know he's going to get in. In Rowand standards he isn't a HoFer and like I said, I'm a big fan of the guy.

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Apr 17, 2017 -> 03:24 PM) Numerous Scouts agree with you, namely that Moncada profiles well as a Centerfielder. Moncada wants and even insists that he play second base. Who is in charge of deciding where this guy plays? If I am the Manager at Charlotte, I tell Moncada to put an outfield glove on and get out there so I can see what he has. Let's see the speed running down balls in the gap. Can he do that, or not? I'm guessing Grudz has 0 decision making ability when it comes to something like that.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Apr 17, 2017 -> 11:49 AM) I would still bet on neither player being on the next good Sox team. Well this is obviously wrong considering they're on this year's team!

I love(d) Chris Bosh as a player but never crossed my mind that he's a a Hall of Famer. That said, I have much higher standards for the HoF than most it seems cause I feel that way about a lot of people that get brought up in the discussion.

QUOTE (shipps @ Apr 17, 2017 -> 02:05 PM) I do get uncomfortable when older people use an inappropriate amount of ht's for everything. Or when my dad uses one within a text that he sends me. Its like, Dad, this isnt quite the place for a ht. And the worst part is that I am pretty old myself at 35 and I even know when and where to use them. I use them in a jokingly fashion all the time because why not. #shutupshipps

Anyone who dislikes hashtags is a communist. Scientifically proven.

Holland is the coolest dude ever, hope he continues to kick ass.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Apr 16, 2017 -> 07:58 PM) He had something to pitch for in the WBC. He has nothing to pitch for now. He figures he isn't going to be on the team by the end of the year and its not going to affect his income at all (option years are low enough they will be picked up as long as his ERA is below 5). It actually benefits him to pitch poorly as his new team will be able to hold onto prime prospects when acquiring him. People can say this is BS all they want, but motivation affects 100% of people in how they perform and he has none. Hahn handled this poorly and we'll unfortunately pay a price. People can say it's BS because it's 100 percent BS. If he has nothing to pitch for this year then he's had nothing to pitch for in the previous 4 seasons and shockingly he was still great.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Apr 16, 2017 -> 07:15 PM) Dane Dunning with a big game. He now has 21 K and no walks, in his 2 starts, over 14 innings. He will likely be promoted very soon. It looks like A ball is no challenge for him. Couple days late here.

I know he's a little bit older but Cooper has done nothing but produce since being draft. He's at least intriguing.