Greg Hibbard

Lillian, your post seems to indicate that Moncada has been striking out at something like his early August clip, but honestly, strikeouts have not been the problem recently. Over his last 93 PAs, Yoan has actually only struck out 23 times. Yes, it’s not good to strike out even that much, but it is way, way better than it has been, about a seasonal pace of 160 instead of 200+. Moncada’s problem right now is that he actually has made an adjustment to strike out somewhat less, but his power and walk rate have also gone down in a way that hurts his overall offensive game more. He has just 7 BB over those 93 PA, and just 2 HR, 1 3B and 3 2B. As a result, his OPS and WAR are not really improving. I would much rather Yoan strike out 250 times a season if it meant we also got 30+ home runs. Recently, he’s kind of turned into a singles hitter (16 of them over that span), which is kind of bizarre given the 3 outcome rap he was getting in June. Did you ever think Yoan would have more singles than walks, doubles, triples and homers combined over any 100 PA span? The silver lining in this is that he may be more versatile than any of us thought.

....and then there’s the defense

Palka is so good at crushing home runs.

Yolmer creating a single

If Castillo isn’t benched for that...

Wow

We lost to them because of their dumb garbage bag hefty dome, air conditioning, and dudes trained to bounce hard grounders off of AstroTurf for singles Their lack of being an actual baseball team led to disasterous octobers im getting so angry remembering it all

That '03 team was so weird. We were so so good offensively, but that era was when we couldn't buy a fifth starter to save our lives. I remember the posters "ALL LINED UP" with Valentin in the middle and Frank just looking kinda weird and off to the side. Somehow Jose Valentin was kind of the heart of that 2000-2004 era. I really thought we were gonna pull it out until that last home game vs. Minnesota, and then after that result I knew we would get up there in Minneapolis and get swept. We did. They owned us in the "air conditioning" era. I hated those Twins teams so much.

We were better in the 2nd half in 01-03, but all three of those years were extremely disappointing starts, particularly 2001 with the disasterous David Wells signing and Frank's triceps tear.

At 23-21,The White Sox are poised to have a significantly better second half record than 1st half record this season - maybe even one that's at .500 or above it. Since the 2003 season ended, the White Sox had a better 2nd half record than 1st half only once- in 2011, when they were 35-35 in the 2nd half against a 44-48 start. I don't know what it is, but this team has always been a bad second half team in recent memory. Every good year has always been a ridiculously hot start (2000, 2008 come to mind) and then hang on for dear life in the second half. Even the 05 team had a mild scare down the stretch and wasn't that many games above .500 in the 2nd half. Here's hoping to a reversal of the 2nd half trend for years to come.... I know my heart could use a break when we get competitive again.

18 Ks in last 74 PAs I'll take that trend...

Davidson and Engel I agree on I just don't think Delmonico or Palka have had enough ABs at the ML level to know whatsoever

There's more than a few things that would have to go right though, for this kind of record to continue WITHOUT adding FA. 1) Rodon has to continue to be a nearly 2 point FIP beater. He is pitching very very very well, but the numbers seem more than a little unsustainable given his FIP. 2) Giolito and Lopez have to continue to pitch at the near-best levels of their career. Can that continue without any hiccups? 3) Kopech has to continue to be dominant. He's gotten washed out of a couple, but he gave the White Sox scoreless innings and allowed them to jump out front. 4) The White Sox hitters have to keep hitting as many home runs as they have recently (they have 43 in the past 32 games), as that is their best way to score, and often their only clear way. Obviously the addition of Abreu would ameliorate things in that department. It's likely that before long, one of our big four will slump and the power outage will render us incapable of scoring as much. I think the core is now there, but this is probably more like a .500 or slightly below .500 team unchanged.

Abreu is absolutely fine - this year. Next year? He will be older... And two years from now, during the beginning of our likely window of competitiveness, he will be even older on the wrong side of 30. I think if he were two years younger, everyone would be fine with extending Abreu and keeping him around throughout this run. However, it’s not clear how much value a player like him has at 34,35,36 when he’s at best average defensively and as a 1st baseman doesn’t have a ton of value above replacement

Even with his “hot” streak, Davidson is like a .225 / .730 hitter since May 1 with just 11 HR. I would rather take my chances with Palka.

Breakdown of last 47: Against teams over .500: (StL, TB, NYY, SEA, CLE, BOS): 10-10 Against teams under .500: (DET, KC, MIN, TOR, LAA): 16-11

?

Somebody tell Jack Parkman that Tim is at least as good as LaMarre was the other night

Since July 10 the Cubs are 27-18- just 2.5 games better than the Sox. Surprising to say the least...

If you look at the stolen bases as added "total base" (I realize it's not included in that calculation, but I'll never understand why), I think it's useful to realize that Anderson's walks + stolen bases > Davidson's walk total. And Davidson's walk rate is one of the only things left going for him.

Could Rondon play first?

First season win at NYY since 2005!

Yes, screw you Yankees

I really just wish Yoan would have one of those breakout 3-4 games with a couple of xbh...:like anytime

This is the story of Dr. Lopez and Mr. Jiiiiiiive