Frankensteiner

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 08:31 PM) Now that I have calmed down a bit since this afternoon, lets look at the big picture. IMO Minny, Detroit and us all have similar schedules. Us being on the road more is really the only big setback. While I understand it isnt last year, after 05, the West Coast doesnt scare me nearly as much as it used to. Now, lets imagine what it feels like in other fans shoes. The only reason Detroit didnt get swept out of NY was because of rain. If Big Mo goes in game 2, its over. The Twins probably have lost Radke for the year, and if he does come back, it will probably hurt the Twins more than it helps. I really think he is done. Santana was the only one that could have saved them from a sweep at home from the Royals. A rotation of Santana-Silva-Garza-Boosner-Baker down the stretch doesnt send chills down my spine. If I am being biased, tell me, but I really dont think I am. I agree that as presently comprised, we're probably the best team in the Central. Detroit pitching is running out of gas and their offense is average to below average. Twins are just banged up. But I don't believe the schedules are similar; our's is more difficult. Also, our offense is middle of the pack in the 2nd half.

FWIW, Tampa has been swept 5 times since the ASB. KC has been swept 3 times in that period.

QUOTE(PlunketChris @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 04:46 PM) edit: can't expect 2 sweeps in favor of us. Why not? I've seen this brought up too much. Tampa & KC get swept all the time.

Detroit's combined record against KC & TB: 16-3. Minnesota's combined record against KC & TB: 13-6 White Sox combined record against KC & TB: 13-9.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 04:37 PM) A chance on paper? WTF!? Have you watched this team at all this year? Yes. Even his outs look decent. Dye, Konerko, Crede, Gload have all hit better this month. So has Thome. Let's not go overboard cheerleading for Anderson.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 04:35 PM) Brian Anderson is our second best hitter right now. Uribe has looked pretty good the last couple games. Podsednik? The end.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 04:31 PM) We are not going to sweep the Royals. Case closed there. Well, then we are most likely not going to the playoffs if we're in a mood to give away these games. Because I'm not seeing us do much on the West Coast, and Cleveland's insanely hot right now.

QUOTE(PlunketChris @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 04:24 PM) Let's take a gander at the positive... If we're still shooting for the division, we didn't lose any ground and Detriot has 3 with the Angels coming up. The Twins pick up one on us, but are still behind, and have 3 against the fairly hot Yankees coming up. We have 3 with the Royals coming up... The next 3 days can give us a nice buffer zone on the Twins and help us inch closer to The Tigers before we hit our more difficult end of the year. Take a look at Detroit's schedule and then our schedule. These games against TB and KC are our chance to get back in the race. Same thing with Minny; they have an easier schedule the rest of the way. We should be padding our lead. Instead it's back to .5 game.

There's no way this game is on Ozzie. Our guys play with so little intensity in these games that it's sickening.

Post ASB, our offense is 7th in runs scored in the AL.

This game left me with such a horrible feeling. Twins and Tigers both lost their series and we could have really made stand up but we again s*** our pants. f***ing pathetic offense there in the last innings, too.

I was hoping Flash was wrong on his predictions for this week, but it looks like he's right on they money. This team doesn't have enough intensity against bad teams, and the pitching is too s***ty to beat the good teams. 91 wins is probably where we end up.

We just want to get this game over ASAP.

Tampa had good ABs this inning. We had home run swing 3 innings in a row.

f***ing pathetic. We needed to sweep this team with our upcoming schedule. Leading 3-2 in the 8th, you have to close them out. Terrible bullpen effort today.

Let's be grateful it's the D-Rays.

QUOTE(Allsox @ Aug 31, 2006 -> 02:15 PM) Why is Ozzie's leash on this guy so long? One good start out of 10 should tell a monkey Javy sucks. Golf buddies are hard to find?

QUOTE(WCSox @ Aug 30, 2006 -> 04:10 PM) There's a huge difference between not pitching well because you don't have your best stuff/location and not pitching well because you physically CAN'T. Jose could be dangerous down the stretch if the former scenario is correct, but not the latter. Yes, there's a difference as far as Jose is concerned. But from the other team's point of view, there's no difference if they're going up against a bad pitcher or an injured one.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 30, 2006 -> 03:58 PM) Jose has some mechanical issues, and he's gone away from what made him great. However, Contreras is not as good as he looked for that extended stretch. He's never had pinpoint control....and then all of a sudden, he was able to throw any pitch he wanted in the perfect location. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. He just wasn't as good as he showed in the first half. On the other hand, he's not as bad as what we're seeing from him now. Count is somewhere in between a 3.50 and a 4.00 ERA pitcher. He had a great 2nd half last year, but he did have a lot of games against weak hitting teams. QUOTE(WCSox @ Aug 30, 2006 -> 03:58 PM) Most likely because it would bolster the confidence of opposing teams. The Sox look a lot more beatable if they KNOW that Contreras is pitching poorly because he has an ailing back. Oh please. Other teams have this funny thing called advanced scouting. If the scouts see Jose's bad 3 or 4 games in a row, not too many players will be intimidated even if they think Jose's pitching healthy.

Why would the Sox benefit from hiding an injury?

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 07:01 PM) TB: 2-1 KC: 2-1 BOS: 1-2 CLE: 1-3 LAA: 1-2 OAK: 1-2 DET: 2-1 SEA: 3-1 CLE: 1-2 MIN: 1-2 15 - 17 record. Buehrle faces both Oakland and Boston if probables remain untouched. These can be considered automatic losses against teams who traditonally give us trouble. "Doom and gloom" nature of this post is merely based upon our subpar starting pitching and the strength of opponents faced down the stretch. Even Cleveland worries me. I don't believe they'll lay down for us. Last series in Minnesota, I'm willing to bet a sweep if Liriano returns to their rotation. Now, how long until someone tells me to quit watching this season if I don't believe they'll make it to the playoffs? I agree with you on that @Bos, CLE, @LAA, @Oak stretch. That is just a brutal schedule and I sense at least two horrific, demoralizing losses on the West Coast (i.e. games we just gift wrap for the other team). It would be a minor miracle if we could come out of that stretch with 6 or 7 wins. By my count Buehrle is not scheduled to pitch against Boston (Garland, Vazquez, Count) which really doesn't make that much difference because Cleveland slaps him around pretty well, too. I would guess we actually man up and sweep one of TB/KC and go 5-1 this week, and split with Cleveland next weekend. Otherwise, I agree with all your predictions. 17-15 for the rest of the season putting us at 93 wins at the end of the year.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 09:05 PM) Yep, holding onto him throughout the trading deadline was a TREMENDOUS decision. McCarthy couldn't have -- at the worst -- duplicated his statistics. You don't trade pitchers when their value is low, even it does mean you're improving your own team.

QUOTE(Allsox @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 08:59 PM) Offense needs to go back to work?!? THEY SCORED SEVEN RUNS WITH THOME OUT! THAT SHOULD BE MORE THAN ENOUGH! In theory, yes. With our pitching, no. I know they've done more than enough, though.

Jesus, Freddy. I was actually in a relaxed state there for a while. Offense needs to get back to work.

QUOTE(BFirebird @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 08:25 PM) He just needs to stop hanging pitches. We've been saying this for how long now? I don't think he's going to change at this point in the season. To people watching, how's his velocity today?