BFirebird

So he is no McCann back there?

Steak dinner boom?

Just turned it on for last 2 innings...what an outing by Osich. How has Collins looked behind the plate?

How does this exactly work? Are all 3 in already, do they take the top 2 and we vote the starter from this? I don’t get the format.

It would even be great if he can just work himself up to be a trade-able asset. We need some of those for 2020-2025 and deadline deals we will ultimately need to make.

That Eloy HR is a great intro to the Cubs/Sox rivalry for the next 8 years hopefully. One that Cub fans will hopefully regret for years to come. That was great theatre tonight. Great game and great win.

Exactly. Perfect name.

Thing is the NBA has always been about superstar players and dominate teams. Outside of the Pistons in ‘04 every champion has 1-2 HOF caliber players on them. It has very difficult with only 5 players on the court to beat a Jordan/James type player over 7 games unless you have a Jordan/James type player. Also, the Warriors just put the finishing touch of adding a HOF player to their roster. They built the rest through the draft. So while they can be annoying, they did build that team for the most part through the draft.

If anyone has an Athletic membership, they started a White Sox podcast with James Fegen and Tom Fornelli. I listened and it was pretty good, I think they said they will drop 2 a week. They named it "All Up in White Sox Business", which is a great name.

If you take a look at the pitching WAR you can definitely see how the Sox won. All top 4 starters were in the top 50 pitchers in terms of WAR that year and Buehrle lead the way at 5.9...I didn't remember he THAT great of a year in 2005. The strikeout numbers were really low though...that wouldn't cut it in modern MLB.

What happened? Missed it.

Great job getting Keith Law for your podcast. I just listened and it was very good. Keith seems to have a good pulse on the Sox. Likes the top guys, not so much Madrigal (which I get), likes this year’s draft and thinks we are not deep as a system (which is true). I guess I gave away the gist of the podcast but definitely worth a listen if anyone hasn’t yet. Great work!

My opinion is to never bunt, unless trying for a base hit.

I personally chuckled...and then slumped in a sigh for Vizquel continued bunting.

How so? You want your best hitters hitting 1-2-3-4. No bunting allowed.

I like this, but agree with @fathom that you would flip/flop 6&8 depending on the RF FA. JD Martinez would be great, but that might be shooting for the moon there. Modern lineup construction you want Robert/Moncada/Jimenez/Vaughn getting as many ABs as possible. Robert could be our George Springer in the leadoff spot. And actually having Madrigal as 9 should give Robert a lot of RBI opportunities if Madrigal can get on base like I hope. This could be a REALLY good lineup if it works out correctly.

This. In order to become good/great over a long period of time you NEED to make adjustments. Scouting is waaaaaay too good to be able to stay good without making adjustments. They will find your weakness and exploit it.

Was at the game...4-0 on the year now. Crowd wasn't huge maybe 18-20K?, but they were definitely into the game where i was sitting..good to see. There is a noticeable different vibe with this team, mostly because they are winning more games this year. Ricky tried to screw it up by leaving Banuelos in there too long, but Marshall bailed him out. I know he is NOT a good OF, but Eloy is a joy to watch out there as a player. He really enjoys playing baseball and doesn't take himself seriously, which I appreciate. Once we starts playing well it will even be more fun to watch him play. I also heard him on the post game on the radio, his English is pretty good for a young player coming over. No matter where they finish, this is definitely a fun team to watch compared to last few years.

Any chance he makes it to AAA by MLB All-Star break? He would just kill it in Charlotte park with the new balls and the band box there.

TBH when you combined what happened last year, I would have thought it would have already happened. But it isn't like the Sox have a surplus of SP so might as well see if he can fix the control as a SP.

They will have to be. MAYBE at some point in his career he will get enough muscle to hit a few fly ball out at US Cellular field, especially in the summer with juiced balls, but I agree most will be line drives.

@fathom, you hit it on the head with this analysis. I have been advocating that bunting to move runners along is the worst play in baseball for years and will always believe so...the article only makes my belief stronger. All my anti-bunting aside, to me a squeeze play & bunting for a hit is completely different than bunting to just advance a runner. Especially if you do a squeeze play with runners on first and third...that makes even more sense because if you fail you still will get a runner in scoring position to 2nd base. All of those scenarios I can go along with, if the player is good at bunting.

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And 4 of those are in big leagues now, soon to be 5 with Hiura getting the call. I am anxious to see where Fangraphs puts both Robert and Cease in their updated rankings. Does Fangraphs do it after the midseason or end of the year?