BFirebird

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 12, 2010 -> 01:05 PM) Looks tentative today. I wonder if his history of struggles against the Twins play into that. Mauer, Morneau and Kubel seem to own him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 12, 2010 -> 12:45 PM) The rule is...it counts as an earned run if it would have scored even without the error and the rest of the inning proceeded the same way. Pierre would have been at 3rd and scored on Konerko's hit without the error. Thus, it became an earned run. If the inning had ended with no more hits, it would have been unearned. Cool, thanks. I thought there was some sort of rule like that, but I wasn't sure the specifics. Now, does that work if someone gets on via error and then 2 outs occur, then he scores on a hit? Do they assume an out when an error occurs?

On a side note...just out of curiosity how does Pavano get an ER on the double steal/error?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 12, 2010 -> 12:35 PM) beckham with a hit here. maybe starting to turn it around? He crushed one yesterday but it died in the air thanks to the weather. There were a lot of hard hit balls that just didn't go anywhere. The one that Morneau hit that Rios got to should have been a home run as well as Beckham's hit.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ May 4, 2010 -> 12:32 AM) Now, I'm not a huge believer in BABIP for various reasons, but.... They need to have a BABIP over ML-worst .226. I mean that's just an insanely low number, and indicates to me that our offense is not as bad as it looks. Sticking with the luck theme, the Tigers need to not have a ML-leading .332 BABIP. That would be nice. Austin Jackson has to be leading the charge for them on that. I believe I read he has struck out 1/3 of the time but is still hitting like .330-something. That is insane. Also his line drive rate was something insane as well. Damn...now I have to find the article. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/a...eeds-to-adjust/ It is from April 27th...so the numbers have adjusted a little, but yeah: "Steve Goldman and Rob Neyer discussed Jackson recently, noting the obvious: no one can sustain a .520 BABIP and a 31.9 percent line drive rate. As the latter falls back into a normal range so will the former. This hurts a player like Jackson even more, because he strikes out at a tremendous rate. In his 86 plate appearances to date he has struck out 32 times, or in 38.6 percent of his PA. We can expect that number to decline, too. But will it be to an extent that it can keep up with his declining BABIP?" So yeah...Tigers offense will come back to earth a little.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 30, 2010 -> 07:58 AM) I actually don't mind Kay or Singleton at all. It's Leiter and O'Neill that make it almost unbearable. It's clear they do zero homework before visiting teams not named Boston play the Yankee$ and they are totally useless IMO. And they've become much better since Susan Waldman has taken a lesser role. Anything that Susan Waldman takes a lesser role instantly becomes better.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 04:03 PM) On pace to break Bonds' record! Ha! Awesome. Oh, and go you White Sox. Let's try and not get embarrassed in NY now.

Yay! We will at least get 1 win on this road trip! Wooooo!!

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 04:00 PM) Yeah, the plate is always smaller and the batters are juiced and the mound is lowered for non-save situations. It's bulls***. I am not condoning it...it just seems to always work out that way.

In Bobby's defense, it is a lot more difficult to come in as a closer in a non-save situation. Now that being said, he hasn't looked too great this year either.

Just out of curiosity for those watching the game..how has Smoak looked today in his AB's?

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 03:49 PM) He had decent power in Atlanta. Thin air in AZ helps although i don't know his splits. Yeah he had some decent power in ATL. He might have hit 16-18 1 year I think. I think he is more of a gap/doubles guy but like you said, in AZ a lot of those doubles could turn out to be homers.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 03:47 PM) Yes, sore hammy. Thanks. Hopefully not serious. He finally started to have some good AB's.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 03:43 PM) That's awesome! Earlier in the broadcast, the Rangers guy said no one will have 10 HRs at the end of April. Ha! Nice. Kelly Johnson still has a shot too. He gets to face Cubs pitching again tomorrow.

Anyone on the broadcast mention anything about Carlos' late scratch in today's game?

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 03:29 PM) It's the 8th. AKA Matty Thornton time.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 29, 2010 -> 03:19 PM) Another steal. Please Ozzie...make him our leadoff man! I have been a big proponent of that myself. Make it happen Ozzie! Especially if you are going to bat Teahen 5th anyways.

Anybody hear anything about Q? I see he was a late scratch with a hammy.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 01:00 PM) How does Beckham lose a ton of RBI opportunities if he's moved up 1 spot in the lineup (Rios on the other hand might lose a few)? It's the same guys hitting in front of him, the only difference is he'll have no one on in front of him in the first inning as opposed to the 20% he's gotten thus far this year. Last year our top 2 #2 hitters (Alexei and Gordon) knocked in someone other than themselves only 4 times in the first inning. No one would have to change their game if moved to the top of the lineup, this is the American League, just go up there and do what you do best, whatever that may be and enjoy the increase in plate appearances. My point exactly. When Rios lead off for Toronto he was the same player...maybe stole a few more bags, but his avg, ops, etc were nearly exactly in line with his career averages. Is he ideal, no, but neither is putting your worst hitter in the position to receive the most at bats.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 12:34 PM) How do you know this isn't Pierre on steroids? Perhaps he has the strength of an 8 year old boy without them. Good point. Seriously, he hits the ball hard and he is lucky to hit it to medium RF.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 21, 2010 -> 12:25 PM) A caller to The Score last night made this suggestion that I would not mind seeing.... He said bat Rios leadoff, and Pierre 2nd. Rios has ability to get on base, and is arguably our best hitter right now (who is not banging HRs) who has good speed. He said with Rios on base, the 1B would have to hold him on, creating a gap on the right side where Juan Pierre would be able to slap groundballs in that 1B hole. Beckham would then bat 3rd, with Quentin 4th, and Konerko 5th. Basically...... 1) Rios 2) Pierre 3) Beckham 4) Quentin 5) Konerko 6) Jones 7-9 This offense sucks right now, so I would not mind seeing Rios and Pierre as the tandem. I guess that would be a decent choice as well. Pierre does have good contact and he hits the ball on the ground a lot. He hit it on the ground every time last night to either the 3B, SS and 2B. Maybe some hit and run possibilities. I just hate the Ozzie slap hitters. Pierre couldn't hit it into the gap if he were on steroids.

Not sure if this has been posted before...couldn't find it, but what about Alex Rios in the leadoff spot over Juan Pierre? I just thought I would throw this against the wall and see what everyone thought. IMO the only downside I see is too many righties in a row. Statistically Rios might be a better choice...and right now at least he is getting on base more than Pierre and outside of Andruw Jones is probably hitting the ball the hardest. Here is some stats to back up my argument: 162 Game averages for Pierre and Rios: Rios: .281/.330/.445/.775 Pierre: .300/.347/.370/.717 Furthermore, as a leadoff man for Toronto Rios pretty much hit his career norms: in 603 PA: .282/.333./.487/.821 Like I said previously, the only downside I see is the Righty situation. You would then have a lineup of: Rios Beckham Q PK Jones AJ Alexei Teahen Pierre This is not ideal, but when you don't have a lefty at this point that can actually hit, what difference does it make? No one is bringing in a lefty reliever to face Pierre, Teahen or Kotsay anways! One thing is for sure, whether Ozzie wants it or not KW will be shopping for a lefty stick of some kind whether that be Berkman or A Gon or someone less ballyhooed. To me that is the obvious weakness of this team.

QUOTE (Disco72 @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 02:42 PM) Everyone seems to notice that the Sox have had a historically below average team in relation to BABIP since 2007. However, the point nobody seems to be discussing is that even expecting the Sox to have a below average BABIP in 2010, the team is still waaaaaaay below what should be expected. Therefore, this is either one of the worst teams in the last 3-5 years (based on BABIP)...or, the team has been uncharacteristically bad and unlucky these first two weeks and should trend back towards a more typical number. I would also say the 2nd one. There is NO WAY a team could hit .220 BABIP for an entire year, unless this is the deadball era again. They will get back up to .280-ish like the article insinuated and hopefully become an average offense. That being said...they still need to get a stick in here and just release Kotsay at this point.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 03:00 PM) Pierre LF Beckham 2B Quentin RF Konerko 1B Kotsay DH Rios CF Pierzynski C Ramirez SS Teahen 3B Buehrle P So much for Oz saying Jones will play every day.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 01:46 PM) Sound like Jones is now an everyday player. Well deserved. “The way he’s swinging the bat, he’ll play every day,” Guillen said before Jones went 0-for-3 with a walk. “Where? The three (outfield positions) plus designated hitter. We have four positions for him to play every day.” I guess this is what Ozzie had in mind as far as not having a full time DH. He can rest players and still have them be in the lineup and what have you. If only Kotsay or Pierre was a better lefty hitter it would work so much better.