Jack Parkman

No it isn't. It is easier to hit a ball harder on a ball middle to low than in the upper part of the zone. When a pitcher hangs a breaking ball in the upper part of the zone, it is harder to make solid contact with it. I will disagree and continue until the end of time that pitchers get shelled less often when they pitch at the top of the zone vs at the bottom. I wish I could do batted ball data, but of the pitches that get hit really hard, I'd bet that more that were hit hard were heart-lower than upper. It is hard to even hit a hanging breaking ball at the top of the zone. The reason I believe this is because it is harder to get good wood at the top of the zone. A hitter will either be underneath, on top, or miss completely the majority of the time. When a hitter does get decent wood on a ball. I want to know what percentage of HRs come at the upper 3rd of the zone. I don't think it is high and I think that far more HRs come at the lower part of the zone than in the upper part, just because of launch angle. It is just much harder to time a high pitch than a low one to get good wood on it.

At the same time, you have to give your young players time to develop, especially in a rebuild. You can't just give them one year at the MLB level and then write them off or pencil them in. If you do that, you're going to end up trading away stars and keeping bums because they looked good for their first season before the rest of the league caught up to them. You don't know what you have until a player has played at least 2.5 seasons in the bigs, and even sometimes that isn't enough. RE: Keuchel-Ask yourself if James Shields would have looked good in your uniform in March 2015. Then ask yourself the same question in August of 2016. You answered your own question.

Still wonder about CarGo.

Agreed.

What are you referring to?

Colome looks like ass but it's spring, so meh.

Moncada HR to CF. That ball was kilt. I'm going to miss Hawk uttering that phrase.

The bolded is not popular around these parts.

Well of course. I was referring to teaching a hitter to alter his swing plane in order to maximize it.

Huh? I thought it was the complete opposite. Ive never heard that. Every article I've read is that launch angle was created specifically to combat low fastballs, and that it leaves a vulnerability up in the zone. My understanding was that the entire point of launch angle was to elevate low pitches instead of beating them into the ground. The data backs it up too. Sinkers and low fastballs had the highest BAA of any pitches in baseball. There was a fangraphs article about it last summer. I'll see if I can find it for you.

Really nice AB from Moncada.

That curveball was disgusting.....dude is such an enigma. There he goes completely losing the zone after a quick 1st 2 outs again. Idk where that pitch was....I thought it was a good one but the ump disagreed. The good news is that he's getting ahead of most hitters this spring. Many more strike 1 and strike 2s.

I used to really like Coop, but I'm thinking more and more that the game has passed him by. He's using outdated methods and pitches that used to work but don't anymore.

Nice job getting out of the jam.

I don't disagree about him being a headcase. I'm incredibly frustrated with the way the Sox have their pitchers pitch. They have them pitch like it is 1990 and not 2019. Sinkers, keep the fastball down, etc. It plays right into the offense's hands. It is like they've never heard of launch angle. The sinker should be a defunct pitch for the time being.

I disagree with how they're having Giolito pitch. In 2017 he was throwing a lot of fastballs up in the zone and was using his curveball off of that, with great success at while sitting 91-92. He should do that again.

I know. I think he could be better than Floyd was but Gio has to get out of his own head. I think if he gets through the 1st 2 innings unscathed for like 3-4 consecutive starts it might be enough for him to get over the mental hurdle. When Giolito had success with much worse stuff than he has now in 2017 he was throwing a lot of high fastballs and using the curve off of that. Another case of fixing something that isn't broken.

Why the fuck are they calling for low fastballs??? This isn't 1985 anymore. Low fastballs might as well be right down the middle unless they're painting the corners. It is like the Sox haven't heard of launch angle. Low fastballs get crushed in this day and age.

It is incredibly frustrating watching him in the 1st inning. A lot of the time it is just that 3rd out in the 1st that he has trouble with. He'll get the 1st 2 in order and then a couple of bloops and a blast and it is 3-0. I want to continue supporting the guy because he looks the part with his stuff, but he just struggles so hard in the first 2 innings.

This is why I haven't given up on Giolito. I knew it would take time, but I always thought there was a good chance he'd figure out how to get the velocity back.

Still asking me to log into MLB.TV Sorry bub.

Where's the link? There isn't one on the Sox website. It says on the website there is a free webcast but the link takes you to purchase MLB.TV.

I don't disagree at all. I think that this year and next, while the Sox are still picking high is a good time to go heavy HS in the first 2-3 rounds.

Because he'd still be developing during the (theoretical, at this point) Sox contention window. He'd be more likely to be used as trade bait than any long-term solution. Unless he just explodes in the minors and becomes a top 10 prospect in baseball.

Yup, that looks like a regular season lineup.