Jack Parkman

Sometimes I contradict myself-I said the following earlier this week in the gamethread when Fulmer started, preaching patience, which I lost yesterday. Here's a level-headed Jack Parkman. Again guys, I'm autistic, Sometimes I view things with rose colored glasses, sometimes I see the worst case scenario. I got frustrated yesterday and didn't follow my own advice, lol. Everyone can laugh at themselves every once in a while. QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 02:55 PM) Repeat after me: player development is not a linear function. There are zero guarantees that these guys come up and become stars right away. That is more rare than your typical player development function which is more like a sinusoidal function. Full of peaks and valleys. QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 03:06 PM) No I'm referring to everyone. Fulmer, Moncada, Giolito, Lopez, Rodon, etc. With all of them it seems like there will be games where they look like a future star and games where they look like a complete bust.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 13, 2018 -> 10:01 PM) It's OK to be critical. Most Sox fans think Moncada will be fine and is just getting used to the bigs. But if somebody wants to be critical, let 'em go for it. It's not like Sox management or any managements care about their fans. Folks, they don't NEED to charge as much as they do for beer and parking. I thought folks on here said TV was the source of all the real money and all that matters. If some want to blast Moncada, why be so sensitive about it? He's a big boy and makes a good buck. I still think Moncada will be fine, but that isn't going to stop me from stating that he doesn't pass the eye test right now. When I say "he sucks" with regard to the prospects, it is more like "he sucks right now" That doesn't mean I'm completely writing players off. I just think they look awful currently, and I hope it doesn't continue. For example, I'd like to see Kopech get through 6-8 innings in a start with the Knights, but he continuously only makes it through 4-5. That tells me he's not throwing enough strikes, which is why I think he has greater reliever risk than some here think. It doesn't mean he sucks, it just means I see him as more likely to be a reliever than a starter. It doesn't mean he CAN'T be an ace still, but it means that, in my opinion, there is a higher likelihood that he isn't a starter than he is.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 13, 2018 -> 10:28 AM) This is not realistic. The history of baseball is littered with Hall of Famers who struggled early in their careers. Almost no one starts out on top and stays there. Not true anymore. It is actually quite the opposite in most sports now. Either a player is good right away or they're no good at all. There is no margin for error anymore. Trout, Bryant, Lindor, Correa, are among baseball's top players and they came up, got on top and are staying there. Not to say that a more traditional development path can't still be successful, but if a player comes up and struggles he's more likely to completely wash out than become a star eventually.

QUOTE (Tony @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 11:45 PM) Just stop...what? Being a rational adult that isn?€™t willing to make judgments on an incredibly small sample size, to go along with that fact we all knew coming into the season this team was going to be bad. Did you think Shields and Gonzalez were each going to take 40 losses a piece? It?€™s baseball. It?€™s a game of averages. Very few guys are hitting in this lineup right now. Go look at Cleveland?€™s line up, see who?€™s hitting in their lineup. It will balance out. You yourself said you get yourself all worked up at nights, then come back the next day more level headed. Go to bed. I guess I had hoped that the big 3 prospects on the big league club(Moncada/Giolito/Lopez) would come out and light the world on fire early this season, and I'm fairly disappointed they haven't. It doesn't mean they can't figure it out later, but Moncada and Giolito look really bad lately. I'm encouraged by Giolito's competitive spirit and being able to go out there and pitch fairly decently without anywhere near his best stuff, but that stuff looks awful. It makes me even more disappointed because I spent most of the spring talking these two up and telling everyone how I thought they'd both have a big season. Then, the regular season hits and they both look awful. I didn't expect that from either of them. I thought they both made strides last year and in spring. Nope, I was wrong. I feel like an idiot for talking them up. So, I guess I'm taking out my frustration by spewing negativity on the board. Night.

QUOTE (Tony @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 11:24 PM) It?€™s April 12th. Go to bed. Just stop. Of course it's early. That doesn't mean that the eye test isn't valid. If things continue the way they have things will get worse, not better. There's still plenty of time for everyone to turn it around but early returns suck. Sox seem to be the poster franchise for the the following old baseball adage: "Prospects are suspects until proven otherwise" We only have the small data set to work with currently, and it sucks. Badly.

I can't get excited about prospects anymore until they come up to the bigs and have success there. Moncada and Giolito have taught me that. Also, whether or not the guy is a young player, everything about spring training means nothing. Velocity readings for pitchers, whether or not they have their command, whether a hitter shows power or a good eye, nothing. Only the regular season or playoffs matter, and it has to be in the Majors. Nothing matters until there. All the levels of minor league baseball are for is to weed out those who clearly can't make it at the big league level.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 10:59 PM) Some of you are going to have a stroke before June if the day to day ups and downs of a rebuild season are too much. This season is a wash. You are not winning this year. Development is the key. You don't think we know that? We're not complaining about the W/L record, we're complaining about our "prized" prospects getting to the majors and not being able to even make contact or find the strike zone. It is ridiculous. It seems like they're doing fine until they get to the majors and then they take 3 steps backward. There's no development going on, only regression. That is the complaint. Giolito, Lopez and Fulmer walked at least 5 batters in each of their last starts. Moncada has struck out in 9/12 PA his last 3 games. Avi sucks again. Nobody else on the team seems to have a clue at the plate either, except for Abreu. Eventually he won't get anything to hit either once the AL realizes that he has nothing around him. I know Lopez has pitched well in terms of runs allowed so far but he's going to get killed eventually if he walks 3-5 batters a game.

Starting to get concerned. It doesn't matter how hard you hit it when you're not making contact. He's struck out in something like 10 of his last 12 at bats. It is almost comical at this point.

It is easier to be rational as a baseball fan than as a football fan where you stew in your juices for 6 damn days before the next game.

QUOTE (Richie @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 09:36 PM) I can tell. haha I'm the same way with the Bears. A total headcase during the games - then I can take a deep breath to come down from the high or (usually as of recent years) the low. With baseball's 162 game season, especially this early. I tend to do a much better job of taking individual games/performances with a grain of salt. Baseball is my favorite sport by far. It is your friend during the season. No matter how pissed off and irrational I get each evening, I go to bed, sleep on it and become more levelheaded by morning. There is another game tomorrow night. I tend to get goofy and make knee jerk reactions during the game. But as I think about it cooler heads prevail. I'm not shy about being autistic so most times for me I'm either looking at things through rose colored glasses or as if the sun set and will never come up again, lol.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 09:28 PM) I am livid with this. ESPECIALLY after the walk to the f***ing 9 hitter. Agreed. In a development season you don't hang your young starters out to dry like that if they don't have their best stuff on that night. When you get a gutsy performance like that you thank him for a job well done and leave the game on a high note.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 09:26 PM) Shocker...Renteria is total garbage There is a reason the team on the other side of town s***canned him when they had the opportunity to. Ruined a gutsy performance by Giolito. Doing s*** like that is how you lose a clubhouse.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 09:21 PM) Everybody off the bandwagon No. This is 100% on Renteria. He left him out there to die.

s*** Ricky. Why'd you do that to him??

QUOTE (Richie @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 09:13 PM) Well, Gio is headed back out there. Disagree with that decision.

Also, I can overreact at times to s***ty play from my teams, but after thinking about it cooler heads prevail.

I think this is where a good manager pulls his young pitcher who's fighting his mechanics. Let Giolito work in his motion with Coop during his next bullpen. Build up his confidence.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 09:05 PM) Especially when you realize how bad his mechanics and stuff were, 6 IP 2 R is a great outcome Absolutely. Really encouraging actually.

See, I wasn't lying about him having a Jim Dandy.

QUOTE (Footlongcomiskeydog @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:57 PM) So what is the over/under date on when Moncada gets yanked from the leadoff spot? I'll say Memorial Day. Cinco de mayo.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:42 PM) I think they are good scouting minor league talent but have been amazingly bad trading/signing big league players. The draft scouting is also very questionable QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:45 PM) I agree with this. I think we’ll know more about Hostetler in a couple years. Still early to judge him, but a couple of his picks look questionable at the moment. QUOTE (Footlongcomiskeydog @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:45 PM) They haven't made the playoffs in a decade. The FO office has been bad at pretty much everything. I agree with everyone here. They may be "better" at identifying pro talent below the minor league level, but the trading for veterans and drafting hasn't set the bar high enough.

There's that Jim Dandy curveball.

Just saw a tweet that said that Giolito is fighting his mechanics again. Makes me feel much better about him going forward.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:31 PM) Lol Jack, we need to get you on some uppers. You are way too pessimistic bro. Obviously they both look like s*** right now, but it?€™s not even halfway through April. Let?€™s give them some time before we declare trade winners. I know I need to be patient, but it seems that those who become good to stars come up and light the world on fire and don't look back. No struggles at all. It also seems like anyone, once they struggle, never seem to recover. Part of it is that I'm really concerned about a 2020 players strike eating into the window if it opens. I really want these guys to put it together asap, because a labor stoppage is coming and it isn't going to be pretty.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 08:28 PM) 4.48 ERA in AAA last year. 78 career IP. Can we please not act like this is the final version of Giolito? The issue with him is that he's lost 7 mph off the heater since 2016. He doesn't have good enough command to live under 93-94ish