caulfield12

Wonder why Reed's velocity was down a bit there? Weather? Not warmed up enough? Not sure how comfortable you can be with Reed as closer at 92-94. 94-97 works a lot better. Well, got out of it at least, but this game's now going to be a nail-biter from here on out.

Uh-oh, gotta get out of this inning without any further damage. Didn't have time there to get Thornton up to face Ortiz. Addison Reed into the game.

Carlos Sanchez playing today for W-S, 1/4 with 2 RBI's, but all the way down to .275. Dash out to a big lead today. Shoemaker the only hitter in the line-up over .300, and Trayce Thompson still in that .220-240 range at .235 for now. TT with a BB but two K's.

DeAza frustrated by the barely-foul bunt. Tough luck. Pujols finishes 0/4, K, .216. Indians back in first place for the time being. Trout off to an 0 for 7 start as well. And poor Ozzie, everyone's already forgotten about him, mired in the NL East basement and losing 7 of their last 8 games. That was a fast half-inning. Gavin always gives you that feeling that he'll either throw a no-hitter or completely implode and blow the lead in games like this, with no in-between where the bullpen can get warmed up quickly enough.

Viciedo, encouragingly, has been turning on more and more balls and pulling them. Looks a lot more aggressive and comfortable up there than a week ago. It's coming. He's the streaky type of hitter who can go on a tear and carry the bottom of the line-up when the weather heats up. Time to trade Gavin Floyd, lol? Of course, if he gets a no-hitter against the Red Sox, it might be the 3rd or 4th story on SportsCenter. Probably still behind Derek Rose and the NFL draft wrap-ups, NBA/NHL playoffs...

Pujols 0/3 and down to .218 now for the season. Amazingly, Bartolo Colon throwing another shutout against that O's line-up. And no idea why Kenneth Williams, Jr. is playing for BIRM when Mitchell should be playing everyday down there.

Josh Phegley is hitting .394 and looking like a legitimate candidate to compete for the starting catcher job next year. Besides Mitchell, the other key position prospect, Tyler Saladino...has pulled out of his death spiral at BIRM and is going well again. Not to mention the fact that he's our best legit prospect in the minors (along with Carlos Sanchez at W-S) who could replace Beckham and/or Morel. On the negative side, Rienzo's suspension for 10 starts. Axelrod pitching very well, too, although there's lot of questions about his stuff and "pitch-ability" in the majors.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 29, 2012 -> 11:40 AM) Justin has incredibly quick hands and has been clutch in the past. But he's always been thought of a "speed-first" type of player. Because anyone with his speed who could consistently hit for XB, play some D and not K 30% of the time would be an elite prospect, at least in our organization.

Well, that definitely make sense. If you take away Dye/Thome/Quentin from the equation and see what has replaced it (particularly Dunn's 2010 season) and Rios' lack of consistent office for most of his time on the SouthSide, that explains 75% of it. That, and just the lack of offensive talent and orientation more towards pitching. I guess Marty would have preferred that I stuck up "bad moves by the GM" as the main reason...but it's more than that clearly.

Another homer lost to the bad weather. Great swing though, encouraging. Think Lillibridge with limited play is leading the AL with stolen bases...could be a nice tandem at the top of the line-up when/if they finally decide to bench Gordon Beckham or send him down.

Nope. Just curious what theories were out there. 127-126 at home since the beginning of 2009, there has to be SOME type of explanation.

We're currently on a streak where we've lost 6 of our last 7 at home (3-7 on the year after winning the first two against DET).... 14 of our last 20 (.300) 15 of our last 22 16 of our last 23 (7-16, .304) I guess I could have added mental errors/preparation and lack of hitting with RISP to the list, but I stopped.

Harper highlights package from MLB. http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_...79&c_id=mlb Double off the CF wall, his throw from LF, first RBI....2:46 minutes The thing that really struck me was how fast and dynamic and energetic he was out there. Like he's playing in a different gear...when you're used to watching the White Sox for all these years, haven't seen anyone tearing around the basepaths like that since Pods in 2005 and Durham before him.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 08:44 PM) .500 team as I see them but think about that nice little run White Sox always make during the summer. Pitching will be there but I'm slowly giving up on Beckham and Morel. Maybe Dick Allen can convince me otherwise. Convince you of what? That Greg Walker should be brought back to work with Gordon and Brent before we give up on Gordon and (possibly) Brent for good? Morel's earned 2-3 more months, or 250-300 AB's. You can't really say the same about Beckham. The fact that he's a .221 career hitter in one of the best hitter's parks in baseball, over a 3 year period...that's more than enough evidence to convict/indict him for being a suspect and no longer a prospect.

Matt Kemp wins the best game of the season with a walkoff homer to center in the bottom of the 10th. MVP! MVP! MVP! Chants the crowd. Priceless. A game like that one, the pure beauty of all the elements coming together, pitching, throwing, hitting, running...there's no game like it in the world.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 11:25 PM) Time to send him down, flip a coin and give Lilli or Escobar a shot. Give the other more time than usual at third base as well. If we contend, make a move for a third baseman. Has to be Lillibridge based on his experience in the majors, his 12 homers last year and Escobar's 666 career minor league OPS. Lillibridge COULD be an everyday player in the bigs. That will never happen for Eduardo...at least not in the AL.

Dodgers and Nationals in one of the most exciting games of the season (along with last weekend's Red Sox/Yankees). Two best teams in the NL right now, both teams score 2 runs in the 9th, Nationals to take the lead and the Dodgers to rally for the tie and near win. Strasburg tears through the Dodgers for most of the game. 9 k's and 5 hits in his 7 IP, along with a double at the plate. Harper with his first MLB hit, a double. Harper shows off perhaps the best outfield arm in recent MLB history from LF...gunning down a runner at 3rd but the ball getting punched out of Ramos' glove. Dodgers rally to tie with an incredible inning against a closer (Henry Rodriguez) throwing 100-102 MPH. Tying run scores off a wild pitch at 102, Juan Uribe coming up with a huge RBI double. Jesus, the White Sox miss those clutch RBI's from the likes of Uribe and Crede, as an aside. Two wild pitches (one resulting in a K) end up going to the backstop at 102. Rodriguez finally pulled by Davey Johnson, ex-Cub Tom Gorzelanny gets out of the inning and they're in extras.

Justin Greene of all players hits a homer in the late innings to provide the winning margin for the Barons. Nevin Griffith with his first save. Castro gave up seven runs (6 earned) in 7 IP.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 08:32 PM) We aren't talking about Walker here. We are talking about Manto. He is the hitting coach. Walker is in ATL. He's watching the Braves hitters, they lead the NL in runs scored. Its Manto;s fault these guys aren't hitting now. A week ago, you would have been laughed at for bringing this topic up. Same thing could happen for both Walker and Manto in another month's time. A week ago, Bobby Valentine was being hounded out of Boston after blowing the 9 run lead on Saturday. I'll ask this question. How many hitting coaches have "fixed" an entire major league roster of hitters in 2 months? Are you claiming the success of all the Braves' hitters this season is entirely due to Greg Walker? REALLY?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 08:29 PM) Himes drafted Durham, but Schueler definitely provided more major league ready hitters from the minor leagues, although he really got lucky with Maggs. The scout who signed Maggs showed up like 6 hours late for his workout, but Maggs stuck around. He also left him exposed in the rule 5 and no one took him. After the strike though, Schueler was a different GM. While KW has his player as his best hitter 12 years later, every year Schueler was the GM, his best player was a Larry Himes draft pick. Yeah, I remember when I worked in Augusta in 1994, looking at the Elias Sports Bureau numbers every morning and seeing Ordonez and Jeff Abbott putting up huge numbers. Abbott at that time was a bit more of a prospect, hitting nearly .400, Maggs seemingly came out of nowhere, he had that kind of penguin-shaped body and he wasn't putting up huge power numbers (more doubles) in the low minors, so scouts overlooked him. Always was a concern about him putting on too much weight and not being very fast.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 08:25 PM) Why would you say that? All I said is what the majority of Soxtalk has said for years. If guys aren't hitting its the hitting coach's fault. Its time to make a change. As far as Cooper/Humber, if you're going to give Coop the credit for the perfect game, don't you have to blame him for the implosion his next outing? It's a game of expectations. Nobody in baseball expected anything out of Humber when we picked him up, Jenks, Santos, Loaiza, Contreras, Thornton, etc. Peavy hasn't been healthy for most of his time with the White Sox, although I guess you could blame Cooper for injuring him if you want. With Beckham, Dunn, Rios and Viciedo, a LOT was expected/predicted out of them. I'm willing to give Walker a pass on Morel, because I never considered him a sure-fire major league starter like some here. The Walker "success" stories are Konerko, Quentin and Lillibridge, that's about it in recent years. And Paulie figured out a lot of those things on his own, through self-analysis and critical thinking in his 20's.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 08:22 PM) Schueler was pretty good at the beginning. He picked up Raines, always seemed to find someone to do a decent job in RF from year to year, DJ, Burks, even Tartabull had a decent year. But he got ultra conservative, but he did have a division winner his final season. He also has to get some of the credit for Ordonez, Carlos Lee, Ray Durham...can't remember when we drafted Rowand and Crede, although KW was director of scouting/minor leagues by then, right? Drafting Buehrle where he got him so late in the draft, etc.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 08:18 PM) But its pretty obvious it isn't getting better. Why wait? Every time a White Sox made an out it was Greg Walker's fault. It should now be Manto. They have 10 runs their last 5 games, only 8 in regulation. Its time to make a change. He obviously isn't working out. And I suppose you also are going to argue that Don Cooper is still overrated despite the fact that we have one of the best pitching staffs in the AL? That any random pitching coach could get a no-hitter out of Phil Humber? Most quality starts in the AL since 2003, etc., despite playing half our home games at USCF?

In summary, Marty. The White Flag trade. Albert Belle. Terry Bevington. Steve Sax. Norton/Snopek. Cory Snyder. Wil Cordero. Cordero and Belle are two of the worst human beings the White Sox ever had on their major league roster. REBUILD AWAY, lol.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 08:09 PM) Paul Konerko was traded for by Ron Schueler. Schueler should do the "rebuilding". YOU DESERVE THIS REBUTTAL, M-34 (courtesy of WSI) First Base - Wil Cordero Sure, you could blame this acquisition on manager Jerry Manuel. But Manuel has made it clear he wants to win --- yet Schueler hasn't run out to get any high-priced talent, has he? A willing accomplice. Second Base - Steve Sax Schueler's first big mistake. Acquired from the Yankees for three (!) pitchers (including Melido Perez) and cash. A complete bust most Sox fans have forgotten, probably for sanity's sake. Third Base - Greg Norton Well, at least we know he can't play first base. With Ventura gone we'll now find out if he can't play third base, too. Here's hoping "You're the Greatest" will prove better at his natural position. Of course pitcher is Jaime Navarro's natural position, and look what happened there. Shortstop - Mike Caruso Could be a terrific shortstop and is certainly young enough to develop into an all-star. But don't forget, Mike Caruso's biggest claim to fame is how he was acquired. He is the first major league player ever traded at the expense of a stretch run at a championship (the infamous WHITE FLAG trade). Another Schueler first. Outfield - Chris Sabo One of Schueler's low cost reclamation projects you won't hear him bragging about. A disgrace with the bat and in the field. A distraction in the clubhouse, too. He was Jaime Navarro before there was Jaime Navarro. Outfield - Darren Lewis We let Lance Johnson go for this dope? Outfield -Mike Devereaux Sucked before we got him, sucked while we had him, and has sucked ever since. Any questions? Catcher - Chad Krueter (twice) Never underestimate how many times Ron Schueler will repeat his own mistake --- as long as it's cheap and expedient. (See also Jim Abbott). Designated Hitter - Cory Snyder Acquired by the Sox just months before he developed true softball league form. What was Schueler thinking? And who better to manage this collection of trash... Manager - Terry Bevington Better to keep your foot in your mouth than disgrace yourself further by uttering the next thought rattling inside your head --- a lesson never learned by Boomer.