caulfield12

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Apr 22, 2009 -> 07:54 PM) I'd like to see Contreras get those starts down in triple-a. He obviously needs more time to work out his kinks.... I'd like to see one of these guys up here getting some MLB experience: Charlotte (AAA) John Van Benchoten (1-1, 2.65 ERA, 17 IP, 13 SO) Wes Whisler (1-1, 2.20 ERA, 16.1 IP, 7 SO) Birmingham (AA) Kyle McCulloch (2-1, 2.37 ERA, 19 IP, 9 SO) Aaron Poreda (0-2, 3.00 ERA, 9 IP, 6 SO) It took a long time for them to give Egbert a shot in the bullpen...Whisler, you'll see the same thing. Van Benschoten and Poreda would be more likely to get a spot start than the other 2. Most see Whisler as "organizational filler" or merely a AAAA pitcher. A lot depends on Cooper's perceptions of JVB and Poreda. Poreda seems like he has another half year (at least) to go before they throw him out there for a start.

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Apr 22, 2009 -> 05:43 PM) Its been hard to watch so far, but to be fair Baltimore has a pretty good offense and he was doing fairly well till blowing up at the end. Im willing to give the Count 3-4 more starts before i start jumping off the cliff. He was facing a line-up without Jones and Mora, on the other hand. Still, they're a pretty strong left-hand dominated line-up, not a good match-up for Contreras.

http://www.weather.com/maps/maptype/curren...om=hp_main_maps Looks like there might be a "window," but it's not going to be a very long one.

Well, whatever it is he's throwing, it acts more like a slider/cutter, because it breaks on a diagonal plane from 2 o'clock to 8 o'clock. It doesn't have the action of a typical sinker or two-seamer, that's more downward. Sometimes it's very hard to tell though...if you watch Colon, he has so much natural movement on his fastball, you would swear he's throwing a screwball.

D. Cortes (AA) 0-2, 7.71 ERA 11 2/3 IP, 18 H, 5 BB, 13 K's F. De Los Santos (California League, High A) 2-2, 5.87 ERA 23 IP, 29 H, 11 BB/26 K's Aaron Cunningham (AAA-Sacramento) 4/12, 3 2B, .333 C. Carter .300, 1 HR, 16 RBI's (50 AB's) Gio Gonzalez has started two games but only has 7 IP.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Apr 22, 2009 -> 02:26 PM) This is so stupid. There shouldnt be voting 15 games into the season Predictions: C - Posada 1B - Teixera 2B - Pedroia 3B - ARod SS- Jeter OF - Ichiro OF - Vlad OF - Swisher (Yankee fans seem to be enthralled with him right now) Doubt Guerrero will make it this year...unless the Angels' attendance can carry him over. It doesn't help much that he's injured now. Someone like Matsui or Damon could just as easily get in, just because of the Yankees'/Bristol bias. Swisher is almost down to .300 now, although still looking much better than Ryan Sweeney's 600 OPS. There's no way Rays fans can carry Longoria over A-Rod...although hopefully the rest of the country will do the right thing and be more knowledgeable about the fact that A-Rod hasn't even played yet. Seems like Quentin and Danks will be our two representatives.

Contreras was showing signs of being very effective with that cutter when he'd drop down to sidearm and throw it across the outside front corner of the plate against righties...virtually unhittable. The problems are obvious. He has no control or feel for the forkball yet. He's essentially a one-pitch pitcher, the fastball, which is only at 89-93 MPH and nothing like how hard he was throwing in 05-06, which was 92-97 consistently. If you get behind in the count with an "average" major league fastball and you leave it out over the plate, which he did consistently last night, you'll get killed. And he did, especially by Markakis, Huff and Scott. He also hung a couple of non-moving forkballs. As Cubano mentioned, sometimes he's very tentative about pitching inside, almost like he's afraid to hit someone. The other problem is that he wasn't showing a variety of pitches from the "drop down" mode and he was throwing inside backing-up fastballs to RH batters that were getting walloped all over the park. If he can throw the fastball, a cutter/fast slider and the forkball, he'll be fine. If not, he probably will end up in the bullpen with another 2-3 starts like the 3 he's had so far in 2009.

Actually, one could say the same thing about Brandon Allen...it's been pretty remarkable how Brandon and Gordon have tracked up and down together like Nasdaq stocks. Both are still over .300, so I am not sure if anyone is "in a lather" (favorite Whimpy saying about Tom Kelly) yet in the Sox FO. Doubt it. Beckham is 1 for his last 12, 2 for his last 14.

Well, I can't speak for the Nationals, but I think things are probably a little bit unsettled there with all the Bowden/Rijo fallout. I know they gave Zimmerman that huge contract, but the Perez situation now seems to have unsettled the teams dealing with Jamie Torres. One would have to assume that Marti would sign with SOMEONE once he's been cleared by MLB and the State Department. Have you been following Viciedo? What is your theory as to his early season struggles with BIRM? Have you heard anything? Ruiz is a 1B/DH type? Kendry Morales hasn't exactly been on fire this April, and Alexei finally MIGHT have shown some signs of breaking out of his 5/40 start.

What are the scouts saying about Pérez? "He had a developed body, with some stiffness," said one international scouting director (about) Pérez, echoing the thoughts of others. "I never saw the speed that he is supposed to have in his swing and was a bit harsh. I saw him with no ability within the range in which we speak." Cubano, can you explain that quote to me?

Wise was good last year against RHP. He had a 797 OPS in over 100 at-bats against RHP in 2008, but that seems to get thrown out/dismissed/overlooked conveniently. Nobody said he was an All-Star or the next Eric Ludwick. As far as Anderson goes....let's revisit all of our evaluation on May 30th. Agreed?

Okay. Brian Anderson is 3 for 13 with 6 K's when he starts out with an 0-1 count. He's 3 for 10 with 6 walks when he starts out with a 1-0 count. In those situations...he's getting a ball 43.5% of the time. That ratio (first pitch balls to strikes) will even out eventually. No quality big league pitchers throw anywhere close to 45% first pitch balls, especially to #9 hitters in the order.

That's my point...they were SO far out of the zone, not even Anderson, Ramirez or Vladmir Guerrero would have swung at them. That won't continue...looking at his at-bats, you would think opposing pitchers were seeing Pujols or Hanley Ramirez at the plate. Eventually it will even out and he'll have to hit his way on base with some authority.

That's not what I said at all. I never said he should swing at balls out of the strike zone. He does enough of that without my advising him to do so. What I said was that he was seeing a disproportionate number of balls on the first pitch...or even the second pitch, and that this would turn around and eventually he would have to hit his way on base. Logical?? It's a statistical anomaly. If you look at the pitch pattern to BA in every game he's started, probably 75-80% of his first two pitches are balls. That's not going to hold up. Look, I would be glad to be "proven wrong" about BA, but I've watched baseball my entire life...and I just don't see it happening with him as a starting/regular major league CFer. He has all the tools, but there were many prospects you could have said the same thing about. Kenny Williams, in fact, was a much better prospect and had even better overall tools than BA when he reached the majors. We can wish and blindly hope all we want for someone to succeed...I just don't see it happening. Here's what I will do. No commentary at all from me on Brian Anderson on a nightly basis. When (in the future) would be a "reasonable" time to discuss him again? You tell me. We have people here wanting to yank Contreras out of the starting rotation after 3 starts when the White Sox are in first place (even KW and Ozzie and Cooper are discussing "options"), so perhaps there's no such thing as premature evaluation anymore. Never wanted Kroeger in CF. Lillibridge or moving Ramirez is just a desperation move. Shelby and Danks aren't close to being ready. Like it or not, we're stuck with Anderson until KW makes a move. Jerry Owens will probably get his unconditional release tomorrow or Friday.

http://birmingham.barons.milb.com/milb/sta...47&sid=t247 McCulloch on the fast track to the fifth starter's spot. JUST KIDDING. This time Beckham didn't have a hat trick of strikeouts. Viciedo was even pinch-hit for late in the game by Retherford. Guess his confidence must be really down, unless he was hurt. Nix with an error from shortstop. Still waiting for the decision on his status coming off the 3-game rehab assignment. Nix HAS to be better than Betemit at SS, one would hope??

We won of our first two games and people were harder (much harder) on DeWayne Wise. I think your quote could actually be attributable moreso to the feeling/s people had about what would happen if Wise weren't in the line-up. As soon as Brian Anderson rips a fastball with no movement that's right over the middle of the plate, then I might give him the benefit of the doubt for 2-3 more games, which, once again, is more lenience than Wise got. Not to mention the bigger fact that we don't have any pitchers to replace Contreras with, so we have to get more offense on those nights when he starts. Everyone was bad, and in a game or two, there will be threads dedicated to "what's wrong with Josh Fields???" too.

Baker was really whacked around again. The Twins undoubtedly have the worst bullpen in the Central right now. Morillo and RA Dickey are getting absolutely lit up. Past tense. Maybe the last pitch of the day. Tarp on the field again. Not sure of their schedules, but probably they will have to have another DH tomorrow. Fear the Tigers.

Because Anderson, at the least...should learn how to hit the ball to the right side of the infield if he's not going to be able to get a hit in those critical situations. Had he done that, Josh Fields' flyball to RF would have been and 2nd RBI of the inning. Yes, it was a team loss...but I am looking for some signs of positive progression in BA with RISP, that's it.

Same reason we (or most sports fans) enjoy following college basketball or football rankings throughout the year. This guy is probably more "objective" than Phil Rogers is, so it's always interesting to see how people outside of Chicago perceive the Sox and the other teams within our division.

Hopefully an "arch" and not a "parabola."

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 22, 2009 -> 11:33 AM) You seem to think that teams all over baseball have 7 shut-down relievers in their bullpens. They do not. Our bullpen is among the best, in the back 4. And the other three - currently Carrasco, Richard and Egbert - are no worse than what most teams have. And they can all go 3 innings. Guys who can do that, and are shut-down at it, are incredibly rare, and usually get converted into starters or late inning guys anyway. Plus, with the fact that the other starters are all doing very well, they will go deep into games, so the bullpen can be saved a bit for covering Contreras/Colon. Contreras (and possibly Colon) will lengthen out with time. No need to panic just yet. Nope, the Tigers are the only team in our division that can have a better bullpen than ours, if Zumaya comes back 100% (reports were that he hit 101 the this week in an appearance)...although KC doesn't have a bad pen either, with the obvious exception of Farnsworth. The problem I have is with the many fans who expect Dotel or Thornton to come into games in the 5th and 6th innings when we are tied, up by one, down by one. It's easy to say that Ozzie left Contreras out there too long, but he trusts a rehabbing Contreras more than he does Egbert, Mac, Carrasco or Richard. Ozzie is nothing, if not loyal. Let's say Contreras didn't go out for the bottom of the fifth (even though his pitch count was low and he would have lost the opportunity to get the win)...and Carrasco, Egbert or Richard got shelled. Everyone would be jumping all over Guillen for pulling Jose too early and wearing out the bullpen presumptuously. Not to mention the fact that Ozzie confers with Cooper on those decisions...ultimately, Ozzie's choice, but it's not like he makes in complete isolation, either. ''I don't know yet,'' Guillen said when he was asked whether he would keep Contreras in the rotation after a 10-3 loss Tuesday to the Baltimore Orioles. ''You make a decision right now after a game like this, then you may make the wrong one. We're going to sit down and talk with Coop and Kenny to see what we can do, see what we figure out.'' Contreras is a delicate topic right now because he defied all odds in returning from a ruptured left Achilles tendon four months earlier than expected. While Contreras was slowed in spring training, Cooper had penciled in the start against the Orioles as the one in which there would be no restrictions on how many innings he threw. Then again, because Contreras allowed six runs, seven hits and six walks in 5 1/3 innings, the Sox had no choice but to restrict him from going on. When Guillen was asked if he knows what has been wrong with Contreras, he quickly responded: ''No, he's got to figure it out. It was a pretty bad game -- walking people, didn't get many lefties out. I mean, he walked the leadoff guy maybe three different innings. When you do all that against a good-hitting ballclub, you're not going to win many games. ... You have to make every pitch count. Otherwise, the results are going to be what they were tonight.'' Contreras, who is 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA, said he knew what happened, but the key is fixing it. ''I felt fine,'' he said through interpreter Omer Munoz. ''I started well, but the last two innings I left the ball up, and they took advantage. That's when the runs came. ''I was rushing. I was opening up, and that's when I was leaving the ball up.'' cowley/cst

Guess Humber and Mulvey weren't as good as they were cracked up to be... The Royals had to do something about Ponson/Ramirez. The weren't going to wait half a season like the Twins did with Livan Hernandez. Surprised that many teams skipped over him, though. He was once pretty highly touted. Pedro Martinez is still looking for a job, too. Maybe the Padres or Angels will sign him. MacDougal will end up with the Twins, seems like destiny.

The problem with that is games like last night that are very close when the move could have been made...are Carrasco, Egbert or Richard capable of going 2-3 innings and keeping the team in the game? Last night, they definitely weren't, although Jose did himself no favors with his lack of control.

The problem Ozzie has is obvious...when you have only Egbert, MacDougal and DJ Carrasco as depth, it's a no-win situation. If you start pulling Contreras and Colon every game in the 5th or 6th inning, then your bullpen will be toast...and we have very little minor league depth to cover up for it. Let's say Dotel enters last night in the 6th inning. We can't end up having Dotel/Thornton/Linebrink/Jenks pitch four innings every time these games are close (tied, down one run, etc.) You just can't do that. We saw what happened to Egbert last night, and Richard hasn't been very consistent either, although I might agree with all the LH's and switch hitters that Richard was PROBABLY a better option than Jose, but he didn't get it done either last night.

Tillman is a better prospect, but those who were posting his (Bergesen's) BB and K numbers through 9 IP were a bit suprised by his stuff last night...and so were the White Sox.