Chicago White Sox

There is little reason to be concerned about Robert being “done”, but I think an argument can be made to move him down in the lineup until he gets his s%*# figured out. That being said, there isn’t an obvious solution at the moment. I’d probably consider something like this for a couple games and see if it helps. Anderson, SS Benintendi, LF* Jimenez, DH Moncada, 3B# Vaughn, 1B Grandal, C# Robert, CF Colas, RF* Andrus, 2B

The Diekman trade was very dumb from the get-go. Unfortunately, it seems highly likely he will be released when Crochet returns unless he quickly figures his s%*# out in the next two months. Short of injury, I just don’t see room for a third lefty when we’ll eventually have five righties without options plus a guy in Lambert who shown to be far more useful. I think this is only a matter of when and not if.

He’s been legit bad. Hopefully just a bad start and not an indicator that 2022 is a complete abberation.

Obviously the stats above aren’t an indicator of go forward expectations, but definitely some red flags there that will need to be addressed in order for this offense to reach its potential. Probably the most concerning issue so far is our chase rate, which is not highlighted above but can be backed into based on a league worse out-of-zone swing % along with a very poor contact rate on those pitches. That lack of discipline is leading to an incredibly poor walk rate and a very high K rate. This should surprise no one if you’ve watching the games, with both Robert & Andrus in particular standing out in this department. Yoan also sporting a 43% K rate with no walks, but at least with him there’s been a trade off for power. The other major issue is a league worst launch angle and corresponding fifth highest GB rate. Obviously facing Framber skews these figures a bit and again I know this is a ridiculously small sample size, but this is an area that will need to be watched closely. Andrus, Anderson, Grandal, & Eloy are all sporting negative launch angles at the moment, although none of that is sustainable and should regress favorably at some point. Also, it’s really good to see Vaughn at 19.9, which has greatly reduced his GB rate and should set him up for a sizable increase in power if he can maintain and right his current contact issues.

Random team ranks across a minuscule sample: BB rate: 29th (5.0%) K rate: 23rd (26.4%) ISO: 12th (.134) BABIP: 7th (.377) wRC+: 15th (106) GB rate: 5th (53.8%) LD rate: 14th (20.0%) FB rate: 25th (26.3%) HR/FB: 13th (14.3%) Avg LA: 30th (1.4) Barrel %: 19th (3.7%) HH %: 18th (38.3%) O-Swing %: 1st (43.9%) O-Contact %: 24th (53.6%) Z-Swing %: 11th (68.8%) Z-Swing %: 8th (84.0%) Zone %: 24th (37.8%) SwStr %: 1st (16.8%)

Great post. These last two losses have been frustrating, but I agree there is far more reason for optimism than pessimism with what we’ve seen so far. Vaughn & Robert will eventually get going and that will make a huge difference for the offense. And the bullpen is obviously way better than what the results have shown so far. Diekman is the only guy in the pen who doesn’t warrant a spot on a major league roster. Even someone like Ruiz, who I have historically been down on, is fine as your 7th or 8th reliever. Just have to accept in any three game span you’re going to get a lot of variance and can’t panic, especially against the defending champions.

Should be using Gavin Sheets to pinch hit for Elvis in a situation like that

Lopez’s stuff looking much better

Nothing like a first pitch groundout to get things going

I’m actually pretty optimistic about this bullpen if Liam & Crochet eventually come back healthy.

I actually like him, especially in this very moment ?

What in the f***??!

Fucking leadoff walk…f*** f*** f***

FIFY

My feed is way behind…lol

Need at least one this inning

Who fault was it? I’m watching on my phone with shitty San Diego 5G, so can’t tell if a bad throw or a bad attempted catch?

What the f*** just happened?!?

I know it’s a bit early to worry about the bullpen today, but if we need four innings who are we going with? Lopez, Bummer, Kelly, and who?

Nice steal!

And there it is

Need a big Seby hit here

I haven’t been able to turn on yet, so can’t really say what the problem is. But viewing all the concerns that his velocity is permanently down and then seeing him right around 94 MPH seems to rule out one issue.

Giolito just threw one 94.7 MPH, doesn’t seem the velocity is a problem

What’s Giolito’s velocity been at? I just saw one at 93+ MPH. That doesn’t seem that bad for 1st game of the season.