Chicago White Sox

We have no idea that he’s running scenarios and playing the odds. He easily could be going by gut. Either way, it’s fair to question the decision.

If you want to give him a start, try to do it against LHP when possible and give Eaton a breather. Perhaps there wasn’t a great alternative this week, but La Russa hasn’t been great taking advantage of platoon advantages. Regardless, why doesn’t this same logic apply to Jake Lamb? Wouldn’t he make more sense out in LF today?

Yeah, would love to see that

Collins is fine as the backup catcher for now, but obviously he needs to get going offensively. I’d still bat him in front of Madrigal as I really like Nick in the 9th spot in the order. Leury is the real problem unfortunately. I’d much rather see Lamb out in LF today than hope a struggling Leury can defy the historical odds and magically start hitting RHP at an acceptable rate.

I see zero chance they rock those two in the corners and take Eaton out of the lineup if he keeps producing.

La Russa is quickly making me hate Leury with all the playing time he‘s giving him.

Let’s think about this objectively. The Sox had three options last night once Robert got on base: Do Nothing - Let Grandal, Yermin, & Hamilton each have a shot to drive Robert in from 1st base, but risk a potential double-play taking out your base-runner Have Robert Steal - Potentially allow the same three hitters a chance to drive Robert in from 2nd, but risk a caught-stealing taking out your base-runner Have Yas Sac Bunt - Potentially allow Hamilton & Madrigal a chance to drive Robert in from 2nd, but take away the bat from your hottest hitter, risk a botched bunt attempt, and create an extra force-out opportunity for two ground-ball prone hitters IMO, option #3 doesn’t make sense when you a great base-stealer in Robert. Giving up an out to give 50% of your expected chances of knocking in the winning run to a guy who has been a 67 wRC+ hitter in his career is the definition of insanity. And the reason option #1 was scary (GIDP risk), should also apply to option #3 given the ground-ball rates of Billy & Nick (I fully understand they are faster than Yas). I get it ultimately worked out, but the plan pretty much relied on Madrigal getting a base hit to work whereas option #2 potentially provides more options. I bet if someone ran the actual math having Robert steal has the greatest chance of getting a single run.

But so do the games in May, June, July, August, & September, which is my point. I don’t disagree the early returns look promising, but it’s way too early to declare a victor.

Because the Dodgers we were looking for an MVP type talent if they were moving Verdugo and not prospects?

Which player were we giving up comparable to Mookie Betts?

Beware of an incredibly small sample size, but here are Nick’s stats over his last five games: Slash = .333/.350/.556/.906 wRC+ = 147 | wOBA = .373 BABIP = .333 (career = .340) BB rate = 5.0% | K rate = 5.0% ISO = .222 (6 1B | 2 2B | 1 3B) Hard Hit % = 44.4% (21.8%) Line-Drive % = 35.3% (24.7%) Fly Ball % = 0.0% (15.6%) Not suggesting he can replicate these exact numbers going forward, but what they prove is he’s capable of hitting the ball hard and should be able to drive the ball into the gaps enough to rack up quite a few doubles and the occasional triple. The key for him (as we’re seeing in this stretch) is to avoid fly balls, which will help keep his BABIP running high. If can do that, dude can be a really valuable hitter for us and a unique weapon for us coming out of the 9th spot. Also, don’t look now, but his OAA has already increased from the 8th percentile to the 30th over a similar time frame. Dude will be fine in the field and on the bases, even if he never lives up to the ridiculous pre-draft hype.

Verdugo?

I’ve been happy with Eaton so far, but it’s WAY too early for this thread. Let’s also not forget that a big reason people were concerned with an Eaton signing was because of Adam’s history of missing time. Hopefully he can remain healthy, but him having one strong month doesn’t change anything there.

Luckily the Rangers read the Soxtalk scouting reports and were playing Nicky shallow!

Fuck the haters

Holy duck now I’m getting worried about the HRs

Yup, Soxtalk would have imploded

Why the fuck is he running?

Panther going to fuck Gibson up I reckon

Good efficient inning

Would somehow be awesome if Dallas could go six tonight

I’m a Yaz fan but I can respect this viewpoint and I certainly know how frustrating he can be when he’s dropping pitches and hitting into double plays.

Not trying to be a dick, but that’s because you and many others here are completely irrational when it comes to the main Soxtalk whipping boys like Yasmani & Madrigal. Everything is bad with these guys no matter what the numbers say.

97th percentile BB rate 79th percentile K rate 89th percentile hard hit rate His only problem right now is he’s hitting way too many balls on the ground at the expense of line-drives. That should normalize closer to career norms with time. Either way, he’s far from a black hole, especially for a catcher.

Lynn targeting a return Friday against CLE