Chicago White Sox

Per Statcast: K % = 100th percentile Hard Hit = 3rd percentile BB Rate = 24th percentile Sprint Speed = 75th percentile (was 71st just a few days ago and 78th last year) Outs Above Average = 9th percentile (was 86th percentile last year) The talk of him having poor speed was greatly exaggerated here, even if he’s the not speed demon scouting reports had him hyped up to be at the time of the draft. Defensively he’s been abysmal this year, but it’s a small sample size and last year OAA actually liked him. Either way, I see him developing into a slightly above average defensive 2B when all it said & done at a minimum with some upside beyond that. Offensively, we all know the contact ability is legit, but hitting a bunch of soft singles isn’t going to be enough. He’s got to find a way to hit with a bit more authority like he did the other day and rack up some doubles and/or start drawing more walks. I think that happens and he becomes a pretty damn valuable player, even if we’ll all still be wishing we took Kelenic instead.

Now it would be closer to six weeks given the service time he’s accrued so far this year.

To be fair, Truth isn’t actually whining, he’s excited about the start time. I personally don’t like it, but I got a shitty day ahead of me tomorrow.

Alright boys, after winning today’s double-header the Sox look to take the series tomorrow. On the mound for the Sox is Lucas Giolito. Not much to say about Lucas other than the dude is a total stud, currently ranking 9th amongst all qualified starters with a 1.80 FIP and sitting in the 90th percentile for wxOBA. If he can get his slider back to its 2020 form, he’ll have a legit shot at the AL Cy Young award. Regardless, I fully expect him to continue his strong start to the season tomorrow. For the Red Sox, it will be Nathan Eovaldi making the start. Eovaldi has a five pitch arsenal, relying heavily on a big fastball that sits around 97 MPH but which doesn’t live up to its potential due to poor spin / carry. While most of his whiffs come on his various secondary pitches, he’s been very inconsistent with them over the years. In fact, he actually ditched his slider altogether in 2020 before bringing back a new & improved version for the 2021 season. This pitch in particular has Nathan off to a hot start, posting a 2.41 FIP and a xwOBA in the 87th percentile. It will be interesting to see how the Sox fare against this version of Eovaldi. Only six of our hitters have faced Nathan, but none more than eight times. Grandal, Abreu, & Eaton have all been successful in small samples and should all be in the lineup tomorrow. Moncada does have a bomb off Eovaldi in his only plate appearance, but will be on the bench tomorrow for Lamb who is 0-2 in career against Nathan. No matter who is in the lineup tomorrow, the key for the offense is maintaining discipline and to punish any mistakes he makes. Eovaldi isn’t going to walk a lot of guys, so we can’t afford to do him any favors and chase shit out of the zone. If we can avoid that, I think we’ll score enough runs to win tomorrow and take the series. Let’s fucking go!!!

Len is a pretty weird dude and I could totally buy him taking a pay cut to do radio.

It may set back the bullpen a little bit in terms of flexibility, but having Kopech available a starter down the stretch is worth that small sacrifice.

Why is that crazy? They’re trying to manage his workload so he can contribute to the rotation down the stretch.

Except for the reigning NL Cy Young winner and the NL runner-up MVP ?

Nick deserves a shout out for three hard hit balls today. If he can rip some line drives in the gaps, he can be a very valuable hitter.

I checked that earlier and saw the same thing. His stuff is noticeably better this year, but his command remains an issue. But hey, all you want to see is growth from a young pitcher and he’s definitely improving vs. last year.

JFC Jose

Fuck pnoles

What did he say?

Especially when he’s facing a LH pitcher which we all know he can’t hit and probably shouldn’t be facing outside of rare circumstances.

Sorry guys, but Madrigal is going to be a pretty good hitter even if he barely hits any HRs.

He’s got a 1.69 ERA & 2.03 FIP on the season with a 97th %tile wxOBA. Who would you rather bring in the 4th?

Does Crochet come in for two next?

Kopech is fucking studly

I actually just looked at his historical stats and they are actually not that bad in April. Definitely not how I remembered it.

JFC

Need at least one here.

Bad luck for Nick there. 98 MPH exit velocity with a .430 xBA. If he can hit like that more frequently, especially in the gaps, then he’ll be plenty valuable as a hitter. Also, Luis Robert is developing into an absolute stud.

100% if Kopech continues on as anything like this and can bare the workload then he has to be our #3 starter come October over Dallas.

I like this prediction!!

Correct. We also have a guy that batted .449 with a 1.509 OPS / 299 wRC+ against LHP last year on the bench as well.