Lip Man 1

Bad...just bad. Maybe it wouldn't matter as much if it was in mid-June but it was the home opener in front of 37 thousand. Of all the times to really suck. More and more I'm thinking the injuries and sitting out the COVID season have caused Kopech to regress badly. He was lit up in the spring and now today. Grifol said afterwards maybe he was tipping pitches, they are going to watch the video. Let's hope that's the case because if it isn't...that's real trouble. I ask again for the second time in five days, why is Ruiz on this team. He's brutal. I'd rather see someone fresh off the farm instead of him. He's had plenty of chances and all he does is suck. Won't be easy Wednesday either, Logan Webb for San Francisco. The Sox had issues winning at home last year, let's hope this isn't the start of continuing into another season.

April 3, 1991 – The White Sox signed former two-sport All-Star Vincent “Bo” Jackson to an incentive-loaded contract, with a $700,000 base salary. Division rival Kansas City had released Jackson two weeks earlier, citing a hip injury suffered playing in the NFL with the Raiders that was likely to end his career in both sports. Jackson would have hip replacement surgery and not make a real impact until 1993, when he hit 16 home runs, but the move was a masterful stroke from a public relations standpoint. “Bo” was the first pro athlete to have the type of surgery he did and come back to play at the highest level. April 3, 2000 - The unexpected Central Divisional Championship season didn’t start off promising. The Sox were buried in Texas 10-4. They’d lose the next day as well 12-8. In the two games the Sox would allow 23 hits and commit five errors. But by the end of the month the Sox set the Major League record for the most runs ever scored in April and ‘‘The Kids Can Play,’’ were on their way to a league leading 95 wins and a post season appearance. April 3, 2021 - After going 5 for 5 in his first game of the year (April 2), Yermín Mercedes started his day against the Angels by going 3 for 3, including his first career homer. His eight straight hits to start a season set a modern record (dating back to at least 1900), besting Chris Stynes’ 7-7 start in 1997. Finally, in the eighth inning of the April 3 game, Mercedes was retired, snapping his incredible start.

Hope it is a good day for the fans and for the Sox.

Thank you, I'm on Mountain time. It's 1:10 for me.

Very happy with a split in Houston, depleted or not they still have a ton of talent. Absolutely incredible how many two out RBI's they produced in this series. Colas is impressing me more and more everyday. Kid will eventually have to make adjustments as teams get a book on him but right now he looks like he belongs and knows what he's doing. Starting pitching has been solid, kept them in games. The bullpen? Well....maybe when Crochet and Hendriks return it will get better. By the way the Sox game Monday starts now at 1:10 Chicago time to try to beat the rain. Moved up an hour.

There's no one way to evaluate and judge players, the key is having competent scouting and player development individuals as well as a good system in place to give them the best chance possible to make the Major Leagues and help the team. The Sox simply don't have these which badly hurt their chances. I remember reading a story by Mark Gonzales when he was writing at the Tribune and Gonzo had as part of it the fact that the Sox between 2009 and 2012 for example spent the least amount of money in all of baseball on the minor leagues. JR has publicly said (when he was still talking to the press) that he never believed in paying for "potential" which is partly why the Sox never exploited the loopholes in the old drafting/signing system unlike other teams.

April 2, 1900 - The White Sox played their first ever game. It would be an exhibition win over the University of Illinois baseball team. The final score was 10-9. That season the American League wasn’t considered a part of Major League Baseball. That would happen the following year. However the Sox would take the pennant on September 12 when they beat the Cleveland Blues 12-4 and 9-1. April 2, 2021 – Now this is how you make a debut! Sox catcher/DH Yermin Mercedes had over two thousand minor league at-bats before finally making the team’s opening day roster. On this night in Anaheim, he had a sensational debut going 5 for 5, with four RBI’s in the 12-8 win. Mercedes had four singles and a double in the game. The last time a rookie had five hits in their first game in the big leagues was in 1933 when Cecil Travis of the Senators did it. Mercedes would go on to have 12 hits in his first four games setting the modern Major League record and be named the American League Player of the Week.

A split in Houston would be more than OK for me.

Agreed, the question is can Clevinger get it done?

It was the same situation last year as well though and they weren't exactly world beaters. But I understand your point.

And it is the most expensive bullpen in baseball! ?

Can you really blame them given the history? We're not talking Yankees, Cardinals, Dodgers, Braves et al are we? You make some valid points. But the shortcoming are also becoming apparent, a bullpen that appears shaky and won't be getting help until May at the earliest, more "baseball stupid" baserunning and a lack of any clutch hitting with men on base. Time will tell which side turns out to be more accurate. I honestly hope you are right...we'll see.

Could Robert's wrist still be bothering him? I agree I'd love to get a split in Houston but Clevinger pitches Sunday and he hasn't been impressive shall we say in the spring.

According to Retrosheet.com his BFW for seven full seasons is only 2.6, he's had one very good season 2019 (4.4), other than that? Perfectly mediocre with two years of a negative rating. Like you say the eyes tell you a lot.

Names from the past, that was Kenny Williams doing. ?

Fair point. We'll see, the April schedule is difficult and the bullpen won't be getting any help for awhile so they'll have to perform better.

As many stat based folks will tell you (and I'm not one of them, I don't understand many of them) WAR isn't the be all/end all. Leury Garcia had a positive WAR for a number of years, was he a good player? Be honest. Moncada isn't the answer, in many respects his limitations and his lack of baseball sense (getting thrown out at third with no outs being the latest example) is hurting this team. He isn't the only reason, of course, but in my opinion he's a big part of things.

Who said anything about getting something good? Trade him for anything just to get rid of his salary. Maybe another organization can get through to him. After five years now I suspect nothing is going to change with this guy. Like the song said, "Whatcha see is whatcha get."

It wouldn't be ideal but the impression I get with Burger is that at least he gives a damn. “The problem is some of these guys just don’t care, they want to win sure but they already have gotten their money with these contracts before they proved anything. Moncada would strike out and just walk back to the dugout like no big deal, he fouls a ball off and now he can’t play for three days? His contract makes him untradable but he needs to go.” "Another one was the Triple Play Game against the Twins. (Author’s Note: The Sox ran themselves into an 8-5 triple play on July 4. They wound up losing the game 6-3 in extra innings) Adam Engel faced the music afterwards, he made a mistake and owned up to it. Moncada who also made a mistake was nowhere, he was already gone. Then the next day he was saying that he didn’t know people wanted to talk with him.” “It could happen, maybe there’s a 5% chance this front office could get it right. But first the front office has to admit they made mistakes. The catcher (Yamani Grandal), third baseman (Moncada) and shortstop (Tim Anderson) need to go. They need to get guys with a higher baseball acumen, the lack of urgency, the way they beat themselves this season was embarrassing."

Who said anything about cutting him? "Cut" means simply getting rid of him, trade him for anything you can get. Reading is a skill sir. Try it some time.

Which frankly isn't saying much is it... based on the predictions. Moncada's career has been one big tease, all the talent in the world, always an excuse for it not to be realized.

Typical Moncada game...strikes out multiple times in key situations with runners on base...makes a big error and then after striking out walks gingerly back to the dugout like he's been seriously hurt. Somehow, someway as I was told in November by sources the Sox need to cut bait with this guy. Bullpen again fails in the later innings. Ruiz has more lives it seems then Leury Garcia. Why he is on the team still is beyoind me.

April 1, 1975 - It was an indication of how bad off the Sox were financially. On this day Ed Herrmann, one of the top catchers in baseball and an All-Star, was traded to the Yankees for four minor league players and cash. The reason? According to Herrmann it was because he wanted a two-thousand dollar raise! In six full years with the team Herrmann averaged a little over 11 home runs and there were few, if any, better at blocking home plate, thus earning him the nickname of “Fort” Herrmann. The four minor league players acquired never played a single day in a White Sox Major League game. April 1, 2011 – The White Sox started the season with a torrent of runs in blistering the Indians 15-10 in Cleveland. It was the second highest total of runs scored on opening day in franchise history. The record is 17 runs on opening day beating the Browns 17-3 to start the 1951 year. The Sox led 14-0 after the first five innings. Carlos Quentin drove in five runs and newcomer Adam Dunn knocked in four.

Yet somehow after 10 years in charge with only two winning seasons (and they weren't always trying to 'tank") he still has a job. Can't imagine any other organization keeping a guy with a track record like that.

Given the G.M. did little to bolster the rotation depth this off season, to me that would be robbing Peter to pay Paul.