OmarComing25

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ May 11, 2016 -> 10:20 AM) The Rangers have won like 20 of 21 starts when Hamels pitches .... so ..... And his control isn't that bad. 4 walks one game. 3 in a few. So not great - but he's also striking out like 7 a game. Among qualified starting pitchers, he's eighth in walk rate at 11.3%, that's pretty bad.

Hamels has had s*** control this year and our offense has been taking a ton of walks the last few weeks.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 11, 2016 -> 09:25 AM) I hope our bats come out. I think if we get the mediocre Latos that would be a good thing and about as much as I could have expected when we signed him. He's doing a good job of pitching, but his stuff isn't good enough to continue to pitch like he did early in the season. Stay healthy and give us quality innings which keep us in the game is what I hope Latos can do. Anything more is gravy. Come on Sox...pick up the pen from last night. Against the Twins last time out his stuff wasn't the problem. His velocity was up near his career averages (even hit 96), and his swinging strike rate was double what it has been this season, and was also in line with his career averages. Control was his big issue, hopefully he has a better handle on it today.

QUOTE (Dunt @ May 11, 2016 -> 09:18 AM) Everyone is acting like the Sox are running into a buzzsaw in Hamels. Sure, he's been a good pitcher in his career, but he's been pretty average so far this season. His BB% is way up, his HR/FB is way up, and his FIP and xFIP are much higher than his ERA. I dont actually know if he's much better than Latos right now in all honesty. I agree, Hamels isn't an ace anymore. And Latos was throwing harder than he has been all season last time out, if he can get some of his control back I think he'll be fine.

It can't come soon enough, differing strike zones is probably my least favorite part of the game. I also hate that pitch framing is a thing, it's baseball's version of flopping.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ May 11, 2016 -> 09:12 AM) It's just a reminder this team still has its mental midgets and I wonder how long it will take for the new players to settle in that same role. Sure it was bad game but even when the team is behind there are people in the pen who will give up a run. Man what a hot take.

QUOTE (oldsox @ May 11, 2016 -> 07:00 AM) Every move Robin made in the 7th and 8th cost us runs. This one is on him. I can't agree, the loss was on the pitchers (and Jackson's poor defense). Robin really didn't have much choice with a gassed pen, Carroll, Duke and Albers should have been able to hold a 5-run lead.

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:51 PM) Really pathetic but Carroll, Duke, and Albers were all pretty terrible. If Jones and Robertson really weren't available then not much you can do. Every team loses a game like this every year. Duke was fine.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:48 PM) If you think after this display this team is going to win anything this year you're out of your mind. Everyone in the pen is overrated, half the rotation is overrated... the pendulum swings back starting tonight and its gonna be f***ing brutal. It was a fun first 40 days, but the party ends now. Sarcasm?

I have a hard time putting this on Robin, we had a 5-run god dam lead, the pitchers f***ing blew it.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 10, 2016 -> 10:19 PM) Minus the fact that they could hit, made the playoffs, have one of the best farm systems in baseball and pushed Toronto to the edge of elimination. Their pitching is really bad though, all around bad.

Yes! Makes me nervous about how Rodon will fare with the long layoff though.

Herrera gave up his first run of the season. 8-7 Yankees in the 8th.

QUOTE (Green Line @ May 10, 2016 -> 07:45 PM) I would be ok with a long rain delay. Not liking the sox mojo to start this game, maybe a couple hours will change things. Not with a tired bullpen.

Damnit that single was just bad luck.

Alright Rodon how about getting ahead in the count this inning?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ May 10, 2016 -> 07:35 PM) Holland is so overpowering He is locating well this inning.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ May 10, 2016 -> 07:24 PM) I'm going to keep saying until you people stroke my ego and acknowledge it: 1 Sale 2 Q (but really a 1) 3 4 Latos 5 Miguel Gonzalez/Carlos Rodon There's a glaring hole on this team. It sort of seems like you want Rodon to struggle.

I don't see what's so controversial about what the author said, the pitch to contact version of Sale is still a very good pitcher, I just think the high strikeout one is more elite. Sale got some bad luck on balls in play last year, and he's got some good luck this year. Yes, the defense is improved, but I still don't expect that .206 BABIP to last. He's getting fewer swings on pitches out of the strike zone this year by a significant amount, and overall hitters are making a lot more contact. That to me is a bit concerning. I know it's due to a shift in strategy and Sale still can go back to using his stuff when he wants to, I'd just prefer he do it more, I think it's a more sustainable strategy going forward. Yeah the ridiculous K numbers didn't lead to such a great ERA last year, but people seem to forget his K numbers were almost just as ridiculous in 2014, and that worked about as well as it could have. I'm not complaining about the results so far, they've been excellent, and if Sale sticks to pitching to contact I think he'll be more than fine, but I just think the high-K version is better.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/chris-sale-new-and-improved/ I have to agree with the author that I prefer the high-strikeout Sale to the pitch to contact version, despite good early results so far. That big drop in swinging strike rate is concerning. I'm not as concerned about the drop in velocity, as his max velocity has remained unchanged, so that seems like it could be intentional by Sale in an effort to switch speeds more often. There's a lot of ball in play jargon in the article, but I thought it was an interesting read.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ May 10, 2016 -> 03:00 PM) And 4 starting pitchers having career years at the same time. I'll give you Buehrle, Garland and Contreras, but Garcia was better in '01 and '04.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 10, 2016 -> 01:47 PM) Sox were picked something like 3rd or 4th going into the season. Fans were really divided on the Pods/Carlos Lee trade. Not a whole lot of optimism pre-season. Bandwagon got rolling early with a hot start. Pretty similar to this year honestly. I still remember watching Sportscenter do their AL Central preview before the season started, and the only team they didn't even mention was the White Sox. Pissed me off.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 10, 2016 -> 01:22 PM) Please tell me we play the Braves this year. July 8th-10th at home right before the All-Star Break. I hope they're still playing like hot garbage then.

QUOTE (shysocks @ May 10, 2016 -> 12:31 PM) Which is true today, but coming into the season very few people would have agreed. Let's see where we're at in July and if short is still our greatest need on offense or if Avi pulls the rug out again and leaves us wanting a DH. We can afford to be patient at SS - the only other contender who would be eager to upgrade there is Washington, if the current landscape holds. The Rays and Tigers have underwhelming guys in Miller and Iglesias, but they're also invested in those guys. Texas won't want to wave the white flag on Andrus yet. Washington will call up Trea Turner at some point, so they're not even really competition for SS upgrades.

QUOTE (oldsox @ May 10, 2016 -> 11:55 AM) His WHIP took a beating last two games. Yesterday, 2 runs. Previous outing, he gave up a hit and a walk in one scoreless inning. He looked shaky to me. So he's looked shaky for two whole days, big deal. That happens occasionally to literally every pitcher.