OmarComing25

Offense has had rough luck with flyballs this year.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Apr 15, 2016 -> 12:31 PM) Do the Cubs have the easiest schedule to start the year? D-Backs, Reds, Rockies, Cardinals, Reds, Brewers, Braves to start the year. That is down right laughable Nationals. Braves, Marlins, Braves, Phillies, Marlins, Twins, Phillies. Their May is much tougher but April is a joke.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 04:43 PM) Didn't he have a great start last year there except for giving up the homer to Asdrubal? Or was that a different year? Oops, I was thinking of the start against Archer in Chicago when Sale gave up 7 runs, thought that was in Tampa.

I think this is the scenario I'd like to see play out this year: Cubs win 112 games, Arrieta repeats as Cy Young, Bryant/Rizzo wins MVP, hype is at maximum power. Mets beat the Pirates in the Wild Card game, then in the first inning of Game 1 of the NLDS midseason pickup David Murphy hits a 2-run homerun off Arrieta. Immediately everyone goes "god damnit not again" as the Mets proceed to beat them in 3 in similar fashion to last year. Meanwhile the Sox get into the playoffs as the second wildcard, and ride the top of their rotation to the World Series in close series against the Royals and Red Sox. Then the Sox win in 6 against the Giants (beating up Samardzija twice), breaking the even year bulls*** and causing everyone in Chicago on both sides to go apes***.

I hope Sale doesn't pitch like he did last year in Tampa.

With the way he's been pitching this season, I'm almost disappointed we won't see Archer tomorrow.

Already more wins in Minnesota in 2016 than in 2015.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 03:53 PM) With Latos looking great so far (know he won't be this good all year) and the Sox being pleased with Gonzalez so far, is there any legitimate chance Danks can be cut at some point? If he stinks up the joint, I don't see why not, especially if we're contending.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 03:17 PM) Good ol smoke and mirrors show so far. He did get the fastball up to around 92 today, so that's really encouraging. He's obviously not going to keep his ERA under 1, but I don't think he's a ticking time bomb either. His offspeed stuff has been working great, and his control has been pretty solid. If he pitches the way he has the first two starts, he should be fine as a 4th starter.

Velasquez with a complete game shutout against the Padres. 16 Ks.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 02:24 PM) Good chance there's not a higher leverage out for the rest of the game Anyway, worked out I'm with you, I hate designated inning roles for relievers. Use your best relievers at the most critical moments.

Detroit bullpen trying hard to blow a 4-run lead.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 02:01 PM) Minnesota is better than we've seen so far. I hope their funk lasts another 3 innings because the pendulum is gonna swing back hard. I don't buy it. Yeah they're not 0-8 bad but that doesn't mean they're going to have a hot streak to "even things out", it doesn't work that way. They're bad. They were lucky to win as many games as they did last year. They pretty much need Sano, Buxton and Berrios to be superstars if they're going to contend.

On Game Day both those called strikes looked like balls.

Higher velocity and more strikeouts today is definitely encouraging from Latos.

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 11:49 AM) Holy hyperbole, Batman! How is that hyperbole? Viciedo hit .254/.298/.424 with a 96 wRC+ in his time here, and was worth -0.7 WAR in 1800 PA. Garcia has a line of .261/.310/.382 with an 89 wRC+ and has been worth -2.0 WAR in less than 2/3 of the PA. It's pretty much undeniable that he's been worse than Viciedo. And yes, age is irrelevant when you've shown literally nothing positive in 1000 PA. And he's turning 25 in June, it's not like he just turned 20 or something, he's really not THAT young.

QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 11:24 AM) If the Sox agreed with this, he wouldn't be in the lineup five days a week. Ishikawa or Davidson would be on the 25-man roster instead. I agree that Avi needs to take a big step forward this year, and that's what the Sox are giving him the opportunity to do. If he doesn't show them something this year, he'll probably be dealt for an inconsequential player in the offseason. But I have no problem with the Sox giving a 24-year-old more time to prove himself, particularly when their options are limited. Avi has 1126 PA in his career, his age is irrelevant, he's shown nothing positive so far except for a good outfield arm, which is worthless when the rest of your fielding sucks. Avi thus far has been worse than Viciedo, that's how bad it's been. He doesn't deserve any more time, he should be replaced ASAP, we're wasting AB with him out there right now. He should be below Sands on the depth chart.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 13, 2016 -> 09:46 PM) Is that Melky's first XBH on the season? Yes it is.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Apr 13, 2016 -> 01:36 PM) How many more "proven veterans" will be the obvious solutions? Kenny Williams has tried this approach. And it fails repeatedly. And Cargo, as do most Kenny Williams targets, have massive, glaring warning flags all around them. What were Jose Contreras, Freddy Garcia, El Duque, Dustin Hermanson, Cliff Politte, Jermaine Dye, and AJ Pierzynski if not your despised proven veterans? If you want a non-White Sox recent example, what about Ben Zobrist, Kendrys Morales, Chris Young, and Edison Volquez?

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Apr 13, 2016 -> 08:21 AM) If it was up to you, you'd have 9 youngsters making the minimum salary in the big league lineup instead of the team that the Sox have now. It makes no sense, unless you want to be in an never-ending rebuild. His dream team is 9 mediocre prospects who had middling minor league numbers. Then he gives them each 5000 PA because a handful of players across the league in the past 10 years have had random, unforeseen breakouts so that will surely happen with these guys, if you only give them enough time. But if a breakout does happen to one of these players, you have to trade him, because he's now become a "hero", and those are bad.

The latest episode of Better Call Saul was fantastic all around. I know some of you think Jimmy's story is boring this season but I've enjoyed the slow burn of it, the payoff is worth it and Kim is awesome. Mike was great as usual too.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 12, 2016 -> 09:08 PM) Then, AustinIllini, why are you so frustrated when Melky is batting but not frustrated when Frazier/Rollins bats? What stat are you using that makes them better than Melky so far? OmarComing25, the reason I used BA is because I assumed that's what AustinIllini was using, but I guess he wasn't. Despite a solid OBP of .345 and average of .269 so far, Melky's OPS is just .614, because he has yet to hit for any power. Frazier on the other hand has an OPS of .706, his OBP and AVG are ugly right now but that's mostly due to his unlucky .182 BABIP in a short sample size, despite hitting a bunch of line drives (25% LD rate). I think Melky will hit for more power and I think Frazier will have more batted balls fall in for hits. But it's just 7 games. Should the Angels be worried about Trout (.217) or the Braves be worried about Freeman (.111)?

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 12, 2016 -> 05:11 PM) Ishikawa is awful. The fact he's even being mentioned is laughable. He's only being mentioned because Avi is that bad. You might think it's laughable but he's likely an upgrade (however slight it is) over Garcia. DH is a big hole right now.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 12, 2016 -> 06:29 PM) Right, it's frustrating when we get to Melky and his .269 BA, but it's not frustrating when Rollins (.160) or Frazier (.207) are batting. Makes sense We're 7 games into the season, using batting average as an argument makes no sense. But even if you're going that route, Frazier's .207 is still better than Melky's .269. Melky has only hit singles so far, Frazier has multiple hits for extra bases. Prime example of why batting average kind of sucks as a stat.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 12, 2016 -> 12:58 PM) No, I was referencing the Ishikawa references from page 1. I don't know if he'd really hit RHP better than Avi. There's a reason the guy averages about 50 plate appearances per season since 2012. Sure there's no guarantee but Avi's splits are pretty awful against RHP, and the sample size isn't exactly small. It wouldn't take much to outdo them.