Dominikk85

Was thinking about that after the Gallegos incident. I always thought every pitcher does that so just let them go and we have a level playing field but I listened to a podcast with eno sarris and eno said he spoke with some guys behind the szenes and it was no longer just good old pine tar but teams are experimenting with different substances, mixing stuff and even use different stuff on different fingers and achieving several hundred more RPM on their pitches. He even talked about minor league teams doing spin clinics where young pitchers are taught how to optimally add substances. I'm not worried so much about cheating but about this being bad for the game as hitters can't handle 3k RPM breaking balls and high spin fastballs thus increasing strikeouts and making games not easier on the eyes. I think we are a a point where the league needs to do something, either control the pitcher before every inning or maybe allow one standardized substance with moderate spin effect that everyone can use. What is your thought?

Yes. Called strike rate is 25% of all pitches vs 16% League average. Since that is on a per pitch base the difference is even more dramatic than it sounds. Called strikes plus swinging strikes is a new Stat that currently is big in the fantasy analytics community for pitchers. Generally it means low swinging strike guys (like grandal) can take more called strikes but there is a limit to that.

Grandals swinging strike rate is excellent at below 8% (league average is 11). However his called strikes+swinging strikes percentage is 33% which is very high (league average 28% and everything over 30% is a red flag). CSW% is highly correlated with K rate so grandal is simply too passive (25% called strikes vs league average of around 16%). That leads to him falling behind too much. Obviously his sw strike rate is artificially lowered by only swinging middle middle, ie he would miss a little more if he covered more of the plate and part of his skill is being selective within the zone because he does have holes in his swing however 38% zone swing rate is just absurdly low (lg average is like 66 or so). Partience is always going a huge part of his game and he never was a guy like prime miggy Cabrera who could could cover all 4 edges of the zone but this year he just is too passive. OBP is Stil good and that is fine but his slugging percentage and average are very bad. He should be patient but that is just too passive.

Yeah I heard that. I think they were well into double digits games until their first win.

The difference is that in that case he would have already demonstrated performance against high level college pitching. That doesn't mean there is no chance he will do that but it is something else when you have shown it then if you maybe do it. If course HS kids now also face some high level competition on showcases and not just their 80mph HS pitchers but not the same sample size and quality as college players. That makes HS players more uncertain to predict. In short in HS players you want upside and room to grow because if you want a mature, present performing player you could take a college player. That doesn't mean polished HS players are bad but you still prefer some room to grow instead of maxed out older guys. Obviously if he did go to college now and raked and then entered the draft as a draft eligible soph his stock would go up but he also would be a different player then because he would have taken part of the bust risk on his own shoulders.

Maybe TLR resigns:)

Yeah, not a big fan what I read here from Montgomery, maxed out body (195lb), old for the class, below average runner doesn't sound great for a HS infielder unless he has insane present Power and advanced hit tool that will play at a corner because the profile sounds like guaranteed shift to a corner.

This guy had an arm bar too:) What I don't like is his lowish walk rare. He always was like 5 to 7%. I would want a college hitter to walk in the double digit range in lower minors and at least 8 to 9 in higher majors.

Only looking at guys that are not in mlb of course (so no Vaughn, madrigal, Mercedes, crochet and kopech even some of them have not exceeded eligibility) , I thought it would be interesting to have it in one thread how they are doing for lazy readers and maybe update every week or two. Jared kelly: He did have a rough start in his First two starts. Positive is 8 Ks in 5 innings but also 9 walks and lots of homers. Not really worried though that early. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jared-kelley/sa3014471/stats?position=DH Benyamin bailey: He has struggled so far with a sub mendoza line average, one Homer and 32% Ks. He is still young though and might some time to adjust to full season A ball https://www.fangraphs.com/players/benyamin-bailey/sa3009343/stats?position=OF Gavin sheets He has been doing well with a 328 avg and 3 homers so far. Both walk and strikeout rate are worse though but he is hitting the ball more in the air which is good but also might be a sign of selling out for power a little. If he can keep those improvements in batted ball quality while getting back his old plate discipline he still probably can be at least a decent 1b prospect albeit likely not with the sox. Adolfo: 4 homers already and actually slightly improved K rate but still 30% and he is old for being that raw. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/gavin-sheets/sa829797/stats?position=1B Burger: Showing some good power and his sub mendoza line average is mostly driven by a super low babip. Not a huge fan of the plate discipline though with low ish walks and Ks up to 24%. You hope for a better k/bb rate from a polished corner only college hitter but it is good he is playing at all after the injuries and doing well. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jacob-burger/sa915698/stats?position=3B No particular order and just did a few I find interesting, feel free to add some more. Probably Thompson an dalquist should be mentioned but I'm too lazy to do them right now:)

Before the season it looked like the NL was stronger but AL had some surprising good teams (especially Boston) and really just one disappointing team (min) while in the NL several teams have been underperforming (dodgers and Mets related to injuries, braves).

Billy is still pretty fast for a 155 year old.

It was OK that Tony was upset he ignored the take sign and it would have been ok to bench him a game for that too, yermin should not have ignored the sign. But it was not good that Tony made that public. 30 years it was normal that coaches roasted players publicly but modern coaches keep that stuff behind closed doors and resolve those issues privately. Tony should have just said "I didn't like it, everything else we will discuss internally" .

Vaughn is really a ball player and outperforms his athletic ability in the field. He is slow but gets the most out of it.

Some season starts by non Sox top prospects Rays guys: Wander Franco had a good start hitting 340 with 3 homers so far. His one flaw was he was hitting too many grounders/too low launch angle kinda Eric Hosmer style but so far this year he lowered his GB rate from high 40s to mid 30s which could make him even better (30 plus bomb guy vs 20s with the old approach) Also interesting is Vidal Brujan, already 23 yo middle infielder who was more of a slapdick contact and run prospect but he seems to have added power and has already hit 5 homers with 15% Ks and 15% walks. Could be a star too if that power stays. Padres guys: Abrams: Has hit 300 with 2 Homers and lots of walks but also a 23% k rate which is probably a bit higher than they hoped for even though of course AA was an aggressive assignment Robert hassell Last years HS draft outfielder has hit 275 with 2 Homers and tons of walks but also 26% Ks which is a bit high even though of course as a HS pick that is totally ok Spencer gore not looking good at all so far in 3 starts, his stock seems to be falling Orioles guys: Adley rutschman: Strange season so far, 20% walk rate and 3 homers already but 25% k rate and 205 avg (partly due to 230 babip) doesn't look so great compared to Vaughn from the same year who is holding his own in mlb. Grayson Rodriguez at 21 in high A looks like a Monster, 1.5 era with a 37% K-bb rate Tigers guys: Torkelson: So far walking a ton but that is the only positive, hitting 160 with no homers and a ton of Ks Pitching prospect Tarik skubal isn't great either so far at a 5 era. Mariners top outfield prospect julio Rodriguez looks good too hitting 327 with 10% walks and 5 homers, 20% k rate is OK too. Bobby witt Jr didn't have a good start hitting 180 with 1 Homer and 29% k

Has nothing to do with Tony, those calls are made from the video room. I guess they figured it would have been "not enough evidence", those calls are only overturned if it is clearly visable that the call is wrong, the video refs don't like changing calls.

If you get a sign by the coach you have to follow it and yermin does seem to have a problem with discipline and authority (not just in this org) but I don't like TLR is discussing this publicly. Just say no comment in this we are handling this internally.

Adam dunn also Still walked 15% in his terrible 2011 year. I think it is several reasons. For one guys like dunn, Santana or grandal just don't chase a lot so the typical in and out approach of pitchers doesn't work so well and you have to beat them in the zone to strike them out. That means pitchers who rely on getting chases will strike them out but also walk them some. Also grandal still has homer power and pitchers hate getting beat by a Homer even if the percentages suggest they should dare the guy to hit. And Lastly unlike the late career Dunn grandal does strike out but it isn't outrageously high so some pitchers probably believe rightfully that a 128 babip isn't his real talent level and that grandal going forward will again be a 20 to 25 Homer guy who hits 240 With good obp

Madribomb is unlocked:). I still don't think he will have big power but I bet he can at least be a 5-8 Homer guy with a few 10s in there going forward with some swing tweaks and a bit more strength.

His chase and swing rate aren't high though and his zone swing rate isn't super high either (60%). The reason he is not getting deeper in counts is that he is not missing pitches. He just needs to hit the ball a little harder.

I didn't like he didn't pinch hit for leury in the 8th. It worked since leury walked but really it should have been collins batting here. Not sure if Tony just looks at collins batting average and thinks "he is not really much better than leury" but collins definitely is a better hitter. Leury is not quite as bad as he showed this year (nobody is a. 500 ops expected guy like he was so far this year) but expected he is a mid 600s ops guy and collins should be an expected mid to high 700s ops guy.

Abreu is a great player but I don't see him making the hall, the bar for first basemen ist incredibly high, you almost have to have 500 homers. The late start in that regard will hurt him. Sure ichiro had a late start too but he was dominating a well regarded league while Abreu was a Cuban legend but the Cuban league is not considered the same as NBP. Plus ichiro still made it to 3k as he played till 45. Abreu will be more like konerko or mcgriff and not make it. The MVP will help some and get him some votes on the ballot but it was a shortened season and I don't think it is enough to clear the bar and make up for the counting stats. Still a white sox legend, hopefully Vaughn will have a similar career and continue to strong relay of Sox first basemen (Thomas, konerko, Abreu then Vaughn).

Abreu ops in april: 690 May: 1.119 Maybe we just have to accept that he sucks in April but now he looks on his was to another really good season. I don't expect this to continue but if he finishes with a 125 to 130 wrc+ I would be happy and not surprised. Also interesting he is walking at a career high 10% albeit I'm not sure this is real as his chase rate is only slightly improved (but in zone swing down a little too).

Collins really looks better at the plate this year. His 103 wrc+ is pretty good for a backup and his xWOBA of 338 is a good bit better than his actual production (314 WOBA). Defensively he is not great of course but for a good hitting backup it is OK. Just wish Tony would use him more to pinch hit instead of batting leury and Billy late in games.

Good outing but 3 walks is a bit much. Stiever has ok stuff but it isn't really plus MLB stuff and if he wants to have a mlb role as a back end starter he needs to keep the walks down.

Zaidi comes from a well off family too though (father was an engineer who had good paying jobs) . Not all minority people are poor and those who do make it to those positions tend to be at least from above average wealthy people.