daggins Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 It all depends on if he can keep the K rate down. A lot to like on that front so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gusguyman Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 We are so quick to whip ourselves into a negative frenzy when bad things happen that I fully support celebrating this small sample size by Yoan. May as well have fun when the luck is actually going our way. That said, if you (or the team in the extension hypothetical) are trying to put money on something, let's wait until at least May 1st before we start reading into the K-rate etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppysox Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 Extensions are here to stay. Really hard for a mid-payroll team to pay for top end free agents. Tie up that kind of money and years on one player instead of extending your control of Kopech, Cease, Robert, Madrigal, Moncada and others makes no sense to me. The Sale, Q, Eaton deals all worked out well. Only Danks extension was a bomb. I would love for the Sox to follow this path in the future. As a matter of fact--guys like C. Rondon should probably be moved a couple years from end of contract if they are not interested in extensions. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lillian Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 Moncada looks terrific. He seems to understand the inadvisability of taking so many close pitches. Apparently he has taken Abreu's and the coaching staff's advice, to heart. One of the greatest joys of being a fan is watching a talented young player blossom into a star. We could be watching just such a maturation process. Anyone who won't let themselves dream that dream, is missing a lot of fun. Those two balls, which he crushed today were very impressive. We could ultimately be able to look back at the acquisitions, resulting from the Sale, Q and Eaton trades, as having been key to our next World Series Championship. Kopech, Cease, Giolito, Lopez, Dunning, Moncada, Eloy and maybe even Basabe, all have a chance to be significant contributors. It will be very interesting to see how those trades look in another year, or two. Patience is the key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsox Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 Do you ever want to make a post, but do not know where to put it? I'm reaching here, but this thread talks about Moncada, who is playing third because Machado went elsewhere. Okay, have you all seen Manny's latest stunt? Yesterday, 4/2, he is at bat for the team that ripped us off in the Tatis deal, and he pops up in foul territory just to the first base side. Catcher flips off his mask, moves to get under it, and Marvelous Manny drops his bat in front of the catcher, who is looking up at the ball. Ump correctly throws the jerk out of the game. What a toenail. Fockhim. I'm glad he went elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Abreu Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 11 minutes ago, Lillian said: Moncada looks terrific. He seems to understand the inadvisability of taking so many close pitches. Apparently he has taken Abreu's and the coaching staff's advice, to heart. One of the greatest joys of being a fan is watching a talented young player blossom into a star. We could be watching just such a maturation process. Anyone who won't let themselves dream that dream, is missing a lot of fun. Those two balls, which he crushed today were very impressive. We got your left handed power hitter (technically a switch hitter but whatever)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gusguyman Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 16 minutes ago, oldsox said: Do you ever want to make a post, but do not know where to put it? I'm reaching here, but this thread talks about Moncada, who is playing third because Machado went elsewhere. Okay, have you all seen Manny's latest stunt? Yesterday, 4/2, he is at bat for the team that ripped us off in the Tatis deal, and he pops up in foul territory just to the first base side. Catcher flips off his mask, moves to get under it, and Marvelous Manny drops his bat in front of the catcher, who is looking up at the ball. Ump correctly throws the jerk out of the game. What a toenail. Fockhim. I'm glad he went elsewhere. Have you actually seen the video? If you think that is malicious, your mind was already made up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiSox59 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 16 minutes ago, oldsox said: Do you ever want to make a post, but do not know where to put it? I'm reaching here, but this thread talks about Moncada, who is playing third because Machado went elsewhere. Okay, have you all seen Manny's latest stunt? Yesterday, 4/2, he is at bat for the team that ripped us off in the Tatis deal, and he pops up in foul territory just to the first base side. Catcher flips off his mask, moves to get under it, and Marvelous Manny drops his bat in front of the catcher, who is looking up at the ball. Ump correctly throws the jerk out of the game. What a toenail. Fockhim. I'm glad he went elsewhere. This isn’t really what happened. First Machado did not get thrown out. The padres manager did. Machado was called out for interference, but was not thrown out of game. Also I thought it was a terrible call. You made it sound much much much worse than it was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPickle Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Leading baseball in wRC+ at this moment 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron883 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 4 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said: I think Moncada haters are going to eat a lot of crow. Kid has top five in baseball tools with a plus eye. Zero reason he shouldn’t easily be a 5 to 6 win player with the upside for more theoretically. "Easily"? Let's slow our roll here. He is an incredible talent, but being a 5 or 6 win player is not easy, no matter how athletic a guy is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lillian Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I don't think that any of us are extrapolating his numbers from just the first 5 games, to suggest that he will continue at this pace. The point is simply that he has apparently made some important adjustments and that they seem to be working. The kid was the number one prospect in baseball and was signed by Boston, for $31 million, before ever playing a game in America. Excuse us, if we are excited to see him making some positive strides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxfest Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Nice to see Moncada getting better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCCWS Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 I am also impressed that he has taken on a new position and it has not been a distraction. He is hitting the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownsportsfan Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 1 hour ago, TomPickle said: Leading baseball in wRC+ at this moment Rick Hahn's "progress isn't always linear" echoing around the office today no doubt. I'm half surprised Jason didn't manage to get the talking point in. Quote “I always try to be prepared for the fastball,” Moncada said through team interpreter Billy Russo. “I’m aware of the breaking pitches, but I’m prepared for the fastball. My goal is just to hit the fastball because if you’re not prepared for the fastball and the breaking pitches come, you’re going to be late or you won’t be able to adjust. That’s why I’m just always prepared for a fastball, but at the same time I’m aware of the breaking pitch depending on the count and the situation of the game.” Moncada has a .450/.522/.900 batting line, two home runs and as many walks as strikeouts (three) through 23 plate appearances. https://theathletic.com/904426/2019/04/03/yoan-moncada-carlos-rodon-show-more-balanced-approach-in-cleveland/?redirected=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 2 hours ago, gusguyman said: Have you actually seen the video? If you think that is malicious, your mind was already made up. We blew it. A frontal a$$ault would have gotten us Harper, the one of the two I wanted! Harper would be looking might fine in silver and black right now. One of our weaknesses would be FILLED with Harper. The heck with Manny. He needs counseling with all the crap he pulls on a baseball field. That catcher could get HURT there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Moncada is for real. I don't need advanced stats. My eyes told me last year; they tell me this year. Once the umps got over their vendetta calling those balls strikes, his talent would exude. Moncada is a special hitter-to-be. He good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sir Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 1 hour ago, Lillian said: I don't think that any of us are extrapolating his numbers from just the first 5 games, to suggest that he will continue at this pace. The point is simply that he has apparently made some important adjustments and that they seem to be working. The kid was the number one prospect in baseball and was signed by Boston, for $31 million, before ever playing a game in America. Excuse us, if we are excited to see him making some positive strides. This is a solid post. I was a Moncada hater in that I continually stressed last year that he needed to cut down on the Ks. I insisted that if he failed to do that, he would indeed be a bust. Other people correctly pointed out that he K'ed looking too much and that he'd improve as he got a better grasp of the strike zone. It looks like that is happening, because his approach is changed. I don't really care about him being 9-20, because 5 game samples are pointless, but I do care about his newfound aggressiveness early in the count and his lack of Ks so far. Last year, he had two five game stretches where he racked up 9 hits, but he had a total of 17 Ks in 47 PAs during those ten games. The Ks were always there, hot or not. And I think those have dropped this year because of this new approach. I've shared this before, but I'll plug it in again. It's a comp tool I made with Excel where you can plug in PAs, each type of hit, BB-rate, K-rate, and it computes everything else. In this edition, for player A, I inputted Moncada's stats from last year (it's not completely perfect, I don't bother with HBP or SF/SH). For players B, C, D, the only change I made was K-rate (to 25%, 20%, and his current SSS of 16%) and then adjusted his number of singles so that his BABIP matched last year's .341 (which assumes that he doesn't build on last year's XBH numbers at all, which is probably not going to be the case. Either way, his OPS climbs to .770 at 25% k-rate, .803 at 20%, and .833 at 16%. Check it out and play around with it, if interested. Either way, if the Ks come down, he's a star. Player Comp.xlsx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 People talk about his new aggressiveness early in the count but to me his best improvement has been on two strike counts, where he was truly unbelievably bad last year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUSTgottaBELIEVE Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 (edited) 2 minutes ago, bmags said: People talk about his new aggressiveness early in the count but to me his best improvement has been on two strike counts, where he was truly unbelievably bad last year. Yes, it’s been his aggressiveness and decisiveness in all counts, not just early in the count. His entire approach. That’s the turning point if he maintains it. Edited April 4, 2019 by JUSTgottaBELIEVE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 ????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sir Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 9 minutes ago, bmags said: People talk about his new aggressiveness early in the count but to me his best improvement has been on two strike counts, where he was truly unbelievably bad last year. True about how awful he was, but without looking at stats, it seems like he's just not getting into those counts anymore (not as much, anyhow). Last year, he'd take two quick strikes, and I usually just walked out of the room because the outcome was certain at that point. And it happened every freaking day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 3 minutes ago, The Sir said: True about how awful he was, but without looking at stats, it seems like he's just not getting into those counts anymore (not as much, anyhow). Last year, he'd take two quick strikes, and I usually just walked out of the room because the outcome was certain at that point. And it happened every freaking day. Yeah not trying to diminish it it’s just striking, here’s where it’s at now. Last year he was 7 for 130 after an 0-2 count. 0-2 counts accounted for 21% of his PAs. This year he is 2-4 with a double and a home run after an 0-2 count. 0-2 counts account for 22% of PAs. He is doing more damage in all counts, but him turning his production after hitting 0-2 from horrendous to normal bad makes him a much more productive player. SSS and all. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mqr Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 5 hours ago, gusguyman said: We are so quick to whip ourselves into a negative frenzy when bad things happen that I fully support celebrating this small sample size by Yoan. May as well have fun when the luck is actually going our way. That said, if you (or the team in the extension hypothetical) are trying to put money on something, let's wait until at least May 1st before we start reading into the K-rate etc. K-rate is one of the fastest numbers to stabilize and be projectable, normally around 50-60 PAs FWIW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Abreu Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 51 minutes ago, bmags said: Yeah not trying to diminish it it’s just striking, here’s where it’s at now. Last year he was 7 for 130 after an 0-2 count. 0-2 counts accounted for 21% of his PAs. This year he is 2-4 with a double and a home run after an 0-2 count. 0-2 counts account for 22% of PAs. He is doing more damage in all counts, but him turning his production after hitting 0-2 from horrendous to normal bad makes him a much more productive player. SSS and all. I was researching this for a Moncada article that I'm releasing tomorrow but it is also worth mentioning that of those 7 hits last year, 5 were singles and 2 were doubles. As you noted, he has a double and a home run after 0-2 counts this year. So in just 5 games, he has already matched his 2018 season extra base hit total after 0-2 counts. That's not just luck, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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