White Sox Winner!!

[bmags]

8 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

 7-9 with a -20 differential at the 10% mark of the year.  Played mostly bad teams.  Let's slow the "this team can contend" stuff.  This is still a 75 win team.  It's always been.  But so far the right players are contributing which makes it better.

This is true. I’ll give some credit to opponents though, Seattle was a buzzsaw that did it to more than the Sox. They are only now starting to cool down (started 13-2! Sox at least stole 1 vs them), and Tampa’s pitching start pegs them to be like the best pitching staff ever so those were happening to more teams than just Sox.

so it will be fun if we can watch some nice wins vs AL Central this next few weeks.

[SonofaRoache]

9 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

Dare I say the Sox might be competitive this year??? 

It would be nice, but still unlikely. Had we replaced Sanchez with Machado and Palka with Joc, I'd agree with this. 

[Jack Parkman]

58 minutes ago, bmags said:

This is true. I’ll give some credit to opponents though, Seattle was a buzzsaw that did it to more than the Sox. They are only now starting to cool down (started 13-2! Sox at least stole 1 vs them), and Tampa’s pitching start pegs them to be like the best pitching staff ever so those were happening to more teams than just Sox.

so it will be fun if we can watch some nice wins vs AL Central this next few weeks.

They have a plus differential against teams not named the Mariners and Rays. They ran into two hot teams, and they put the asswhipping on the Sox. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by Jack Parkman

[SCCWS]

2 hours ago, hogan873 said:

What a fun game to watch.  Lopez looked really good, his best start of the season.  If he can keep it up, things look a lot better for the team.  Moncada is a beast.  He looks so confident out there, and he's absolutely killing the baseball right now.  Leury looked good; let's hope he can stay healthy.  He could put up some good numbers.  Yonder somehow got four hits and was a triple away from the cycle.  What was impressive was him taking the ball to left field a couple times.  I know he's not a great hitter, but he's not a .180 hitter either.

I think it's time to send Palka down.  He's not seeing the ball and maybe needs to work on his swing in AAA.  I'd rather see Delmonico or Cordell right now.

This team is still not ready to compete.  They need Lopez to do what he did last night every time he pitches, and they need Giolito to look more like the guy from his first start.  That will help.  That and one more solid SP will make this team interesting in the shitty AL Central.  Personally I'm loving the wins, but I'm watching individual performances of the future more.

That is the big take-away. Especially Lopez. I think he is a critical piece of the rebuild since I feel Rodon is quality and Gio is suspect. 

[ptatc]

10 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

 7-9 with a -20 differential at the 10% mark of the year.  Played mostly bad teams.  Let's slow the "this team can contend" stuff.  This is still a 75 win team.  It's always been.  But so far the right players are contributing which makes it better.

We agree on this. The are becoming a better team and playing well against bad teams but they won't contend yet. 75 wins is the ceiling. 

[zisk]

1 minute ago, ptatc said:

We agree on this. The are becoming a better team and playing well against bad teams but they won't contend yet. 75 wins is the ceiling. 

Probably right. At least now there is a reason to watch. Add Cease,Robert ,Madrigal to the mix and look out.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

9 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said:

The New York Yankees aren’t really a shitty team. The Sox flat out outplayed them and their talent last weekend. Yes they’re without Stanton, but they still have a good team. 

The jury is out on the 2019 White Sox, IMO. They could be a 75-80 win team of things start really clicking or they could be a 65-72 win team if things go backwards again soon.

one thing’s for sure - we shouldn’t be hearing any more talk after the last five games about how “historically bad” they will be this season 

I keep looking for the :predict the record after 30 games" thread but I can't find it. I want to say to those who predicted disaster records to know they were wrong the second the Sox pass the predicted wins.

[mqr]

3 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I keep looking for the :predict the record after 30 games" thread but I can't find it. I want to say to those who predicted disaster records to know they were wrong the second the Sox pass the predicted wins.

The 'This is a historically bad team' was such a bad overly debbie downer take to begin with. There are at least 3 teams(probably 4 or 5) that are obviously worse than this one.

Edited April 17, 2019 by mqr

[GreenSox]

The Sox are certainly better than the Marlins, Orioles, Royals and Tigers.  If they can pitch, they may be better than 1/2 dozen others.

I would suggest Delmonico as a replacement for Palka.  He can and does take pitches and walks.

[Dick Allen]

If the Red Sox aren't a juggernaut and the Yankees remain hurt, the AL is kind of like the NBA East. Seattle is playing well right now, but can that last? Tampa looks like a good team, but other than that, who is left other than the Astros? 

Granted they are beating a beat up Yankees team and a horrid KC team, but most of the schedule is like this. They will probably win more games than I thought.

Edited April 17, 2019 by Dick Allen

[GreenSox]

7 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

If the Red Sox aren't a juggernaut and the Yankees remain hurt, the AL is kind of like the NBA East. Seattle is playing well right now, but can that last? Tampa looks like a good team, but other than that, who is left other than the Astros? 

The Indians and their starting pitching. ... good enough to be better than the good lineups and medicore pitching of the As, Twins and Mariners.
But if that pitching falters...

The NL looks decidedly stronger this year.
 

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

8 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

If the Red Sox aren't a juggernaut and the Yankees remain hurt, the AL is kind of like the NBA East. Seattle is playing well right now, but can that last? Tampa looks like a good team, but other than that, who is left other than the Astros? 

Granted they are beating a beat up Yankees team and a horrid KC team, but most of the schedule is like this. They will probably win more games than I thought.

And...Cleveland has regressed even more than I anticipated. I didn’t think their fall would really hit hard until next year but that team is more vulnerable now than any time over the past 4 years. I don’t think the Twins are a good team but they just might take the division this year, especially if Lindor struggles with injuries for a better part of the season.

[Harry Chappas]

The flip between AL and NL over the past four years is amazing.  

[bmags]

AL East is about one year away from being awesome again though (in the same way NL East is, bal/mia in same position).

Angels have started drafting better and have Trout longterm (and ohtani).

Central seems pretty weak for a while but I like Minnesota's new front office.

[Jack Parkman]

14 hours ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

@Balta1701 strongly disagreed with me last week but this version of the White Sox is the 2013/2014 Cubs. Chance to be very competitive in 2020 with a strong offseason and contention window should open in 2021 regardless.The signs are there whether people want to open their eyes to them or not I don’t know. 

^^^^^

I personally think the pitching is better than everyone thinks. I have a feeling by the end of the season the path to contention will be clear, pitching will no longer be seen as a weakness but a strength, and everyone will be extremely excited about 2020. I could see the Sox winning 80-85 games this year. I could also see them in the 70-75 range. So much of this season depends on continued development from Lopez, Giolito, and Fry, as well as decent pitching from Jones.  Rodon is back, and he should anchor the rotation. It isn't hard to squint and see an 80-85 win team this year. 

This team could either be the 2014 Cubs, or the 2015-16 Astros. Either way the arrow is pointing waaay up. Get pumped, people. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by Jack Parkman

[mqr]

10 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

^^^^^

I personally think the pitching is better than everyone thinks. I have a feeling by the end of the season the path to contention will be clear, pitching will no longer be seen as a weakness but a strength, and everyone will be extremely excited about 2020. I could see the Sox winning 80-85 games this year. I could also see them in the 70-75 range. So much of this season depends on continued development from Lopez, Giolito, and Fry, as well as decent pitching from Jones.  Rodon is back, and he should anchor the rotation. It isn't hard to squint and see an 80-85 win team this year. 

This team could either be the 2014 Cubs, or the 2015-16 Astros. Either way the arrow is pointing waaay up. Get pumped, people. 

I would like to see at least a couple months of Moncada looking very good before I get too far ahead of myself. 

[Jack Parkman]

8 minutes ago, mqr said:

I would like to see at least a couple months of Moncada looking very good before I get too far ahead of myself. 

Yeah, we have to see this for a larger chunk of the season, but should the early trends continue this is looking very positive. It seems everything that went wrong the last two seasons is going right this season. TBH I think the bullpen could be really good this year. Fry got lit early? So what. When a pitcher has a bad outing early in the season his stats make him look worse than he actually is. You could say the same for Giolito and Lopez. I've liked what I've seen from Giolito so far and from Lopez yesterday. I think the results will be there soon enough for both guys. 

This might be crazy, but Hahn could end up looking like a genius not signing Machado and maintaining payroll flexibility if this season goes well. Harper OTOH....

Edited April 17, 2019 by Jack Parkman

[mqr]

2 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Yeah, we have to see this for a larger chunk of the season, but should the early trends continue this is looking very positive. It seems everything that went wrong the last two seasons is going right this season. TBH I think the bullpen could be really good this year. Fry got lit early. So what. When a pitcher has a bad outing early in the season his stats make him look worse than he actually is. You could say the same for Giolito and Lopez. I've liked what I've seen from Giolito so far and from Lopez yesterday. I think the results will be there soon enough for both guys. 

More specifically, I just wanna see him cool off and readjust. Though winning an MVP would be cool.

[Jack Parkman]

1 minute ago, mqr said:

More specifically, I just wanna see him cool off and readjust. Though winning an MVP would be cool.

It is going to be really hard to win an AL MVP for the foreseeable future. There is this guy named Trout that plays in that league. 

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

23 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

^^^^^

I personally think the pitching is better than everyone thinks. I have a feeling by the end of the season the path to contention will be clear, pitching will no longer be seen as a weakness but a strength, and everyone will be extremely excited about 2020. I could see the Sox winning 80-85 games this year. I could also see them in the 70-75 range. So much of this season depends on continued development from Lopez, Giolito, and Fry, as well as decent pitching from Jones.  Rodon is back, and he should anchor the rotation. It isn't hard to squint and see an 80-85 win team this year. 

This team could either be the 2014 Cubs, or the 2015-16 Astros. Either way the arrow is pointing waaay up. Get pumped, people. 

The outlook on the 2019 season would have been much different if Kopech was in the rotation instead of Nova/Santana with Cease waiting in the wings. That’s why his injury was so devastating.

[Jack Parkman]

2 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

The outlook on the 2019 season would have been much different if Kopech was in the rotation instead of Nova/Santana with Cease waiting in the wings. That’s why his injury was so devastating.

We all know that Kopech getting hurt sucked. If his elbow was going to go, I'm glad it happened early in the process during a non-competitive season than during the midst of the window. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by Jack Parkman

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

1 minute ago, Jack Parkman said:

We all know that Kopech getting hurt sucked. If his elbow was going to go, I'm glad it happened early in the process during a non-competitive season than during the midst of the window. 

I would agree with that. Just hope he comes back the same guy.

[Balta1701]

19 hours ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

@Balta1701 strongly disagreed with me last week but this version of the White Sox is the 2013/2014 Cubs. Chance to be very competitive in 2020 with a strong offseason and contention window should open in 2021 regardless.The signs are there whether people want to open their eyes to them or not I don’t know. 

That was not in the least what I said in reply to you, not even close.

What I asked in reply was - is this the 2013 Cubs or the 2014 Cubs? Because the 2013 Cubs were still down at the bottom. The players who had "arrived" were guys like Castro that they were better clearing out. Only like 1 guy on the 2013 Cubs to open the season made an impact on their playoff team, and that was Rizzo. If the 2019 White Sox are the 2013 Cubs, then you're saying that only 1 or 2 guys from our roster will still be here when this team turns around.

For the 2014 Cubs - a lot of pieces had arrived. They stole Arrieta, Soler and Baez made appearances, Hammel and Hendricks were there, they traded for Russell mid-season. So they still had work to do, they did a lot of work during that season, Bryant wasn't there yet, but they were pointing in the right direction.

So what I said to you was - the 2 years you cite are fundamentally different. If the White Sox are the 2013 Cubs, then basically Eloy is the only one here who will be on our next decent team. If they're the 2014 Cubs, then they're at least pointing in the right direction. So your choice of years includes 2 very different teams, one of them bottoming out with a bunch of failures, one pointing in the right direction. 

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

57 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

That was not in the least what I said in reply to you, not even close.

What I asked in reply was - is this the 2013 Cubs or the 2014 Cubs? Because the 2013 Cubs were still down at the bottom. The players who had "arrived" were guys like Castro that they were better clearing out. Only like 1 guy on the 2013 Cubs to open the season made an impact on their playoff team, and that was Rizzo. If the 2019 White Sox are the 2013 Cubs, then you're saying that only 1 or 2 guys from our roster will still be here when this team turns around.

For the 2014 Cubs - a lot of pieces had arrived. They stole Arrieta, Soler and Baez made appearances, Hammel and Hendricks were there, they traded for Russell mid-season. So they still had work to do, they did a lot of work during that season, Bryant wasn't there yet, but they were pointing in the right direction.

So what I said to you was - the 2 years you cite are fundamentally different. If the White Sox are the 2013 Cubs, then basically Eloy is the only one here who will be on our next decent team. If they're the 2014 Cubs, then they're at least pointing in the right direction. So your choice of years includes 2 very different teams, one of them bottoming out with a bunch of failures, one pointing in the right direction. 

You conveniently left out the part of your response where you implied the Sox are not seeing progress from their young core:

”The White Sox are like the 2014 Cubs in 1 way - a lot of the young guys they're relying on are now here and called up. They're not all here, but for the Cubs, they were legitimately seeing progress. If we're like the 2014 Cubs, we should be seeing progress. If we're like the 2013 Cubs, then we have a handful of scraps that we'll eventually need to trade, and we will need to basically replace everything on the roster before we're in place to do any damage. 

So the question is - are the guys who are here trending upwards?”

The reason this Sox team is a mix of the two cubs teams and not just 2014 alone is because we also have elements (e.g., scraps) of that 2013 cubs team that need to be replaced and/or traded this July before competing starting in 2020/2021 - Herrera, Colome, Nova, Alonso, etc. That’s why I said 2013/2014 rather just one of those two.

Edited April 17, 2019 by JUSTgottaBELIEVE