White Sox Spring Training Thread

[Chicago White Sox]

7 hours ago, Sleepy Harold said:

 

Woof...those INTL slots for relief prospects has not worked out for us.

[chitownsportsfan]

1 hour ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2020/2/18/21142435/white-sox-prospect-andrew-vaughn-analytics

Thought this was interesting.

I have said before that there are a lot of players who have no desire to use analytics because their entire lives they've done this game on comfort, feel and reaction. It appears Andrew Vaughn is one of those guys. 

you got a swing like that kid might not be the worst idea in the world.  

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

10 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

you got a swing like that kid might not be the worst idea in the world.  

Funny thing is his swing is mechanically fantastic and about as perfect as you could teach. 

He jokes that his father taught him all the same things that tech is being used to assist with - like his ass down.

What vaughn will use analytics for is to determine how he's being attacked and when. I doubt he ever changes much about his swing or feel at the plate. 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[chitownsportsfan]

1 hour ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Funny thing is his swing is mechanically fantastic and about as perfect as you could teach. 

He jokes that his father taught him all the same things that tech is being used to assist with - like his ass down.

What vaughn will use analytics for is to determine how he's being attacked and when. I doubt he ever changes much about his swing or feel at the plate. 

Dan Z agrees with you on Robert:

Luis Robert, CF, Chicago White Sox

There’s no major disagreement about Luis Robert between silicon and flesh-and-blood, but there’s one tidbit I didn’t talk about in the White Sox’s team post, one that could make Robert underrated, even at No. 4: defense. ZiPS projected Robert as a rather prosaic +4 defensive center fielder in 2019, but this is due in large part to the fact that ZiPS is designed to take its defensive estimates with a large grain of salt. In the 2019 numbers, which are generated from calculating catch probability for every ball based on Gameday location and velocity description, Robert’s defense broke out, to the tune of +20.9 runs across multiple outfield positions, second in the minor leagues only to Michael Siani. He was only +3 in 2018, and it’s reasonable to be suspicious of one-year minor league defensive numbers, but the potential of level of production being real is what could drive Robert to a shockingly good rookie season (and career).

[Moan4Yoan]

More evidence that SoxTalk posters know more than Bruce Levine...

On The Score this morning, Mike Mulligan asked Bruce Levine if the Sox could hold Kopech back in the minors until May 29th to regain some of his service time.  I assume Mulligan heard this from a Sox fan caller or texter.  Levine responded that they already started his clock so he had no clue on how that would work but he then said he would try to get an answer.  He literally had no clue.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Moan4Yoan

[SoxAce]

12 minutes ago, Moan4Yoan said:

On The Score this morning, Mike Mulligan asked Bruce Levine if the Sox could hold Kopech back in the minors until May 29th to regain some of his service time.  I assume Mulligan heard this from a Sox fan caller or texter.  Levine responded that they already started his clock so he had no clue on how that would work but he then said he would try to get an answer.  He literally had no clue.

I bet Kevin Dziepak knew. By far the smartest guy on that morning station. 

[soxfan49]

Things going smoothly for Machado already. From the Athletic:

No profession asks “what have you done for me lately” as often and as caustically as professional sports. Last season, Machado logged a .796 OPS, including a .653 mark between August and September. He fell short of Gold Glove contention. Although he denied that his effort waned as the season spiraled and the games became increasingly irrelevant, people in the organization saw cause for some concern. Machado’s teammates slumped along with him, but his compensation dwarfed theirs. As a result, outside of San Diego, he is no longer a consensus top-10 player. Yet there is plenty of reason to believe he could return to form.

Machado has been an All-Star at age 21, 23, 24 and 26 and a Gold Glover in two of those seasons. He does not turn 28 until July. And before the final two months of 2019, he was sitting on an .863 OPS, having overcome a flat start at the plate. On Tuesday, he spoke of the benefits of a routine offseason. Unlike last winter, he did not have to balance preparation with the burden of free agency, and he reported to camp several days early for a position player. He looks noticeably leaner and more defined. When a reporter suggested as much, he offered a snappy retort.

“Lose weight? Naw, man,” he said. “I’m swole as hell.”

As he has before, Machado acknowledged he was coming off a desultory season. He spoke of learning from mistakes, of returning to fundamental baseball, of growing and trying to help those around him do the same, of finding his old, productive self. Yet he radiated confidence in his ability. He does not believe he will have to dig for it.

“I don’t need to show anybody,” Machado said. “They know who I am. They’re still afraid of me when I step in the box, no matter if I’m hitting .300 or if I’m hitting .500. I’ve just got to go out there, do my thing, keep being the best player I can possibly be, the best teammate I can be. At the end of the day, it’s about winning ballgames, and with the ballclub that we have here, we’re confident that we can go out there and surprise a lot of people.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

15 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Dan Z agrees with you on Robert:

Luis Robert, CF, Chicago White Sox

There’s no major disagreement about Luis Robert between silicon and flesh-and-blood, but there’s one tidbit I didn’t talk about in the White Sox’s team post, one that could make Robert underrated, even at No. 4: defense. ZiPS projected Robert as a rather prosaic +4 defensive center fielder in 2019, but this is due in large part to the fact that ZiPS is designed to take its defensive estimates with a large grain of salt. In the 2019 numbers, which are generated from calculating catch probability for every ball based on Gameday location and velocity description, Robert’s defense broke out, to the tune of +20.9 runs across multiple outfield positions, second in the minor leagues only to Michael Siani. He was only +3 in 2018, and it’s reasonable to be suspicious of one-year minor league defensive numbers, but the potential of level of production being real is what could drive Robert to a shockingly good rookie season (and career).

Yeah, I think I've been pretty adamant that Robert has the highest floor of any prospect in baseball - I'd put him ahead of Wander because Wander hasn't gotten past A ball yet. This is exactly why I felt people saying Robert had a lot of risk attached were just wrong. I don't want to say his floor is Mike Cameron - because Cameron is just below HOF level player - but that's around where it is. He doesn't have the OBP skills of Mike (pertaining to walk rate), but he has more raw power. Robert's defense and baserunning could realistically be worth 3 fWAR alone, meaning if his bat plays even to average or above, he's a 5 fWAR player year in and year out. I had been following/reading/analyzing Robert's defense for the previous year - as Dan noted, they track defense via gameday and etc - and I had said I had Robert as the best defender in the minor leagues last year. Apparently, I was wrong as Dan had him as the second best but that is just semantics. I don't think Sox fans realize how fun it is going to be to watch this guy play CF. I just hope he doesn't get hurt playing out there because he covers so much damn ground, and he runs through everything regardless of where it's hit. I'd argue, and some would contest, that Robert is a better defensive outfielder than Engel and Sox fans have loved watching Adam. Robert looks so effortless out there. As a life long Center Fielder myself, the only better defensive CF prospects I can remember in my lifetime are:

1. Byron Buxton

2. McKay Christensen

3. Kevin Keirmeier

4. Andruw Jones

Robert is comparable to all of them, but he hasn't done it professionally for as long as those guys had by the team they debuted. It's a damn shame Chistensen just couldn't hit so he never played enough games to actually analyze his defensive metrics in the big league. They were just blah for his SSS, but he was spectacular in the minors and that catch he made in the big leagues, diving head first over his left shoulder onto the warning track, was still one of the best catches I've ever seen in my life.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 hour ago, soxfan49 said:

Things going smoothly for Machado already. From the Athletic:

No profession asks “what have you done for me lately” as often and as caustically as professional sports. Last season, Machado logged a .796 OPS, including a .653 mark between August and September. He fell short of Gold Glove contention. Although he denied that his effort waned as the season spiraled and the games became increasingly irrelevant, people in the organization saw cause for some concern. Machado’s teammates slumped along with him, but his compensation dwarfed theirs. As a result, outside of San Diego, he is no longer a consensus top-10 player. Yet there is plenty of reason to believe he could return to form.

Machado has been an All-Star at age 21, 23, 24 and 26 and a Gold Glover in two of those seasons. He does not turn 28 until July. And before the final two months of 2019, he was sitting on an .863 OPS, having overcome a flat start at the plate. On Tuesday, he spoke of the benefits of a routine offseason. Unlike last winter, he did not have to balance preparation with the burden of free agency, and he reported to camp several days early for a position player. He looks noticeably leaner and more defined. When a reporter suggested as much, he offered a snappy retort.

“Lose weight? Naw, man,” he said. “I’m swole as hell.”

As he has before, Machado acknowledged he was coming off a desultory season. He spoke of learning from mistakes, of returning to fundamental baseball, of growing and trying to help those around him do the same, of finding his old, productive self. Yet he radiated confidence in his ability. He does not believe he will have to dig for it.

“I don’t need to show anybody,” Machado said. “They know who I am. They’re still afraid of me when I step in the box, no matter if I’m hitting .300 or if I’m hitting .500. I’ve just got to go out there, do my thing, keep being the best player I can possibly be, the best teammate I can be. At the end of the day, it’s about winning ballgames, and with the ballclub that we have here, we’re confident that we can go out there and surprise a lot of people.

Machado is an asshat; he was an asshat in Baltimore; he was an asshat in LAD; he is an asshat in SD. 

His effort has been called into question multiple times in his career; although, those corresponded with losing teams and seasons, something the White Sox were not planning to have a lot of had they signed Machado. 

His attitude has always been self centered, and his actions have always been self fulfilling. This is nothing new; everyone knew this about Machado, which is why some were likely not interested. While many ballplayers have career years before FA, you could bet that Machado would be one before it even happened. Expecting Machado to return to that level of commitment and dedication after being signed was never a guarantee. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[Tnetennba]

 

[mqr]

Just put in the PTO for opening day. So I'm ready to skip right past this spring training thing. 

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

I just saw a picture on the White Sox instagram and eloy looks FAT AS HELL! I know he's no body builder but my god does he appear out of shape.  Anyone with knowledge of this, or heard/seen anything similar?

Edited February 19, 2020 by cjgalloway

[flavum]

2 minutes ago, cjgalloway said:

I just saw a picture on the White Sox instagram and eloy looks FAT AS HELL! I know he's no body builder but my god does he appear out of shape.  Anyone with knowledge of this, or heard/seen anything similar?

Was he standing next to Robert in the picture?

[Balta1701]

5 minutes ago, cjgalloway said:

I just saw a picture on the White Sox instagram and eloy looks FAT AS HELL! I know he's no body builder but my god does he appear out of shape.  Anyone with knowledge of this, or heard/seen anything similar?

 

 

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

No, it was with Abreu... Sorry I can't share it and they're standing, walking in the cage.. massive belly.

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

22 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

 

But yeah.. that's the same instagram account.  Scan the pictures!

[Balta1701]

1 minute ago, cjgalloway said:

But yeah.. that's the same instagram account.  Scan the pictures!

I very clearly have no idea what photo you're referring to as that was the only ST photo of him I saw...but as you can see from my post, if you want to highlight whatever it is that has terrified you, this board will embed the IG image.

[mqr]

13 minutes ago, cjgalloway said:

No, it was with Abreu... Sorry I can't share it and they're standing, walking in the cage.. massive belly.

Pretty sure I know exactly what you're talking about, and I think it was just a bad picture. He looks fine in every other one. 

[Jose Abreu]

1 minute ago, mqr said:

Pretty sure I know exactly what you're talking about, and I think it was just a bad picture. He looks fine in every other one. 

Yeah I agree. My biggest takeaway from Soxfest was actually that Eloy clearly put on muscle

[Dick Allen]

Looks OK to me. Stone said everyone reported in good shape.

 

 

[chitownsportsfan]

Usually you want to report with a little added bulk as the season will grind you down one way or another.  Not worried about any pot bellies on Eloy or Jose.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

32 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Usually you want to report with a little added bulk as the season will grind you down one way or another.  Not worried about any pot bellies on Eloy or Jose.

10-15 pounds shed for a regular PP

20-25 pounds shed by catchers

Typically want to report about 10 pounds over your playing weight (muscle wise) as you won't lift with Much intensity or frequency as the season goes on.

[ChiSox59]

1 hour ago, cjgalloway said:

No, it was with Abreu... Sorry I can't share it and they're standing, walking in the cage.. massive belly.

Lol in what world does that picture describe "massive belly" and 'fat as hell"? I assume you are chiseled crossfit specimen, eh?   

[DirtySox]

Not sure why I'm feeding the shit-poster, but here you go.

[chitownsportsfan]

that's a wall of abs and core muscles half an inch thick surrounded by about 15 lbs of fat.  Eloy looks to be at about 18% body fat that's perfect to start the year.  I mean look at his fucking forearms.  Dude is on a bulk.