VAfan Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 So far, the Sox have played terribly. The only pitchers in their vaunted bullpen doing their jobs have been Crochet and Kopech. Every other bullpen pitcher has pitched poorly or helped blow a lead. The only hitter doing really well is Yermin Mercedes. Anderson has been bad. Grandal marginal. Abreu okay, but not usual Abreu. Robert better than last September, but not where he needs to be. And Moncada has been awful. Eaton has been okay, but he can't carry the ballclub. Nor can Madrigal or Garcia or Billy Hamilton. Vaughn hasn't done anything yet in limited action, nor has Collins. The starting pitchers have done decently, except for Keuchel, and that's the only game we've won. I could second guess several of LaRussa's moves, especially some of his bullpen choices. And yet, if we were playing to the norms we expect from this team, we could be 4-0 instead of 1-3. I'm not sugarcoating things. This is not how I expected the Sox to play to start the season. And, without Eloy, the team is going to be challenged. It's not going to cruise to as many easy victories as we had last year. But I do expect the Sox to sharpen up. No one picked the Angels for the West. But that lineup looks very dangerous to me. It's going to come down to their pitching. The point is, we didn't lose these games to a patsie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 This feels too desperate for our results against a team we were supposed to be better than entering the season. We can make excuses or we can be accountable for results. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAfan Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 2 hours ago, caulfield12 said: This feels too desperate for our results against a team we were supposed to be better than entering the season. We can make excuses or we can be accountable for results. Of course everyone is accountable. If they don't fix it, then the team will end up where many predicted, with wins in the 80s and possibly missing the playoffs. Long way to go before we'll know. I just want to add here that on the offensive side, the White Sox most need Yoan Moncada to hit like he did in 2019, or better. Whether he's hitting cleanup or #2 or wherever, he's the one player that can help counterbalance the loss of Eloy. So far, he looks pretty lost. Last night he took his walks, but he hasn't come close to hitting the baseball with any authority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmmmmbeeer Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 9 hours ago, VAfan said: No one picked the Angels for the West. But that lineup looks very dangerous to me. It's going to come down to their pitching. The point is, we didn't lose these games to a patsie. This is key, to me. That line-up is dangerous. It's sure as hell not a line-up you give extra outs to, as proven by the 7 unearned runs in 3 games. Our pitchers allowed 19 runs over the course of the 4 games. More than a third of those runs were unearned. You take away those unearned runs, Sox pitching allowed 3rpg against a top line-up in the AL. Not awful by any stretch of the imagination. I do have concerns with our offense, especially with Robert and Moncada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joejoesox Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Moncada is having problems with the fastball, Robert with offspeed stuff, ugh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksnort Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 (edited) Doesn't matter if they are in the games. They need to win. They could, and should, have won 3 of 4 in that series. SP needs to be more efficient, defense needs to be better, and for the love of everything, they need to hit with men on base, with risp. They need timely hitting. If they don't, they're going to continue to lose 1 and 2 run ballgames and it will be the death of the team. I am usually a very optimistic person...but the optics right now look like dogshit and shades of the last 10 years of baseball, minus 2020. It's early, certainly not time to panic or jump ship, but this is the time to be concerned and not let it get out of control. Edited April 5, 2021 by ScooterMcGee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Deep Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 I have not been happy with our start but this team is too talented and will get this figured out. I'm going to keep the faith and let talent take over. Our bullpen is too good for meltdowns. I think TLR is working through figuring out his arms. Our guys are going to hit. Hopefully TA is day to day and nothing more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Here’s a hot take that won’t surprise anyone...this team is better with Mendick at 2nd base. A few extra singles a week don’t offset horrible base running and choking defense. I still want to know what happened on Fowler’s hit in the 9th. If you’re going to have the same power in games as my 5 year old, you better have more range than my 5 year old. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-Gun Pete Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 9 minutes ago, fathom said: Here’s a hot take that won’t surprise anyone...this team is better with Mendick at 2nd base. A few extra singles a week don’t offset horrible base running and choking defense. I still want to know what happened on Fowler’s hit in the 9th. If you’re going to have the same power in games as my 5 year old, you better have more range than my 5 year old. Huh, I hadn't heard that Madrigal's range was problematic. Or, at least the sample size wasn't yet large enough to determine this. In any case, Madrigal isn't on my list of top 5 issues with this team. [shrugs] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 1 minute ago, Two-Gun Pete said: Huh, I hadn't heard that Madrigal's range was problematic. Or, at least the sample size wasn't yet large enough to determine this. In any case, Madrigal isn't on my list of top 5 issues with this team. [shrugs] His range on that Fowler hit in the 9th was embarrassing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-Gun Pete Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 6 minutes ago, fathom said: His range on that Fowler hit in the 9th was embarrassing I get that. But was it really any worse than Robert's awesome header the other day? In any case, I'm still not convinced that Madrigal is among the top 5 issues with this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 5 minutes ago, Two-Gun Pete said: I get that. But was it really any worse than Robert's awesome header the other day? In any case, I'm still not convinced that Madrigal is among the top 5 issues with this team. No, the header was worse than not getting to Fowler's single, but Madrigal already has a couple - the big error on Thursday was Madrigal's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gusguyman Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 8 minutes ago, Balta1701 said: No, the header was worse than not getting to Fowler's single, but Madrigal already has a couple - the big error on Thursday was Madrigal's. Not to mention Madrigal being completely bailed out by Raisel Iglesias, who had Nicky dead to rights at third after he, yet again, stupidly tried to advance to third. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron883 Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 (edited) 37 minutes ago, gusguyman said: Not to mention Madrigal being completely bailed out by Raisel Iglesias, who had Nicky dead to rights at third after he, yet again, stupidly tried to advance to third. It's mind boggling how many bad base running and fielding gaffes he has had in his very short career. I understand a few, but he has had them with regularity. At what point can we say the scouting reports were wrong and he has a poor baseball IQ? Edited April 5, 2021 by ron883 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Zelig Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 47 minutes ago, ron883 said: It's mind boggling how many bad base running and fielding gaffes he has had in his very short career. I understand a few, but he has had them with regularity. At what point can we say the scouting reports were wrong and he has a poor baseball IQ? Depends who you ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-Gun Pete Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 4 hours ago, Balta1701 said: No, the header was worse than not getting to Fowler's single, but Madrigal already has a couple - the big error on Thursday was Madrigal's. Yeah, Madrigal has to turn his play up a few notches, to be sure. But I'm not nearly as concerned about his play, as I am about other things with this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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