How Concerned Should We Be?

[Flash Tizzle]

By next Sun the weather should be heating up, and we can finally be rid of the cold weather excuse that only affected the White Sox….and not their opponents. 

[CentralChamps21]

Not time to panic yet. Sox can still win 90 games with a .574 win rate the rest of the season. Getting closer to panic time though.

[buckweaver]

Among the best White Sox teams in my lifetime (first to make the playoffs) was the Tony La Russa-managed 1983 "Winnin' Ugly" team. That team was five games under .500 for April and May (20-25), then went 79-38 for 99 total wins and the AL West title. If replay was in effect then, the Sox would have had 100 wins...a Carlton Fisk homer called a double (I think against the Orioles, but I could be mistaken) would have been overturned, and the Sox would have won that game (famous for Tony pulling 3b out and tossing it during a heated argument) that went into the books as an extra-inning loss. Our team hasn't been much fun to watch the past two weeks...but I'm hopeful and cautiously optimistic. Baseball is a streaky sport.

[southsider2k5]

I will say this much.  It might well be another false start, but yesterday that 5 run ninth was the first time all season I really saw some fight and fire from these guys while facing adversity.  Sure they have had stretches where things have gone well, but it was the first time they have fought back after things looking bad.  This team all year has rolled over and played dead at adversity.

Hopefully it is a sign that something finally clicked yesterday.

[southsider2k5]

On 5/2/2022 at 10:31 AM, southsider2k5 said:

I will say this much.  It might well be another false start, but yesterday that 5 run ninth was the first time all season I really saw some fight and fire from these guys while facing adversity.  Sure they have had stretches where things have gone well, but it was the first time they have fought back after things looking bad.  This team all year has rolled over and played dead at adversity.

Hopefully it is a sign that something finally clicked yesterday.

Well 3-0 since the rally.

[Ducksnort]

I'd hate to be a Reds fan right now. Yikes.

[hogan873]

6 minutes ago, ScooterMcGuire said:

I'd hate to be a Reds fan right now. Yikes.

Yeah, that's...a bad team.  They'll be picked clean at the deadline.

[southsider2k5]

31 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Well 3-0 since the rally.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

The next about 2 months looks like their toughest stretch of the season. Excited to see how it goes.

[Harry Chappas]

47 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

 

Has it lit a fire?  The pitching has been much better but the offense is still meh. 

[chw42]

1 hour ago, Bob Sacamano said:

The next about 2 months looks like their toughest stretch of the season. Excited to see how it goes.

And the Twins schedule is super easy for the next few weeks. We gotta stay around .500 until Lynn gets back. 

FanGraphs has the Twins and Sox even in terms of expected wins this year at 85. 

[chitownsportsfan]

I'm a lot less worried after watching some of these pitching performances. There is still a lot of promising young talent on the staff and it's getting better every day. That said, I think 90 wins is the goal now or even 88. Just win the division and go from there.

[ChiSox59]

5 minutes ago, chw42 said:

And the Twins schedule is super easy for the next few weeks. We gotta stay around .500 until Lynn gets back. 

FanGraphs has the Twins and Sox even in terms of expected wins this year at 85. 

It is pretty easy, but the Twins pitching is starting to falter.  I anticipate that continuing to get worse.  But yes, Sox absolutely need to get thru May no worse than a couple games within .500, ideally above. 

Edited May 5, 2022 by ChiSox59

[chw42]

7 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

It is pretty easy, but the Twins pitching is starting to falter.  I anticipate that continuing to get worse.  But yes, Sox absolutely need to get thru May no worse than a couple games within .500, ideally above. 

Bundy is already starting to suck after his nice start. We see this from the Twins quite a bit with some of the cheap guys they sign. They look great for a few starts to start the year and then absolutely collapse. It happened with Happ last year. 

Joe Ryan was never supposed to be this good, but I think he might be better than what a lot of projection systems pegged him as. 

Edited May 5, 2022 by chw42

[ChiSox59]

10 minutes ago, chw42 said:

Bundy is already starting to suck after his nice start. We see this from the Twins quite a bit with some of the cheap guys they sign. They look great for a few starts to start the year and then absolutely collapse. It happened with Happ last year. 

Joe Ryan was never supposed to be this good, but I think he might be better than what a lot of projection systems pegged him as. 

Joe Ryan is a stud.  He's their ace, but similarly to Kopech, he is going to have real inning restrictions.  He's thrown 120 innings or so since 2020.  I suspect he'll tire and also require a good deal of rest as the season wears on.  Not great when you don't have 3 other really good SP like the Sox do. 

You don't see the Rays get fleeced like that very often, but woof.  For 230 poor Nelson Cruz PAs.

Edited May 5, 2022 by ChiSox59

[southsider2k5]

 

[MiddleCoastBias]

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

 

Who's that guy at #2? ?

[caulfield12]

17 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

 

Interestingly not Rodon's slider anymore but his FB.  Has changed so much from when he would deliberately throw in lower 90's under Cooper.

And rookie Ryan up there at #9 with his fastball.  He's still pitching in relative obscurity for now.

Finally, only his wife thought JV would be a strong signing at what the Astros are paying him at 38.  Baseball's version of Tom Brady.

Edited May 6, 2022 by caulfield12

[southsider2k5]

 

[southsider2k5]

 

[JTB]

2 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

 

Those numbers are meaningless without the league wide winning percentages at those benchmarks.  

[zisk]

One reason for optimism. Sox have a legit chance at having a true Big 3 in the playoffs. Only time will tell of course.

From early results though, having to face Cease ,Kopech and Gio 2 times each in a 7 game series could be very scary.

If Lynn comes back to his normal self, He'd be a very strong game 4 starter as well. Gotta make the playoffs first.

Lets get healthy please!

[caulfield12]

56 minutes ago, zisk said:

One reason for optimism. Sox have a legit chance at having a true Big 3 in the playoffs. Only time will tell of course.

From early results though, having to face Cease ,Kopech and Gio 2 times each in a 7 game series could be very scary.

If Lynn comes back to his normal self, He'd be a very strong game 4 starter as well. Gotta make the playoffs first.

Lets get healthy please!

How do they plan on getting Kopech therein terms of his likely innings cap?

Six man rotation seems unwise barring a trade?  Shutting down in the middle of season (and likely pennant race for 2-3 weeks)?  Bullpen work?  Just throwing on the side?

Better be pretty much the opposite of the Carlos "burn him like he's a totally expendable CI on Narcos" Rodon plan.

Edited May 6, 2022 by caulfield12

[Colome's Hat]

So.... knock on wood but I think we were wrong.  May, outisde of the Yankees, is actually a pretty easy month for us.  The Red Sox are a bad and poorly constructed team.  We can give Hahn crap but the fact is, even on paper, the Red Sox are lacking.  Sox can have a big month this month.