What The Actual F# Is Wrong With This Team?

[greg775]

10 hours ago, Tnetennba said:

Serious question.  
 

Injuries have totally messed up the team. I'm not worried about the record, I'm concerned injuries "could" totally ruin the rest of this season as well. In the "next man up" scenario I'd still pick regulars and give those new "regulars" the majority of at bats. Work the injured pitchers back in where applicable.

Edited April 24, 2022 by greg775

[chitownsportsfan]

2 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

In reality, the manager looks like he has lost this team.  Abreu is talking about leaving after being a guy who was on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Tim Anderson looks absolutely lost in the field like he has never been in his career and is frustrated and angry.  All of MLB is laughing and mocking the Leury slotting. Our most consistent hitter in Vaughn keeps getting benched as a weak side platoon player. 

The pitching staff has regressed and the guys who aren't good has slid into moments of self destruction on the mound while being left out there to die to cover up for the mountains of injuries. 

They get to see move after move that isn't emphasizing winning,  but some obtuse plan preconceived before the game.  Weak hitters left in games in clutch situations with actual star hitters available, instead of trying to steal wins.

If only we had some sort of Hall of Famer guy in our organization who could get through to these guys.  

On top of that this is a group that seemed to get high on their own supply. Starting huffing a few too many of their own farts. It's one thing to be confident but some of the attitude seems more "I just show up and dominate" than "I respect the talent of the other pros and work each day to best them".

A chip on the shoulder is a good thing for most squads and that was what the club had last year as a unit. This year the vibe is different. And part of that is on the manager.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

4 minutes ago, Flash said:

Respectfully - what positions (non-pitcher) do you favor Sox player vs. Twins?

When both teams are healthy - C, 1b, 3b, LF, RF, DH or 2/3 of the non-pitcher positions.

[greg775]

2 hours ago, Ewick said:

As a life long Sox fan, I gotta say this is the first time I can remember being so uninvested in a regular season.  Maybe it's due to the high expectations of postseason baseball, and now with all the injuries piling up.  Plenty of time to right the ship but being a Sox fan it feels like the glass is always half empty

Baseball has worn me down to where this lifelong Sox fan is also uninvested. I want the Sox to win but a loss no longer ruins my mood/day. Last night while in the car waiting out a hailstorm in a covered parking lot, I watched the end of the Red Sox game. Five pitchers combined for a no hitter. Yawn. Benetti always saying a game was a "thriller" if there's some action at the end of a boring one-run game of lift and pull, work the count and either whiff on a strike three slider, draw a walk or hit a weak pop up after fouling off seven pitches.

Knowing no pitcher has a chance to pitch a gem (complete game? LOL) and the boring hitting philosophies of hitters nowadays ... I just take the results as they come. Baseball is boring. Sox habit is hard to break but I'm not invested emotionally any more. 

That could change I guess as the season heats up, but for me the Sox are no longer "must see TV." Oh for an injury free season, too.

Edited April 24, 2022 by greg775

[greg775]

2 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

This team is just horrible on the road.

Very true about the road. Sox are soooo bad on the road at this early stage of the season. It's horrifying/embarrassing (with the injury caveat always there to consider as a viable excuse).

[Jerry McNertney]

Disliking this team more and more each day. It's not because they're nasty creeps, there are other reasons. I have been a White Sox fan for a LONG time, and I've never seen a more injury-prone group of players in all those years. They're like delicate porcelain figurines. Couple that with a mediocre to poor defense, questionable starters, a shaky bullpen and a badly unbalanced lineup of right handed hitting DH types. I've never liked TLR even back in the 1980's. He's arrogant and out of touch. I still want this team to succeed, but it's difficult watching this mess day-to-day.

 

[The Kids Can Play]

10 hours ago, Tnetennba said:

Serious question.  
 

1. TLR - It was a horrible decision from the start to hire him and it's looking even more like a colossal blunder. Smart and logical owners do not hire their managers. Thank you Jerry! Once and for all we have to get off this rationalizing that TLR is this genius manager. This is 2022 and yes he is in the HOF! However the fact is, he is a shell of the manager that won with the 80's Sox, 90's A's and Cardinals. He is a 77 yr old early dementia manager who talks, acts and thinks like a 87 yr old manager. Personally I think TLR has taken the energy, enthusiasm, "playing loose" and having fun ability away from this team. Why has Tim Anderson made 6 errors in 14 games, when he only made 10 errors all last season? 

2. Major flaw in their off season and in season strength, exercise and stretching program/daily routine! - Hahn, TLR, coaches, medical, strength & conditioning staff, along with the players, did not learn from last season on the importance of proper off-season and in-season conditioning. Eloy and Robert are injured running out ground balls! Pollack on a routine base hit! Moncada injured before the season even starts. Btw, it documented by him and videos seen on You Tube, that Yoan worked out with some professional trainer in the off-season to be able to come to spring training in the best shape ever and be able to make it though an entire season consistently healthy! 

3. Large team payroll (7th) 195 million but not spent effectively! - 18 million to Keuchel is a joke! Other teams didn't spend the money we did, and have better records than the Sox thus far:  Oakland, 29th - 52 million, Cleveland, 27th - 71 million, and Tampa Bay, 25th - 87 million. It begs the question, do we have the right Scouts and Coaches in the minors to recommend to Hahn to draft the right pitchers and develop them effectively in the minors? It's amazing how Cleveland, Oakland and Tampa to name a few, always find and develop good pitchers and never spend the money. Finally when they can't afford to pay them, they just trade them away for future pitching prospects and develop new ones all over again. We all agreed after the season, the Sox needed another quality starter, second baseman and right fielder. There were quality FA starters, 2B's and RF's out there and JR refused to spend the money and go get them.

4. The lack of pitching depth for both starters and relievers - Keuchel is over the hill and not fixable. Regretfully we are suck with him. Oh good news though Sox fans; if Kuechel pitches a 160 innings this year, he is guaranteed 20 million more for 2023! Furthermore, continuing to keep starting Velazquez and thinking he will turn it around, is the pure definition of insanity! Velazquez was a huge mistake to sign in the first place. Go look at his lifetime numbers pitching in the NL minus the DH! Finally, the pitching talent down in the minors is really bad with nothing immediate to bring up. If you don't believe me, just go google the prospect rankings in the minors for all 30 teams, or go check the stats for all four Sox teams in the minors. Hence why we are praying  that a 36 yr old Cueto can help us. Sadly Cueto did get hit fairly hard last night at Charlotte. Hopefully his next outing will be good.

I am a die hard Sox fan like all of you and always will be. This is extremely painful and depressing to watch this great potential team implode like it is. I know many of you will say, I'm panicking and it's only 14 games in and we play 162. However I see flaws in the structure of this team as stated in my points above. I sincerely hope I am wrong though, because I have bets on the Sox winning the AL pennant and WS! LOL!

[The Beast]

Injuries are an issue with Kelly, Lynn, Giolito, Moncada, Robert and Jimenez out. But this team had issues before then with not replacing Rodon properly. Using Velasquez is weak, even if Kopech was supposed to be Rodon’s replacement.

The poor allocation of resources is a problem, as are the players who are underperforming. The manager is a problem, but he will stay until he is dead because of JR being in love with him and trying to correct a decades long mistake. 

What I am hoping for is that they get everyone but Jimenez back and start winning series more often. Then maybe we will see the potential we think the group has when Jimenez comes back. Otherwise I expect to see some turnover next year.

Edited April 24, 2022 by The Beast

[kgrittenburg]

10 hours ago, hi8is said:

1.) injuries 

2.) TLR

3.) bad stretch of baseball, period.

4.) injuries

5.) TLR

oops, I’m repeating myself…

6.) Check back in with me mid May.

you left out defensive play

[hi8is]

14 minutes ago, kgrittenburg said:

you left out defensive play

Covered in number 3.

[GreenSox]

It's a thin team (esp in starting pitching) with injuries.  Well-stocked with utility infielders, though.
The last thing this team needs is for the FO to panic.

[tray]

Sox may have been overrated coming into the season while other teams in the division have improved more than some expected.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

4 minutes ago, tray said:

Sox may have been overrated coming into the season while other teams in the division have improved more than some expected.

Who are these other divisional teams that have improved so much? No team in the division is over .500

[Green Line]

If the Sox win today they're going to be tied for first unless Cleveland comes back from a 6 run deficit.

This division is really bad.  I'd still be shocked if the Sox don't win it easily despite the last weeks shitshow.  Too much talent to not finish with 85 ish wins, even accidentally.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Green Line

[Snopek]

1 hour ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Who are these other divisional teams that have improved so much? No team in the division is over .500

I think the division still mostly sucks and the Sox are clearly the superior team (even with this recent atrocious stretch), but judging the improvement of any team based on 15 games feels premature.

[GradMc]

3 hours ago, greg775 said:

Baseball has worn me down to where this lifelong Sox fan is also uninvested. I want the Sox to win but a loss no longer ruins my mood/day. Last night while in the car waiting out a hailstorm in a covered parking lot, I watched the end of the Red Sox game. Five pitchers combined for a no hitter. Yawn. Benetti always saying a game was a "thriller" if there's some action at the end of a boring one-run game of lift and pull, work the count and either whiff on a strike three slider, draw a walk or hit a weak pop up after fouling off seven pitches.

Knowing no pitcher has a chance to pitch a gem (complete game? LOL) and the boring hitting philosophies of hitters nowadays ... I just take the results as they come. Baseball is boring. Sox habit is hard to break but I'm not invested emotionally any more. 

That could change I guess as the season heats up, but for me the Sox are no longer "must see TV." Oh for an injury free season, too.

I was like that with the Bulls until reality set in as it usually does with Reinsdorf run organizations.

The Bulls were frauds.

CWS are likely too.

But at the end of the day, someone in a position of power always finds himself laughing all the way to a local AZ Bank.

That's what matters.

 

[southsider2k5]

1 hour ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Who are these other divisional teams that have improved so much? No team in the division is over .500

This division is still bad, it's just the Sox have been worse.

[Paulie4Pres]

8 hours ago, Flash said:

Was not referring to how well they get along off the field (if that is what you mean by 'tight knit'). On the field, I see no sense of team spirit and/or combined purpose. I see a bunch of individually talented (and flawed) baseball players from various backgrounds who have yet to coalesce as a team. Individual contributors who also like one another isn't necessarily mutually exclusive.

It's baseball. The least team sport of any team sport. The entire game comes down to talented individuals executing....individually. Almost the entire premise of the sport is 1 vs. 1. Come on. 

[ptatc]

8 minutes ago, Paulie4Pres said:

It's baseball. The least team sport of any team sport. The entire game comes down to talented individuals executing....individually. Almost the entire premise of the sport is 1 vs. 1. Come on. 

I've always disagreed with this take. Baseball is the only game where the coach can't choose the player in an important situation

In football when it's at the end of the game and they need a touchdown, they pick the WR or RB for the game winning play. In basketball, get the ball to the best shooter for the last second shot.

In baseball, with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth down one run who does the manager pick to hit.....whoevers turn it us in the lineup. Its the only sport where the team needs to rely on the non-star players in important situations.

[GreenSox]

The most important thing now is for JR to remind Hahnber that they have lifetime contracts so that they don't repeat 2016.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

5 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

On top of that this is a group that seemed to get high on their own supply. Starting huffing a few too many of their own farts. It's one thing to be confident but some of the attitude seems more "I just show up and dominate" than "I respect the talent of the other pros and work each day to best them".

A chip on the shoulder is a good thing for most squads and that was what the club had last year as a unit. This year the vibe is different. And part of that is on the manager.

That's pretty much all on the manager

[SpringfieldFan]

4 hours ago, Green Line said:

If the Sox win today they're going to be tied for first unless Cleveland comes back from a 6 run deficit.

This division is really bad.  I'd still be shocked if the Sox don't win it easily despite the last weeks shitshow.  Too much talent to not finish with 85 ish wins, even accidentally.

Well that’s better than nothing but it’s rather like a mid major BB team with a so-so record winning their conference tournament and strutting into the big dance actually thinking they’re going places. Spare me.

[JUSTgottaBELIEVE]

2 hours ago, Snopek said:

I think the division still mostly sucks and the Sox are clearly the superior team (even with this recent atrocious stretch), but judging the improvement of any team based on 15 games feels premature.

I’m not judging the division rivals solely on 15 games. I’m judging it on their records from last season and the improvements they made in the offseason. None of them look better than 80-85 wins.

[FoxForce2]

2 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

I’m not judging the division rivals solely on 15 games. I’m judging it on their records from last season and the improvements they made in the offseason. None of them look better than 80-85 wins.

Right now, neither do we. If even that.

[caulfield12]

12 minutes ago, SpringfieldFan said:

Well that’s better than nothing but it’s rather like a mid major BB team with a so-so record winning their conference tournament and strutting into the big dance actually thinking they’re going places. Spare me.

Loyola and Saint Peters say hello.