5/14- Astros at Sox, 1:10

[flavum]

Brown vs Giolito

 

[wegner]

I see a 3 hit night, including 2 doubles, for Colas for Charlotte. He has nothing left to prove in the minors imo. Bring him back up and let him see major league pitching for the rest of the season.

[The Kids Can Play]

3 minutes ago, wegner said:

I see a 3 hit night, including 2 doubles, for Colas for Charlotte. He has nothing left to prove in the minors imo. Bring him back up and let him see major league pitching for the rest of the season.

You're absolutely right! He has nothing to prove at Charlotte, but our POS GM is clueless on that.

Hahn still thinks that when you DFA a loser pitcher like Colome, and he goes on waivers and all 29 teams take a hard pass...the best chess move is to waste a AAA roster spot on that aging over-the-hill reliever at Charlotte.

Why in the world would Hahn understand the concept of bringing up the talented, but inexperienced Colas? Remember this our genius GM that has built one of the worst major league rosters, along with one of the worst minor league farm systems all at the same time.

[The Kids Can Play]

Even if Gio pitches well again, this damn team better start driving in more than 3 runs today, especially with 13 hits. 

[Bob Sacamano]

27 minutes ago, wegner said:

I see a 3 hit night, including 2 doubles, for Colas for Charlotte. He has nothing left to prove in the minors imo. Bring him back up and let him see major league pitching for the rest of the season.

Bring him up after he gets the extra year of control.

[wegner]

If we win today, we take the season series from the Astros. That and $7.50 will buy you a hot dog at the ballpark....but pay the little extra for the kosher dog with gilled onions.

[YonderLaroche]

The Glass Joe's vs The Astros 

[wegner]

21 minutes ago, YonderLaroche said:

The Glass Joe's vs The Astros 

 

[Highland]

48 minutes ago, wegner said:

If we win today, we take the season series from the Astros. That and $7.50 will buy you a hot dog at the ballpark....but pay the little extra for the kosher dog with gilled onions.

It is true that taking the season series from the Astros doesn't mean much. For one thing, Houston has problems of their own. Secondly, things just look bleak. Hard to find hope for the 2023 season.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

1 hour ago, wegner said:

I see a 3 hit night, including 2 doubles, for Colas for Charlotte. He has nothing left to prove in the minors imo. Bring him back up and let him see major league pitching for the rest of the season.

I would normally agree but his biggest problem is pitch recognition and experience. I think we all know he very capable of becoming a very good MLB player. But that won't happen and he'll continue to make weak contact until he stops swinging at everything. He can get away with that in the minors. But surely if he's to get his mind right for MLB pitching ,a walk every other game in the minors shouldn't be that hard to accomplish.

We should be less concerned with how he hits in Charlotte and more concerned with his process. If he was told to take more pitches and start making better decisions on the pitches he swings at , I'm not seeing evidence of that yet.

 MLB pitchers exploit your weaknesses so much better than minor league pitchers plus they have nastier pitches that are faster with more movement. If you aren't drawing walks in the minors with lesser quality stuff from pitchers I don't see how you can do it in the Majors. That's why I liked James Outman. Not only was he big strong fast and a good defender he also had a good eye and seemed to understand that being a good hitter just isn't getting hits on anything they throw you but knowing yourself as a hitter and hitting pitches in the zones where you can do the most damage and not swinging at the crap most MLB pitchers try to get you to swing at. Also high K rates are easier to deal with from players who also have a walk rate higher than around 8 %.

 

[wegner]

10 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I would normally agree but his biggest problem is pitch recognition and experience. I think we all know he very capable of becoming a very good MLB player. But that won't happen and he'll continue to make weak contact until he stops swinging at everything. He can get away with that in the minors. But surely if he's to get his mind right for MLB pitching ,a walk every other game in the minors shouldn't be that hard to accomplish.

We should be less concerned with how he hits in Charlotte and more concerned with his process. If he was told to take more pitches and start making better decisions on the pitches he swings at , I'm not seeing evidence of that yet.

 MLB pitchers exploit your weaknesses so much better than minor league pitchers plus they have nastier pitches that are faster with more movement. If you aren't drawing walks in the minors with lesser quality stuff from pitchers I don't see how you can do it in the Majors. That's why I liked James Outman. Not only was he big strong fast and a good defender he also had a good eye and seemed to understand that being a good hitter just isn't getting hits on anything they throw you but knowing yourself as a hitter and hitting pitches in the zones where you can do the most damage and not swinging at the crap most MLB pitchers try to get you to swing at. Also high K rates are easier to deal with from players who also have a walk rate higher than around 8 %.

 

Great analysis. Thanks for that perspective. Hopefully he will progress with his plate discipline and help shore up RF on the Southside in the not too distant future.

[Timmy U]

1 hour ago, wegner said:

I see a 3 hit night, including 2 doubles, for Colas for Charlotte. He has nothing left to prove in the minors imo. Bring him back up and let him see major league pitching for the rest of the season.

I have been watching some Charlotte. They sent Colas down to make better swing decisions. He is still not doing that. He's just strong enough against bad pitchers to paper over a lot of those bad decisions.  I'd give him some time to get motivated to improve. This team does not need yet another player swinging at everything regardless of the situation.  Hopefully, he can improve his approach and get a lot of at bats in the second half.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

8 minutes ago, wegner said:

Great analysis. Thanks for that perspective. Hopefully he will progress with his plate discipline and help shore up RF on the Southside in the not too distant future.

Plate discipline and recognizing pitches to crush is what makes players above average. They recognize mistakes and pounce on them and elevate them. The more pitches you look at the better your chance of getting a pitch you can crush.

Robert, Jr. looks so much better now . He's been crushing mistakes a lot lately. It's just so sad that him and Eloy can't stay healthy for extended periods and play at their peaks together . They have the potential to be one of those dynamic duos like Judge / Stanton or Trout/ Ohtani or Machado /Tatis Jr./Soto.

We've been waiting 3 years to see it. If Eloy's going to be strictly a DH moving forward I see no reason to trade him. Theoretically it should improve his chances of staying healthy. However it is just so White Sox or Eloy for him to start hitting again just to be sidelined with appendicitis just as Robert was starting to heat up but with Moncada also sidelined and then followed up by Burger.

At least Burger and LH Moncada are back. I'm not sure RH Moncada is back since I heard some say that he's good to hit LH but not RH.

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

2 hours ago, wegner said:

I see a 3 hit night, including 2 doubles, for Colas for Charlotte. He has nothing left to prove in the minors imo. Bring him back up and let him see major league pitching for the rest of the season.

I honestly think there's something going on fans don't know. There's gotta be a reason he's still in AAA. Or am I bargaining with it too much?

[The Mighty Mite]

2 hours ago, wegner said:

I see a 3 hit night, including 2 doubles, for Colas for Charlotte. He has nothing left to prove in the minors imo. Bring him back up and let him see major league pitching for the rest of the season.

There’s a big difference between AAA and the Majors, look at Sosa. Colas impressed no one in his time with the Sox so I’d give him to mid season to see if he’s learned anything down on the farm and is ready for the Majors. The thing that has me really concerned is who exactly do we have in the Minors teaching our prospects based on JRs past statements about not wanting to spend big bucks on the farm system.

Edited May 14, 2023 by The Mighty Mite

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

5 minutes ago, Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm said:

I honestly think there's something going on fans don't know. There's gotta be a reason he's still in AAA. Or am I bargaining with it too much?

He was making weak contact because he had no plate discipline and swung at everything. Once pitchers know this they exploit it so it will be rare seeing pitches in the strike zone. You can't become a good hitter swinging at pitches out of the zone. Hell, most hitters can't ever be good swinging at pitches in the zone because MLB pitchers have great stuff but harnessing it is the trick. An impatient hitter makes all pitchers better. A patient hitters exploits the pitcher who cannot command his pitchers. Those pitchers have less command, walk more hitters and make more mistakes in the middle of the zone. Quality hitters have a game plan. They usually are patience and do their best to jump on pitches in the middle of the zone they are capable of elevating and barreling. Better contact means better hits. Better pitch recognition means more walks. Pitchers still win the battle most of the time but a better process will elevate you from minor league star to a capable MLB player. You  need to be smart and have a plan and be willing to work on your weaknesses and show baseball intellectual growth. Stubborn and stupid rarely results in positive growth.

[Polar Bear]

3 hours ago, wegner said:

I see a 3 hit night, including 2 doubles, for Colas for Charlotte. He has nothing left to prove in the minors imo. Bring him back up and let him see major league pitching for the rest of the season.

It not just that.  Since going down he has hit .429 with 12 doubles and 1 homerun in only 42 ABs. He should never have been sent down as he was in the midst of adjusting to mlb pitchers and will have to have that same adjustment period once he come back up bc AAA pitching ain't near the level of mlb pitching.  

He needs to be in RF everyday or near everyday at the big league level.  But the Sox don't know how to develop prospects well and this shows it for sure. 

Not only that.  Sheets has been bad to worse at the plate since Colas went down. He is not even putting up that respectable of numbers at this point since taking over everyday in RF for Colas.  Sheets is good when you can pick his matchups and in smaller bursts, not everyday. 

[superchops70]

Looking at the radar, there would appear to be a little chance this game gets played today

[Tnetennba]

3 hours ago, Bob Sacamano said:

Bring him up after he gets the extra year of control.

We probably don’t see him again until after the extra year is secured, right or wrong. 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

32 minutes ago, Polar Bear said:

It not just that.  Since going down he has hit .429 with 12 doubles and 1 homerun in only 42 ABs. He should never have been sent down as he was in the midst of adjusting to mlb pitchers and will have to have that same adjustment period once he come back up bc AAA pitching ain't near the level of mlb pitching.  

He needs to be in RF everyday or near everyday at the big league level.  But the Sox don't know how to develop prospects well and this shows it for sure. 

Not only that.  Sheets has been bad to worse at the plate since Colas went down. He is not even putting up that respectable of numbers at this point since taking over everyday in RF for Colas.  Sheets is good when you can pick his matchups and in smaller bursts, not everyday. 

The Sox are going to get the extra year from Colas and will keep him down for that reason but it's not the only reason.

In the minors Colas is such a good hitter that pitchers should fear him. When pitchers fear you they throw more carefully to you. This should allow a disciplined hitter to get more walks. If he was told to be more selective and if the coaches are drilling that into his head and explaining how not being a free swinger helps you and helping you with the proper thought process in order to accomplish this. Then he should be getting more walks and striking out less in the minors. His goal in the minors at this point should be to draw a walk in 2 out of every 3 games and not worry about hitting. His thought process is wrong . He still swings way too much. Your physical gifts will elevate you to the majors but your brain is what will keep you there.

 Just seeing MLB pitching is not the cure for a hitter with a bad process. He has to develop the intellectual tools necessary to stop swinging so frequently. That doesn't play in the majors and it's why the Sox hitters don't take walks. The minors league doesn't exist to pad your hitting stats and be a hero to your team mates. It exists to develop you for the higher quality pitchers you will be facing in MLB. If you can't stop swinging at the stuff minor league pitchers throw you when they fear you, you won't be able to stop swinging at better pitches you see in the majors when the pitchers do not fear you because they know they can get you out on pitches out of the zone and induce weak contact.

Once you develop that understanding of how to be a better MLB hitter is by making pitchers actually throw strikes to you is when you improve. You have to resist the impulses to rely only on your God given ability. Your head is whats separates the AAA and MLB player.

His head still isn't where it needs to be.

Edited May 14, 2023 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[Buehrle>Wood]

Just horrendous defense. Even worse pitch. Surprised alavarez didn't put it out 500 feet

Edited May 14, 2023 by Buehrle>Wood

[Timmy U]

Well, that didn't take long. Pray for rain?

[HOFHurt35]

Happy Mother's Day, Lucas!

[baseball_gal_aly]

3 runs already. 

[EloyJenkins]

Giolito will never get this contract he thinks he is worth