Chicago White Sox Posted Sunday at 11:41 AM Share Posted Sunday at 11:41 AM Alright boys, we officially have our first rubber match of the season. Lineups are obviously not out yet, but the Angels will be starting Jack Kochanowicz today. He is a massive RHP who uses a sinker heavy arsenal (73%) to generates a ton of groundballs (57%) similar to Soriano. However, he differs from the latter in that he’s got better command but weaker secondaries. As such, he won’t walk a lot of guys but won’t K too many either (his 3.4 K/9 rate last year would make Jared Shuster look like Randy Johnson in comparison). This guy should be much more beatable than Soriano yesterday. In terms of lineup construction, we need guys with speed or guys who are more likely to keep the ball of the ground. And as much as I want Vaughn riding pine, the lack of better options at the moment and the fact he has a bomb off Kockanowicz would have me slot him in at DH. On top of that, I’d move Vargas over to 1B today, play Baldwin at 3B, go with Maton at SS, Sosa at 2B, Thaiss at C, and an OF of Benitendi, Robert, & Taylor. It’s not a sexy looking lineup, but the goal today should be to scrap some hits together and manufacture a few runs. After two strong starts from Burke & Cannon, it should be very clear this Angels lineup is very much beatable. I’m optimistic Martin will continue that trend today with five or six quality innings. If the offense doesn’t beat itself today by pounding every ball into the ground, I think we should win this one. Bold prediction is a 3-2 win to take the series. Let’s fucking go! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleAleSox Posted Sunday at 11:48 AM Share Posted Sunday at 11:48 AM Don't feel great about the weather today, but hopefully they can get it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted Sunday at 12:37 PM Share Posted Sunday at 12:37 PM On 3/30/2025 at 11:48 AM, PaleAleSox said: Don't feel great about the weather today, but hopefully they can get it in. Expand They will get it in one way or another. Angels only trip in. Schedule it for March. Smart. Angels have LA weather, yet play on the road 15 of their first 18 games. Smart. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted Sunday at 12:43 PM Share Posted Sunday at 12:43 PM On 3/30/2025 at 12:37 PM, Dick Allen said: They will get it in one way or another. Angels only trip in. Schedule it for March. Smart. Angels have LA weather, yet play on the road 15 of their first 18 games. Smart. Expand Kasper was talking about this...how everyone wants their games from Memorial Day through the end of August at home. At least Rays' fans seem to be enjoying outdoor baseball and the environment is much more lively despite only 12,500 capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSox2023 Posted Sunday at 01:22 PM Share Posted Sunday at 01:22 PM Let’s beat Koch!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted Sunday at 01:23 PM Share Posted Sunday at 01:23 PM On 3/30/2025 at 1:22 PM, WhiteSox2023 said: Let’s beat Koch!!! Expand Billy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleAleSox Posted Sunday at 01:38 PM Share Posted Sunday at 01:38 PM On 3/30/2025 at 12:37 PM, Dick Allen said: They will get it in one way or another. Angels only trip in. Schedule it for March. Smart. Angels have LA weather, yet play on the road 15 of their first 18 games. Smart. Expand I was told that was a stupid complaint when I brought it up the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSox2023 Posted Sunday at 01:41 PM Share Posted Sunday at 01:41 PM On 3/30/2025 at 1:38 PM, PaleAleSox said: I was told that was a stupid complaint when I brought it up the other day. Expand It won’t matter anymore once Ishbia builds a new domed stadium at The 78. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago White Sox Posted Sunday at 01:41 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 01:41 PM On 3/30/2025 at 1:22 PM, WhiteSox2023 said: Let’s beat Koch!!! Expand Keep your hands to yourself…this is a family friendly message board buddy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46DidIt Posted Sunday at 02:34 PM Share Posted Sunday at 02:34 PM On 3/30/2025 at 12:43 PM, caulfield12 said: Kasper was talking about this...how everyone wants their games from Memorial Day through the end of August at home. At least Rays' fans seem to be enjoying outdoor baseball and the environment is much more lively despite only 12,500 capacity. Expand I doubt they'll be enjoying those outdoor games by July Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxBlanco Posted Sunday at 02:36 PM Share Posted Sunday at 02:36 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSox2023 Posted Sunday at 02:39 PM Share Posted Sunday at 02:39 PM (edited) Jankowski starting in RF with Maton at DH… No comment, @Chicago White Sox. 🤣 Edited Sunday at 02:40 PM by WhiteSox2023 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Sacamano Posted Sunday at 02:42 PM Share Posted Sunday at 02:42 PM I know he’s a placeholder but it feels like Amaya should only be used as a backup at SS. Let Maton or Baldwin play SS. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSox2023 Posted Sunday at 02:54 PM Share Posted Sunday at 02:54 PM On 3/30/2025 at 2:42 PM, Bob Sacamano said: I know he’s a placeholder but it feels like Amaya should only be used as a backup at SS. Let Maton or Baldwin play SS. Expand Agreed. You probably only need Amaya to backup Baldwin until Montgomery is ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago White Sox Posted Sunday at 03:27 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 03:27 PM On 3/30/2025 at 2:36 PM, SoxBlanco said: Expand Nick Maton DHing 2/3 of games to open the season is not something I would have taken 1,000,000-1 odds on if given to me 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksnort Posted Sunday at 03:34 PM Share Posted Sunday at 03:34 PM On 3/30/2025 at 11:48 AM, PaleAleSox said: Don't feel great about the weather today, but hopefully they can get it in. Expand Forecast is holding pretty steady at afternoon showers. I bet it gets delayed and starts around 4 or 5 central time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliSoxFanViaSWside Posted Sunday at 03:43 PM Share Posted Sunday at 03:43 PM On 3/30/2025 at 11:41 AM, Chicago White Sox said: Alright boys, we officially have our first rubber match of the season. Lineups are obviously not out yet, but the Angels will be starting Jack Kochanowicz today. He is a massive RHP who uses a sinker heavy arsenal (73%) to generates a ton of groundballs (57%) similar to Soriano. However, he differs from the latter in that he’s got better command but weaker secondaries. As such, he won’t walk a lot of guys but won’t K too many either (his 3.4 K/9 rate last year would make Jared Shuster look like Randy Johnson in comparison). This guy should be much more beatable than Soriano yesterday. In terms of lineup construction, we need guys with speed or guys who are more likely to keep the ball of the ground. And as much as I want Vaughn riding pine, the lack of better options at the moment and the fact he has a bomb off Kockanowicz would have me slot him in at DH. On top of that, I’d move Vargas over to 1B today, play Baldwin at 3B, go with Maton at SS, Sosa at 2B, Thaiss at C, and an OF of Benitendi, Robert, & Taylor. It’s not a sexy looking lineup, but the goal today should be to scrap some hits together and manufacture a few runs. After two strong starts from Burke & Cannon, it should be very clear this Angels lineup is very much beatable. I’m optimistic Martin will continue that trend today with five or six quality innings. If the offense doesn’t beat itself today by pounding every ball into the ground, I think we should win this one. Bold prediction is a 3-2 win to take the series. Let’s fucking go! Expand I'd be giving Korey Lee a lot more starts than Thaiss despite Thaiss being the strong side of the platoon. Korey works very hard on his hitting and has made some changes. He needs to play to see if those changes have helped. He hit well in ST and I like the extra power and his great pop time. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxBlanco Posted Sunday at 03:57 PM Share Posted Sunday at 03:57 PM On 3/30/2025 at 3:27 PM, Chicago White Sox said: Nick Maton DHing 2/3 of games to open the season is not something I would have taken 1,000,000-1 odds on if given to me Expand I’ll do one better: A week ago, if somebody offered me $1,000,000 to correctly answer which sport and team Nick Maton played for, I wouldn’t be any richer. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliSoxFanViaSWside Posted Sunday at 03:57 PM Share Posted Sunday at 03:57 PM On 3/30/2025 at 3:43 PM, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said: I'd be giving Korey Lee a lot more starts than Thaiss despite Thaiss being the strong side of the platoon. Korey works very hard on his hitting and has made some changes. He needs to play to see if those changes have helped. He hit well in ST and I like the extra power and his great pop time. Expand I'd also be giving Sosa regular playing time. I know they're trying to get the best defense possible but it won't matter unless you score some runs. Give me Lee, Sosa even against all but the nastiest of RHP slider pitchers. Against sinker ballers who don't strike anybody out I'll take the power hitters who can tee off on a hanger. If you want the LH bats use Baldwin at SS and Maton in RF . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestEddy Posted Sunday at 04:00 PM Share Posted Sunday at 04:00 PM On 3/30/2025 at 3:27 PM, Chicago White Sox said: Nick Maton DHing 2/3 of games to open the season is not something I would have taken 1,000,000-1 odds on if given to me Expand Poor man's Brandon Drury. I know his ST magic was mostly against the 2nd and 3rd squads, but maybe something carries over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSox2023 Posted Sunday at 04:02 PM Share Posted Sunday at 04:02 PM What is the point of a lefty bat if he can’t hit and has little power? DH’ing Maton and leading him off reminds me of TLR and his fetish for Leury Garcia. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vilehoopster Posted Sunday at 04:16 PM Share Posted Sunday at 04:16 PM On 3/30/2025 at 4:02 PM, WhiteSox2023 said: What is the point of a lefty bat if he can’t hit and has little power? DH’ing Maton and leading him off reminds me of TLR and his fetish for Leury Garcia. Expand I agree with this. Sometimes it seems we really outsmart ourselves with the lefty vs. righty thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestEddy Posted Sunday at 04:24 PM Share Posted Sunday at 04:24 PM On 3/30/2025 at 4:16 PM, vilehoopster said: I agree with this. Sometimes it seems we really outsmart ourselves with the lefty vs. righty thing. Expand Sosa, Vargas and Vaughn all take a bit of a tumble against RHP, historically. Maybe Sosa and Vargas work to become somewhat more neutral over time. Slater actually had reverse splits last year, as did Lee (slightly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksnort Posted Sunday at 04:28 PM Share Posted Sunday at 04:28 PM On 3/30/2025 at 3:57 PM, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said: I'd also be giving Sosa regular playing time. I know they're trying to get the best defense possible but it won't matter unless you score some runs. Give me Lee, Sosa even against all but the nastiest of RHP slider pitchers. Against sinker ballers who don't strike anybody out I'll take the power hitters who can tee off on a hanger. If you want the LH bats use Baldwin at SS and Maton in RF . Expand Yankees made that plainly clear yesterday (even if their bats are different). They committed 5 errors and still won by double digits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted Sunday at 04:39 PM Share Posted Sunday at 04:39 PM Who would have guessed we'd be .500 this late in the season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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