Keys to the 2005 Sox

[beck72]

The Crede thread got me thinking about some keys to the sox season. So here goes, I'll start the ball rolling with my top 3 before spring training starts [hey, anything could happen before opening day to change my mind]:

 

1. Scott Podsednik. If he can hit .280 at the leadoff spot and take more walks, the Sox should be OK. He comes anywhere near .300, the sox can withstand some big injuries and still fight for the playoffs. With him on base and able single handedly to get in scoring position, the 2, 3 and 4 hitters should be chipping in to buy him a new rolex at the end of the yr with the RBI chances they should be able to get.

 

2. Jose Contreras. The guy is as strong as a horse, and can dominate at times. Yet mostly what the sox need from him is innings. The sox know they can get innings from MB, Freddy, and Garland. With Contreras consistently giving the sox 6,7 innings a start, El Duque could then be babied a little to save him for the entire season. If Contreras blows up, can't find the strike zone every couple of starts, only going 2 innings or leaving after the 5th or 6th having given up 7 runs, the sox will need Garland to really step up [a sub 4.00 era] and El Duque [to log more innings than he should] to make up the difference.

 

3. Juan Uribe. If he can stay healthy, give the sox stable defense at SS and hit with the same pop as last yr, the sox don't have to rely on Crede and Iguchi to have breakout yrs. Defensively, he can make both Crede and Iguchi better. Any possible replacement would no doubt be weaker defensively and not have his offense. If he goes down to injury, or falls back to his Colo. days with low avg. and inconsistent defense, the sox would need to have big years from both Crede and Iguchi to even what the 2004 Uribe gave the Sox.

 

Yours?

[Al Lopez Ghost (old)]

The whole idea was to build a starting rotation, and KW did that. They have to stay healthy. Everyone else is replaceable, but the big 5 isn't.

[beck72]

The whole idea was to build a starting rotation, and KW did that. They have to stay healthy. Everyone else is replaceable, but the big 5 isn't.

 

I agree the Sox need the starting 5 healthy. Yet if you could only pick one of the 5 as a "key" who would it be?

[GreatScott82]

1. I agree about what you said about Scott Podsednick. He is the X-factor.

2. Crazy Carl Everett. He lost 20 lbs and has been working on his game harcore this offseason. If Carl has another 2003 type season, Ozzie better find a way to keep him in the lineup when Frank returns. A-Row said it best "If Carl goes, we go" That tells you right there that not only will PK anchor the lineup but Crazy Carl will take on half the load as well.

3. The Combo of Garland/ Contreras/ El-duque. I know its cheap to put those 3 in one key but lets face it these 3 guys are super important to a White Sox successful 2005 campaign.

A. Garland- if he can FINALLY break out and win 15, 16 games that would be scrumptalesent. But lets say the typical Jon Garland comes out and he gives us another 12-13 game season- thats solid for a 5th starter. The key for him is that he NEEDS to eat innings.

B. Contreras- if he has more dominant games then poor ones he can possibly win 13-15 games. The key for him, LAY OFF THAT sinker and change-up! His fast ball is amazing, he needs to use it more. Contreras alone could make us, or break us. All eyes will be on him in 05.

C El-duque- no surprise there, he NEEDS to stay healthy. He was solid as a Yankee last season going 10-2 with a stellar ERA. His late season arm problems makes me worried, though he did pitch well in the postseason. It will be up to Ozzie to get him out of there early every start. If he can give a solid 5-6 innings every start, i would consider it a success. KW improved our bulpen for a reason, and i think he will take a lot of the pressuee of el-Duque come April, May until he warms up and his arm is at full strength.

[YASNY]

1. El Duque. If he can stay healthy, our top three will be as solid as any in the AL. I believe he will, since it's been two years since his surgery.

 

2. Joe Crede. If this giuy can finally come close to his potential for an entire season, our lineup could be solid from top to bottom.

 

3. Lead off hitter. Whether it be Podsednik, Iguchi or Harris. Someone has to step up and grab this spot and hold it effectively.

[DBAHO]

The obvious candidates have been mentioned. But like I said in a previous post, if Dye and Garcia can step up and play to the top of their potential, it could help put this team over the top.

[beck72]

1.  El Duque.  If he can stay healthy, our top three will be as solid as any in the AL.  I believe he will, since it's been two years since his surgery. 

 

I think El Duque is right up there. If he can stay healthy, like you said, he's a top 3 starter. Then he could push Contreras down. Even Jose tanked, with Garland solid, a guy like B Mac could come up and take over as the 5th SP. So I could push Jose out of my top 3

[TLAK]

Rather than a couple of players, I think the key will be team aggressiveness at the plate, on the bases, in the field and on the mound.

 

They must not sit back and wait for a rally. They have to go for every run they can get, any way they can get it. They still have pretty good boppers in the order and some days they will carry the team. But the Sox should no longer lay back and wait for it. Lead off walk, steal, bunt and fly ball = run. Playing this way will get the hitters better pitches to hit and make the power they still have even better. Distract pitchers, get fielders watching the runner instead of the ball. Force mistakes.

 

On defense they shouldn’t automatically take the safe play and trade a run for an out because that might be the run that beats them. Run down gappers and challenge runners going for two. Because this aggressiveness will lead to mistakes, players not directly involved need to be where they are supposed to be to backup throws. Hold runners close, throw behind them, use pick off plays and pitch outs. Bring the infield in early. Cut down the lead runner.

 

Starters need to worry about the guy at the plate and put stuff on every pitch. If they hit it, somebody will probably catch it, you can’t catch a walk. In close games use the whole bullpen to get the best match ups. Don’t use a guy just because “that’s his inning”; go with the guy who has the best shot against the hitter.

 

They key is to play baseball.

[The Critic]

I agree with TLAK, especially when it comes to defense.

That's why Dye will be a key. If he can hold runners to a single on RF gappers and such, that will be SO big in helping to prevent big innings.

 

My key players are Dye, AJ, Duque and Pod.

[BamaDoc]

Health for several: Hernandez, Buehrle, Garcia,Thomas, Dye, Everett, and Uribe.

 

Consistancy from all, especially starting pitching.

[Al Lopez Ghost (old)]

I agree the Sox need the starting 5 healthy. Yet if you could only pick one of the 5 as a "key" who would it be?

 

Well, Buerhle you hope will be as consistent as always, Garcia is so talented... I guess the swing guy is El Duque. Garland will be around .500, so I would have to say if El Duque has a big year, we'll be real tough to beat.

[Rowand44]

Health

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

The Crede thread got me thinking about some keys to the sox season. So here goes, I'll start the ball rolling with my top 3 before spring training starts [hey, anything could happen before opening day to change my mind]:

 

1. Scott Podsednik. If he can hit .280 at the leadoff spot and take more walks, the Sox should be OK. He comes anywhere near .300, the sox can withstand some big injuries and still fight for the playoffs. With him on base and able single handedly to get in scoring position, the 2, 3 and 4 hitters should be chipping in to buy him a new rolex at the end of the yr with the RBI chances they should be able to get.

 

2. Jose Contreras. The guy is as strong as a horse, and can dominate at times. Yet mostly what the sox need from him is innings. The sox know they can get innings from MB, Freddy, and Garland. With Contreras consistently giving the sox 6,7 innings a start, El Duque could then be babied a little to save him for the entire season. If Contreras blows up, can't find the strike zone every couple of starts, only going 2 innings or leaving after the 5th or 6th having given up 7 runs, the sox will need Garland to really step up [a sub 4.00 era] and El Duque [to log more innings than he should] to make up the difference.

 

3. Juan Uribe. If he can stay healthy, give the sox stable defense at SS and hit with the same pop as last yr, the sox don't have to rely on Crede and Iguchi to have breakout yrs. Defensively, he can make both Crede and Iguchi better. Any possible replacement would no doubt be weaker defensively and not have his offense. If he goes down to injury, or falls back to his Colo. days with low avg. and inconsistent defense, the sox would need to have big years from both Crede and Iguchi to even what the 2004 Uribe gave the Sox.

 

Yours?

 

 

Mine is not so much in terms of people but in terms of the following.

 

 

1. Getting on base. The top of the order has to get on base and do it often. The whole key to the offense is the top 2 in the order setting the table for the likes of Kong & Everett.

 

2. Starting pitching. MB needs to be MB and everyone else needs to follow suit.

 

3. Fundamentals. They can't afford to start the season the way they did last time. It seemed that the 1st few weeks they couldn't get out of their own way. They have to cut down on the errors too. Valentin is gone so there goes a bunch and hopefully Crede spent his winter fielding ground balls and mastering the art of transferring the ball from his glove to his throwing hand.

[Texsox]

Mine is not so much in terms of people but in terms of the following.

1.  Getting on base. The top of the order has to get on base and do it often.  The whole key to the offense is the top 2 in the order setting the table for the likes of Kong & Everett.

 

2.  Starting pitching.  MB needs to be MB and everyone else needs to follow suit. 

 

3.  Fundamentals.  They can't afford to start the season the way they did last time. It seemed that the 1st few weeks they couldn't get out of their own way.  They have to cut down on the errors too.  Valentin is gone so there goes a bunch and hopefully Crede spent his winter fielding ground balls and mastering the art of transferring the ball from his glove to his throwing hand.

 

Damn, I seem to be following Nuke and agreeing with him. If we don't get some baserunners, the loss in power is worthless. From the looks of it, we have our best starting pitching in years. If the pitching lives up to the billing, we're in a lot of games this season.

 

My worry, something that isn't mentioned often, do we have a consistent closer in the house?

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Damn, I seem to be following Nuke and agreeing with him. If we don't get some baserunners, the loss in power is worthless. From the looks of it, we have our best starting pitching in years. If the pitching lives up to the billing, we're in a lot of games this season.

 

My worry, something that isn't mentioned often, do we have a consistent closer in the house?

 

 

Shingo?

[Texsox]

Shingo?

 

I'm not 100% convinced he'll go the season. Just a nagging thought in the back of my head when I think what is the most likely cause of this team going to hell. I come up with health aka 2004 and closer aka 2003.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

I'm not 100% convinced he'll go the season. Just a nagging thought in the back of my head when I think what is the most likely cause of this team going to hell. I come up with health aka 2004 and closer aka 2003.

 

I guess we'll just have to see. Maybe Hermanson can serve as a backup. We are pretty solid in the pen nowadays.

[JUGGERNAUT]

The keys to this team are not individual numbers but pair numbers.

It's very well balanced team.

 

Hitting:

Pods + Iggy : All we need is a 350+ OBP, & 400+ SLG avg out of this pair.

I don't care if that means Pods gets a 360 & Iggy gets a 340. It's what they do as a pair that matters most.

 

Thomas/Dye + Koney + Dye/Everett: We need a 330+ OBP & 500+ SLG avg out of this trio all yr long.

 

Rowand + Uribe : Similar to Pods + Iggy. We do not need HR here.

Getting on-base is more important.

 

AJP + Crede : We need a 320+ OBP & 430+ SLG out of this pair all year long out of this pair.

 

That should produce more R than the 04 team.

 

Pitching: It's all about the losses.

Min 04: Nathan+Rincon+Romero+Crain = 12L

Min 04: Santana+Radke+Silva = 22L

Min 04: Lohse+Mully = 22L

Min 04: others = 8L

 

That pretty much says it all.

Sox 05: Shingo+Marte+Herm+Viz = 15L

Sox 05: MarkyB+FreddyG+Hernandez = 22L

Sox 05: Contreras+Garland = 20L

Sox 05: others = 9L

 

We need to provide a better cushion for losses due to our pen because it's not as good as Min. That cushion must come from Contreras & Garland.

They are the two most important players on the team in '05. There is no margin for error with them. If they have more than 20L combined we will lose the division to the Twins. Again.

 

This is likewise why I think KW will be open to trading both all through the season. Any upgrade here would greatly increase the Sox chances of winning the division. It would more than compensate a loss elsewhere in a trade.

[upnorthsox]

The key without a doubt is the pen.

 

If the pen comes together nicely we should be a force in the AL Central but there are ? across the board in there and we won't have an O that'll be able to come back from blown leads very often. It could go well, or it could be be the most frustrating season in a long while.

[Heads22]

1. Offense

2. Pitching

3. Defense

 

Jesus, you guys make this stuff too hard.

[GoodAsGould]

i just want the baseball season to start i love watching baseball and the whitesox no matter how good they are and this off season is so long

[SoxFanForever]

My keys:

 

1. Just win baby

2. See #1

[Rowand44]

1. Offense

2. Pitching

3. Defense

 

Jesus, you guys make this stuff too hard.

:headshake

 

1. Pitching

2. Offense

3. Defense

 

Jeez, get it right

[greg775]

Getting Maggs out when we play the Tigers.

Beating Minn.

Beating Cleve.

Beating KC.

We have to kick ass on the teams in our own division.

We gotta beat these teams consistently unlike the past.

I realize Minn is always good, but KC, Det, Cleve ... cmon we have to start

beating them.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

My keys:

 

1.  Just win baby

2.  See #1