Ken Rosenthal's Thoughts

[kapkomet]

Chances are if we had a higher obp we would score more runs. No chance way in hell our pitching holds up like this all year. We can't rely on winning all of these one run 2-1, 4-3 games. Don't know about you but i am already sick of uribe, pierz, rowand, and dye first pitch swinging. The more pitches a batter sees will help them in the long run.

 

 

This team's lack of discipline at the plate WILL come back to haunt them.

 

The attitude is great, the W's are great, but they must get the offense going sooner rather then later.

 

So far, this team has caught every single break. What will happen when they face some adversity?

 

I have a funny feeling Oakland will provide that adversity.

[ISF]

I'd trade Dye before I traded Rowand. Rowand's 3 yr deal is cheaper than Dye's, Rowand is better defensively than Dye, and offensively they'll be pretty comparable.

[Guest JimH]

A couple of things here.

 

It'd be hard for the offense to perform worse than it has. The weather has been cold and guys like Rowand, Dye, Konerko will turn it up a notch.

 

I doubt the pitching will continue to perform at this high level but this is a good staff and fairly deep. Barring injuries I think they will be one of the top 5 pitching staffs in the AL.

 

While I'm glad Brian Anderson is doing well at AAA, there's no rush, he's only 23. In addition, he needs the seasoning, needs to show he can stay healthy too. I watched him closely in spring training, he looks pretty good defensively but definitely needs more experience hitting. Again, very glad he's off to the good start but I must say he looked overmatched at times this spring.

 

By the time Dye's contract is up, Sweeney will hopefully be ready. Anderson is great insurance for an injury and would be an excellent 4th OF, not to say he doesn't have starter potential, he does. But this is great depth and other factors have a way of solving the logjam. This is the least of our worries.

[aboz56]

By the time Dye's contract is up, Sweeney will hopefully be ready.  Anderson is great insurance for an injury and would be an excellent 4th OF, not to say he doesn't have starter potential, he does.  But this is great depth and other factors have a way of solving the logjam.  This is the least of our worries.

I wouldn't call Anderson insurance. He is our best prospect, ahead of B-Mac and Sweeney at this point IMO. The guy wasn't a first round pick for nothing. When he does come to the big leagues, it won't be as a 4th outfielder. It will be in place of someone, most likely Jermaine Dye next season if he can be moved.

[Guest JimH]

I wouldn't call Anderson insurance.  He is our best prospect, ahead of B-Mac and Sweeney at this point IMO.  The guy wasn't a first round pick for nothing.  When he does come to the big leagues, it won't be as a 4th outfielder.  It will be in place of someone, most likely Jermaine Dye next season if he can be moved.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Let me rephrase, he is great insurance for 2005. His fast start could mean he's close to being ready to contribute, maybe faster than even Sox management thought.

 

I like Anderson quite a bit and agree he has far more potential than just being a 5th OF. It's a nice problem to have.

 

Should also add on Anderson ... good start at Charlotte but also 16 k's in 57 at bats. 7 BB and a very nice .400 OBP but striking out once every 3.5 AB's indicates he still needs more experience. He's a gap hitter and personally I'd like to see an even ratio of K's to BB at the AAA level. No knock on him, just saying.

Edited April 25, 2005 by JimH

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(qwerty @ Apr 25, 2005 -> 01:17 AM)

Chances are if we had a higher obp we would score more runs. No chance way in hell our pitching holds up like this all year. We can't rely on winning all of these one run 2-1, 4-3 games. Don't know about you but i am already sick of uribe, pierz, rowand, and dye first pitch swinging. The more pitches a batter sees will help them in the long run.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well you can keep staring into your crystal ball as long as you want, but like Hawk says "Don't tell me what you hit, tell me when you hit."

 

I hate the first pitch swinging s*** too, but I don't understand how that relates to OBP%. Would you rather have a groundout on the second pitch to advance the runner, or an 8 pitch AB that results in a K?

[aboz56]

Let me rephrase, he is great insurance for 2005.  His fast start could mean he's close to being ready to contribute, maybe faster than even Sox management thought.

 

I like Anderson quite a bit and agree he has far more potential than just being a 5th OF.  It's a nice problem to have.

 

Should also add on Anderson ... good start at Charlotte but also 16 k's in 57 at bats.  7 BB and a very nice .400 OBP but striking out once every 3.5 AB's indicates he still needs more experience.  He's a gap hitter and personally I'd like to see an even ratio of K's to BB at the AAA level.  No knock on him, just saying.

All good points, I don't even want to see him up this year.

 

But when he does come up, he'll be starting.

[RockRaines]

 

This team's lack of discipline at the plate WILL come back to haunt them.

 

The attitude is great, the W's are great, but they must get the offense going sooner rather then later.

 

So far, this team has caught every single break.  What will happen when they face some adversity?

 

I have a funny feeling Oakland will provide that adversity.

I dont feel that its their discipline that hurts their walk total. I think its the lack of respect that opposing pitchers have for our lineup. We routinely pitch around other teams hitters, but ours dont exactly strike fear into anyone.

[upnorthsox]

Well you can keep staring into your crystal ball as long as you want, but like Hawk says "Don't tell me what you hit, tell me when you hit."

 

I hate the first pitch swinging s*** too, but I don't understand how that relates to OBP%.  Would you rather have a groundout on the second pitch to advance the runner, or an 8 pitch AB that results in a K?

 

How about an 8 pitch AB that results in a walk and advances the runner?

 

I was wondering when someone would bring up that Hawk cliche and that's fine, but when you're the worst in baseball hitting with RISP and RISP/2 out then you're not hitting it when you need to.

 

You can get by with a less than stellar OBP if you're hitting well with RISP and conversely you can get by with less than stellar hitting with RISP if you give yourself an abundance of RISP opportunities(high OBP) but over the long haul of a 6 month season being bad at both turns you into the Brewers or Expos offense.

[JUGGERNAUT]

He mentions the 8-3 start. We are now 15-4. The team is hitting .297 with runners on base. I'll believe the impending demise when I see that number drop.

 

Pods+Iggy have a combined 360 OPB. That's what many of us felt had to happen.

 

Harris has scored 6R in 19AB in limited action. He's one of our best hitters against RHers. Hard to believe? He hit 279 vs them last yr. He's avg'g 2H more per 25 AB's this year. He leads the team in OBP. I liken him to an NBA 6th man.

 

I'm not out to beat up analysts or even pessimists but I think you need to see signs of weakness before you can shout the demise of the White Sox. The staff is built for quality starts. The numbers going into the season gave us that edge over the ALC. The only think different is that we've seen more dominant starts & have yet to experience a string of poor starts. But again when those poor starts come it's not the beginning of the end. These 5 starters have what it takes to produce 100 winnable starts. As long as team can maintain a better than 4 RPGA we should win most of those starts.

 

We did all the analysis before the season started factoring in the new players. The conclusion was they should be able to maintain a better than 4 RPGA for most of the season. It has to do with when players traditionally get hot & when they cool down. I have no reason to believe that won't happen.

 

I still contend the only thing that can de-rail this team is the injury bug. We have 3 key players who are high risk (Dye, Everett, & Hernandez).

We will need some good blessings that the team remains healthy the whole season. We have proven we can win w/out Thomas. We will only be that much stronger with him.

Edited April 26, 2005 by JUGGERNAUT