chisoxt Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Watching Nelson pitch today, it is painfully obvious why so many teams passed on him...he has no fast ball left and relies strictly on breaking stuff....A recipe for disaster. I say this guy last two weeks. No, we did not execute offensively at all today, but currently our bullpen will not be able to hold many teams down on the road in close games. Frankly, Jenks is the only guy I trustI know that Kenny is trying to avoid giving up quality prospects to get some good bullpen help, but that is probably what it is going to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jphat007 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 He is awful. I'm about optimistic as they get, but he blows. He has nothing left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 It doesn't help that McCarthy and Politte suck too. Cotts, Jenks and Thorton are the only ones worth a crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjshoem Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 I think it might still be too early to write off nelson right now, he's only been playing professionally since late april and is just getting back into the big leagues. He did have a pretty good spring training and i think he could still turn it around with more work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Tizzle Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(jphat007 @ May 27, 2006 -> 08:00 PM) He is awful. I'm about optimistic as they get, but he blows. He has nothing left. If Nelson is incapable of retiring Shea f***ing Hillenbrand, what chance does he have against other tougher right handers in the future? I don't care how he fared against Wells and Glaus today, he got away with several weak sliders. I'ts a problem when your breaking ball drops 6-8 mph. God knows where his fastball is touching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSH2005 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 (edited) His slider looks good but the guy must have absolutely no faith in his fastball for a reason. I think he threw his first fastball as a member of the Sox today and it was the only one he threw. If he's solely a one pitch pitcher, he's going to get teed off on. He needs at least two pitches -- slider and fastball. The fact is that our bullpen sucks with or without Nelson. Who was here before -- Logan and Montero? KW will need to make a move for a reliever eventually. And the way we kept choking with runners on base today, I don't see how we would have won it barring a homer. Edited May 28, 2006 by SSH2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWSOX45 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 So he gave up a homerun, big deal. I'm not ready to give up on him yet, his slider still looks really good. I really don't think Javier Lopez would do much better. Would you guys rather have Boone Logan back? Jeff Nelson is not to blame for the loss today, you can blame stranding 13 baserunners. This game should have been decided in 9 innings. We're going to have to go with what we have until Kenny gets us help.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heads22 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Sean Tracey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chisoxt Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(CWSOX45 @ May 28, 2006 -> 01:42 AM) So he gave up a homerun, big deal. I'm not ready to give up on him yet, his slider still looks really good. I really don't think Javier Lopez would do much better. Would you guys rather have Boone Logan back? Jeff Nelson is not to blame for the loss today, you can blame stranding 13 baserunners. This game should have been decided in 9 innings. We're going to have to go with what we have until Kenny gets us help.... Nelson had more zip on fast ball than he does now. He is finished. Yes, we did strand a lot of baserunners today, but note the disturbing trend of late of bullpen collapses in tight games on the road. Sometimes, your bullpen just has to hold the other team down, regardless of how many runners you strand on base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDudeAbides Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ May 27, 2006 -> 08:07 PM) If Nelson is incapable of retiring Shea f***ing Hillenbrand, what chance does he have against other tougher right handers in the future? I don't care how he fared against Wells and Glaus today, he got away with several weak sliders. I'ts a problem when your breaking ball drops 6-8 mph. God knows where his fastball is touching. what are you talking about? Shea Hillenbrand is a great hitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndgt10 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 what are you talking about? Shea Hillenbrand is a great hitter. I was thinking the exact same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalapse Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(TheDudeAbides @ May 27, 2006 -> 09:25 PM) what are you talking about? Shea Hillenbrand is a great hitter. Yeesh, great might be a bit strong for a career .288 hitter. The guy has a career 100 OPS+, which just happens to be exactly average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWSOX45 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(chisoxt @ May 27, 2006 -> 08:58 PM) Nelson had more zip on fast ball than he does now. He is finished. Yes, we did strand a lot of baserunners today, but note the disturbing trend of late of bullpen collapses in tight games on the road. Sometimes, your bullpen just has to hold the other team down, regardless of how many runners you strand on base. Look, our bullpen did a pretty good job holding them until the 11th. If you think that our bullpen is going to be like it was last year......it's not. We were spoiled last year. Politte and Hermanson had career years last year, and maybe even Cotts. I'm not ready to give up on Nelson yet, because I don't think there is anyone in AAA that is THAT much better. CWSOX45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxAce Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(kjshoem @ May 27, 2006 -> 08:05 PM) I think it might still be too early to write off nelson right now, he's only been playing professionally since late april and is just getting back into the big leagues. He did have a pretty good spring training and i think he could still turn it around with more work. You only have 1 post and you already sound smarter than 70% of the posters who have posted in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 McCarthy, Politte and Cotts have not looked good this year for most of the young season. Nelson has not been what I hoped he would be, but it's early and hopefully these guys will find it soon. I am not happy with the bullpen either, but if you want to start laying blame we could look at Jim Thome's 0-6 effort with 3 K's and say he has peaked already and is on the downhill slide. It happens to the best teams and maybe it's good we get this out of the way now instead of it happening in September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 27, 2006 -> 10:51 PM) It sucks, but when that happens, it's usually not there first post on this board.... Nah, I wouldn't exactly deem any banned posters here smart, considering how much it takes to get to that point. But anyways, welcome to SoxTalk kjshoem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(Tony82087 @ May 28, 2006 -> 02:51 AM) It sucks, but when that happens, it's usually not there first post on this board.... How did that person "fly under the radar?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxfest Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Give the guy a break WHOLE bulllpen has had trouble let give JN some more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleepyWhiteSox Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(Soxfest @ May 27, 2006 -> 11:13 PM) Give the guy a break WHOLE bulllpen has had trouble let give JN some more time. This is already like plan F with no good in-house options left (maybe)...definitely deserves a little more time, but not much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Nelson is not a guy who will be able to go multiple innings. He's a guy especially right now when he has pitched a total of about 5 innings since his release in spring training, who is only going to be able to get 1 or 2 guys. Maybe 1 inning. But don't send him out there after he gets out of an inning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Tizzle Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 (edited) QUOTE(TheDudeAbides @ May 27, 2006 -> 09:25 PM) what are you talking about? Shea Hillenbrand is a great hitter. I never discounted Hillenbrand, despite including "f***ing' in between his name. Just tell me where you would rank him as far as right handed hitters you'd fear in the AL. For me, it's definitely lower half. Considering he's not even Toronto's most dangerous right handed hitter on the right side of the diamond, let alone the team, I'd say we're in trouble when our right handed specialist can't retire him. His sliders were hanging like Kirk Saarloos' out there. Won't take time for the league to figure out this Jeff Nelson isn't the same as previous years. Edited May 28, 2006 by Flash Tizzle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friend of Nordhagen Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 My two cents on the bullpen: With our starting rotation, the key is to have 3 dependable guys at any given time. Really. For instance, if you look at our pen last year, I think most people would consider it a strength. But in my view, we really had 3 guys -- at each stage of the year -- who were truly effective and didn't give me the heaves when they entered the game. Think about it. At the beginning of the year, Politte, Marte and Hermanson were good. Takatsu was getting saves, but he was never really very good. Jenks was in Double A. Cotts couldn't find the plate. By the middle of the year, Politte and Hermanson were still getting it done, and Cotts had joined them. Marte was occasionally effective, but extremely erratic. Takatsu was banished to the back of the pen. By the end of the year, Politte and Cotts were effective, and Jenks had emerged. Hermanson could pitch once a week, if that. Marte was a basket case. Now, this year, Jenks has been up and down, but generally good in save situations, and really in a groove right now. McCarthy was tough during the first few weeks but has been undependable since. Cotts has generally been effective, despite a rough start and some blips during the past few outings. Politte (who I now have to say, having written the above, was really our most consistent reliever last year) has outright sucked this year. Thornton's been good lately, but still needs to earn our trust. So what do we have, really? Jenks. That's one guy. If Cotts remains pretty solid and Thornton continues along, maybe you have your three. But we don't have it yet. We might not be that far away. I'm not saying that having more than 3 dependable guys isn't important. It is. But if we can get those 3, roles and otherwise will follow from there. I'd say at least one reinforcement may be on the way. That's my guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 And the Soxtalk faithful have turned on him alreday. I didn't think he had much left in the tank when we signed him, so I wasn't really a fan of him making our bullpen. But to give up on him after he's pitched in a couple of games is complete ludicrousy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitetrain8601 Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 It's completely stupid to give up on him already. Shea is currently 7th in batting avg in the AL last time I check at around .340. I can't believe people are pinning him as the guy who did wrong. If people are looking for someone who did what Hermanson did last year and have 20 scoreless innings, they could keep hoping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chisoxt Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 QUOTE(CWSOX45 @ May 28, 2006 -> 02:42 AM) Look, our bullpen did a pretty good job holding them until the 11th. If you think that our bullpen is going to be like it was last year......it's not. We were spoiled last year. Politte and Hermanson had career years last year, and maybe even Cotts. I'm not ready to give up on Nelson yet, because I don't think there is anyone in AAA that is THAT much better. CWSOX45 Look, maybe in a past life I would agree with you, but keep in mind, we won the world series last year, not with hitting but with pitching, pitching and pitching. If we are trying to duplicate last year's accomplishements, our pitching overall has to be as good as last years team. Right now, it's mot. And don't tell me that our improved offense will compensate for the inferior pitching, in the words of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, that trick never works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.