Today is a good example of......

[joeynach]

Why we cant score and need to change our lineup against lefties. Not only did average lefty Mark Redman make us look silly AGAIN. With Pods and Thome goin 1 then 3 in the order its almost to easy to stifle us with a lefty out there (they both hit .225 against LHP in 06). Thome and Pods cant hit lefties well plain and simple and need to be further broken up in the lineup. There should be 2 rigties between the two at least. Pods, Iguchi,Konerko,Thome,Dye,Crede,AJ. We had this problem last year where we couldn't beat the Mark Redmans, Nate Robertsons, Cliff Lee, Jarrod Washburns of the world due to Ozzies lineup. We just will not be the same team against LHP with Pods and Thome goin 1 then 3 in the lineup. That is not a lineup for success I dont understand the stuborness to change the starters or theur spot in the lineup based on the matchup. It is becoming very frustrating, those guys are like different players with a lefty on the mound, and so is our lineup.

[Melissa1334]

Why we cant score and need to change our lineup against lefties. Not only did average lefty Mark Redman make us look silly AGAIN.

yea, just about any lefty makes us look bad.

[southsideirish71]

Soft tossing lefties with a decent breaking pitch, if they have a decent changeup then we are meat. They pitch away from contact low and away, and our hitters cannot control themselves and try to hit the ball as hard as they can which usually means that the third baseman and the SS are getting their workout on groundouts.

 

Low and Away and let the magic happen is the formula. Last night Dye and Konerko worked over the soft tossing lefty. They hit the ball back up the middle and let the ball get back on them so they could drive it to right center. Then Kong got a pitch middle in that he could turn on and drive. This is how we should attack all lefties of this ilk. Just hit the ball the other way for a bit, until said meatball pitcher tries to get in again and then destroy him. We have the talent to do it for the most part, we have little or no patience.

Edited March 31, 2007 by southsideirish71

[CWSGuy406]

The Sox had the chance to add a player who is known for his ability to crush lefties. He more or less fell into their lap, and the Sox would've had to spend a whole 300K to keep him. Eduardo Perez seemed like way too perfect a fit.

 

Instead, the Sox chose (a couple months earlier) to keep Scott Podsednik for almost ten times as much money. Just gotta have that speed!

 

Kenny is a smart man, and I think you can make a good case for the rest of his moves he made this winter. Keeping Podsednik, though... unexplainable.

[shawnhillegas]

Ozzie said he was uncertain about who should start in LF on opening day....apparently because there is "symbolic significance" in the opening day lineup. Today should have answered all his questions. There is never an excuse to see Pods in against a LHP.

[South Side Fireworks Man]

Unfortunately, Ozzie makes the f***in' lineups.

[LVSoxFan]

Interesting point and I don't know if this is related, but I remember marveling at some point last season about how we never hit opposite field anymore.

 

That seemed to be a staple of the '05 club but last year it appeared to be MIA. Your pitching analysis may explain some of that.

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Mar 31, 2007 -> 03:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Sox had the chance to add a player who is known for his ability to crush lefties. He more or less fell into their lap, and the Sox would've had to spend a whole 300K to keep him. Eduardo Perez seemed like way too perfect a fit.

 

Instead, the Sox chose (a couple months earlier) to keep Scott Podsednik for almost ten times as much money. Just gotta have that speed!

 

Kenny is a smart man, and I think you can make a good case for the rest of his moves he made this winter. Keeping Podsednik, though... unexplainable.

Would keeping Pods be that big of a deal if we didn't sign grinderstad?

 

I don't like the Pods signing, but I think he's a better for 2007 than Darin.

[CWSGuy406]

Would keeping Pods be that big of a deal if we didn't sign grinderstad?

 

I don't like the Pods signing, but I think he's a better for 2007 than Darin.

 

If you keep Pods + Perez and not sign Erstad, you're stuck with the same CF situation of last year, i.e. Mackowiak as the backup CFer. I think when taking everything into account, Erstad and Pods will be pretty similar players this year -- I'd take Erstad because he can play CF, so if Anderson fell flat on his face, you could call up Sweeney or Fields to take over in left.

[bulokis]

We cant have Pods, Erstad and Thome in order. Why cant we put Dye in the 3rd whole all the time. Dye seems to thrive on that pressure of hitting 3rd i.e 2005 world series.

[santo=dorf]

Statistically Dye was better in the #4 and #5 spots last year.

[BearSox]

The Sox had the chance to add a player who is known for his ability to crush lefties. He more or less fell into their lap, and the Sox would've had to spend a whole 300K to keep him. Eduardo Perez seemed like way too perfect a fit.

 

Instead, the Sox chose (a couple months earlier) to keep Scott Podsednik for almost ten times as much money. Just gotta have that speed!

 

Kenny is a smart man, and I think you can make a good case for the rest of his moves he made this winter. Keeping Podsednik, though... unexplainable.

A chance of having a healthy and producing Scott Podsednik at the top of the order is a better risk to take then a position-less 'lefty slugger', IMO.

 

Also, this was a case of missing Hall more than Perez. The Great Gustavo sucked balls today.

 

Statistically Dye was better in the #4 and #5 spots last year.

Statistically Dye had about 400-500 more AB's in 4 & 5 hole...

 

Simply put, Dye is our best fit for the 3 hole. I think a Dye, Konerko, Thome order will be a whole lot more poductive than any other order. And then you follow that up with Crede, Pierzynski, Iguchi and you have one good 2nd half of the order, and Uribe is decent in the 9 hole. Plus, I do like the Pods-Erstad combo.

Edited March 31, 2007 by BearSox

[elrockinMT]

The secret is to hit up the middle or the opposite way, but our guys don't do it very often.

[BearSox]

The secret is to hit up the middle or the opposite way, but our guys don't do it very often.

Well, at least Dye, Konerko, Ozuna, and Iguchi know how...

Edited March 31, 2007 by BearSox

[CWSGuy406]

A chance of having a healthy and producing Scott Podsednik at the top of the order is a better risk to take then a position-less 'lefty slugger', IMO.

 

Podsednik hasn't been a good baseball player in over a year-and-a-half. People have chalked up his 'badness' to injuries. Guess what? He's 31... more likely than not, he's going to be injured sometime during this year. And when he's injured, he goes from being 4th OFer-bad to not-AAA-acceptable bad.

 

What does Perez' lack of a position have to do with anything? He can DH as Thome was bad against lefties last year too, and that's not going to get better -- Thome's OPS vs lefties in his career is .763. And it's not like Podsednik is any good in LF (defensively) anyways -- so I don't know what that really matters...

 

People say things like, "it's just our backup catcher, that's not going to make or break our season. It's just a bench guy." These things add up. Keeping Perez over Podsednik would have made this team better. Maybe not 15 wins better, maybe not even five wins better, but still better.

Edited March 31, 2007 by CWSGuy406

[elrockinMT]

Well, at least Dye, Konerko, Ozuna, and Iguchi know how...

 

 

We do have some good hitters for sure. Probably the real problem is GIDP and pitchers giving up too many gopher balls.

 

Well, at least Dye, Konerko, Ozuna, and Iguchi know how...

 

 

We do have some good hitters for sure. Probably the real problem is GIDP and pitchers giving up too many gopher balls.

[BearSox]

Podsednik hasn't been a good baseball player in over a year-and-a-half. People have chalked up his 'badness' to injuries. Guess what? He's 31... more likely than not, he's going to be injured sometime during this year. And when he's injured, he goes from being a 4th OFer-bad to not-AAA-acceptable bad.

 

What does Perez lack of a position have to do with anything? He can DH as Thome was bad against lefties last year too, and that's not going to get better -- Thome's OPS vs lefties in his career is .763. And it's not like Podsednik is any good in LF (defensively) anyways...

 

People say things like, "it's just our backup catcher, that's not going to make or break our season. It's just a bench guy." These things add up. Keeping Perez over Podsednik would have made this team better. Maybe not 15 wins better, maybe not even five wins better, but still better.

How do you know Podsednik won't go back to an 05-esque form? Supposedly from what I have heard, he is in great shape-like best of his career shape, and the whole Org. is looking for a big year from him. If Podsednik can hit say around .280 with an OBP of around .340 and of a stealing success rae of about 80%, we will be in better shape than we would with Perez playing sometimes vs. lefties and some pinch hits, because I highly doubt Thome would platoon with Perez all the time. And if you suggest Perez in LF, you would have to be out of your mind. Pods' prancing to the ball will still cover more range then Perez chugging for the ball. I'd rather have Mack out in CF then Perez in LF.

 

And Perez would not make a world of difference. One hitter does not automatically win a game for you. It would have to be a collective thing. If no one is getting on base, will Perez hit 5 solo shots in one game to win the game? I highly doubt it. This team needs a hitting coach who can actually give the hitters good advice vs. lefties.

[Wanne]

Why cant we put Dye in the 3rd whole all the time. Dye seems to thrive on that pressure of hitting 3rd i.e 2005 world series.

 

It'll take Ozzie until August again to figure this out like the last few years.

[greg775]

There's no guarantee Ozuna is gonna hit CC on Monday, but I would definitely platoon

Pods at the age of 31.

Thome should hit all pitchers and as a veteran, wise up and just make contact against

lefties.

How many homers did he blast vs. lefties last year anyway?

Also Erstad should never play against lefties.

It should be Anderson.

It's pretty simple to me, and I bet you, aside from possibly Opening Day, that's what's

going to happen.

He's going to play Anderson and Ozuna a lot.

[CWSGuy406]

How do you know Podsednik won't go back to an 05-esque form? Supposedly from what I have heard, he is in great shape-like best of his career shape, and the whole Org. is looking for a big year from him.

 

Even in 2005, Podsednik was only good for half the year -- he had a .326 OBP after the from the All-Star game till theend of the year. He really wasn't that great in 2005... he was acceptable.

 

If Podsednik can hit say around .280 with an OBP of around .340 and of a stealing success rae of about 80%, we will be in better shape than we would with Perez playing sometimes vs. lefties and some pinch hits, because I highly doubt Thome would platoon with Perez all the time.

 

Steal bases at an 80% clip? He hasn't done that since 2004. He's coming off of surgery and is 31 years old... That's like saying, if Gavin Floyd could put up a 4.50 ERA, he'd be a good pitcher. We're talking about the likeliness of that happening. Even if Pods puts up a .280/.340/.350 line, that isn't good. It's still a sub-700 OPS. LF is the furthest spot down on the defensive spectrum -- you should be able to have an .800 OPS hitter there.

 

And if you suggest Perez in LF, you would have to be out of your mind. Pods' prancing to the ball will still cover more range then Perez chugging for the ball. I'd rather have Mack out in CF then Perez in LF.

 

Again, I'm not saying he'd be Podsednik's platoon partner. Having him out there for a couple games would be okay. He'd make some bad plays out there, sure, and he's obviously not vecry good anywhere he is on the field, but again -- it's LF. It's not like we're asking him to play SS.

 

And Perez would not make a world of difference. One hitter does not automatically win a game for you. It would have to be a collective thing. If no one is getting on base, will Perez hit 5 solo shots in one game to win the game? I highly doubt it. This team needs a hitting coach who can actually give the hitters good advice vs. lefties.

 

What the hell does this even matter? If you can improve at one spot, you do it. You improve every spot you possibly can improve. DH is a spot where we need better offensive production from, and there was an obvious upgrade there if you kept Perez. As far as Thome not liking to sit vs lefties? I don't think any baseball player would want to EVER sit. But we're a better team for that day with Perez as our DH and Thome sitting. He wouldn't have to sit against every lefty, but there's waaay too many lefties out there who make Jim look pathetic.