2008 White Sox Catch-All Thread

[fathom]

I think Coop is the best in the business in fixing mechanics and turning around guys with cracked psyches.

 

Especially at focusing the pitcher on not being afraid to sacrifice velocity. Something we all overlook is his ability to keep pitchers healthy.

[BobDylan]

Funny, as you would probably see the same posts on Philly boards about Floyd, and on the Texas boards with Danks(I know he didn't pitch for them, but his AAA numbers weren't impressive in the least).

 

It goes both ways.

 

 

I have a feeling SSI is pointing his finger at Greg Walker. Ryan Sweeney is a contact hitter who goes to all fields. Take him out of a homer heavy organization, and suddenly the talent that we knew (thought) he had translates. You're right, though, it does go both ways. The White Sox, in terms of developing hitting, either need to find guys that fit Walker's philosophy, or reevaluate who is leading the hitting corps. I have a feeling somebody is going to say that a hitting coach really doesn't do all that much, but if Cooper is going to get praise for Loaiza, Contreras, Danks, Floyd, Thornton, etc., then Walker takes the blame for what's happened to this offense the past two years and the players who slipped through the cracks.

 

And besides, I truly believe Greg Walker is where to point the finger at with this offense. It is astounding to see so many Major League hitters on the same team, many with colorful resumes, look so effing clueless this often at the plate. Sure, guys slump, but not for 2 full years.

[southsideirish71]

I have a feeling SSI is pointing his finger at Greg Walker. Ryan Sweeney is a contact hitter who goes to all fields. Take him out of a homer heavy organization, and suddenly the talent that we knew (thought) he had translates. You're right, though, it does go both ways. The White Sox, in terms of developing hitting, either need to find guys that fit Walker's philosophy, or reevaluate who is leading the hitting corps. I have a feeling somebody is going to say that a hitting coach really doesn't do all that much, but if Cooper is going to get praise for Loaiza, Contreras, Danks, Floyd, Thornton, etc., then Walker takes the blame for what's happened to this offense the past two years and the players who slipped through the cracks.

 

And besides, I truly believe Greg Walker is where to point the finger at with this offense. It is astounding to see so many Major League hitters on the same team, many with colorful resumes, look so effing clueless this often at the plate. Sure, guys slump, but not for 2 full years.

 

Actually, I am not talking about Walk with this post. Walk wasn't around Sweeney long enough to have a chance to make changes. Walk has nothing to do with this at all. I am pointing at the minor league instruction overall. Sweeney was a home grown prospect.

 

I only hope Buddy Bells influence helps change our preparation of minor league talent.

Edited June 22, 2008 by southsideirish71

[BobDylan]

Actually, I am not talking about Walk with this post. Walk wasn't around Sweeney long enough to have a chance to make changes. Walk has nothing to do with this at all. I am pointing at the minor league instruction overall. Sweeney was a home grown prospect.

 

I only hope Buddy Bells influence helps change our preparation of minor league talent.

 

My mistake then.

 

I still want to blame Walker though.

[eickevinmorris]

I'm still not convinced Sweeney's numbers are legitimate. His LD% doesn't correlate very well to his BABIP.

[santo=dorf]

I'm still not convinced Sweeney's numbers are legitimate. His LD% doesn't correlate very well to his BABIP.

Why don't you just watch tape of him instead to draw your conclusion?

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_player...&statType=1

 

look at his hit spray chart @ Oakland. He's very good at going the other way. You don't need to have a high LD% to do that.

Edited June 22, 2008 by santo=dorf

[chw42]

Amazing minor league development we have here. How does a guy like Ryan Sweeney go from not being able to adjust to inside pitching here, to poof a guy hitting .299 in another organization. I wonder what changes another team will make to Anderson when he gets run out of here. The talent is there, we just don't see that talent at the major league level.

 

It's all Kenny's fault.

 

Really, our offensive philosophy is nothing but the long ball. It might be about time that Kenny noticed that. We won in 05 less dependent on the long ball and look what happened? One year later, we go back to hitting homers and lose out on the playoffs. We need to manufacture more runs in order to beat good teams!

[southsideirish71]

It's all Kenny's fault.

 

Really, our offensive philosophy is nothing but the long ball. It might be about time that Kenny noticed that. We won in 05 less dependent on the long ball and look what happened? One year later, we go back to hitting homers and lose out on the playoffs. We need to manufacture more runs in order to beat good teams!

 

In 05, we had a mediocre offense that hit lots of home runs. We won because of outstanding starting pitching. The manufacturing runs part in 05 is a myth. In the world series we hit a lot of home runs to score runs.

[chw42]

In 05, we had a mediocre offense that hit lots of home runs. We won because of outstanding starting pitching. The manufacturing runs part in 05 is a myth. In the world series we hit a lot of home runs to score runs.

 

It's not a myth, it happened. The reason we led in every one of our first 37 games was because of Scott Podsednik. He would get on, steal a base and get knocked in. Sure, we depended on the home run more than anything. But we could produce runs when we needed to. We won opening day 1-0, we won the last game of the WS 1-0. Doesn't that tell you something? When we didn't hit the long ball, we scratched out runs. That offense was a lot more consistent too.

 

[eickevinmorris]

Why don't you just watch tape of him instead to draw your conclusion?

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_player...&statType=1

 

look at his hit spray chart @ Oakland. He's very good at going the other way. You don't need to have a high LD% to do that.

Ok. He goes the other way. That doesn't explain the inconsistencies in his MiLB statistics compared to his MLB statistics. He's still a singles hitter whose success is dependent upon hitting it through holes that won't always be open.

[eickevinmorris]

It's not a myth, it happened. The reason we led in every one of our first 37 games was because of Scott Podsednik. He would get on, steal a base and get knocked in. Sure, we depended on the home run more than anything. But we could produce runs when we needed to. We won opening day 1-0, we won the last game of the WS 1-0. Doesn't that tell you something? When we didn't hit the long ball, we scratched out runs. That offense was a lot more consistent too.

We also had a historically good pitching staff and the most unbelievable bullpen of the last twenty years. But, if you want to give the lion's share of the credit to a mediocre offense, be my guest.

[chw42]

Ok. He goes the other way. That doesn't explain the inconsistencies in his MiLB statistics compared to his MLB statistics. He's still a singles hitter whose success is dependent upon hitting it through holes that won't always be open.

 

It's too bad, I wish we had a singles hitter who can hit balls through the holes and drive in some big runs.

[chw42]

We also had a historically good pitching staff and the most unbelievable bullpen of the last twenty years. But, if you want to give the lion's share of the credit to a mediocre offense, be my guest.

 

This bullpen is just as good if not better. Take away 4-5 games this year and the bullpen is nearly flawless. I'm sure our bullpen lost us games in 05. Look at game #3 of 2005 against Cleveland.

Edited June 22, 2008 by chw42

[eickevinmorris]

It's too bad, I wish we had a singles hitter who can hit balls through the holes and drive in some big runs.

Why would you want someone whose success is totally dependent upon luck?

[chw42]

Why would you want someone whose success is totally dependent upon luck?

 

Because the Twins have 4 division titles by doing that. Give us a couple of lucky players and combine it with our power and talent and you have a WS team.

Edited June 22, 2008 by chw42

[chw42]

I'll take the HR. You can have your singles, I take the HR. We will see who comes out on top.

 

I never said I'll lean either way. I said I'll take both. The combination wins. One or the other usually doesn't. Although the home runs will most likely win.

[elrockinMT]

If we need a reserve outfielder later this season then may Pods is worth a chance? Could be worse choices out there I am thinking.

[BearSox]

I hate how people always say we had no small ball in 05. While the majority of our offense did come from the long ball, that team had plenty of manufactured runs as well.

[BearSox]

I'll take the HR. You can have your singles, I take the HR. We will see who comes out on top.

I think any sane person whould choose the home run over the singles... however, find me a player that can hit 100+ homers in a season.

[BearSox]

Ok. He goes the other way. That doesn't explain the inconsistencies in his MiLB statistics compared to his MLB statistics. He's still a singles hitter whose success is dependent upon hitting it through holes that won't always be open.

 

My god, does EVERYTHING have to be stats for you?

[eickevinmorris]

My god, does EVERYTHING have to be stats for you?

Why does EVERYTHING have to be base statistics for you? There are explanations for strange and/or fluky performances. I understand he goes the other way, I understand some scouts are high on his swing, I understand that he has the potential to be a mediocre corner outfielder.

Edited June 22, 2008 by KevinM

[Whitewashed in '05]

If we need a reserve outfielder later this season then may Pods is worth a chance? Could be worse choices out there I am thinking.

I don't think Ozzie or KW would want to bring him back. They would probably think he would get injured again. They would also say, why trade for Pods when we can fill that hole from within, (Owens). I think when ozzie said Pods was unreliable he had enough of him.

[witesoxfan]

some real gems here

 

It's too bad, I wish we had a singles hitter who can hit balls through the holes and drive in some big runs.

 

His name is Orlando Cabrera.

 

Because the Twins have 4 division titles by doing that. Give us a couple of lucky players and combine it with our power and talent and you have a WS team.

 

Look at their bullpen, their #1 starter, their top 3 starters, and the amount of good hitters in the middle of the lineup from those years. Tell me if something correlates between that and those 4 division titles.

 

In 2005, they lost the division - their offense was terrible. Matt LeCroy, Torii Hunter, and Joe Mauer were overall their best hitters...and that's Joe Mauer as essentially a rookie, for the first time feeling the rigors of a full season, not the Joe Mauer from 2006 when he led the league in hitting. Matt LeCroy. Let that sink in for a second.

 

Last season, they had 3 good hitters and 2 above average hitters, and pretty much everyone else was mediocre or worse (consider that Nick Punto got 536 plate appearances...he hit .210 and hit for no power at all, meaning he was one of the worst hitters in the entire major leagues and that a guy from, say, high-A ball could have outproduced him offensively) and, as a factor of such poor offensive production, they didn't score many runs.

 

You can't count on luck. You can generally count on fundamental baseball from fundamentally sound baseball players, but you can't count on luck or clutch. If you want "lucky" players, you'll find them on the bench. Timo Perez was a "lucky" player, and that's where he sat until his name was drawn. When he played full time in August of 2005, he was exposed and the Sox were absolutely terrible.

 

 

[greg775]

The Twins proved one butt kicking doesn't have to put you in the tank.

You'd have thought we buried them for good; what do they do, but respond.

Hope we have the same spirit as the Twins after we kicked the s*** out of them.

[santo=dorf]

greg, who is the best third baseman in Chicago?