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Don Cooper


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Typically it's very, very rare for a pitching coach to be promoted up to manager. The skill sets just seem to be different. Bud Black is the last guy to make that jump (Angels/Padres) and something tells me he won't be too long for that job, given that the White Sox are drastically outslugging the Padres right now.

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I was about to start a new thread, but this one seemed to be slowing down after three posts so I will try to hijack/revive...

 

I do not know about Coop being a manager, but I am really loving what I am seeing out of the starting staff. In particular, I am not sure if it is Cooper, Ozzie, the clubhouse, the players, the fan base etc., but it has been amazing to watch the development of Floyd, Danks and Vazquez since joining the team over the past couple years. I am certain the league will continue to make adjustments, but all three have been pleasant to watch, even through the abysmal hitting this past week or so. On that note, Contreras has not been killing us either. In fact, the only guy who concerns me before he even takes the mound is Buehrle. If Danks and Floyd continue to develop their skills, it will be nice to shuffle Buehrle down in the rotation to the 3 (or even 4) spot where he probably belongs on a stuff basis. Great work Coop!

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QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 6, 2008 -> 02:30 PM)
Give him a couple months and people will be screaming for him to be fired.

 

Nah, not even a chicken little like me could call for Coop to be fired. He's proven he is very good when he has something to work with.

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Cooper has a pretty impressive resume so far. If you can look past 2006 and parts of 2007, he's coached a pitching staff to a world series win, as well as being part of a no-hitter, and then looking at the reclamation project in Gavin Floyd who's nearly pitched two no-hitters this year, and helping Danks become what looks to be (knock on wood) a healthy, reliable addition to the Sox rotation for years to come

 

Let's lock this guy up for another 4-5 years KW

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Well i know its still early but as of NOW, his work with Floyd, Danks and Contreras are looking evident. 1-5 the rotation has been solid. The bullpen has been above average. So yea i would like to say Coop has done a great job so far.

Now only if we can get this level of consistency out of Walker and his 'sluggers'.

Edited by GreatScott82
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QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ May 7, 2008 -> 08:53 AM)
Well i know its still early but as of NOW, his work with Floyd, Danks and Contreras are looking evident. 1-5 the rotation has been solid. The bullpen has been above average. So yea i would like to say Coop has done a great job so far.

Now only if we can get this level of consistency out of Walker and his 'sluggers'.

 

I have been a little disappointed in the bullpen thus far this season. Dotel scares me and I am concerned about overworking Linebrink. I know it is not going to be lights out every night but I was hoping for a little more consistency. I do not blame Cooper for this necessarily, but I am not going to call the bullpen anything more than average so far.

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QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ May 7, 2008 -> 06:51 AM)
I have been a little disappointed in the bullpen thus far this season. Dotel scares me and I am concerned about overworking Linebrink. I know it is not going to be lights out every night but I was hoping for a little more consistency. I do not blame Cooper for this necessarily, but I am not going to call the bullpen anything more than average so far.

Right now, Linebrink is tied for 121st in MLB for most games pitched in, with 12. Both Boone Logan and Bobby Jenks are ahead of him. The top guys have made 1.5 times as many appearances as him or more, the top is 21, and everyone in the top 10 have appeared 18 times or more already. He's had a couple stretches where he's appeared in several games in a row, but each of those has been punctuated by a longer period of rest.

 

We are currently 9th in the league in ERA out of the bullpen, with a 3.25. And, as some of us (Me) predicted coming in to the season...we're also already last in the league in innings pitched out of our bullpen once again.

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QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ May 7, 2008 -> 08:51 AM)
I have been a little disappointed in the bullpen thus far this season. Dotel scares me and I am concerned about overworking Linebrink. I know it is not going to be lights out every night but I was hoping for a little more consistency. I do not blame Cooper for this necessarily, but I am not going to call the bullpen anything more than average so far.

Dotel is the only one that scares me. The other 6 I feel pretty darn good about.

 

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Just out of curiosity...if our starting pitchers keep up what they're doing, where they keep performing well and going very deep in to games, and we continue to have the fewest bullpen innings pitched in baseball...how long do we need to go with the 7 man pen?

 

I think a few people might find reason to believe that an extra bat on the bench could be useful.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 7, 2008 -> 03:36 PM)
Just out of curiosity...if our starting pitchers keep up what they're doing, where they keep performing well and going very deep in to games, and we continue to have the fewest bullpen innings pitched in baseball...how long do we need to go with the 7 man pen?

 

I think a few people might find reason to believe that an extra bat on the bench could be useful.

I was thinking that too. Too bad we can't send Dotel down. If they send someone down, it would probably be Wassermann, much to my dismay.

 

I think that with Richar coming back in a few weeks, that adds to the pressure to bring up that bat. That may result in Uribe's release, or Ozuna's, but maybe not.

 

And I think that history tells us, one of the bullpen arms is likely to have injury problems at some point during the season. When that happens, depending on who it is, they may just decide to add a bat instead of replacing the pen guy.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 7, 2008 -> 02:32 PM)
Dotel is the only one that scares me.

 

Dotel's a shell of what he was in Houston and I hope that he's gone next season.

 

The other 6 I feel pretty darn good about.

 

I'm a little concerned about Jenks struggling to hit the mid '90s, but I'm not hitting the panic button yet. Especially with the off-speed stuff he's developed over the past couple of seasons. I feel pretty good about the 'pen overall this year.

 

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QUOTE (WCSox @ May 7, 2008 -> 04:45 PM)
I'm a little concerned about Jenks struggling to hit the mid '90s, but I'm not hitting the panic button yet. Especially with the off-speed stuff he's developed over the past couple of seasons. I feel pretty good about the 'pen overall this year.

This has been Jenks' pattern since 2006. Cooper worked with him on some things, and his velocity dropped. He sacrificed a few clicks on the gun for better control and better breaking stuff (specifically, being able to use a uniform delivery for all pitches). So instead of throwing 98-99, he throws 94-96. He was around 94 last night. Mid-season, he'll be at 96.

 

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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 7, 2008 -> 02:57 PM)
This has been Jenks' pattern since 2006. Cooper worked with him on some things, and his velocity dropped. He sacrificed a few clicks on the gun for better control and better breaking stuff (specifically, being able to use a uniform delivery for all pitches). So instead of throwing 98-99, he throws 94-96. He was around 94 last night. Mid-season, he'll be at 96.

 

Yeah, no doubt that Coop has gotten him to sacrifice some velocity for command.

 

That said, one might think that he'd reach back to try to hit 98-99 every once in a while. I can't tell if it's because he's changed his mechanics or if he's just not able to throw that hard anymore.

 

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QUOTE (WCSox @ May 7, 2008 -> 04:09 PM)
Yeah, no doubt that Coop has gotten him to sacrifice some velocity for command.

 

That said, one might think that he'd reach back to try to hit 98-99 every once in a while. I can't tell if it's because he's changed his mechanics or if he's just not able to throw that hard anymore.

 

I really do think for Jenks sake, especially with his rebuilt elbow, taking it down a tick might not be a bad play for him.

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