ILMOU Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 QUOTE (False Alarm @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 09:29 AM) Gordon Beckham, SS, Chicago White Sox: I caught some buzz from other observers that people are concerned about his swing: they don't like the way it looks, kind of "choppy" was how one person described it to me. Scouts were also downplaying his range, and at least one person I spoke with said Beckham really didn't look like a guy who was drafted in the first round. I will admit that he did not strike me either strongly positive or strongly negative in the one game I saw him play. I wouldn't make too much of this just yet, we need to see more out of him, but some people are concerned. If his range is an issue, all the more reason why he'll be a 3B or 2B when he hits the majors. Also, Dustin Pedroia's swing looks kind of "choppy" to me as well, and that's worked out OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanne Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 12:10 PM) If his range is an issue, all the more reason why he'll be a 3B or 2B when he hits the majors. Also, Dustin Pedroia's swing looks kind of "choppy" to me as well, and that's worked out OK. After seeing him down here I think it's safe to say his future position will be 2B...which he showed outstanding range IMO. In the few games I've seen him in he made some absolutely incredible plays with a ton of range. Not too worried out range with him. And like false alarm said...he's not getting a whole lot of PT (about every 3rd game or so). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (False Alarm @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 10:29 AM) sickels on sox players after his trip to the AFL: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/11/4/6...ghts-on-arizona don't like to hear that about beckham but i don't put much stock in it at this stage, especially with the amount of playing time he's getting down there. And how about how inaccurate he is on Poreda's velocity. I would be hugely surprised if he ever throws a fastball 90 mph. And Beckham's swing has been broken down and compared to A-rods, now its choppy? I think he has been listening to too many "scouts" at the local fudruckers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3E8 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Poreda's velocity may be down because he is working on a split-finger or sinker which they are classifying as fastball. I say this because his groundball to flyball out ratio is now 5 to 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 10:13 PM) Poreda's velocity may be down because he is working on a split-finger or sinker which they are classifying as fastball. I say this because his groundball to flyball out ratio is now 5 to 1 Wow, that's nice to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 08:41 PM) And how about how inaccurate he is on Poreda's velocity. I would be hugely surprised if he ever throws a fastball 90 mph. And Beckham's swing has been broken down and compared to A-rods, now its choppy? I think he has been listening to too many "scouts" at the local fudruckers. The Sox are infamous as an organization that sacrifices velocity for repeatability (is that a word?). They take pitchers, adjust their mechanics, and make them able to sustain control their abilities, instead of throwing at 100% every pitch with no control and potential for injury. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Sox organization has begun to make those changes to Aaron, and he makes it to Chicago throwing 4-5 mph slower than were seeing the scouting reports talk about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Cole Armstrong pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 More Cole Armstrong pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanne Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Nice pics scenario...thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 10:04 AM) The Sox are infamous as an organization that sacrifices velocity for repeatability (is that a word?). They take pitchers, adjust their mechanics, and make them able to sustain control their abilities, instead of throwing at 100% every pitch with no control and potential for injury. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Sox organization has begun to make those changes to Aaron, and he makes it to Chicago throwing 4-5 mph slower than were seeing the scouting reports talk about. That would take his fastball from 99-100 down to 94-95, still not 90 mph. The guy flat out wont throw 90 mph, he just wont, you dont lose 10 mph on your fastball because you are trying to control it now, even though you had good control of it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
False Alarm Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 05:28 PM) That would take his fastball from 99-100 down to 94-95, still not 90 mph. The guy flat out wont throw 90 mph, he just wont, you dont lose 10 mph on your fastball because you are trying to control it now, even though you had good control of it before. i imagine if he posted a 90-mph fastball it was either a slow gun or him intentionally dialing down his heater (maybe both). nothin much to worry about. btw despite his sometimes touching 99 (and even 100 once on a supposedly fast birmingham gun), i think the reports generally list him as sitting at 96-97. i like that he descibes poreda as having a "good slider." not "developing," not "improving," not "potentially useful," but "good." i ain't heard a clear statement like that about poreda's secondary stuff since we drafted him. i'm way more excited about that than i am worried about 90 mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavum Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 5, 2008 -> 08:41 PM) And Beckham's swing has been broken down and compared to A-rods, now its choppy? I think he has been listening to too many "scouts" at the local fudruckers. Between Kanny and the AFL, Beckham is 32-100. I'm going to assume he knows what he's doing if he's hitting .320 in his first 100 AB's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 02:17 PM) Between Kanny and the AFL, Beckham is 32-100. I'm going to assume he knows what he's doing if he's hitting .320 in his first 100 AB's. The guy is a good hitter, flat out. Scouts sometimes watch so many players that they dont know what they are looking at. Its like the old saying, show me the hottest girl in the world, and I will show you a guy who is sick of her s***. If you stare at something long enough, your mind will amplify any "flaws" you see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sockin Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Beckham is having a monster game so far today going 4-4 with 4 runs scored, 6 RBI, a HR, and a triple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (Sockin @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 03:52 PM) Beckham is having a monster game so far today going 4-4 with 4 runs scored, 6 RBI, a HR, and a triple. Attaboy Gordo!! ("Gordo" is what all the guys on team call him from what I could hear at the games.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sockin Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Wow, he just hit another homer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanne Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 04:23 PM) I'm sure his swing was still choppy... Geez...have a day Gordo! Cole had a dinger too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggsmaggs Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Danks was 0-5, but still had a SB and threw out a runner. They would be an awfully fun combo at the top of the order for the next few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderBolt Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 06:18 PM) Danks was 0-5, but still had a SB and threw out a runner. They would be an awfully fun combo at the top of the order for the next few years. Exactly, I really do think the perfect situation would be Danks leading off and Beckham hitting second. Cole Armstorng is really impressing to the point that It sounds like the organization might even overlook his defensive deficiencies if he can offer consistent offensive contribution off the bench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 (edited) QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 05:27 PM) Cole Armstorng is really impressing to the point that It sounds like the organization might even overlook his defensive deficiencies if he can offer consistent offensive contribution off the bench. What defensive deficiencies? Edited November 6, 2008 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderBolt Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 06:38 PM) What defensive deficiencies? I phrased it wrong. He's left-handed and a lot of people take issue with that. Behind the plate he is fairly solid, you're correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantl916 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Isn't Cole pretty comparable to AJP with a little more power and a little less contact? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanne Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 06:38 PM) What defensive deficiencies? I don't know scenario...the games I've seen him catch this fall he really didn't impress me all that much defensively. So I guess I can't base my decision on him with the 4 games I've seen him. But when I did see him...he had a handful of passed balls, dropped an easy popup and his arm didn't look overly impressive IMO (which I only got to see about 3 times). So again...I've only seen him play a handful of times and not throughout a whole season so I could be way off base. What did you think when you saw him?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 (edited) QUOTE (Wanne @ Nov 6, 2008 -> 07:34 PM) I don't know scenario...the games I've seen him catch this fall he really didn't impress me all that much defensively. So I guess I can't base my decision on him with the 4 games I've seen him. But when I did see him...he had a handful of passed balls, dropped an easy popup and his arm didn't look overly impressive IMO (which I only got to see about 3 times). So again...I've only seen him play a handful of times and not throughout a whole season so I could be way off base. What did you think when you saw him?... He caught one game I saw and DH'd the other. In the game he caught, he had one really nice play... snapping off a throw behind the plate and picking a runner off first. It was fairly impressive. A very strong and accurate throw. No other plays involved him. I believe he has a reputation of being pretty solid behind the plate. He has been pretty effective at throwing out baserunners in his minor league career. And besides... why would a team keep a guy with a career .257 BA and .712 OPS around if he wasn't good defensively? He did have 8 PB's this year at Charlotte, most because of difficulty catching Charlie Haeger's knuckleball. Before that he had a total of 11 PB's in 6 years. Edited November 7, 2008 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearSox Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I remember during ST last year, Hawk was raving about Armstrong's D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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