The What's Wrong with Rios Thread

[Balta1701]

I doubt that the foot was still a problem in 2003 (the Sox would have rested him if he was struggling that bad and hurt), he just for whatever reason lost his swing. In 2003 many people on this site wanted Konerko gone.

They kept saying afterwards that yes, the foot was a major problem in 2003.

[Soxbadger]

Well If you can find an article that states it, Id love to see it. I can remember this board in 2003, and many people wanted Konerko gone. You can also see that the Sox resigned him to a 3 year deal right after 2002, so that suggests that he did not have a foot problem. The article in 2005 does not state in 2003 he suffered at all.

 

Here is an article from 2003, where Konerko speaks about his troubles:

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/hockey/...0,3916174.story

 

"This [stinks]," he said. "It ain't fun. But I know we have a half-season left and I'm going to get this right.

 

"Am I going to wind up with a season I envisioned before it started? Probably not. But I don't care about that. I just want to be a piece of the puzzle. I want to help. And I will. I'm going to get this turned around."

 

Konerko believes a mechanical flaw was the root of his early-season struggles. Now he's striving for better timing at the plate, no easy task considering he has started just three of the Sox's last 12 games.

 

"Whatever [playing time] they give me, I'll make the best of it," he said.

 

Konerko said the only numbers that concern him are wins and losses.

 

"I don't care what it says on the back of my baseball card in 10 years," he said. "I just want to do something productive to help the team.

 

"Up until this season, the worst I had swung was in 2000—and that's the most fun I've ever had. So what does that tell you? If we can win this division and I have a terrible year, it will be worth it. But I will get hits to help this team, that's it."

 

In this article Konerko states its a "mechanical flaw", and never even says a word about a foot problem.

 

Ive tried to find any suggestion that Konerko suffered in 2003 from foot problems, but all I keep finding is that in 2002 he played through a foot injury.

 

http://www.tireball.com/behindthedugout/pr...s/paul-konerko/

 

After coming so close to 100 RBIs the past two seasons Konerko finally broke through with 104 in 2002. His season was well rewarded as he even was selected to the All Star team. Participating in the homerun derby Konerko finished third with 12 home runs. During the All Star in Milwaukee game he’d go 2-2 with two doubles and two RBI. Paul would be bothered by a sore foot that resulted in him posting .270 average 7 home runs and 33 RBI during the seasons second half. Paul would against victimize Anaheim for four hits on August 7, marking the eighth time in his career he had collected four hits in a game. Taking time away from his big season Paulie also recorded a message for overseas U.S. troops through “Give Thanks America”

 

In 2003 Paul would struggle largely in the first half. Despite a respectable second half Konerko’s 2003 season seems a disappointing when placed next to his last three seasons. It marked the first time Konerko’s OBP would be below .349 and the first time his slugging pct would be below .480 while a member of the White Sox. His RBI total reached only 65 and he failed to score 50 runs for the first time since joining the Sox. On the positive side his defense was peaking. He led AL first basemen with a career high .998 fielding percentage after making just 2 errors in 972 chances. Even after a bad 2003 season Konerko wasn’t about to be stopped. While in 2003 he appeared in an ESPN commercial with Tim Hudson, he also had a bigger impact on the Chicago community.. He was selected as the 2003 White Sox nominee for the MLBPA’s Man of the Year Award. And served as the spokesperson for the 2003 John Hancock® All-Star FanFest during All-Star Game festivities in Chicago. Not stopping there Konerko also taped a Public Service Announcement for local firefighters to support fire safety and visited the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital.

 

[knightni]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_leagu...?urn=mlb,188899

 

SlumpBot .200: Alex Rios giving White Sox a taste of Toronto

By Alex Remington

 

Using the best technology available today, SlumpBot .200 identifies a few players who are currently having trouble and then offers solutions for recovery.

 

Alex Rios(notes), Chicago White Sox

 

Data: .247/.294/.397, 15 HR, 65 RBI (.157/.165/.241 since joining White Sox)

 

Malfunction: And you wonder why the Jays gave this guy away for nothing? Since joining the White Sox, he's 13-for-83 and he's 3-for-27 with no walks or RBIs in September. For now, Ozzie Guillen has his back — "I guarantee you when Alex starts with us next year, sees how we work and gets comfortable, Alex will be fine" — but Guillen isn't exactly known for emotional consistency any more than Rios is known for offensive consistency. The Sox have to hope that he'll come around, since they owe him $60 million over the next five years, but this could get really ugly.

 

Diagnosis: Rios is a very talented hitter, and even when he's perceived to be playing well below his potential, he's tended to be very productive. In previous years, his mediocre walk rate has been offset by high batting averages (helped by a .320 career BABIP) and decent power. Over the past three years, he's hit .296/.347/.489, very respectable for a corner outfielder, particularly a defensive wizard like him. But right now, he's lost at the plate and hitting coach Greg Walker thinks his mechanics have gotten out of whack:

 

"The last thing you want to be doing as a hitting coach in September is working on mechanics, but whether it's pressing or the mental approach, he's had some pretty consistent misses and most of them have ended up with the problem starting in the legs."

Reboot Directions: September definitely isn't the time to relearn how to hit. But they won't gain much from benching him. For now, they may be stuck penciling his name into the lineup and not getting much production for their troubles. Ken Williams has taken a lot of interesting gambles during his tenure as GM, and many have paid off handsomely. At the time, the Rios pickup looked like a savvy move, acquiring a player whose team had soured on him but who was a five-tool talent with major defensive and decent offensive production. Right now, it's just looking like trouble.

[knightni]

Rios' swing/legs are going to have to be looked at in the offseason. I bet if you watch video of him in 2006, you'd see a different swing and leg placement.

 

He's far too open prior to the pitch arriving. He has nowhere to go to generate power. If he narrows the distance between his two legs, then strides to his open position as the ball is coming, he can have a better timing mechanism and more power.