cabiness42 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I'm optimistic. Not just of the Sox' chances to win the division, but to succeed in the playoffs. The Sox have a one game lead, with three more home games remaining compared to Detroit, and Kansas City is likely to put up far much more of a fight than Cleveland. Also, consider the pitchers the Sox are likely to rely on in the postseason. The top four starters (Sale, Peavy, Quintana, Floyd) have a 3.08 ERA over 72 innings pitched when you combine the last three starts for each. Half of those 12 starts were 6+ innings with 2 or fewer earned runs. The top six relievers (Reed, Thornton, Myers, Crain, Veal, Jones) have a combined 0.69 ERA and 0.69 WHIP over the last two weeks. The hitting is bottom of the barrel rotten right now, but all it takes is a couple hitters to get hot to go with that pitching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunofgold Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Yeah baby, smashing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Dye Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) If anyone had asked us a year ago-would we want to be at this point- we'd of course say yes What's happening to us lately is a regression to the mean...earlier in the year it was found money every place we looked. That's easy to forget about now. Most teams have ups and downs. Basically, we just have to get in...and once you're in, the playoffs can sometimes be a chaotic thing that works in your favor. I don't think we're championship-level talent, but some years you don't have to be and still get far. Edited September 24, 2012 by Jose Paniagua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigEdWalsh Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) Why I am optimistic on September 24? Because the Tigers lost a double-header yesterday. Just imagine the gloom amongst Sox fans had the Tigers won both games. I'm not crazy about the Sox backing into the playoffs but on the other hand..... Edited September 24, 2012 by BigEdWalsh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnB Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 The sox are in first place going into the last full week of the season after playing TERRIBLY the past week. They're due for a hot streak, right? right? For some odd reason, I'm fairly confident they're going to pull this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 It is such a split decision for me. Personally I look at a team that is just beat to s***. The pitching staff, especially the starters, look like toast right now. The main guys out of the pen have been ridden hard to try to make it to this point. At least half of our line up is nursing, or recovering from injuries (Dunn, Konkero, De Aza, Youk). The thing that keeps me optimistic is Detroit is in as bad or, or worse, shape than we are. Plus they can't catch the ball to save their lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnB Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 10:26 AM) Why I am optimistic on September 24? Because the Tigers lost a double-header yesterday. Just imagine the gloom amongst Sox fans had they Tigers won both games. I'm not crazy about the Sox backing into the playoffs but on the other hand..... Just get in and anything can happen. In my mind, there's no such thing as backing into the playoffs. Baseball's too weird sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hibbard Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 10:26 AM) Just imagine the gloom amongst Sox fans had the Tigers won both games. Considering that the Tigers lost both games, the gloom around here is downright hilarious. The Sox have lost 4 games in a row since thursday and lost exactly 1 game in the standings, all while detroit was at home playing mostly the easiest games left on its schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hibbard Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) Pretty much no matter what happens this week, both teams are playing inconsistently enough that the @Cle series will probably decide the Sox' fate. I still think there's a chance the Sox gain 1-2 games by this weekend. Edited September 24, 2012 by Greg Hibbard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Chappas Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I think the pitching staff is fine. All pitching staffs are tired at this time of the year. My issue is the hitting. They are regressing to the mean when it comes to RISP. If they somehow can get some consistency they could make some noise. Nobody outside of Rios is doing anything right now.....oh and the weather is getting cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderman Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 10:04 AM) I'm optimistic. Not just of the Sox' chances to win the division, but to succeed in the playoffs. The Sox have a one game lead, with three more home games remaining compared to Detroit, and Kansas City is likely to put up far much more of a fight than Cleveland. Also, consider the pitchers the Sox are likely to rely on in the postseason. The top four starters (Sale, Peavy, Quintana, Floyd) have a 3.08 ERA over 72 innings pitched when you combine the last three starts for each. Half of those 12 starts were 6+ innings with 2 or fewer earned runs. The top six relievers (Reed, Thornton, Myers, Crain, Veal, Jones) have a combined 0.69 ERA and 0.69 WHIP over the last two weeks. The hitting is bottom of the barrel rotten right now, but all it takes is a couple hitters to get hot to go with that pitching. I'm optimisitc because the Tigers also stink. This is the worst race, sure I want the Sox to win, but it's kind of crappy to see them win only because their opposition can't beat the worst team in the AL. Neither team can win - the Sox suck on the road, the Tigers can't beat anyone but the Sox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 03:27 PM) It is such a split decision for me. Personally I look at a team that is just beat to s***. The pitching staff, especially the starters, look like toast right now. The main guys out of the pen have been ridden hard to try to make it to this point. At least half of our line up is nursing, or recovering from injuries (Dunn, Konkero, De Aza, Youk). The thing that keeps me optimistic is Detroit is in as bad or, or worse, shape than we are. Plus they can't catch the ball to save their lives. Great post. Great. QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 03:43 PM) Considering that the Tigers lost both games, the gloom around here is downright hilarious. The Sox have lost 4 games in a row since thursday and lost exactly 1 game in the standings, all while detroit was at home playing mostly the easiest games left on its schedule. Hibbard, how can you say the gloom is "hilarious?" Some of us want the White Sox to step up and win a division not rely on Detroit to lose every one of its games while we do the same (though that would be nice). Southsider is right. There are a ton of reasons for this team to not make it, but if the team can somehow make the playoffs anything could happen. But the doom and gloom is totally justified. Sox have been pathetic of late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxfest Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 If Sox do not start hitting soon will not matter how good the pitching is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ginger Kid Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 I still can't believe MIN won a DH from etroit. Optimistic? Why not, you never know what can happen in the playoffs. But we have so much baseball left to get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogan873 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 The magic number is 10. A possible, conservative scenario for this week: Sox win 2 of 3 against Cleveland. Magic number is 8. Detroit loses one game to KC. Magic number is 7. Sox split with Tampa. Magic number is 5. Detroit loses one game to the Twins. Magic number is 4. That makes the last series at Cleveland very important. But a sweep of Cleveland starting tonight, and winning 3 of 4 against Tampa makes it look a lot better. The Sox are in control of their own fate right now. Win as many as or more games than the Tigers between now and the end of the season and the division is won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogan873 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 11:40 AM) Hibbard, how can you say the gloom is "hilarious?" Some of us want the White Sox to step up and win a division not rely on Detroit to lose every one of its games while we do the same (though that would be nice). Southsider is right. There are a ton of reasons for this team to not make it, but if the team can somehow make the playoffs anything could happen. But the doom and gloom is totally justified. Sox have been pathetic of late. Very true. If the Sox had taken 2 of 3 from KC (which should have happened) and won at least 1 in LA, the future looks so much brighter. All we can hope for is that the Sox step it up starting tonight. A 4-3 homestand would be okay, but 5-2 or better would make me feel much more comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hibbard Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 11:40 AM) Great post. Great. Hibbard, how can you say the gloom is "hilarious?" Some of us want the White Sox to step up and win a division not rely on Detroit to lose every one of its games while we do the same (though that would be nice). Southsider is right. There are a ton of reasons for this team to not make it, but if the team can somehow make the playoffs anything could happen. But the doom and gloom is totally justified. Sox have been pathetic of late. Because really, the gloom is hilarious. Some of you people are posting wild, disproportionately pessimistic bulls*** with no basis in reality. Yes, the Sox got swept over the weekend. As long as they came home still in first place I was fine with whatever this weekend's result was - and they did, without even having to share it. There's no reason to act as though the sky is falling. If Detroit had swept the Twins and we had won 2/3 in LAA, it would have been exactly the same result, and people would've been saying "Detroit GONNA GET HAWT" instead of "SOX SUCK AND EVERYTHING ELSE SUX TOO" I'll take my chances with 7 of the last 10 at home against these two teams. If they don't win the division in this position with 10 games left - yes they choked. Yes, it would be a tremendously disappointing end to an otherwise very exciting, awesome season. Yes, they will miss out on some much needed playoff revenue, national visibility and an attendance bump. However, what's amazing to me is that the first 145 games of this season bought this team exactly ZERO equity with its fanbase in terms of believing in it for ONE MORE WEEK - and you're the poster child for exactly what I mean by that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 11:37 AM) I think the pitching staff is fine. All pitching staffs are tired at this time of the year. My issue is the hitting. They are regressing to the mean when it comes to RISP. If they somehow can get some consistency they could make some noise. Nobody outside of Rios is doing anything right now.....oh and the weather is getting cool. This is more than just September tired for the pitching staff. This is two guys who are close to 100 IP over their career highs, plus another who is about 100 IP higher than anywhere he has been since 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 11:54 AM) Very true. If the Sox had taken 2 of 3 from KC (which should have happened) and won at least 1 in LA, the future looks so much brighter. All we can hope for is that the Sox step it up starting tonight. A 4-3 homestand would be okay, but 5-2 or better would make me feel much more comfortable. The "what if" game goes both ways. What if the Tigers had gotten to finish the rain out game where they had the tying runs on base? What if Austin Jackson doesn't misread a bases loaded triple, which should have been a routine fly ball to end an inning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderman Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 12:07 PM) This is more than just September tired for the pitching staff. This is two guys who are close to 100 IP over their career highs, plus another who is about 100 IP higher than anywhere he has been since 2007. I'd like to see Santiago get a start (for Quintana) or to mix him in to get everyone else an extra day of rest. Peavy also hasn't been as good, certainly not bad, but it would be good to get him an extra day (as well as Sale). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 12:03 PM) Because really, the gloom is hilarious. Some of you people are posting wild, disproportionately pessimistic bulls*** with no basis in reality. Yes, the Sox got swept over the weekend. As long as they came home still in first place I was fine with whatever this weekend's result was - and they did, without even having to share it. There's no reason to act as though the sky is falling. If Detroit had swept the Twins and we had won 2/3 in LAA, it would have been exactly the same result, and people would've been saying "Detroit GONNA GET HAWT" instead of "SOX SUCK AND EVERYTHING ELSE SUX TOO" I'll take my chances with 7 of the last 10 at home against these two teams. If they don't win the division in this position with 10 games left - yes they choked. Yes, it would be a tremendously disappointing end to an otherwise very exciting, awesome season. Yes, they will miss out on some much needed playoff revenue, national visibility and an attendance bump. However, what's amazing to me is that the first 145 games of this season bought this team exactly ZERO equity with its fanbase in terms of believing in it for ONE MORE WEEK - and you're the poster child for exactly what I mean by that. and this is what we call lowering the boom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 06:03 PM) Because really, the gloom is hilarious. Some of you people are posting wild, disproportionately pessimistic bulls*** with no basis in reality. Yes, the Sox got swept over the weekend. As long as they came home still in first place I was fine with whatever this weekend's result was - and they did, without even having to share it. There's no reason to act as though the sky is falling. If Detroit had swept the Twins and we had won 2/3 in LAA, it would have been exactly the same result, and people would've been saying "Detroit GONNA GET HAWT" instead of "SOX SUCK AND EVERYTHING ELSE SUX TOO" I'll take my chances with 7 of the last 10 at home against these two teams. If they don't win the division in this position with 10 games left - yes they choked. Yes, it would be a tremendously disappointing end to an otherwise very exciting, awesome season. Yes, they will miss out on some much needed playoff revenue, national visibility and an attendance bump. However, what's amazing to me is that the first 145 games of this season bought this team exactly ZERO equity with its fanbase in terms of believing in it for ONE MORE WEEK - and you're the poster child for exactly what I mean by that. Well, you are just a better fan than me. I just think the White Sox have responded to this pennant race in horrible fashion. Horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Hibbard Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 12:54 PM) Well, you are just a better fan than me. I just think the White Sox have responded to this pennant race in horrible fashion. Horrible. I hesitate to evaluate this race on the heels of playing our toughest remaining series while the tigers played their easiest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogan873 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 12:10 PM) The "what if" game goes both ways. What if the Tigers had gotten to finish the rain out game where they had the tying runs on base? What if Austin Jackson doesn't misread a bases loaded triple, which should have been a routine fly ball to end an inning? I know. We can play what if all we want. I was just thinking that everything else being equal, two more wins on the road for the Sox puts them in a better position. Losing 2 of 3 to KC and getting swept in LA was ridiculous. But, so was Detroit losing both ends of a doubleheader to the Twins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamshack Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Sep 24, 2012 -> 11:56 AM) I hesitate to evaluate this race on the heels of playing our toughest remaining series while the tigers played their easiest. What about the entire last month or so? What good teams have we played well against? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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