OFF DAY TALK: 1/3 of the season mark grades

[southsider2k5]

Yesterday marked the 55th game of the season, 54 being 1/3 of the season. I figured today was as good of a day as any to talk about player performances to this point.

 

The A's

Chris Sale, Jake Petricka, Zach Putnam, Tyler Flowers, Adrian Nieto, Gordon Beckham, Conor Gillaspie, Alexei Ramirez, Jose Abreu

 

The B's

Dayan Viciedo, Adam Eaton, Adam Dunn, Dan Webb, Andre Rienzo, Jose Quintana

 

The C's

Scott Carroll, Hector Noesi, Leury Garcia, Marcus Semien

 

The D's

Scott Downs, John Danks,

 

The F's

Paul Konerko, Alejandro De Aza,

 

The Incompletes (so far grade in parenthesis based on limited sample size)

Erik Johnson (F) , Javy Guerra (B), Felipe Paulino (F), Jordan Danks (F), Avi Garcia (B), Moises Sierra ©,

 

Now let's see yours?

[Rowand44]

No major gripes but are you basing this off of expectations or just their season in general? I feel a few guys you overrated just a tad because they're performing better than expectations.

[southsider2k5]

No major gripes but are you basing this off of expectations or just their season in general? I feel a few guys you overrated just a tad because they're performing better than expectations.

 

Based on player expectations and history. I expect more from a Chris Sale than Scott Carroll, for example.

[GGajewski18]

Yesterday marked the 55th game of the season, 54 being 1/3 of the season. I figured today was as good of a day as any to talk about player performances to this point.

 

The A's

Chris Sale, Jake Petricka, Zach Putnam, Tyler Flowers, Adrian Nieto, Gordon Beckham, Conor Gillaspie, Alexei Ramirez, Jose Abreu

 

The B's

Dayan Viciedo, Adam Eaton, Adam Dunn, Dan Webb, Andre Rienzo, Jose Quintana

 

The C's

Scott Carroll, Hector Noesi, Leury Garcia, Marcus Semien

 

The D's

Scott Downs, John Danks,

 

The F's

Paul Konerko, Alejandro De Aza,

 

The Incompletes (so far grade in parenthesis based on limited sample size)

Erik Johnson (F) , Javy Guerra (B), Felipe Paulino (F), Jordan Danks (F), Avi Garcia (B), Moises Sierra ©,

 

Now let's see yours?

 

No complaints here. I might put Danks in the low C category.

[bmags]

Greg said a point I agreed with yesterday, it seems like this team has been way more successful than 1 game over .500. I've enjoyed this season more than any other run since the 2010 24-7 run (my favorite sox team that did not make the playoffs).

 

Grade As:

Sale, Abreu, Eaton, Gillaspie, Ramirez, Petricka, Dunn

 

Grade Bs:

Beckham, Viciedo, Quintana, Webb, Bellinelli, Flowers,

 

Grade Cs:

Sierra, Danks, Nieto, Rienzo, Carroll, rest of bullpen

 

Grade Ds:

De Aza, Downs, Francisco

[chw42]

Yesterday marked the 55th game of the season, 54 being 1/3 of the season. I figured today was as good of a day as any to talk about player performances to this point.

 

The A's

Chris Sale, Jake Petricka, Zach Putnam, Tyler Flowers, Adrian Nieto, Gordon Beckham, Conor Gillaspie, Alexei Ramirez, Jose Abreu

 

The B's

Dayan Viciedo, Adam Eaton, Adam Dunn, Dan Webb, Andre Rienzo, Jose Quintana

 

The C's

Scott Carroll, Hector Noesi, Leury Garcia, Marcus Semien

 

The D's

Scott Downs, John Danks,

 

The F's

Paul Konerko, Alejandro De Aza,

 

The Incompletes (so far grade in parenthesis based on limited sample size)

Erik Johnson (F) , Javy Guerra (B), Felipe Paulino (F), Jordan Danks (F), Avi Garcia (B), Moises Sierra ©,

 

Now let's see yours?

 

I think Quintana should be an A. He's been extremely consistent and currently ranked #18 in fWAR among all pitchers, ahead of both Justin Verlander and James Shields and just behind Max Scherzer.

 

Anyway my rankings:

 

A's: Sale, Abreu, Gillaspie, Ramirez, Quintana, Flowers (low)

B's: Petricka, Putnam, Viciedo, Dunn, Rienzo, Beckham, Webb, Noesi (low)

C's: Eaton, Semien, Belisario, Lindstrom, Carroll (low)

D's: Danks, L. Garcia

F's: Downs, Konerko, De Aza

 

Incompletes: Johnson (low D), Guerra (B), Paulino (F), Danks (low D), A. Garcia (B), Sierra ©, Francisco (F).

Edited May 29, 2014 by chw42

[cabiness42]

A+: Alexei Ramriez

A: Jose Abreu, Jake Petricka, Chris Sale

A-: Conor Gillaspie, Zach Putnam

B+: Jose Quintana, Daniel Webb

B: Gordon Beckham, Tyler Flowers, Dayan Viciedo

B-: Adam Dunn, Adrian Nieto, Hector Noesi, Andre Rienzo

C+: John Danks, Adam Eaton, Matt Lindstrom, Marcus Semien

C: Scott Carroll, Leury Garcia

C-: Moises Sierra

D+: Ronald Belisario, Erik Johnson

D: Maikel Cleto, Jordan Danks, Scott Downs, Paul Konerko

F: Alejandro De Aza, Felipe Paulino

[caulfield12]

Greg said a point I agreed with yesterday, it seems like this team has been way more successful than 1 game over .500. I've enjoyed this season more than any other run since the 2010 24-7 run (my favorite sox team that did not make the playoffs).

 

Grade As:

Sale, Abreu, Eaton, Gillaspie, Ramirez, Petricka, Dunn

 

Grade Bs:

Beckham, Viciedo, Quintana, Webb, Bellinelli, Flowers,

 

Grade Cs:

Sierra, Danks, Nieto, Rienzo, Carroll, rest of bullpen

 

Grade Ds:

De Aza, Downs, Francisco

 

 

Have we joined the NBA? He might get two or three grades....a B+ overall, a D for his first two weeks, an A for the last 5-6 weeks as a 7th/8th inning guy and then the last week as a closer (C-), which he's ill-equipped for.

 

Sierra's at least a B- because he was the worst hitter in baseball his first 40-50 AB's and has been at least semi-productive (700ish OPS, GW RBI, good arm and growing more comfortable defensively by the day in Chicago).

 

Francisco is about as relevant as Leesman's ill-fated start.

 

In fact, Cleto's a lot more interesting to discuss than Francisco. Considering what was expected, and that the Cardinals and Royals gave up on him completely, I could give him a B-/C+.

 

Lindstrom's hard to grade, too...since I never thought he should have been the closer, either. I guess a C/C-.

Edited May 29, 2014 by caulfield12

[Eminor3rd]

I almost want to give Quintana an A. From a DIPS/FIP/fWAR perspective, he's actually on pace to have a BETTER season than last year. I truly thought last year was his peak, but that may not be the case.

[caulfield12]

A+: Alexei Ramriez

A: Jose Abreu, Jake Petricka, Chris Sale

A-: Conor Gillaspie, Zach Putnam

B+: Jose Quintana, Daniel Webb

B: Gordon Beckham, Tyler Flowers, Dayan Viciedo

B-: Adam Dunn, Adrian Nieto, Hector Noesi, Andre Rienzo

C+: John Danks, Adam Eaton, Matt Lindstrom, Marcus Semien

C: Scott Carroll, Leury Garcia

C-: Moises Sierra

D+: Ronald Belisario, Erik Johnson

D: Maikel Cleto, Jordan Danks, Scott Downs, Paul Konerko

F: Alejandro De Aza, Felipe Paulino

 

How can Sierra be lower than Semien or L. Garcia?

What did you honestly expect out of Nieto, when he was in High A last year?

Belisario a D+ when he was one of the best/most consistent middle relievers in baseball for six weeks?

[bmags]

I almost want to give Quintana an A. From a DIPS/FIP/fWAR perspective, he's actually on pace to have a BETTER season than last year. I truly thought last year was his peak, but that may not be the case.

 

He doesn't appear to have TWTW though.

[southsider2k5]

Forgot about Cleto, put him in the Incompletes with a D.

[Buehrle>Wood]

A: Gillaspie, Ramirez, Putnam, Petricka, Viciedo, Beckham, Abreu, Flowers

B: Dunn, Nieto, Sierra, Belisario, Sale, Caroll, Quintana, Noesi, Rienzo

C: Eaton, Lindstrom, Webb

D: Garcia, Garcia, Semien, Cleto, John Danks

F: De Aza, Konerko, Jordan Danks, Johnson, Paulino, Downs, Francisco, Veal, Jones

 

That's about everyone except for Leesman and Guerra. Too early.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Buehrle>Wood

[The Ultimate Champion]

I almost want to give Quintana an A. From a DIPS/FIP/fWAR perspective, he's actually on pace to have a BETTER season than last year. I truly thought last year was his peak, but that may not be the case.

He's continued to get physically stronger, develop his pitches, and become more of a pitcher on the mound in terms of figuring out how to get through tough games/innings when he doesn't have a full arsenal. You shouldn't be surprised. He's pretty good.

[The Ultimate Champion]

It's hard to rate a lot of these guys. I think overall the offense was great. Flowers specifically is TERRIFIC, A+ unquestionably, and last night's game is a perfect reason why. Goes 0-4 and reaches on an error, seems like a bad night, but his 2 strike approach ALLOWS him to be aggressive early in the count, look for his pitch, and then stay alive when he's down. He's never been able to do that before. Reaching via error puts Leury into the game, and that wins it for us, and no way that can ever happen - and no way his "cheapy" hits ever happen either - without that change in approach.

 

I don't expect Tyler to be a .300 hitter, maybe he's more of a spastic type that will hit .270 when year with a lower SLG% from fewer HRs, then have a year with a very low BA and lower OBP but with a quality HR total for a C. But either way if he keeps his approach he is a Major League catcher. And holy s*** at that development, that is absolutely HUGE for this organization.

[bmags]

It's hard to rate a lot of these guys. I think overall the offense was great. Flowers specifically is TERRIFIC, A+ unquestionably, and last night's game is a perfect reason why. Goes 0-4 and reaches on an error, seems like a bad night, but his 2 strike approach ALLOWS him to be aggressive early in the count, look for his pitch, and then stay alive when he's down. He's never been able to do that before. Reaching via error puts Leury into the game, and that wins it for us, and no way that can ever happen - and no way his "cheapy" hits ever happen either - without that change in approach.

 

I don't expect Tyler to be a .300 hitter, maybe he's more of a spastic type that will hit .270 when year with a lower SLG% from fewer HRs, then have a year with a very low BA and lower OBP but with a quality HR total for a C. But either way if he keeps his approach he is a Major League catcher. And holy s*** at that development, that is absolutely HUGE for this organization.

 

I'm kind of amazed we were actually able (we = sox organization) to develop a hitter who was down like this.

 

Steverson = A+

[iamshack]

I think Quintana should be an A. He's been extremely consistent and currently ranked #18 in fWAR among all pitchers, ahead of both Justin Verlander and James Shields and just behind Max Scherzer.

 

Anyway my rankings:

 

A's: Sale, Abreu, Gillaspie, Ramirez, Quintana, Flowers (low)

B's: Petricka, Putnam, Viciedo, Dunn, Rienzo, Beckham, Webb, Noesi (low)

C's: Eaton, Semien, Belisario, Lindstrom, Carroll (low)

D's: Danks, L. Garcia

F's: Downs, Konerko, De Aza

 

Incompletes: Johnson (low D), Guerra (B), Paulino (F), Danks (low D), A. Garcia (B), Sierra ©, Francisco (F).

An A for Flowers but a C for Eaton?

[T R U]

An A for Flowers but a C for Eaton?

 

Seems about right to me, unless im missing something about Eaton? Hes putting up C numbers.

[Buehrle>Wood]

An A for Flowers but a C for Eaton?

Eaton has been to the DL twice and has an obp 25 points lower and OPS 70 lower than Flowers. Expectations matter too. I would not have been surprised by a Flowers dfa by this point. Instead he has been great.

[cabiness42]

How can Sierra be lower than Semien or L. Garcia? None of them are hitting but at least Semien and Garcia provide good infield defense at multiple positions.

What did you honestly expect out of Nieto, when he was in High A last year? I'm not measuring him against expectations, I'm measuring him against catchers.

Belisario a D+ when he was one of the best/most consistent middle relievers in baseball for six weeks? He has a 5.10 ERA, plus he completely ruined my Saturday.

 

Look, I think that Sierra, Carroll, and Nieto are all doing far better than expected. Think of them as D- students who are now in the B/C range. I think they would all be thrilled to be thought of as 'C' major league baseball players.

[witesoxfan]

Eaton has been to the DL twice and has an obp 25 points lower and OPS 70 lower than Flowers. Expectations matter too. I would not have been surprised by a Flowers dfa by this point. Instead he has been great.

 

It just took both of us being down on Flowers for him to figure it out.

[Eminor3rd]

He's continued to get physically stronger, develop his pitches, and become more of a pitcher on the mound in terms of figuring out how to get through tough games/innings when he doesn't have a full arsenal. You shouldn't be surprised. He's pretty good.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like him and always have. I just thought he was going to be a 3 fWAR guy going forward, and right now he's looking like a 4-4.5 fWAR guy.

[flavum]

Opening Day Lineup

Eaton B- (injury prone, but fun to watch)

Semien B- (big moments, not bad for a rookie)

Gillaspie B+ (hitting like Gwynn, decent defense, injured)

Abreu A (MVP numbers, butcher at 1B at times, but can live with that)

Dunn B (good solid season for Donkey-no complaints)

Garcia INC

De Aza D- (started ok, then has been terrible)

Ramirez A (All Star season)

Flowers B (Better than we could have hoped for with the bat. Glove needs to improve)

 

Viciedo B+ (probably outperforming what Avi would have done. Very solid.)

L Garcia C (he's not expected to do much with the bat. He serves his purpose)

Nieto B (Big surprise. Doing ok with Danks starts)

Konerko D (A couple big hits, but...)

Beckham B+ (where you been the last four years?)

Sierra C (we'll see)

 

Sale B+ (He awesome, but I can't give an 'ace' an A if he misses half of his starts)

Paulino F

Quintana B- (need more innings per start, but very solid)

Johnson F

Danks B (see Quintana, but great last start)

Carroll C (he's another Axelrod, but provided a great game this season)

Noesi C+ (he's climbing. Games 55-108, I hope he's an A or B)

Rienzo B+ (big surprise. Hope he keeps it up)

 

Webb B- (good arm, needs to throw more strikes)

Petricka A (bullpen saver, on pace for 90+ innings)

Putnam A (really helped get the pen settled after the terrible start)

Lindstrom B+ (did ok. Hope he's back in August)

Belisario C+ (was terrible, got better)

 

 

 

 

[cabiness42]

Sox are 1.5 games back for the second wild card spot. Still, I don't expect them to get it because of our pitching depth but how funny would it be if we did? Hahn can't even punt a season without making a playoff team. Also, if we somehow snuck in, having Chris Sale (potentially) pitching in a one game playoff would have to give us the advantage even if we were the away team.

 

What are the odds the Sox can make it into the WC without having to pitch Sale in one of the last two games of the season, though???

[Dunt]

Sale B+ (He awesome, but I can't give an 'ace' an A if he misses half of his starts)

Quintana B- (need more innings per start, but very solid)

Danks B (see Quintana, but great last start)