It's finally next year....BASEBALL IS BACK!

[KSigkid]

Sidney Ponson? Seriously?

Well, at least I'm not a Reds fan; I mean, two live bullpen arms are good, but for Kearns and Lopez?

[Thrillhouse]

Did the white sox make a deal with the devil last year?

Almost every starter had a career year last year but they now all are are all having a career year in the bad way except for Contreras. It seems like the only pitcher that is pitching well is Garland but his ERA is still over 5. This reminds me of the white sox teams from the early 2000's. All hitting but no pitching

Ksigkid or ksigrc, what do y'all think is the problem with Buerhle? Without his control, he has nothing and teams are figuring him out methinks.

[Thrillhouse]

[quote=sigtau305]


as for the Tribe, Jason Johnson will be a good fit as the fifth starter. quote]

for fun I went back an re-read this thread. wow to the above quote.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

Ksigkid or ksigrc, what do y'all think is the problem with Buerhle? Without his control, he has nothing and teams are figuring him out methinks.

RC is more the numbers expert than I am, but I'll take a stab...

He's not a high strikeout pitcher, so a lot of his success the last couple of years came from being a groundball pitcher. Of course, the trouble with that is if you start getting balls up in the zone, and you're not missing bats, guys are going to start pounding you.

This year, his K's have gone down even further, and he's giving up more than a hit per inning (batters are hitting .286 against him). That all is going to add up to a tough time for any pitcher.

[Thrillhouse]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

RC is more the numbers expert than I am, but I'll take a stab...

He's not a high strikeout pitcher, so a lot of his success the last couple of years came from being a groundball pitcher. Of course, the trouble with that is if you start getting balls up in the zone, and you're not missing bats, guys are going to start pounding you.

This year, his K's have gone down even further, and he's giving up more than a hit per inning (batters are hitting .286 against him). That all is going to add up to a tough time for any pitcher.

Yep, thats how I see it as well. When his pitches are not located properly than he is average at best. The sox announcers were ripping Garcia today big time as well. That guy has lost a ton of speed off of his pitches which is never good. The staff as a whole could easily be confused with the royals stats minus the win loss records. Why they got Vasquez instead of inserting McCarthy into the rotation last offseason, I have no idea.

For all the talk of a central division resurgence, the yankees and red sox have sure ripped apart the tigers and white sox this year.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

For all the talk of a central division resurgence, the yankees and red sox have sure ripped apart the tigers and white sox this year.

That sweep of the Chi Sox was huge for the Yankees. I even got to watch the games this weekend, being in CT.

On another note, a guy from my hometown just got called up by the Reds (Chris Denorfia). I played high school baseball against him, he ended up going to one of the rival high schools. It's funny, there were a few other guys on that team who I thought were better prospects (three others who were High School All-Americans), but he's the only one to make the majors.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

RC is more the numbers expert than I am, but I'll take a stab...

He's not a high strikeout pitcher, so a lot of his success the last couple of years came from being a groundball pitcher. Of course, the trouble with that is if you start getting balls up in the zone, and you're not missing bats, guys are going to start pounding you.

This year, his K's have gone down even further, and he's giving up more than a hit per inning (batters are hitting .286 against him). That all is going to add up to a tough time for any pitcher.

I think this is right on track - the thing is, Buehrle clearly got a little lucky last year, too, as his peripheral stats didn't really reflect his record very well.

Anyway, this season, he's right about the same H/9, and his HR rate isn't any different. However, the striking statistics are these: WHIP of 1.31 (bb/9 up about 40%) and a K-rate of 3.96 K/9, which is down about a third. It's nearly impossible to exist with fewer than 5 K/9 in the majors, and you're seeing how that works out - at some point, you just have to miss a bat or two.

The other interesting thing is that the Cell really deflates his numbers - hitters' OPS against him on the road is .899, meaning that he turns every opposing hitter into Carl Crawford when he's not in the Cell. The only other really suspicious number is that his GB/FB ratio is down to about 1.22, after averaging about 1.40 for the past few seasons . . . not a huge drop (possibly not even significant) but it might account for an increase in solid contact across the board.

[Thrillhouse]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

I think this is right on track - the thing is, Buehrle clearly got a little lucky last year, too, as his peripheral stats didn't really reflect his record very well.

Anyway, this season, he's right about the same H/9, and his HR rate isn't any different. However, the striking statistics are these: WHIP of 1.31 (bb/9 up about 40%) and a K-rate of 3.96 K/9, which is down about a third. It's nearly impossible to exist with fewer than 5 K/9 in the majors, and you're seeing how that works out - at some point, you just have to miss a bat or two.

The other interesting thing is that the Cell really deflates his numbers - hitters' OPS against him on the road is .899, meaning that he turns every opposing hitter into Carl Crawford when he's not in the Cell. The only other really suspicious number is that his GB/FB ratio is down to about 1.22, after averaging about 1.40 for the past few seasons . . . not a huge drop (possibly not even significant) but it might account for an increase in solid contact across the board.

The thing that sucks is that he hasn't pitched this bad his whole career. Some point out that Vasquez pretty much the same numbers as Buerhle last year minus the W/L and ERA. That goes to show how lucky he was last year but still has been a high 3 ERA pitcher his whole career.

Ric Flair always used to say "to be the man... you have to beat the man" and the sox sure played like ass vs the two best in the AL

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

The thing that sucks is that he hasn't pitched this bad his whole career. Some point out that Vasquez pretty much the same numbers as Buerhle last year minus the W/L and ERA. That goes to show how lucky he was last year but still has been a high 3 ERA pitcher his whole career.

Oh don't get me wrong - I think Buehrle's a quite solid pitcher, and has been for years. I really like the guy - it's just that his decline probably isn't as precipitous as it has looked, that was more my point: his numbers looked lots better last year due to the w/l record, when he'd slipped a little (and really gave up a LOT of hits).

Combine that with more walks and almost zero strikeouts, and he's going to struggle a little - hopefully he figures it out.

[USCTKE]

God the Braves need someone in their bullpen...Jorge Sosa could possibly be the worst pitcher in the major leagues...he deserves to be demoted to the Gulf Coast League.

[shinerbock]

Sosa does suck...However, in my 22 years of being a Braves fan, I don't know that I've ever seen them play this kind of offense.

[USCTKE]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

Sosa does suck...However, in my 22 years of being a Braves fan, I don't know that I've ever seen them play this kind of offense.

yea but eventually the offense is going to run out and then we are going to see them with another 6-21 month.

The worst thing that ever happened to the Braves was the AOL-Time Warner merger...the franchise has been going slowly down hill ever since.

[BobbyTheDon]

Don't look now but the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, adjacent to Garden Grove, near the Riverside county line, near Newport Beach, mascot is a monkey, of California are on a hot streak.

About freakin time.

[shinerbock]

usctke, yeah and the proposed sale wont help either. Why won't Blank buy them

[valkyrie]

Nice work last night, Sox. Glad to see you're not sucking any more, RIGHT?!