2016 White Sox

#76      

Bob Christiansen

B
4th & Chalmers, a few years ago...Now? Weeki Wach
Bob Christiansen
Illiniwek06 said:
A month in and the Sox have the most wins in MLB and the best record and best run differential in the AL.

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Scary thought, ain't it! Dropping the 1st two to the O's could have been a bad omen, but to regroup (and overcome a poor outing by Latos) to take the next two tells me something...
 
#77      

Illiniwek06

Illiniwek06
N of I-80
Illiniwek06
Article re: Latos and fantasy baseball. Interesting read given the discussion about advanced stats/sustainability in this thread. Obviously, I hope that Latos is a beast all season, but to expect that is a different story, as Bailey and IO have discussed.

And that's exactly the point: It's Latos' BABIP -- his overall BABIP -- that has had much to say about his first four starts. Certainly it helps that his Chicago White Sox, defensively, have accrued the third most defensive runs saved (11) and third-best ultimate zone rating (8.2) as a team. That'd also help explain how Latos has a 96.9 percent strand rate -- this is the percentage of runners he leaves on base at inning's end -- which also hints he has had some extremely good fortune.

History, too, shows that examples such as Latos' are more mirage than miraculous rebirth. He's only the eighth undrafted-in-ESPN-leagues pitcher in the past 10 seasons to begin the season with four consecutive starts of at least a 54 game score, a number that represents a virtual lock for warranting your "start," but also an ERA more than two runs lower than his FIP within said season's first month (March/April).
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http://espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball...sell-mat-latos-your-fantasy-baseball-team-mlb
 
#78      

Illiniwek06

Illiniwek06
N of I-80
Illiniwek06
Bob Christiansen said:
Scary thought, ain't it! Dropping the 1st two to the O's could have been a bad omen, but to regroup (and overcome a poor outing by Latos) to take the next two tells me something...
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Indeed, thought the wheels were about to start falling off. Lawrie to the rescue!
 
#79      

qcillini13

Q
qcillini13
Illiniwek06 said:
Article re: Latos and fantasy baseball. Interesting read given the discussion about advanced stats/sustainability in this thread. Obviously, I hope that Latos is a beast all season, but to expect that is a different story, as Bailey and IO have discussed.



http://espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball...sell-mat-latos-your-fantasy-baseball-team-mlb
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I was wondering when this article was going to come up. Read it a few days ago and the only interesting thing in that article that I found was that according to the ERA vs FIP numbers at the end of the year for the "mirage" pitchers it looks like he'll end up around a mid 3 ERA. Any of you complaining about that out of our #4 pitcher. BTW, I 100% agree Danks needs to be done and we need someone that will give us a sub 4 ERA at the #5 slot for this team to stay competitive. If we get what we have for years from Sale and Quintana, Rodon continues to develop, Latos gives us a mid 3 ERA and we find that 5th starter (most of those I have no doubt are going to happen) I don't see many teams in baseball that can boast better pitching all around and 2 bats I have been saying will come around seem to be. Not sure what bottom you are expecting to fall out but a team that pitches, plays great defense, and has timely hitting (exactly what the White Sox have been doing) is not going anywhere any time soon. 100 wins? No. Division title? Don't see why not.
 
#80      

Bailey

B
Los Angeles
Bailey
Illiniwek06 said:
Indeed, thought the wheels were about to start falling off. Lawrie to the rescue!
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My expectations regarding Lawrie were tempered, but he's been great. I guess it's been a while since we've had a 2nd basement contribute much of anything.
 
#81      

Bailey

B
Los Angeles
Bailey
qcillini13 said:
I was wondering when this article was going to come up. Read it a few days ago and the only interesting thing in that article that I found was that according to the ERA vs FIP numbers at the end of the year for the "mirage" pitchers it looks like he'll end up around a mid 3 ERA. Any of you complaining about that out of our #4 pitcher.
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My chief concern is the fact he hasn't thrown over 115 innings since 2013 - the last season he was, well, any good. He follows the typical degenerative trend when it comes to arms.

To echo IO, I would *love* to be totally wrong when it comes to Latos.
 
#82      

Bailey

B
Los Angeles
Bailey
Speaking of arms, this Tim Lincecum situation might be of our interest. Scouts are saying his stuff is good. Given the wheels have totally fallen off for Danks, and metrics would predict Latos will run out of gas sometime in July, we should probably take our Drake Laroche money and figure out how to fill some holes before they happen.

I can also think of a serviceable left hander out there without a job....#56
 
#84      

Illiniwek06

Illiniwek06
N of I-80
Illiniwek06
qcillini13 said:
Not sure what bottom you are expecting to fall out but a team that pitches, plays great defense, and has timely hitting (exactly what the White Sox have been doing) is not going anywhere any time soon. 100 wins? No. Division title? Don't see why not.
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It's not about expecting the bottom to fall out. As you said, "a team that pitches ... is not going anywhere any time soon." Completely agree, but how much longer can we expect to see this type of pitching production? That, I'm not sure of, and I hope that the reality bears out differently than whatever predictive ability one may associate with advanced stats.

Again, just to reemphasize, I would LOVE to be waaaaay off and have Latos in the discussion for AL CY in September. :thumb:
 
#86      

qcillini13

Q
qcillini13
Illiniwek06 said:
It's not about expecting the bottom to fall out. As you said, "a team that pitches ... is not going anywhere any time soon." Completely agree, but how much longer can we expect to see this type of pitching production? That, I'm not sure of, and I hope that the reality bears out differently than whatever predictive ability one may associate with advanced stats.

Again, just to reemphasize, I would LOVE to be waaaaay off and have Latos in the discussion for AL CY in September. :thumb:
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I don't believe he will be in the CY running but the way he is pitching with the slower speeds and more sinkers than ever before I believe that he can stay serviceable and keep his ERA around a mid 3. If we are getting that from our #4 I think we are fine because I believe that Sale, Quintana, and Rodon will pitch very well all year. So to me if he can stay a decent/good #4 then I don't see our pitching going away. Our bats seem to be waking up some and we have had timely hitting all year. Our defense seems much improved and I don't see any reason that should fall off. The only concern I would have is an injury to one of our defensive aces. Now I really think the Sox should do everything they can to first make sure Lincecum has something going for him and second do everything they can to pick him up. That would balance out the pitching staff some and give us a good #5 if he is 70% what he used to be. He could even become out #4 and allow Latos to have even less pressure and be a #5. Then if our #5 has an ERA in the mid 3's I think we will be overly dangerous. I do believe if these happen we will add a bat at the break and then who knows what could happen. I can see this team making a run at the division title.

Can anyone tell me how Carson Fulmer is doing? Is he anywhere close to be up with the club?
 
#87      

Bailey

B
Los Angeles
Bailey
qcillini13 said:
I don't believe he will be in the CY running but the way he is pitching with the slower speeds and more sinkers than ever before I believe that he can stay serviceable and keep his ERA around a mid 3. If we are getting that from our #4 I think we are fine because I believe that Sale, Quintana, and Rodon will pitch very well all year. So to me if he can stay a decent/good #4 then I don't see our pitching going away. Our bats seem to be waking up some and we have had timely hitting all year. Our defense seems much improved and I don't see any reason that should fall off. The only concern I would have is an injury to one of our defensive aces. Now I really think the Sox should do everything they can to first make sure Lincecum has something going for him and second do everything they can to pick him up. That would balance out the pitching staff some and give us a good #5 if he is 70% what he used to be. He could even become out #4 and allow Latos to have even less pressure and be a #5. Then if our #5 has an ERA in the mid 3's I think we will be overly dangerous. I do believe if these happen we will add a bat at the break and then who knows what could happen. I can see this team making a run at the division title.

Can anyone tell me how Carson Fulmer is doing? Is he anywhere close to be up with the club?
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He struck out the side on 16 pitches in his double A Birmingham debut on Saturday. I don't think we see him this year though.

Nope, im sorry that was wrong. Pulling from this tweet by Merkin. Looks like he's been struggling in AA.
Scott MerkinVerified account ‏@scottmerkin Apr 30 Chicago, IL
Carson Fulmer struck out the side on 16 pitches to open his start for Double-A Birmingham against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos
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#88      

qcillini13

Q
qcillini13
Bailey said:
He struck out the side on 16 pitches in his double A Birmingham debut on Saturday. I don't think we see him this year though.
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Is he a reliever right now or are they letting be a starter? Where do I find information on minor league ball?

Nevermind. I found some good information and basically what I was looking for. He has 9 k's over his last 12 innings. Sounds like his last two starts have been real good but looking at his stats I think he started off slowly.
 
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#93      

Bailey

B
Los Angeles
Bailey
Robin'd again.

2 straight walks to start an inning by knuckleballer Wright - nowhere near the plate. Rollins comes up, bunts the first pitch foul. Unbelievable.

We net 1 run.

Is there a worse in-game manager in baseball?
 
#94      

IlliniFaninHoosierLand

IlliniFaninHoosierLand
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
Bailey said:
Danks DFA'd. Is it weird to feel a little sad?
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Not really a Sox fan but I was surprised when I was listening to the radio on the way home to find out that he's the 4th longest tenured current athlete in Chicago. Only ones in the city that have been with their team longer are Robbie Gould, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook.
 
#95      

Bailey

B
Los Angeles
Bailey
It's time for Quintana to be in the same conversation as the Arrietas and Sales.
 
#96      

oscar

O
oscar
Danks first few years were quite good and he looked like a rising star. He then plateaued and had some injuries. It was all down hill from there. Sox kept him way too long. Horrible move signing him long term and letting Buehrle go. Hope Johnson can at least be servicable. Fulmer is not going to be ready for the bigs anytime soon. Great competitor but nowhere near the arm of Sale or Rodon, who both went up to the Sox after very little time in the minors.
 
#97      

oscar

O
oscar
Bailey, you are right about Quintana. He just gets better and better. If he gets some run support this year he will win a lot of games.
 
#98      

Bailey

B
Los Angeles
Bailey
oscar said:
Horrible move signing him long term and letting Buehrle go.
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That's revisionist. At the time, the signing was a good move. A young lefty who up until that point had been solid, if not great for a number that would have been far less had he A. Stayed healthy and B. Hit the market.

Then his shoulder fell apart and the rest is history. His career took a turn for the worse, and quickly, but I don't think anybody can blame the Sox for signing him to an extension when they did. He was very, very good for three seasons between 2008-2010.

Mindblowing, but up until today he was one of only 12 active pitchers with 3 consecutive +5 WAR seasons.
 
#99      

oscar

O
oscar
Danks signing was widely criticized at the time, although probably more so by the fans than the "experts".
 
#100      

IntenselyOrange

I
IntenselyOrange
Bailey said:
Robin'd again.

2 straight walks to start an inning by knuckleballer Wright - nowhere near the plate. Rollins comes up, bunts the first pitch foul. Unbelievable.

We net 1 run.

Is there a worse in-game manager in baseball?
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He's brutal. He clearly has zero appreciation for math and statistics. If he only did this when Q and Sale were on the mound, I could at least make the argument that he's thinking. But he did that stuff even when Danks was on the mound when one run would mean far less.