Baseball

Series Preview – Diamondbacks vs. Cubs: On The Mend

By Sam Fels 1434 0

vs.

RECORDS: Diamondbacks 10-9   Cubs 8-9

GAMETIMES: Friday-Sunday 1:20

TV: NBCSN Friday and Sunday, ABC 7 Saturday

UNPAINTED HUFFHINES: AZ Snake Pit

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Merrill Kelly vs. Kyle Hendricks

Zach Greinke vs. Yu Darvish

Robbie Ray vs. Jose Quintana

PROBABLE ARIZONA LINEUP

Wilmer Flores – 2B

Eduardo Escobar – 3B

David Peralta – LF

Adam Jones – RF

Christian Walker – 1B

Ketel Marte – CF

Nick Ahmed – SS

Caleb Joseph– C

 

PROBABLY CUBS LINEUP

Daniel Descals0 – 2B

Kris Bryant – RF

Anthony Rizzo – 1B

Javier Baez – SS

Willson Contreras – C

Jason Heyward – CF

David Bote – 3B

Kyle Schwarber – LF

 

It’s the second half of what Greater Cubdom is hoping is “Recovery Week.” The first half went perfectly, a sweep of the grand theft that is the Miami Marlins. Sadly, the Diamondbacks haven’t been playing along of late.

The Diamondbacks were an all-right team last year. They couldn’t quite hang on with Colorado and the Dodgers in a down year last year, running out of gas in September. They must be looking at Colorado’s step-on-a-rake start and wonder what might have happened if they stuck with it. They let Patrick Corbin walk in free agency, which fair enough, pitchers that throw that many sliders don’t last long and aren’t worth a huge investment probably. Still, it didn’t feel like the Diamondbacks had to say, “Fuck it, this will never work,” and blow it all up. But that’s what teams do now, because really, what’s the penalty for doing so?

So out went Paul Goldschmidt, whom they also decided they would never have a chance of re-signing, though how much less likely would they have been than the Cardinals? AJ Pollock moved up the I-10 to the Dodgers. And the white flag has been raised.

The D-Backs have also been bitten (pun probably intended) by the injury bug, with Steven Souza out for the year and Jay Clam also on the DL. Taijuan Walker is recovering from the ol’ TJ and should be back midseason, but likely in the pen.

That hasn’t stopped them from starting out over .500 so far, and winners of four in a row. And about .500 is where you feel they should be after looking it over. Everything has been ok. The lineup has Peralta and Adam Jones going nuclear, and only one of those has a chance to last. And Peralta’s .429 BABIP suggests neither do, because we know what Adam Jones is now. Christian Walker has done a fine Goldschmidt impression at first so far, and has some decent numbers in the minors, but he’s 28 and if he were a thing we’d probably know by now. Jarrod Dyson is somehow getting on base regularly, which has to be some sort of conspiracy because there’s no way. Everyone else is going up there with a banjo.

The rotation is led by Luke Weaver, whom the Cubs will duck this weekend. He was one of the prizes for Goldschmidt, and so far has a sub-3.00 FIP and is sitting down nearly 11 hitters per nine innings. Zack Greinke is having one of the weirder starts to a season you can imagine. He has over an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio, and yet his ERA and FIP are well over 5.00 because a third of the fly balls he’s given up have landed in someone’s beer. He must love the juiced ball! It’s not totally bad luck, as he’s getting less grounders and more flies than he ever has, as well as louder contact, but a third of those flies going for homers is basically preposterous. That will come down. Robbie Ray can’t find the plate with a truffle pig, and yet will still throw six innings of one-run ball against the Cubs BECAUSE. Merrill Kelly is some journeyman they tossed into the rotation to get by the health inspection, and his change-up has gotten him to be useful. Again, probably won’t last.

The pen was something of a strength last year until running out of gas, and returns Hirano, Bradley, and Chafin. Hirano and Chafin however have been tossing volleyballs up there so far, and T.J. McFarland is on the DL. They’re getting by with a reclamation of Greg Holland, who was his own traveling fireworks show last year. But he’s not walking nearly as many hitters so far, and is striking out nearly half of the hitters he sees. I don’t know why either. Bullpens’ll bullpen on ya.

For the Cubs, something of a new alignment as Bryant makes his first start in right today to keep Bote and Descalso in the lineup as Zobrist’s .271 slugging isn’t really worth putting up with his walk-up song right now. Heyward slots again to center. Hendricks looks to get on the board along with all the other starters, and he’ll have to actually be able to predict where his fastball is going which he was unable to do in his last start last Saturday. Darvish and Greinke is a fun matchup of enigmas.

The dizzying heights of .500 await.

 

Baseball

Series Preview – White Sox vs Tigers: Amongst The Rubble

By Sam Fels 1183 0

vs.

RECORDS: White Sox 7-10   Tigers 8-9

GAMETIMES: Thursday 12:10, Friday 6:10, Saturday and Sunday 12:10

TV: WGN Thursday and Sunday, NBCSN Friday and Saturday

SPARKY’S SPAWN: Bless You Boys

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Ivan Nova vs. Tyson Ross

Carlos Rodon vs. Jordan Zimmerman

Ervin Santana vs. Daniel Norris

Reynaldo Lopez vs. TBD

PROBABLE SOX LINEUP

Leury Garcia – CF

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Jose Abreu – 1B

Yonder Alonso – DH

Eloy Jimenez – LF

Tim Anderson – SS

Welington Castillo – C

Yolmer Sanchez – 2B

Ryan Cordell – RF

PROBABLE TIGERS LINEUP

Josh Harrison – 2B

Nick Castellanos – RF

Miguel Cabrera – DH

Niko Goodrum – 1B

Jeimer Candelario – 3B

Dustin Peterson – LF

Gordon Beckham – SS

Grayson Greiner – C

Jacoby Jones – CF

 

The Sox are seeing the two other sides to the rebuilding troika of the AL Central this week. After taking two of three from the Royals at home, the Sox will head to Detroit for the first time on the season. The Tigers are supposed to be a year or two or three behind the Sox in their recycle, yet are a game ahead of them in the current standings. But nothing other than the Marlins being an affront to nature is working out as it was supposed to yet.

The Tigers though are at least speeding to where they’re supposed to be. They’ve lost four in a row and five of the last six, after getting off to a hotter start than anyone would have guessed. And the offense would seem to be the big culprit. They’re last in all of MLB with their 45 runs scored, or just over two per game. There are only three semi-regulars producing at even above average at the moment, and one of them is Gordon Beckham and his hair that can never die. Niko Goodrum is taking advantage of his first everyday role, and a pretty high walk-rate of 15%. But other than that, there’s nothing here. Even Ervin Santana might find safe-haven here working through this lineup. Miggy Cabrera just might make you cry…well, Sox fans will probably really enjoy the decrepit version of one of their greatest tormentors. Josh Harrison literally has a wRC+ of 0. He technically doesn’t exist. The Tigers would be just as good sending no one to the plate as they are sending Harrison right now. It would be equal. He’s already been worth -0.5 WAR. In 17 games. That’s….that’s just amazing.

The rotation has held it together for now, but is taking some serious hits. Matt Moore was lost for the season a few days ago with knee-knack, and Michael Fulmer never made the bell. Jordan Zimmerman takes up space as he kind of always has the past five years, and Tyson Ross is also here in his role of “Official Seat-Filler For Subpar Teams’ Rotations.” The Sox will miss either or both of Matthew Boyd and Spencer Turnbull, who have done most of the good work so far, though one could go Sunday. Daniel Norris, who is somehow only 25, will slide back into the rotation after coming out of the pen for the start of the year. If you can’t tell Norris, Ross, and Zimmerman apart, no one will blame you. If you can…well, you may want to think about some changes in your life.

The Tigers are carrying the third best bullpen ERA in the AL, even though they have the 10-lowest strikeout-rate and middling walk numbers. You can go up to get a beer when Daniel Stumpf comes in, as not much will happen. He’s striking out nearly 15 hitters per nine innings, but he’s also walking nearly five. The fielders can all work on their arm-balances when he comes jogging in.

As for the Sox, they’ll begin their post-Daniel Palka era in right field, which we know you’re excited for. Palka was punted back to Charlotte after his only good game, which seemed a tad cruel but entirely justified. Ryan Cordell will be the first to start out there, and 27-year-0lds coming up from the minors are definitely always worth paying attention to. Carson Fulmer is also up to replace Lucas Giolito on the roster.

Grey weekend in Detroit. Just seems right.

 

Baseball

Series Wrap – Sox Take 2 of 3 From Royals: Tim Anderson Has Fun, Is Punished

By Andy Jonathan 1224 0

Well that was fun, right?  The first two games of this series featured some of the more timely hitting this club has done all year.  Of course, by “timely hitting” I mean “Mashing Dongs Out Onto The Dan Ryan.”  While the third game…well…we’ll get to that in a minute.  Suffice it to say, it was anything but boring, especially with Professional Diva Joe West along for the ride.

 

Anyways- MOAR BULLETS

 

-The first game started out exactly like Ervin Santana’s last start.  His fastball had the movement of Brent Seabrook chasing down an icing (SYNERGY), and was being clocked at a steaming 89-91 MPH.  Pitches like that to major league hitters tend to fly a long way, and that’s exactly what happened.  Dingers by Hunter “I’m Not Brian” Dozier, and Chris Ownings quickly put the Royals up 3-0, and a feeling of doom settled in the air.  To my pleasant surprise, he pulled himself together, and pitched well enough after that to keep the Sox within striking distance.

-And strike they did, scratching out a couple runs thanks to a timely challenge at first base, and a Leury Garcia double.  The Sox managed to give it back by having Manny Banuelos issue a lead off walk to Flash Hamilton who promptly beat a Wellington Castillo pitchout attempt that missed second base by what appeared to be 6 miles and ended up standing on 3rd.  One sac fly later and the Sox were down again.  Castillo didn’t let it get him down, as he took a Brad Boxberger 2 seamer opposite field for a 2 run shot, and the win after Alex Colome mowed down the Royals in the 9th.

-Game two featured a battle of the Lopez boys, as Reynaldo took the mound against Jorge in an attempt to get his ERA to a number that wasn’t cleanly divisible by 5.  He actually pitched well enough, even though it looked like the wheels were near to falling off in the 2nd with a solo shot off the bat of The Duda.  Much like Santana before him, he settled down for a solid, if unspectacular, start.  He was able to secure his first win thanks to…

-MONCADABOMBZ!  Seriously, I realize that the sample is still small but it’s hard not to watch Yoan at the dish and get super excited about what he could be.  His first dinger was awesome, as he worked the count in his favor, then was able to take a good looking 2 seamer tailing out of the strike zone opposite field about 5 rows deep.  His second one he took a hanging breaking ball and scorched it into right field.  He’s displaying pop to all sides of the diamond, and his eye for pitching combined with a newfound aggressiveness at the plate is awesome to see.

-Timmy continued his assault on major league pitching, raising his average over .450 going into today’s game.  The same game where he took a Brad Keller fastball and atomized it behind the Sox bullpen.  He then had the sheer AUDACITY to be excited about vaporizing Keller’s shitty fastball and gave a bat flip that would make a Korean-leaguer blush (If you don’t get that reference, google “Best Bat Flips in KBO,” it’s worth your time).  Wouldn’t you know it, the next time Timmy came up in the 6th inning, Keller drilled Anderson directly in the buttcheek.  Tim walked down to first very slowly as the benches cleared jawing at Keller the whole way down.  Then some more shit was said, and baseball tempers flared again and there was some light pushing and shoving which resulted in both managers getting tossed.  Then, just because he couldn’t stand that it wasn’t about him yet, Joe West decided to toss Anderson out for having the temerity to turn his ass towards West’s general direction.

-There’s a lot to unpack here, but the fact that it’s still acceptable in baseball to hurl a stone at a human being 90+ miles an hour because some dumbfuck unwritten rule got broken or your fee fees got hurt is absolutely asinine to me.  If MLB wants to market these amazing young players to a dwindling fan base then they need to take shit like this and fine/suspend it into oblivion.  Who’s more important to MLB’s future, Tim Anderson or some slack jawed John Lackey lookalike who’s gonna end the season with a 5.22 ERA and 4 wins?

-Anyways, the Sox couldn’t buy a hit after that, and still managed to lose in extra innings, so…progress?

-Finally…….fuck Joe West into the sun.  If you think he tossed Anderson today because of something he did on the field and not what he said 2 days ago about him (“everybody knows he’s terrible”) then I have several bridges and penny stocks to sell you.  Umpires have hard jobs, and 9 out of 10 times I feel for them, but 99% of the time, Joe West is the 1 out of 10 where I throw my hat at the tv and he needs to waddle off into the sunset.

Anyways another series win, and with the moribund Tigers looming this weekend a chance to make it 3 in a row.  I’d also like to point out the Sox are 2-0 in series where I do the recap, so you’re welcome Ricky.

Baseball

Good God, Is It Time To Believe In Jason Heyward?

By Sam Fels 1587 0

I’ve written this post a couple times in the past two seasons, at various outlets. Or at least it feels like I have. Maybe because I want so badly for Jason Heyward to be something. To be anything, which he hasn’t really in his time on the Northside. Or at least not at the plate he hasn’t. He’s always been great in the outfield and it seems like he’s a pretty damn good teammate to the point the whole team felt the need to create this narrative around him along with the greatest moment in the team’s history and most of our lives. It certainly didn’t help that Tom Ricketts not-so-subtly pointed a finger at Heyward’s signing as an excuse to turn his pockets out. And while Heyward isn’t the type to shove anything up someone’s ass, there has to be a part of him that’s thinking it. And every winter we break down the changes we think we see in his swing, and then there’s a really hot week or two and we think, “Yes, salvation!”

And then there’s 429 grounders to second.

So I’ve been holding out on J-Hey this time around, even though he’s basically been the Cubs’ best hitter on the young season. I won’t be fooled again. My heart is too scarred, and one more slice to it and I very well may never love again. I have to hold out hard, because I only have so many times I can give myself away again. I will not waste it on yet another false dawn.

And yet, this might actually be the time. You can follow my downfall into the pit of despair and disconnect and isolation again. That’s always fun for everyone else. But there are some things to suggest that this isn’t a mirage. It might be real, and I’m just as frightened as you are.

So generally, the first thing I look for when a player has a hot streak, or to see if changes are really helping or he’s just had a heater and will soon walk out of the casino with nothing but three cigarettes and a longing glance at what’s behind him and what’s lost is BABIP. Quickly, BABIP is Batting Average Of Balls Put In Play, and it’s akin to what we use shooting-percentage and save-percentage in hockey to measure luck. Almost always, a batter’s or pitcher’s BABIP will even out to somewhere around .300. There are exceptions, but generally 30% of the balls you put in play go somewhere where someone ain’t. So if someone’s carrying a .360 BABIP, it’s probably going to deflate and bring batting averages and slugging percentages with it.

Well, J-Hey’s on the year is a solid .306. Which is hardly abnormal. It’s not that much above last year’s .297, which helped him get to a better-than-I-realized, league-average 99 wRC+. So Heyward isn’t benefitting from a rash of flares and cracked-bats that just happened to land apologetically in the outfield to the bemused look of outfielders. He’s on course.

You could actually argue that Heyward has been a touch unlucky when it comes to BABIP, because he’s smacking eight different kinds of shit out of the ball. His hard-contact rate is 37.5%, which is way above the 29.7% he had last year. Now, 37% hard-contact is what baseball is doing as a whole this year, and last year the average was 35%. But for comparison, Javy Baez routinely carries a .340 BABIP or higher and his hard-contact rate is only a tick-higher than Heyward’s.

There’s definitely a change in approach. One, Heyward hasn’t shown much interest in pulling the ball this season. What he has done is up the amount of balls he goes gap-to-gap with, almost half at 42.5% (up from 32.% last year). It’s almost all at the expense of his pull-contact, which hints that he’s seeing the ball better, waiting on it, and not getting out ahead which results in rolled-over grounders to second which we can all see from memory at this point.

And when he goes up the middle, he’s getting the ball in the air far more than before. Half of his contact that way are fly balls, way over what came before. When he does let it loose and try to pull a ball, his hard-contact rate has doubled to over 60%. Which is the idea of pulling a ball, that you hit it the hardest you can. It’s somewhat the same story when he goes to the opposite field, though that doesn’t come with the same hard contact. But 80% of that is in the air, so clearly J-Hey is the latest member of the Launch Angle Revolution (opening for Russian Circles this summer). That’s borne out by his average launch-angle being 18 degrees this year, exactly double the season before.

You’ve heard Jim Deshaies reference that Heyward has taken something of a Yelich-like approach this year, which is he’s more than satisfied to eat your heart after a pitch or two. That’s true. On a 0-0 count, Heyward is swinging at 40% of the fastballs he sees, up from 24% in his first three years in blue. That’s also true on sliders and curves, which again, indicates he’s just seeing the ball better because he’s hitting them well when he goes after them. It’s the same case at 1-0 and 0-1. The pitches he’s seeing per plate-appearance are the lowest of his career. He’s not waiting around.

Which of course, leads to discussion of his swing. Previously, Heyward seemed to have this big loop and dip to his swing, where his hands came out and around and were behind his body. This year, you’ve heard comments about how he’s using his legs far more. It’s all more congruous. Which is resulting in greater bat-speed, which is resulting in greater exit-velocity (91.6 average).

I told myself I wouldn’t be fooled again, and yet I feel myself slipping….

Baseball

Luis Robert and The Importance of Impatience

By Adam Hess 1522 0

There have been so few things to get truly excited about with the White Sox so far this season that trying to figure out which one of them is the most exciting is kind of like a weird version of a positive Sophie’s Choice. In order to identify or work yourself up about any one of them almost feels like you’re ignoring or discounting the rest of them as not good. At the big league level there has been the dominance of Yoan Moncada and Tim Anderson coupled with Eloy Jimenez‘s encouraging start, but other that the big club offers nothing but disappointment. Plenty of the prospects are off to good starts, with Dylan Cease making a case to be in the Bigs by May, but for the me the biggest Sox story going right now is the pure dominance of Luis Robert in Winston-Salem (A+).

It’s not exactly surprising that Robert is playing well in A+ ball, because he’s probably among the most physically imposing players at the level and almost certainly the most athletic player. At 6’3″ and 185 with 70 grade speed, Robert would probably fit in just as well on a football field as he does on the baseball field, if not better. And while MLB Pipeline rates his hit and power tools at 50 and 55 respectively, he’s easily creeping more toward 60 grades on both.

In a perfect world, had Robert not dealt with and missed significant time due to injuries last year, he probably would’ve been in AA to start this year with optimism on him being in Chicago come August or September. There were some scouts who said Robert would be MLB ready by 2019, and Sox fans certainly hoped as much as well. While that hasn’t worked out, it’s pretty clear that he won’t be in North Carolina much longer, as keeping him away from Birmingham longer than Memorial Day would just be negligent to his development.

Through ten games now in Winston-Salem, Robert is slashing an eye popping .477/.521/.977, and before a two single game on Monday night that slugging percentage had been four digits. So far 10 of his 21 hits have been for extra bases, and half of those have been dingers, with a few of the monster variety. There may be valid arguments for letting Robert spend a bit more time in Carolina, but I have yet to hear a convincing one. He’s reached the point already where he is clearly not being challenged by what A+ pitchers have to offer.

A move to Birmingham and the challenges of AA baseball would prove to be the ultimate test for Robert’s offensive prowess. Regions Field is one of the most brutal to play in, especially for a power hitter given the deep outfield. And given that AA ball is full of pitchers who can pump 97+ MPH heat but lack control, which is almost definitely harder to hit than pitchers who pound the zone, if Robert can continue his torrid pace there, any doubt there may be about his sky-high ceiling would be removed.

That’s not to say that the Sox should be in any rush to get Robert to the majors. If he were to get to Birmingham and struggle, they would be smart to slow play that process and let him continue to develop there, but that would still be better for his development than just continuing to mash pitching in A+ when pitchers are clearly overmatched by him at that level.

But if Robert gets to AA and continues to rake, there is no reason for the Sox to even thinking about the brakes on his development. Given the quality of talent – or more accurately, the lack thereof – that they’ve been trotting out to center field this year, getting Robert out there would be a major upgrade both talent wise and from a watchability standpoint. And with the Sox having targeted 2020 as a potential contention year, getting him involved in the MLB as soon as possible only helps them inch closer to that becoming a reality.

I’m not saying they should or need to take the Juan Soto approach with Robert and call him up to the bigs if he dominates AA ball for two weeks. The contention plans and timelines of the 2018 Nationals and 2019 White Sox are nearly polar opposites, regardless of how last year ended for Washington. But Robert has the kind of talent and ceiling that should essentially remove any need for the cautious approach. If he doesn’t stop raking, don’t let him stop ascending.

Baseball

Series Preview – Royals vs. White Sox: You Can’t Steal First

By Sam Fels 1325 0

vs.

RECORDS: Royals 5-10   White Sox 5-9

GAMETIMES: Monday and Tuesday at 7:10, Wednesday 1:10

TV: NBCSN Monday and Wednesday, WGN Tuesday

WAITING FOR MAHOMES: Royals Review

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Heath Fillmyer vs. Ervin Santana

Jorge Lopez vs. Reynaldo Lopez

Brad Keller vs. Lucas Giolito

PROBABLE ROYALS LINEUP

Whit Merrifield – RF

Adalberto Mondesi – SS

Alex Gordon – LF

Jorge Soler – RF

Ryan O’Hearn – 1B

Hunter Dozier – 3B

Chris Owings – 2B

Martin Maldanado – C

Billy Hamilton – CF

 

PROBABLY SOX LINEUP

Leury Garcia – CF

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Jose Abreu – DH

Yonder Alonso – 1B

Eloy Jimenez – LF

Tim Anderson – SS

Welington Castillo – C

Daniel Palka – RF

Yolmer Sanchez – 2B

 

After getting Eloy Jimenez on the board, and taking two of three from the vaunted but decrepit (at the moment) Yankees, the White Sox have a brief pitstop at home to face the drain-scraping Royals before heading back out onto the road. Not that the Sox are all that concerned with “momentum” or getting on a roll this year, but this would seem an excellent chance to string a couple series victories together after having their brains scooped out by the Rays last week.

Of course, that task gets a little trickier when it starts with Ervin Santana and his magical gasoline-ball. Santana was clubbed hard by the Rays last out, giving up seven runs in less than four innings of work. Santana was his own worst enemy with walks last out, which were a major problem for him in a brief cameo in Minnesota last year. This is what happens when you have just a place-holder in your rotation, as until some kid comes up to claim that spot you’re just going to have to white-knuckle through a lot of his turns.

Reynaldo Lopez hasn’t been much better, as he’ll be seeking his first quality start of the season in a Lopez Battle on Tuesday. Lopez also has been allergic to the strikezone, walking four in each of his starts. And in a continuing theme, Lucas Giolito will also try to spasm the right arm of an ump again, as after a promising season-opening start in KC he’s put up eight walks in two starts since. Perhaps the sky blue of the Royals will rekindle something in him.

The problem for the Sox is that the Royals aren’t the soft-landing, at least for pitchers, that you would have thought. Six regulars are putting up 100+ wRC+ at the moment, led by Alex Gordon who I could have sworn misplaced his intestines two years ago and would fold in on himself at the sight of any half-decent fastball. He’s cut out a huge chuck of Ks and is hitting the ball harder than he has at any point in his career. The difference appears to be a great improvement in plate discipline, as he’s cut down on the amount of swings at pitches out of the zone while upping the swings and contact in it, and well a .640 SLG is the result.

He’s not alone as Merrifield and Mondesi are thwacking the ball everywhere, though with far less discipline. My former special boy Jorge Soler has cracked four homers, including a couple that should have probably counted double. Looks like we’re in the midst of a the few weeks per season when Soler is healthy and paying attention. Even Hunter Dozier is slugging near .500.

But that doesn’t mean the pitching staff can’t give away whatever the offense takes. Because they can and do. They’ve gotten decent work out of Brad Keller, who’s been able to dance his way around walking nearly five guys for every nine innings. That won’t last though. Fillmyer has only made one start but it wasn’t particularly pretty, as the unholy force that the Mariners are apparently tagged him for five runs in just three innings. Jorge Lopez has also benefitted from extreme luck on contact, and again, appears poised to go hurling over a cliff like Super Dave Osborne at any moment.

If the starters can get it to Jason Diekmann or Ian Kennedy, Royals fans can generally emerge from their bunker. When they can’t it’s time to stock up on canned food and bottled water. They’ve already tried 10 other goofuses, and it’s not going well. So you’re never out of it against the Royals.

Royals and then Tigers and Orioles. Only for the diehards, but also a fertile ground to harvest some wins.

Baseball

Series Wrap – Sox Take Two Of Three From 2/3rds Of The Yankees

By Andy Jonathan 1367 0

When I volunteered to write my first ever Sox recap for FFUD, I assumed the title would be something along the lines of: “Sox Get Nuked From Orbit By Judge, Stanton, and Sanchez,” and not what I actually wrote above.  Granted, the Yankees were almost hilariously undermanned for this series but by crackey I’m taking it.  The series itself ran the gamut of major Sox storylines this season, from Moncada’s continued elevation of the ball to Eloy finally smoking two out of the park, to Rodon finding the placement of his slider.  It wasn’t a perfect series win by any means, but at this point we can’t be too picky.

 

TO THE BULLETS!

 

-Firstly, we get to talk about ELOY!  Not only did he finally mash his first tater of the season to dead center off a 92 mph rising fastball from JA Happ, but then he followed it up with a towering blast to left center field that was estimated at 445 feet.  Total for the series he went 3-9, bringing his average up to .288 for the season.  Also important were the two professional-ass walks he took in the rubber match which helped Tim Anderson rack up a bunch of RBIs when he hit his series clinching granny today.

-Yoan Moncada continues to just do work at the plate, going 4-11 with a couple of runs and RBIs.  More importantly, he only struck out once the entire series bringing his K-rate down to 24%. He’s seeing more pitches so far, and the eye test continues to be very positive.  Tim Anderson didn’t have many hits this series, but he made one of them count, taking an 0-1 cutter off Masa Tanaka opposite field for his first career grand slam.  He’s now batting a cool .429 this season with an obscene 1.093 OPS.  This is clearly sustainable throughout an entire season, and Tim should begin clearing space on his mantle for his first ever hitting title.

-While I expected this team to run more, I did not expect to be typing the words “James McCann stole a base,” which he did.  Also, professional speed demon Jose Abreu managed to swipe two bags this Sunday on Kyle Higashioka, who now must be treated for PTSD after allowing five Sox stolen bases today.

-Carlos Rodon started shaky today, but pulled a full Verlander by getting better and better each inning he was out there.  By the 5th and 6th innings he had complete feel for his slider, and was placing it on the outside 1/8th of the plate at will.  The fact that it took him until the 5th and 6th inning to get that feel is concerning, but I’ll take it for the time being.

-Ivan Nova deserved a better fate than what he got Saturday after Yolmer continued his shaky play at the cornerstone.  He booted a tailor made double play in the 7th inning that would’ve allowed Nova to escape the inning with no earned runs and a no-decision.  Instead he got the loss and the Sox were flummoxed by a returning CC Sabathia.  Such is baseball.

-Lucas Giolito was back to his old tricks again in the first game, walking 4 in 5 innings while somehow managing to throw 100+ pitches, only 62 of which were for strikes.  Granted the weather looked miserable from my seat at the bar in Vegas, drinking some cocktail made out of gin and smoke, but if he’s going to have a place in the rebuild going forward then its time for him to prove it by looking more like the version we saw in his start against the Royals.

-Next up brings our old friends the Royals back into town, where Ervin Santana will look to bring his ERA below 10. Onwards!

 

-On a side note, I’d like to thank Sam for letting me dip my toe into the Sports Blogging pool.  I’ve been following his stuff since he sold programs outside the UC ages ago and I’m stoked to be adding whatever I can to this awesome site here.  Cheers!

Baseball

Series Wrap – Cubs Split With Angels Before It Snows In April: The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword…For Sepuku

By Sam Fels 1201 0

It only ended up being a two-game series, as Game Of Thrones marketing has gone completely overboard and unhinged and decided to promote tonight’s season premiere with THUNDERSNOW. It was a series that saw Mike Trout stay home, Trevor Cahill not take the bump, and yet the Cubs only got one win. It doesn’t quite feel like enough, as two wins were certainly on offer. Let’s run through it.

The Two Obs

-No point in moving any farther along without addressing the bullpen, once again. The Cubs will have a streak soon, or they will need one to get back comfortably over .500. And yet it feels like to do that, they’ll have to overcome a “bullpen game,” or two, like they almost did yesterday.

I’m something of a hypocrite, which you knew by now. I’m a proponent of not really breaking the bank for relievers, because the scenery is layered with palookas and punters who throw 95 and show up for 45 pitches per week. You can find them anywhere. You’re supposed to be able to produce them relatively easily, because your system is littered with hard-throwers who can’t find a third pitch or the stamina to be starters. The Cubs so far have produced only Carl Edwards Jr. and his mind full of spiders, but that’s another talk for another time.

But it’s still galling the relievers the Cubs have tried to move forward with on the cheap. Brad Brach has been declining for three years. Randy Rosario was terrible last year, and pretty much just given a job this year even though there’s no discernible stuff. Tim Collins is the name the EA generator gives to some player that’s too far in the future in franchise mode to be real. At least he appears to have stuff, somewhat, unlike Rosario.

These aren’t guys the Cubs thought they saw something to unlock that other teams didn’t. Pitchers that if they leaned on a pitch or hadn’t before or a tweak to a motion to get more movement or velocity. They’re seat-fillers. Rosario is especially galling, because he didn’t strike anyone out or get grounders last year and yet here we are still trying to make fetch happen.

There’s not much Joe can do, because these are the guys he has to go to.

-Hendricks’s slow start continues. He couldn’t find his fastball at all, and when he has to throw only change-ups that pitch isn’t as effective as it’s not playing off anything. He also hasn’t mixed in his curve at all which he said he wanted to do, but that just might be a good thing. Nothing to see here, yet.

-On the opposite side, Cole Hamels put on his second-straight strong start, never in trouble after the Cubs gave him three runs in the firs. His velocity wasn’t where it was last year, but with a good mix of changes and curves and cutters, and dotting that fastball, it doesn’t matter.

-Fuck off forever, Pujols.

-Contreras carried them on Friday, but he had a woeful AB in the ninth yesterday. With a base open and your run not mattering at all, you have to know you’re not getting anything in the zone. Especially as the Angels had been going to sliders out of the zone on him all day with Stratton. Know time and place and all that.

-Schwarber can’t catch a break, but he also looks as lost as he has in his career. He was just fighting off fastballs yesterday, and still ahead of the breaking stuff. In the end, it only amounts to a bad week, and now a new one.

Onwards…

Baseball

Series Preview – Angels vs. Cubs: Shorn Of All The Fun

By Sam Fels 1290 0

vs.

RECORDS: Angels 7-6   Cubs 4-8

GAMETIMES: Friday-Sunday 1:20pm

TV: NBCSN Friday, ABC Saturday, WGN Sunday

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Tyler Skaggs vs. Cole Hamels

Chris Stratton vs. Kyle Hendricks

Trevor Cahill vs. Tyler Chatwood

Probable Angels Lineup

David Fletcher – LF

Andrelton Simmons – SS

Albert Pujols – 1B

Jonathan Lucroy – C

Taylor Ward – 3B

Kole Calhoun – RF

Zack Cozart – 2B

Peter Bourjos – CF

 

Probable Cubs Lineup

Albert Almora – CF

Kris Bryant – 3B

Anthony Rizzo – 1B

Javier Baez – SS

Willson Contreras – C

David Bote – 2B

Mark Zagunis – RF

Kyle Schwarber – LF

Note: Against right-handed starters Sat. and Sun. expect to see Heyward in center with Descalso at 2nd and Zobrist in right

After winning their first series of the year, the Cubs turn right around and host the Angels of Somewhere, a team shorn of all that makes it interesting. Which is fine, because the Cubs need wins so they’ll take boring as they can get for now. And they’re not without drama themselves.

We’ll start with the Northside Nine, who last night lost their backup catcher Victor Caratini to a broken hand for at least a month, and more likely six weeks. Of course this turned Cubs twitter, always anxious to paint their lives as a dark, dark room, in to the most obnoxious Cure fans around. Why oh why they pontificated, didn’t the Cubs sign a third catcher? Why must we suffer with Taylor Davis for a month? Please, unleash me from this hell and give me the sweet release of the great darkness beyond!

Fuckin’ eh, shut up.

One, almost no team has three catchers. Any catcher goes down, you’re almost certainly going to have to toss some tomato can out there once a week. Yes, I remember 2016 as well. That was an accident, because Montero and Ross were signed the season before you’ll recall, which is also the season Willson Contreras started tearing up the minors out of really nowhere. He didn’t give the Cubs much choice. That’s generally how you end up with three catchers.

Third, even the max six weeks time frame, that’s probably at most 12 Caratini starts. How much value, even with how well he was playing, do you think Victor Caratini has over 12 starts? Yes, Taylor Davis blows and he’s got a little league swing, but he’s also not a double-amputee. I’m fairly sure he can catch the ball. This isn’t the disaster Cubs fans are so desperate to make it.

Anyway, other than that, after getting Jose Quintana on track and at least moving Yu Darvish toward it, it would be lovely if Kyle Hendricks followed the trend on Saturday, especially with Lester out, and especially as the Chatwood Experience awaits on Sunday. A battery of Tyler Chatwood-Taylor Davis. Remember kids, the Cubs have new executive suites!

To the Angels. Before the year, you probably thought, “Hey! Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani at Wrigley! That’s exciting!” Well sorry, fucko. Ohtani isn’t back until May and Trout tweaked a groin earlier in the week while the Angels were stuffing the Brewers. He won’t play today and is iffy for the weekend.

Those aren’t the only injury concerns for the Halos. Andrew Heaney went boom again, and Justin Upton ended up with turf toe in the season’s first week and is out until possibly July. Certainly June. So yeah, stripped of all that, this becomes a very ordinary outfit. Unless watching Albert Pujols try and scramble his unorganized collection of bones around first base in an NL park entertains you, and it should. The grounds crew should have a large dustpan nearby.

That hasn’t stopped them from winning six in a row over the Rangers and Brewers, mystifying the Cubs I’m sure. But it can also be inspiration, as the Angels started 1-6 and this early that’s how quickly things can look rosy again. It’s hard to know what the expectations were for this team, as they look to be well behind the A’s and Astros in the division, which doesn’t put you anywhere near a wildcard.

Without Trout, absolutely no one in this lineup is hitting. As you know, Pujols died five years ago, Kalhoun is striking out a third of the time, Simmons might as well go up there with a coloring book, and Justin Bour seems to only have mastered two of the three true outcomes so far, and that’s the two where nothing happens. Tommy La Stella had a nice half-week there for a minute, but that’s been about it offensively for the Angels. Zack Cozart is hitting .033. That’s a thing.

Which means they’ve had to do it with pitching, though it’s also hard to see how. They’re getting more miracles out of Trevor Cahill, who looks like he struggles to actually throw the ball 60 feet but here we are. Matt Harvey has gone back to being the utter disaster he was for two years before a half-revival in Cincinnati, but don’t worry it’s not like anyone can party in Southern California or anything. He’s given up 14 runs in his last two starts. Skaggs has been ok, but he doesn’t strike anyone out nor does he get a ton of grounders so one wonders how long this will last. That puts them praying for the safe return of Heaney, which is Beckett-ian.

Which means it’s been yeoman work from the pen, and that is the case. Hansel Robles (who uses the Undertaker theme and hence is now my favorite player), Ty Buffrey, and Cam Bedrosian have been unhittable so far, and Justin Anderson and Cody Allen are carrying 0.00 ERAs as well. They’re already third in the AL in appearances, and fifth in innings. But they also have the best pen ERA and fifth-best FIP. They don’t want to go to this well too often but while it’s working no one’s going to bitch.

If there’s a team that Hendricks can find it against, it should be this one. The offense probably needs to do its work in the first five innings, and that might be harder than you’d first think with both Skaggs and Cahill going. But then again, it’s fucking Skaggs and Cahill. Let’s get a move on already.

Baseball

Series Preview- White Sox vs. Yankees: Hi Everybody!

By Adam Hess 1225 0

 vs.

RECORDS:  White Sox 3-8, Yankees 5-7

GAMETIMES: Friday, 6:05, Saturday 12:05, Sunday, 12:05

TV: WGN Friday, NBCSN Chicago Saturday and Sunday

EVEN THE BLOGGERS ARE INJURED: Pinstripe Alley

PROBABLE STARTERS

Lucas Giolito vs. J.A. Happ

Ivan Nova vs. CC Sabathia

Carlos Rodon vs. Domingo German

Probable White Sox Lineup

1. Leury Garcia (S) RF

2. Tim Anderson (R) SS

3. Jose Abreu (R) 1B/DH

4. Welington Castillo (R) C

5. Yoan Moncada (S) 3B

6. Eloy Jimenez (R) LF

7. Yonder Alonso (L) DH/1B

8. Jose Rondon (R) 2B

9. Adam Engel (R) CF

Probable Yankees Lineup

1. Brett Gardner (L) CF

2. Aaron Judge (R) RF

3. Luke Voit (R) 1B

4. Gary Sanchez (R) DH

5. Gleyber Torres (R) SS

6. DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B

7. Clint Frazier (R) LF

8. Gio Urshela (L) 3B

9. Austin Romine (R) C

If ever there was such an indictment on what a nightmare of an offseason the White Sox had, even outside of the most obvious of fuck ups that I’d rather just not think about anymore but am constantly forced to, it’s the fact that even with half of their ideal starting lineup on the mend, the  Yankees lineup looks better overall than their own. Just since the season started, the Yankees have placed Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, and Troy Tulowitzki on the IL, and that was in addition to Didi Gregorious and Aaron Hicks who both started the year there. Even if you don’t count the remnants of Tulo as an ideal starter for the Yankees, that’s still four guys who would be everyday players for them when healthy who are, instead, not healthy.

And yet I look up and down that Yankees lineup and find plenty of room for jealousy, primarily for the fact that they don’t have to watch Adam Engel take at-bats and instead have a real hitter playing in CF, even if Brett Gardner hasn’t been a major threat since I was in college. I’ll also take what Gary Sanchez brings to the table at DH over the Daniel Palka Experience everyday of the week. And of course a superstar in Aaron Judge would be fine as well, strikeouts and all.

On top of the Yankees injuries in the lineup, their arms have been bitten by the injury bug as well. Luis Severino looked like he was on the ascent to become one of the best in the game back in 2017, but 2018 wasn’t quite as kind (he was still good, but didn’t have ace level stuff again) and after he started 2019 on the IL, he suffered a setback earlier this week that shut him down for another six weeks. Along with him, bullpen mercenary Dellin Betances found his way to the IL before the season officially started and he isn’t expected back until the end of the month at the earliest. Then there is CC Sabathia, who has been forced to sit out thus far but will make his season debut on Saturday.

So if you’re keeping count, that’s eight players who figured to play either a major role or a priority backup role for this team that have been hurt, and yet the Yankees find themselves in a decent position, still just two games below .500 and in second place in the AL East, thanks in large part to the righteous embarrassment that the Red Sox have started the season with. If they can take care of business against the Sox this weekend, they could be in a really good spot early on despite all the misfortune.

For the Sox, the key to this weekend is going to be two-fold. Primarily, they need Lucas Giolito to be the version of himself that pitched in their third game against the Royals (and early on against the Mariners) and not the 2018 version that started to creep out just a bit in his last start. While I still wouldn’t call what he did against Seattle “bad,” the lack of fastball command has to be considered concerning at the very least. His curveball has been nasty, so if he can just locate the damn fastball and keep it around 93 MPH, that one-two combo is probably enough for him to start on his path toward being a true major league starter.

Secondarily, they’re going to need the talent to overcome this asinine experiment that is Rick Renteria‘s left-handed pitcher lineup. I understand the desire to play the matchups, and that inclination is the correct one, but any time that goal sees you bat Yoan Monada fifth in your lineup and Welington Castillo CLEANUP (not a typo, that has really been happening in 2019), you need to re-evaluate how you’re going about this. Moncada did struggle a bit against lefties last year, but hitting right handed is his natural spot, and the lack of pop he had from that side of the plate in 2018 was basically an anomaly that even he couldn’t figure out.

Also, since this season doesn’t matter for anyone but him and like three other guys, he needs to get the maximum number of AB’s possible. Especially given the tear he’s on to start the year, he needs to be second or third in the order every day. And move Eloy up too, because he’s one of the guys for whom this season matters, and the maximum AB’s sentiment applies to him as well. If you slid Castillo down to 6 and went Monada-Abreu-Eloy in your 3-4-5 holes, is this lineup really missing a beat? Probably not.

Instead, we will watch this lineup get dominated by J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia because there are only two real hitters in the top four batting spots, and I can already picture one of these games ending with the Sox down by one, Anderson on second base and Moncada in the on deck circle. Because that’s the White Sox’ luck in 2019.