I don't disagree about Renteria and no doubt we have to let it play out (what choice do we have), but we don't have to like what we are seeing and have every right to voice an opinion about it.
White Sox Hire Tony La Russa As Manager
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I think it's a bit more similar to the 2005 staff, because the bottom of the rotation's success is what is making them so good, but it's still very early.
True the bottom of the staff is doing well just like the top of the staff, and oh yeah, on any particular day you can throw in Kopech as a starter! This group is outstanding!
Top isn't doing all that well, Giolito has almost 5 ERA and and Keuchel's is 3.8. I'm sure by season's end it will all look more balanced, but the production out of the bottom of the rotation has been the "saving grace" thus far, as well as, Yermin's bat.
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White Sox #6 in MLB and #2 in AL.
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White Sox #6 in MLB and #2 in AL.
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Come on, man. Admit it. You didn't know the rule either. But, neither did I. No one on this board knew that rule. However, in fairness to all of us, none of us manage a MLB team either. I'll guarantee guys like Joe Torre and Billy Martin would know that rule. But, I seriously, doubt either of them would be OK with what's happening to baseball these days.
I sent group texts to guys I played college ball with and none of them knew the rule. The ex-pro guys I know and talk to on social media didn't know it either. Of course, 99.9% of those guys, me included, think the idea of putting a guy on second base in extra innings is horsesh*t. Youth ball and girls softball crap.
None of them like the 7 inning doubleheaders. I hate them too. This is the big leagues. MLB games are meant to be played for 9 innings. I am sick of people, most of them who never played at a high level, messing with the game. OK, rant over.
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Does not matter whether you, I, your ex-pro buddies, MLB mangers like the rule or not....it's the rule, know it.
For the record I didn't know the exact rule but I did remember something about it from when it changed (assist to twitter on that).
He's garbage, he was a garbage choice from the start and then they had an out and didn't take it. Luckily the Sox have enough talent to overcome him it seems. Possition player injuries have taken a toll though. Need to get some OF help.
I was not for the LaRussa hire but changed my mind. He has done a great job with the starting pitching who have the best ERA in the league. There are many intangibles LaRussa gives you which you do not see or don't give him credit for.
Their have been many great pitchers and many managers on the White Sox but only LaRussa makes the staff gel. It's the best starting pitching since the 83 White Sox.
Forget about the darn rule. LaRussa has never been a good guy for the media so they always attack him on anything. Don't be a robot for the media and instead be your own man.
Again I disagree. They don't need help. They have guys on the roster who can fill in for these positions. The best move is no trades for the White Sox and keep this team the way it is right now.
I will wait to see how the season plays out before agreeing with this statement. The starting pitching has been great, but I cannot say it’s the best since ‘83. The ‘05 starting rotation had an amazing season and had an absolutely great postseason in ‘05.
They need OF help, they need to fill 2 OF spots for months. Billy Hamilton should not be getting meaningful ABs late in games…
LaRussa didn’t make Dallas, Lynn, Giolito good….come on. Rodon has been always an injury question not talent. Cease, well if you think that is all Tony have at it.
Sox have a WS roster but their manager is stuck in the 80s/90s and can’t remember the rules. The players, GM and fans deserve better.
I agree with your first point but I’m not sure he has that in him these days. I get that everyone that is a Sox fans will want to disagree with me regarding anything WS cause of my handle. But TLR is not the right guy for the job, it sucks. Truly a shame Hanh got his nuts clipped on that hire.
My point is that the Sox are in first place, the lineup is explosive, the rotation is deep, and Yermin, a rookie, is having a hell of a season, all under the watchful eye of TLR.
Billy Hamilton is the most important late inning player on the team. In 2019 he was among the top defensive players in the game.
He is going to save you runs and games late in the game.
I'll do what you do. You're a Cub fan...why do you care about what the Sox do? I did say neither of us know the rule. But, I also said neither of us manage a MLB team. So, as a manager he should have known the rule. No one got hurt and it didn't cost them a game. He does now. I am more concerned about some of the pitching decisions he has made. And I really don't feel he is physically up to the job.
I probably watch some part of 70% of their games, I live in Chicagoland, talk regularly with friends about them and stay very informed about the Sox. So ya I have an optinoin on their manager.
You are correct it didn't end up leading to anything bad but this is exaclty what people had been talking about after the hire was made. It just sucks Hanh got his nuts clipped on this hire when he has done a remarkable job building this team.
No it's not. The pitching is strong and so is the offense. The lineup can carry him and he will save us runs in the outfield.
Like I said earlier, this is baseball. At some point our hitting is going to struggle for a stretch and likely our starting pitching will hit a rough patch as well. Having automatic outs in the lineup every day will extend those rough stretches.
I know Engle had another setback but once he is back everything is great!
Still think Hamilton is fine mixed in with Garcia and Mendick and you still have Gonzalez in the minors. We are good.
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The '05 Sox never dropped out of first place. This team has few weaknesses. But, like a gumbo, it needs the seasoning it gets from La Russa. Collins is pretty good, but I do wish that they had kept McCann.
But the ‘05 Sox did have a rough stretch going 12-16 in August and saw their division lead shrink before rebounding in September. Going 12-16 in a month and losing 8 of 9 including a 7 game losing streak is a rough stretch.
Hamilton is what he is, a speed guy with + defense in the outfield. But he is a hole in the lineup and having him and Garcia batting next to each other isn’t great. Engel back in 5-6 weeks. Hopefully he comes back as good as he was last season.
Hamilton may work out. If you want to impress your math class, you can say that it will all work out in the Hamiltonian.
You're right they didn't, but they also had a stretch where they went from a 15 (8/1) game lead to a 1.5 game lead (9/24).
Especially against good pitching (playoff caliber pitching). Look at the Box score from the Reds game last week, the Sonny Gray game. We had two hits (Anderson and Madrigal at the top of the lineup), but after Grandall in the lineup we had Leury, Hamilton and the Pitcher (Keuchel). Walk Grandal, three times, pitch to those bottom 3 (0-10 with 5 K's) and you don't have much to worry about after the 5 spot in the lineup. It really hurts against the NL with no Mercedes in the lineup as well.
Which makes the case further, that it is important to get off to a good start. The games you win in April and May take pressure off the games you have to win in August and September. No question, if the Sox had been .500 at the All Start break they wouldn't have made the playoffs in 2005. But, they ran and hid early on and that was all the difference.
They were one year wonders, but it was fun to see because no one expected it when the season started. I remember how all the fans were worried during the slide. But when they finally got it figured out in the last week of September, they got hot again and ended up going 11-1 in the postseason that year. Wow, that was a long time ago already.
I can't say I was quite sure the Sox would win the WS till they won game 3 in extra innings. Just sheer odds against Houston coming back had me feeling good. But, ever since the Sox lost in the 1983 playoffs, I am very guarded with any prediction or feeling good because I was certain they would beat Baltimore.
Agreed - if you’re going to carry a sub.200 hitter in your lineup consistently then you need everyone else to be .250+ (And we aren’t even close with Leury hitting .205 and Grandal hitting (.130-ish); plus you need that weak bat to at least have a high OBP, which Hamilton doesn’t have. Brian Anderson was one of the better defensive center fielders we had, but he couldn’t hit at all and we couldn’t consistently carry hit poor average.
Of course there have been teams that start out slow and catch up. But the odds of getting to the playoffs are far better if you start off faster. Very few teams get a big lead and fall off a cliff. The 1969 Cubs and 1978 Red Sox come to mind when thinking of that.
To drive my point home I did a little recent research. I took the 2009 season up through the 2019 season. To me there wasn't a large enough season sample size in 2020 for my research.
From 2009 through 2019 there were 72 division winners. Six per year. Of the 72 division winners, 43 of them were in first place at the All Star break. Right around 60%. Winning a division guarantees a playoff berth. Eight other teams in first place at the All Star break still made the playoffs as a wild card team. And remember, from 2009 through 2011 there was only one wild card team per league. Two wild card teams from each league started in 2012.
Bottom line is this. If a team is in first place at around the halfway mark or All Star break, their odds of making the playoffs is right around 70%, regardless of what your lead is. That is a great percentage when you think about how many games are left at the All Start break.
There really aren't that many teams that start out slow and aren't in the playoff picture at the All Star break that get in and do well. But it does happen from time to time. I'd rather start out quickly.
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You're right, I'm not surprised at bad teams like Pittsburgh and Baltimore starting out bad and having no chance at the playoffs by the AS break, however teams with talent that are predicted to be top teams typically play to the level expected over an entire season, unless there are injuries.
