GDT(2/3): Toronto Blue Jays @ Chicago White Sox - Wang vs. Quintana - 8:10 PM ET

[deadlee]

"GET FOUL, GET FOUL...(silence)...and it's a tie ballgame"

 

<3 Hawk

 

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/12190959/hawkmlb.0_standard_352.0.jpg

 

I watch the Padres games all the time.. even the dodgers....They are so awesome to watch/hear, and so informed about the game and the other team.

Hawk on the other hand is HORRIBLE, so biased... and just so damn angry that his WS aren't contending. I usually enjoy hearing the other teams broadcast, but after a few innings of hawk, i had to tune back..> (and would only go back to hear him burn at Bautista's HR etc.. lol)

[Iluvbjs]

I missed most of the game....how did Wang do? I watched him at the start and was kinda baffled that it looked like 27 out of his first 28 pitches were fastballs. I know the guy has a decent sinker, but looking at his splits at the start of the game, I was left to wonder why he throws this pitch as much as he does when hitter are batting over .400 against it. I understand that showing command of your fastball is important, but to this degree? I mean, I watch Dunn step up there and told my wife that he is going to take him deep and that I'd bet the house on it. Just as with situational hitting, pitching follows the same criteria. You don't throw a dead fastball hitter nothing but fastballs. Dunn has gotta be as bad as JP at hitting the breaking ball, so why not throw him a steady diet after showing him a fastball off the plate like everyone else does? The guy is hitting .180 yet he's 5 out of his first 5 against us?

 

Saw highlights and saw Wang strike out Konerko with a good looking change....and again his splits. Guys don't hit his off speed stuff well period., so I'm kinda baffled as to why he doesn't mix it up more. I know he's always beenmore than a hit per inning guy, but I think he could still pitch well in the majors if he'd learn to use and mix his other pitches in. He's not Rivera and can't survive on throwing one pitch. Both home runs were hit off sinkers that didn't sink much, other than into the RF bleachers. Nice to see a guy who just throws it over anyhow. 7 and a third on 93 pitches? I'm just wondering how his stuff looked because all I saw were the first two innings and a few highlights. Is he worth running out there again?

[Iluvbjs]

On the Rogers note, I like his stuff. His slider can be pretty devastating when he's on and keeping his fastball down. I really would love to see what he could develop into. Romero and Happ are both just washouts as our no. 5's this year.

[Boxcar]

I cherish any opportunity to listen to the White Sox feed. I wish their team wasn't so boring and talentless or I'd watch a lot more often.

[Iluvbjs]

Wang was okay, as good as you'd expect. Gave up lots of contact, got lucky in that he didn't get totally lit up. He's always thrown his fastball ~80% of the time, that's how he pitches. A lot of guys pitch like that, mostly sinkers down and the occasional slider. I'm not sure where the Dunn homer pitch was located, but if Wang can get the sinker at the knees it's a fairly solid pitch.

 

The batting average on pitch type is misleading because pitchers will have an 'out pitch' that they use with two strikes to generate strikeouts and weak contact. You can't get a strikeout with less than two strikes, so his batting average on fastballs won't include strikeouts. But the slider will be thrown with two strikes so will include strikeouts. That's why I hate the Jays broadcasts showing BA on pitch types, it's stupid.

 

I hear you. But if you look at his numbers, his strikeouts per 9 are pretty damn low. I just think he's be way better off trying to keep guys more off balance because that sinker is a pitch that if you miss even just a little bit with it, it's going to get tanked. I'd like to see him change speeds more and use that sinker more with men on base to induce more ground balls. There are very few pitchers out there that can pitch solely off of one pitch, probably only a handful. Even in the past, I always thought he threw that pitch way too much and that he was lucky to get the run support he did for the yanks.

 

I just think that he needs to pitch to individual hitters weaknesses more. I mean, if you threw 92, would you go up there and throw a guy like Dunn all sinkers? The guy has giant f***ing holes in his swing and as a pitcher, it's their job to exploit that and it's why he only hits .200. He's been a good home run guy, even last year, but unless you make a mistake, it almost looks routine to embarass his by changing his eye level with high and tight fastballs and then off speed stuff. Kinda like how Kruk looked against Randy Johnson in that infamous AB. I fully understand a pitcher neediong to pitch to his strength, but when that happens to be the hitters ONLY strength, you gotta make the adjustment to ensure he's sits down and doesn't jog around the bases. I think Wang would actually still be a relevant pitcher if he could reverse that bad habit of throwing his fastball way too much.

[Iluvbjs]

Yeah, good points man. It would make a world of difference for him if he had an off speed pitch he could command well enough to keep hitters guessing. Whenever you allow a guy to simply focus on one pitch, you're going to be in trouble unles you have that Mariano pitch that hitters can't do anything with although they know it's coming pretty much every single time. I think even if Wang threw a straighter 4 seamer that could change the eye level of the hitter, it would benefit him immensely.

 

I just still think that situationally, he can use that sinker for show on the corner away and then just drop all kinds of off speed stuff on a guy like Dunn who will just get himself out automatically. I think it would allow him to be less than perfect with the command on his sinker. Even a cutter that he could run in on righties, so that when he comes back with it away, most times the contact will most times be much weaker. He's just missing that one pitch to set up that sinker instead of telegraphing it because he has nothing.

[Caper]

I watch the Padres games all the time.. even the dodgers....They are so awesome to watch/hear, and so informed about the game and the other team.

Hawk on the other hand is HORRIBLE, so biased... and just so damn angry that his WS aren't contending. I usually enjoy hearing the other teams broadcast, but after a few innings of hawk, i had to tune back..> (and would only go back to hear him burn at Bautista's HR etc.. lol)

 

What's wrong with being biased? I want my guys being biased as hell... Just not stupid.

[Caper]

Jays win tommorow. Rogers s*** balls his way through 5 innings giving up one run... Then the pen takes over.

[guylaroche5]

Jays win tommorow. Rogers s*** balls his way through 5 innings giving up one run... Then the pen takes over.

 

it feels so refreshing to have a competent bullpen, hopefully oliver returns to form as he's the only one that's been scaring me this year (and to a certain degree delabar's control)

 

also where do you guys get a chisox feed? i've been meaning to listen to some HAWK if it's free live streaming

[CHRIS]

On the Rogers note' date=' I like his stuff. His slider can be pretty devastating when he's on and keeping his fastball down. I really would love to see what he could develop into. Romero and Happ are both just washouts as our no. 5's this year.[/quote']

 

With all the worst-case stuff we've experienced this year, it would nice if Rogers could develop into something useful to balance things out. His offspeed stuff in his last start was better than I was expecting it to be.