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I don't think so at all. We just have to be patient and wait for Reyes to get back into form and same when Lawrie returns. I mean when Lawrie returns, where do we have room for an upgrade ANYWHERE? Unless we go out and look for someone to play second base, we are more than fine anywhere else. The lineup we were going with was also good enough to win us 11 straight games and most of them handily. We've struggled a bit the last 3, but we always struggle against Tampa. Sop with this lineup, where do we improve? Reyes Cabrera Bautista Encarnacion Lind Rasmus Lawrie Bonafacio JP******* With a bench of Derosa, Izturis, Davis, Thole I see no need for an upgrade anywhere unless we're going to trade for a new 2b or catcher...and I don't see any f***ing team dumb enough to take ******* off our hands, except the yanks maybe. don't mknow what their catching situation is, but they're dumb enough to take anyone with a heartbeat it seems.

Anyhow, I'd been saying it for awhile, this division just isn't that good. I was worried at how bad we were playing defensively...and was complaining consistently at their lack of clutch hitting amosngst other things. But I tried to keep the reactionary posts to a minimum. It's just kinda hard when you see your team playing that f***ing bad. But I said it here earlier as well as at work to a few guys, the rest of this division is easily catchable. Especially the yanks, I got balled out for saying how badly they suck, especially with their injuries. And they were in first at the time, 12 games above .500. Same for the Red Sox, they've been teetering between 12 and 14 games over for a month now and I don't expect that to change from now til the end of the season. The only team that worries me now is Tampa, cos they can pitch. But with Cobb and Moore being rookies and Hernandez being well, hernandez, I don't see them being a run away team at all. I just wish we could play well against them. Not sure what it is, but if you look at their lineup, they're certainly no better than us. One thing is for sure, our bullpen has emrged as one of the best in BOTH leagues. Loving this Neil Wagner guy. Guy throws 12 straight fastballs in an ab and the hitter still can't f***ing catch up to it. The kid is a stud and Cecil has transformed into a f***ing beast. I still say it though, it's only going to take 87 to 90 wins to take this division and I think 90 takes it EASILY.

I'd sniff her bicycle seat...that's what my dad used to say anyhow!

Finally, this is precisely what an ace does. Comes up and puts up zeroes when his team has lost a few and struggling on offence. This is the first time I've seen why Dickey is almost impossible to hit when he is on. The ball moves up and in, down and away.....slow, slower and so f***ing slow it looks like a 9 year old could hit it. But he's kept these guys off balance all day.

Yeah f***, Rajai is actually a pretty f***ing good bench player to have. He can get on base decently enough and when he does, he automatically causes problems for the opposing pitcher. His classic first to third base stealing is invaluable from a bench player. In late inning situation when you're down by a run and a guy who is an average runner gets on, having a guy like Rajai to pinch run is f***ing amazing. He kinda annoys me sometimes with his streakiness, but hey, that's why he's a platoon guy. I find he is the very least of this teams problems and if I were running a team, he could be a platoon/bench guy any day, anywhere, any f***ing time.

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.

Exactly, his last 3 years were all really f***ing good. He pitched almost 200 innings each of the 2 years previous with his highest ERA being barely over 3 any of the 3 years in question. Kind of alarming that this year he is giving up a homerun 1/6 IP and the previous 3 years were around 1/10. Which is definately somewhat the fault of our launching pad but his numbers across the board are way out of whack comparatively. But yeah, his last 3 years were all pretty damn good and his numbers prove it.

Last year his k/bb ratio was almost 4.3/1 and so far this year, not even 2/1. He's on course to strike out 100 less batters this year in the same games played. He's on course to give up about 135 runs, double last year. All of his numbers across the board are alarmingly out of whack with last years stats comparatively. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dicker.01-pitch.shtml

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.

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.

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?

I'd love for a stat guy to see what the numbers are for these guys, batting with a runner on third and less than 2 outs. I just don't ever remember seeing a team fail more in these situations than this team. They miss opportunities to score that make you sick because you know deep down that if they just executed simple fundamentals, they probably score a run or two a game just by executing what they should be able to execute almost automatically.

But the bottom line is, we're dealing with pros here...so do you guys think its selfishness and a bunch of guys that aren't team players? Because I think even amateurs know that executing in these situations on a consistent basis wins games. Colby is another prime example...he looks worse swinging at off speed stuff than Kelly f***ing Johnson did for f*** sakes. But in these situations, is he being selfish by not trying to stay back and simply put the ball in play the other way? Or does he just suck balls?

If you guys were managing this team, how often would you honestly tolerate this? I know we're all pretty sick of JP because of his lack of proficiency in every single area....but how often would you watch him continue to pull off in situations where we need him to manufacture that run by simply doing his job. Now I know it's not automatic that a guy goes up, sac fly, boom an automatic run. But he makes no attempt whatsoever to do what needs to be done fundamentally to do that job. He'll see 4 or 5 pitches and pull off every single one of them, making no effort at all tostay on the ball longer and drive it to right field. How long do you watch that ******** before you say, "sit down **********, until as a pro, you can do what we're asking you to do to help this team win."

The culmination of all the horrible bad defensive and offensive fundamentals have to be blamed on someone. This team has had it's injuries, but the team we field seems to still fail at the basic fundamentals of the game. Bunting, fielding, manufacturing a motherf***ing run with a guy on third and less than 2 outs. The whole thing is atrocious. Even seeing Colby go up there flailing at off speed pitches when we all know that's precisely what he's going to get! How is it that he seems not to have a clue? And who the f*** is responsible for helping him with that? The same with JPA, seen him so desperately teying to pull balls and his head flying off, when all he needs to do is focus on lifting the ball to right centre to allow him to keep his head on the ball. Instead, he's not even close. He strikes out time after time in these exact same situations, like nobody has told him he needs to focus on bringing that run in by putting his focus where it belongs. Yet you see his swing in slo-mo and his head is all the way around before his f***ing bat is. So after seeing him do it repetitively, does the hitting coach not walk up to him and ask him wtf he is doing, then try to teach him what to do instead? And when he continues not to do it, isn't the idea to bring in someone who can teach him? Or are guys like Colby JP unteachable? Because after going through many levels of ball, you'd think this would be ingrained in them already. Yet 60 games in, he's still pulling off in these situations and makes no effort WHATSOEVER that might tell you that he's trying to execute what the coaches should be telling him to do in these fundamental situations. This f***ing infuriates me to no end because it's f***ing worse than amateur. I'm just curious as to whether or not these two are unteachable, or if its even being taught. Because it drives me mad when I see a guy on third and this clusterf*** ass pirate trying to pull every single pitch he's thrown instead of keeping his head on the ball and allowing his bat to follow throguh and push that ball the other f***ing way where it needs to go to manufacture a run. He fails at this 19 times out of 20 and I want to f***ing slap him and his mother every time he does it.

18 games away from the halfway point and this laughing stock is still being accepted by our GM as it everything is ok. Something is wrong there. Also, does Boni only swing at pitches the bounce to the plate. Tonight I watched him swing at over 7 balls, then get called out on a few right down the f***ing pipe. Has anybody followed this moron? Is he really this bad? Because if this is the s*** he swings at? He needs to be benched permanently. As it stands now, he seems to have absolutely no value to this team.

Wilner or Wilnercebia? Dumb and dumber? Butt and buttf***er? Rupaul and Chris Bosh?

I honestly think that if he can't see how bad his team is at this point, and hold the proper coaches responsible, then he needs to go as well. I like him, but if he is that stupid that he can't recognize that his players are failing in situations that are almost automatic, he's simply lying to himself. If he's not going to holdGibby and Mottola responsible, he's destined this team for a losing record and possibly a last place finish. And my educated guess is that he's going to blame it all on injuries. Never mind that he gave up two stud prospects for a guy that doesn't belong in MLB right now. So sad.

Wow, bases loaded one inning and nothing......2nd and 3rd with one out and all our PROFESSIONAL hitter has to do is recognize the situation. A fly ball ties the game. I know and both announcers know that he's not about to get anything to hit. If Rasmus thinks he is going to get a fastball, he needs to find another job. As usual, he flails at one out of the strikezone, then flails at another out of the strikezone and grounds weakly to the pitcher. My question is, where is the hitting coach in this? Rasmus strikes me as a dumb f***ing hick, but is anyone going to tell me that he wasn't going to go up there and AUTOMATICALLY look for a breaking ball, stay back and try to lift one to the outfield? Is there one single poster in this entire thread or on this entire board that KNOWS FOR FACT that Coby wasn't going to get a fastball in that at bat no matter what? So why was Colby not aware of this and out front on both pitches? Sorry if this seems reactionary, but this is the exact lack of professionalism that has driven me nuts all year with this team. Every situational at bat seems like a baffling accurence to me. Like our hitters are going up there without a clue as to what to look for based on the game situation. Same goes for our pitching. When we get going for 3 or 4 games and need SOOOOOOO badly to keep it going, we get a performance like we got from JJ yesterday, after the team gives him a 4-0 lead. So is our team just really bad, or is Mottola and Gibbons this bad. Ultimately, the responsibility is theirs and the teams to execute. To this point, the team has executed beyond poorly. Prime example, Bonifacio misses the ball in a 1 run game when we NEED that out, which should've been a foregone conclusion. I hate to say it, but As wide open as I think this division is, this team is headed for a last place finish. As bad as the offensive and defensive execution has been? I'm truly aghast that either coach still has a job.

I can't believe this f***ing moron won a Cy Young award...I mean, did the entire NL feel sorry for him? He's a complete and utter joke and I can't f***in believe what we've given up for him. Fans over there must be f***ing laughing their asses off. I don't want to see this guy pitch for our team again period, never mind 2 more years. He 2 hits a good team like SF, then gives up 7 runs over 4 inning to a cluterf*** team like the CWS? I could hold these f***ing *******s to less than this. What a joke. If it weren't for the baserunning gaffe, they'd have 12 or 13 by now.

Wow, a 2-0 pitch, in a fastball count...and he throws a fastball right out over the plate, and he hits a weak fly ball into center? And this is a guy we're promoting to our team? Is there some reason we don't hit Derosa in his slot? Wow....

This is getting f***ing ridiculous and I'm oficially not watching the rest of this game. A complete waste of f***ing time.

Who really knows cept him and some part time welder who moonlights as the copy cat to the dude on 8MM. On a lighter note, I think this game is a foregone conclusion now. shame in a game the team needs to get a streak going when the offense spots them 4. Either this team is unlucky for 60 games or they're just flat out bad.

I'm sorry, but I have very little respect for Buck and his "baseball knowledge." I hear him say some of the dumbest s*** I have ever heard. Some people seem to think that since a guy played ball for year, that it qualifies him as some sort of expert on the subject. I think a lot of people here will agree that when you listen to him talk, you have to wonder if he still has his faculties straight. IMO, he's not a smart baseball mind and that's a vast understatement.

Yeah, I know, I just like making fun of him. Bad habit of mine.