Brownie19

How quickly we forget that Belt was an absolute BEAST in 2020, 2021 - like Top 5 hitter in baseball both seasons (albeit with a SSS). I have no idea what the FO or other FO's knew about his healthy or how sure they could be that he was back healthy, but it's pretty f***ing easy to see why we'd take the risk of signing Belt in a season where we: a) Are WS contenders who don't have anyone locked in as our DH; and Need LH impact bats. This isn't difficult. Teams REGULARLY swing and miss on FA signings for reasons that are beyond their control (and reasons that are within their control). It's a 1 year deal guys and DH is the easiest position in all of baseball to fill. We can acquire another DH type bat in a heartbeat for next to nothing if the FO determines that Belt is done. I'd be a heck of a lot more worried about someone like Berrios or Springer - guys signed for another 5-6 years (not that I am). If those guys become black holes, it will have a major impact. Brandon Belt will not.

I think every stat possible suggests this is correct. wRC+ up, K% down, BB% up, Chase Rate down, Barrell % up, xwOBA up, xBA up, xSLG up Last year he seemed antsy at the plate - expanding the zone too much. He seems a lot more comfortable at the plate this year - making the pitcher come to him. I hope he keeps it up. I expect the power will come as the weather warms up. Perhaps not to 2021 levels, but above 2022.

This. So many fans complaining we didn't pull Berrios earlier. It's f***ing May 1st and it's a long season. You're going to burn out everyone if you don't give the pitchers a bit more rope and trust others in the bullpen.

what would you like his answer to be to the useless questions asked by the reporters that NOBODY should listen to?

This reminds me of a game pitched by Glavine or Maddux. This umpire's scorecard could be ugly (both teams getting big time edges)

Is Vlad stupid? How do you not run hard out of the box when you hit a ball like that at Fenway?

Enjoy man! I loved my trip to Boston/Fenway. Make sure you do the stadium tour (I was able to just walk up and book a tour within like 15-30 minutes about 14 years ago (yikes!) and it was fantastic. Also, I'd recommend getting "hop on/hop off" bus tickets. We used that as our taxi as it took like 45 minutes to do a round trip. We stayed at the Buckminster Hotel, where they say the 1919 Black Sox deal was struck. It was so cool as it's where the players used to stay, so your hotel room actually comes with 2 separate rooms and a shared bathroom (like the players would have used). Check it out if you have time - it's just steps from Fenway.

Solid drafts by both the Packers and Bills IMO. But man - the Eagles KILLED the draft this year. Looks like they are building a sustainable winner.

Is Alex Kirilloff ever going to hit? Is he the next Travis Snider?

I think that's a dirty move. I get that you shouldn't trust an opponent and he should have confirmed with the umpire or his own coach, but that guy is an *******. Show some sportsmanship and have some morals. It's a regular season game in April.

I can agree with that. Love the lid.

Agreed. He made bonehead plays on defense and on the base paths, but he was an easy guy to root for. That smile is so infectious. I hope he gets a huge ovation tonight.

Just buy her a couple of poutine dogs and a couple of white claws and she'll be loving it. Or you can try to teach her the essence of a great pitching duel. Best of luck.

Not a fan of those M's uni's.

Interesting little breakdown on Berrios this year... https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jose-berrios-is-terrible-or-great-it-depends-on-how-youre-counting/

I have an admission to make. I used to be a White Sox fan. I grew up on a farm that only got like 4-5 channels and while I did watch the Jays as a kid, they weren't on TV very often. Then one day we bought one of those massive satellite dishes and my world changed forever. Not only could I watch soft core porn (Red Shoe Diaries) and the Playboy channel while it was super fuzzy - but I got WGN! There were Cubs games on every day and I fell in love with baseball. I watched Sandberg, Maddux, Dawson, Dunston, Grace, etc. everyday after school. But - every once in awhile, WGN would show White Sox games. Not many, but some and that exposed me to this guy named Frank Thomas and he was incredible. I fell in love with Big Frank, Ventura, Lance Johnson, Ozzie, Black Jack, Jason Bere, Fernandez, Alverez and the guys. The jersey's were popular and they quickly became my team. I followed them through the Konerko years, posted on a White Sox message board and finally enjoyed them winning the WS in 2005. I just saw old pictures the other day of my first born son wearing a White Sox bib 2010, which someone bought us because they knew I was a White Sox fan. However, it was right around that point that I hit my tipping point with this f***ing horrendous franchise. I quit the old White Sox message board and found a Blue Jays one and returned to my original roots and now bleed blue and white. And thank god - or that would probably be me ranting at how f***ing pathetic that organization is. Thank god we never hired Kenny Williams!

Nobody who ever called Wilner could spell baseball or had any idea what wRC+ was.

I think Bass pitched about as well as we could have expected when he came over last year. Bass and Pop for Groshans seems like it's a huge win for the team. Will this years' version of Bass be more of 2019-2021 version? Perhaps. We may have to take that risk and DFA him before we'd like to.

Baseball has a way of sorting these things out.

f*** - you guys see this Maggi guy tonight for Pittsburgh? The guy who spent 13 years in the minors? Pinch hit in the 8th inning....swings and rips the first pitch deep, but foul....takes a moment to soak it all in and of course he f***ing gets called for a pitch clock violation. He ended up striking out. Rooting for this guy to get a base knock before the ride is over.

I think Judge went down hurt today also while trying to steal third. He was out on the play and got up and ran right down the tunnel.

Or have a better/deeper team leads to more wins. There is no way to draw any conclusions about this. It's not even worth the discussion.

Seriously - who hates Bo? The guy is one of the faces of the franchise. He's worked his tail off and has been one of the most elite hitters in all of baseball for a pretty substantial stretch now. Do I wish his defense were better? Yes, but he's a very hard worker - and even if that doesn't allow him to become an average defender at SS, I think we can live with it, given what he provides elsewhere.

You can't do this without also considering games where an early 'hook' may have contributed towards winning the game.

The HR/9 will definitely increase, but I think it's possible for him to maintain a low BB/9 (maybe not 1.57, but he could keep it <2.0). All very encouraging signs so far this year.