Tag Archives: baseball

Stiff Competition: 2012 Predictions

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It’s that time of year again, baseball is back for its third opening of the season. Last week we had the “Opening Series” in Japan that 99% of America missed, last night we had “Opening Night” in Miami for the christening of the ugliest ballpark in baseball, and finally today is “Opening Day” with a staggered schedule as usual. Cubs open at home today and the Sox in Texas tomorrow afternoon.

The offseason moved a lot of teams into contention this season, and with the extra Wild Card team from each league added drama exists. A lot of predictions are two teams from the East and West in the playoffs from both leagues or three teams from the East. Let’s not be too hasty about both Eastern divisions. I know it’s only one game but the Marlins looked a lot like the 2011 White Sox and the Phillies are getting old.

AL East Division Champions: Tampa Bay Rays
Well, last year I had the Red Sox in this spot and talked about the Toronto Blue Jays as a team on the rise. The Blue Jays are going to make some noise in the division again this year, but do they have enough to power through the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox. It’s almost unfair to be a team in this division. It’s a hard division to pick, but I’m going with the Rays because they are the most balanced and have younger players entering their prime. Of course, the Yankees need to also be considered and they were my original choice, but I’m thinking wild card for the mighty Yanks this season.

AL Central Division Champions: Detroit Tigers
Well, the White Sox still have “the makings of a World Series ball club” on paper, but until the move from paper to reality you can’t give them any credit after last season. Meanwhile, the Tigers have a solid returning nucleus, as well as adding Prince Fielder to help ease the blow of losing Victor Martinez for the season. Justin Verlander could be even better this season, which is a scary thought for opponents. The Tigers should win 93 games and the division. Everyone’s in love with KC, but I think it will be more of the usual from them and the Indians were still trying to change the team chemistry last week by adding Bobby Abreu, that’s not a good sign. If Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer have bounce back years the Twins will be right there, which is the same story for the White Sox with Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham. All teams in the AL Central will be more of an annoyance for the Tigers than a real contender for the division

AL West Division Champions: LA Angels of Anaheim
“How you cannot pick the Rangers to win this division is beyond me?” That’s what I wrote last year, but I’m not writing it this year. The Angels have risen to glory again with a pitching staff that’s stacked, Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Dan Haren, need I continue. The Rangers did add talent also with Yu Darvish and Mike Napoli, but their rotation has some questions, as well as Josh Hamilton falling off the wagon and the oft-injued Nelson Cruz. It should be a battle, but the Angels will win it. The A’s and Mariners made some improvements also in the offseason, but not enough to be real competition for these two powerhouses, just a nice surprise.

AL Wild Card: New York Yankees and Texas Rangers
It matters even less if you win the division other than home field advantage, which seems to matter less and less each year with baseball. I have to put the Yankees in the playoffs because they find a way to do it every year, and the Rangers will definitely be the other team as long as they stay healthy and Hamilton can stay focused. If not look at the Blue Jays or a surprise team to sneak in.

NL East Division Champions: Atlanta Braves
An older Phillies team will plague them in the second half of the season, and the Braves will be there with their mix of youth and veterans to win the division. All the youngsters on the Braves are another year older and another year better. The Miami Marlins seem very talented, but I’m not sure how well they will play for Ozzie Guillen. His coaching staffs seem to lack the ability to teach teams fundamentals, which will hurt them in the standings. It’s definitely a three team race, but the Braves will not fade in the second half this year, they will shine.

NL Central Division Champions: Milwaukee Brewers
This division could be up for grabs, I’m not sure which way to go on this. I think Milwaukee has the most solid rotation, but all the other teams in the division aren’t that far behind. The Reds might have the best offense in the division, and I would not completely dismiss the Pirates and the Cubs. The Cubs rotation looks pretty solid as well, but they have as many question marks as the White Sox. A hot start could aid them into becoming a real contender for the division. Even though the Cardinals won their Opening Night game against the Marlins, I just don’t look at their roster and think serious contender, oh wait, I did the same thing last year. Still, with all injuries already on that roster I don’t see them winning the division. I think it’s between Milwaukee and Cincinnati and I will give it to the Brewers again this season. I didn’t mention the Astros by design.

NL West Division Champions: San Francisco Giants
The Giants made some great moves in the offseason, including signing their talent to long-term contracts. The addition of Melky Cabrera will be a huge boost for them as well as getting Buster Posey back. They do have some real competition in the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have a solid rotation and added the services of Jason Kubel in the offseason. The Giants will edge them out.

NL Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks
The Phillies have enough firepower and that rotation to keep them around for a Wildcard spot, and the Diamondbacks are a team on the rise. They could make some noise in the playoffs.

World Series: San Francisco Giants over the Detroit Tigers in 5
The Tigers are on the fast track to the World Series and the Giants will be waiting for them to win their second World Series in three years. The Giants pitching staff will tame the Tigers bats, and Tigers fans will asking each other why, why? Of course, they will take solace in the fact that V-Mart returns to their line-up in 2013 and they win the AL Championship and World Series in a laugher with some offseason starting pitching acquisitions.

AL MVP: Prince Fielder, Det

AL Cy Young: Jered Weaver, LAA

NL MVP: Joey Votto, Cin

NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, SF


Seven in a row…

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The Sox are 7-0 with Manny.

The White Sox have won seven games in a row and haven’t even gained a full game on the Twins. They’ve gained only a half game over the last seven games. The Sox and Twins are both 8-2 over their last ten games and it seems like both teams find a way to win, of course if this keeps up something will have to give next week when the Twins arrive at the Cell.

Both teams won 5-4 on Monday, but the Sox game had a little more drama as a ball that was clearly foul was called a home run. Brandon Inge hit the ball well foul, but the third base ump called it fair. The play went to review after the White Sox protested. The call was reversed and it set-up an extra inning win for the White Sox. Rookie phenom, Chris Sale, retired all eight batters that he faced to earn his first win. Sale’s stats continued to become more impressive with an ERA of  0.66, a WHIP of 1.10, and 19 strike outs in 13-2/3 innings pitched.

Edwin Jackson had his first so-so game with the Sox as he let up four runs over 7-1/3 innings while striking out six. He continued to eat up innings for the White Sox, and his control remained excellent as he only walked one. The Tigers hit Jackson early before he settled in and pitched a decent game.

Paul Konerko sat out with back spasms, but should return on Wednesday or at Thursday the latest. Ozzie Guillen may sit Konerko an extra day to be safe, especially if the Sox continue to win. Manny Ramirez continued to swing a hot bat as he had three hits and scored a run. He has seven hits in four starts with the White Sox, and while he hasn’t hit for power he is getting on base of keeps the line moving. It’s reminiscent of Bobby Abreu, and if that’s the case the Sox will continue to have opportunities to score a lot of runs.

Oh no, Manny’s on deck!!!

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courtesy of AP

The mere sight of Manny Ramirez strikes fear into the hearts of pitchers throughout the league, well at least the bullpen of the Cleveland Indians. Last night Manny came out to pinch-hit in the ninth inning with AJ Pierzynski at the plate. As Hawk Harrelson would say, “AJ got a cookie and he did not miss it.” No he did not, as AJ launched a three-run bomb that helped the Sox win behind another stellar pitching performance from Edwin Jackson.

The Sox have struggled all year against the Indians, so when they had the opportunity to go for the sweep this afternoon I had my doubts, but something crazy happened again with the Sox down 4-2 with two runners on. Paul Konerko stepped into the batters box and Manny stepped into the on-deck circle and BOOM!!! For the second straight game a three-run homer occurred with Ramirez on deck. Bill Melton spoke last night during the White Sox post game on how Manny’s presence will help add to Konerko’s already gaudy totals, 33 home runs, 98 RBI’s, and a .319 batting average. If that’s the case then the White Sox should not have any problems over taking the Twins, because in Yankee fashion they should be able to out slug an opponent.

So a sweep of the Indians is how this ten game road trip starts out for the White Sox, now if we could get a little help from the Tigers tonight and tomorrow things will get even more interesting in the AL Central.

That sick feeling is back

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What you talkin' about Orlando?

The only good news for how I feel about the Sox right now is it’s exactly how I felt on June 6, after they lost another series to the Cleveland Indians and were 9-1/2 games back. However, I will now add some facts that will not make myself or you feel better if you’re a White Sox fan, but smile if you’re a Twins or Cubs fan.

The Sox are not about to play NL Central bottom feeders as they did back in June, which helped jump-start them on a historic run. Instead they are about to play an AL East bottom feeder, the Orioles, followed by the AL East leading, New York Yankees, not as easy. You would think the Sox would feast on the Orioles, but if their play against them a week-and-a-half ago is indicative of their performance this week they will not fair well.

The bullpen has been terrible giving up late inning leads in about every game this past week. To make matters even worse Matt Thornton may be heading to the DL with a sore forearm. The Sox also have seven games left with the Boston Red Sox, which could be trouble, also.

The Twins have extended their lead to five games after the Sox lost again to the AL Central bottom feeders, KC Royals, for the second time in three games that were played in a less than 24-hour period. Can the White Sox rebound from this? I really don’t know at this point, time’s a wasting and if the starting pitchers do not start going nine innings we might not have a chance. Another sad Monday in Chicago baseball.

The Peavy Effect

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It took until now but the White Sox are finally feeling the effects on losing Jake Peavy for the year as I’m officially saying that starter, Freddy Garcia, is out of gas. A lot of people probably are thinking that the Sox would not have gotten Edwin Jackson if Peavy was still in the rotation, but don’t be so sure about that. The idea at the trading deadline is to make your team better, and if Peavy did not go down to injury and the Sox had the opportunity to add Jackson to one of the best pitching staffs in baseball then they would have.

Garcia has not pitched that well since Jackson has shown-up, and has even commented that he’s the odd man out going into next season. That’s obvious since Jackson is as good of a pitcher as Garcia was in his prime, if not better. Jackson continues his domination of offenses since coming to the White Sox with 11 strike outs against the Tigers on Saturday. Since arriving Jackson has compiled some pretty impressive stats over a three-game span; 24 strikeouts, three earned runs, only four walks, and a 1.35 ERA over 20-innings pitched. His one blemish would be he has let up 20 hits, but he’s certainly gotten out of whatever jams he’s gotten into.

As Sox fans you can only imagine the rotation in 2010 with Peavy pitching down the stretch, but we’ll have to wait until 2011 to see that rotation. Instead, the Sox now sit three games back of the Twins since J.J. Putz has had one really bad pitch in each of his last two appearances that helped the Tigers win. You can blame Putz, but the lack of offense on Saturday that had many opportunities again, and another poor outing by Garcia put the Sox in a bad position. They did battle back and took a lead, but a poor bullpen outing and bad fielding lead to their demise on Sunday.

Hopefully the White Sox will show-up with clear heads to Target Field on Tuesday evening as they send their top three pitchers against the Twins, and let’s hope the Sox hitters don’t let the Twins’ pitchers off the hook like they did on their last home stand.

Welcome Back Mark!

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Beckham and Teahen go yard!

The other night I text my good friend John, “Viciedo has to go. He’s a fastball hitter and he can’t hit a fastball.” John replied, “Teahen will be back soon.” Soon meant Friday night and the Sox may have gotten the left-handed power hitter they wanted without giving Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez, and young arms.

This team was built with Teahen as a starter for the White Sox under the guise that he had the ability to hit 30 home runs since he would have many warm home games at US Cellular Field. Unfortunately Teahen went down with a broken finger before the weather warmed-up in Chicago. He benefited from the steamy weather on Friday night as his return to the Sox included a 2-run homer and a base hit helping the Sox to an 8-4 victory.

The Sox have scored a total of 21 runs in four games on this home stand and those numbers should only increase in the next few days. They also have 35 hits over the four game span with five homers. Not too shabby, but they are only 2-2 at the moment on this home stand and still trail the Twins by a game, as they held on for a 4-3 win last night over Oakland.

The Sox used the Tigers as a springboard to a 25-5 run that began on June 9 and hopefully they will use them again for a similar run. I like our chances in the series with Edwin Jackson going today followed by Tiger tamer, Freddy Garcia, on Sunday.

Frustration, Inc.

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The only damage done on Thursday was the psyche of the White Sox offense as they stranded the bases loaded three times. This was the most frustrating game that I’ve viewed all year and I can’t even imagine what was going through the heads of the White Sox hitters as they left nine runners on base from those three innings while stranding a total of 12 runners.

Francisco Lariano pitched his way out of jams over and over again and was definitely the beneficiary of impatient hitting by the White Sox, as well as some generous calls. Bottom line is the Sox offense did not get it done when they had ability to definitely put more than six runs on the board.

Gavin Floyd pitched his worst outing since May allowing six earned runs on ten hits, but kept the game at 3-1 until Jason Kubel hit an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall with two on and two out. It came on Floyd’s 125th pitch of the game and it was a tough outcome for Floyd who deserved better as he should have been pitching with a cushion.

So the Sox fell one game out of first on a night where they had every opportunity to win the game in easy fashion. The good news is the Tigers are coming to town.

One down, one to go

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Is everyone in the White Sox nation a little calmer this morning? I hope so, as we’re acting like we’ve never been in a playoff race. I mean, heck, we won a World Series in 2005 and the Sox did their best to give everyone a heart attack in September where Cleveland was a series win away from knocking the Sox out of the playoffs. That didn’t happen, instead the Sox went on a tear that brought a baseball World Championship to Chicago.

The reason I bring this up is because it’s only August and Sox fans are acting like being a game out is the end of the world or is it sports radio that’s making a big deal about it? Most of the Sox fans I talk to you seem as calm and arrogant as I am about the White Sox right now, but listening to the Waddle and Silvy show on ESPN 1000 you’d think there were two camps; one that is in panic mode and another that isn’t worried at all. This idea may only exist in the head of ex-Bear wide receiver, Tom Waddle, but he brings it up on a daily basis.

I’m sure there is text and emails coming into the show because there are fans of every team in Chicago that the minute the team has a couple of losses it’s all doom and gloom, but I think that camp is much smaller than the camp that is expecting to see the White Sox post season baseball. Then then there’s the talk about having to add another stick to the team which is beginning to wear on me also.

The White Sox ran into a white-hot Baltimore Orioles team that won again last night. They swept the Texas Rangers, took three-out-of-four from the Sox, and have won their first to two games against the Indians this week. This all since the arrival of Buck Showalter. The White Sox hitting performance in Baltimore really stirred-up “the need to add a bat talk,” but as I stated Monday in the post “Panic Button” the White Sox bats will be fine. I would say that statement is accurate as they have averaged six runs in their first two games on this home stand, but hey if the Sox could add a little extra thunder I would love it! Is it necessary? No.

Gavin Floyd takes the mound tonight and I expect my prediction from yesterday to come true with a one game White Sox lead at about 10pm tonight.  FIRE!

Panic Button?

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Is it time to press the panic button for Chicago White Sox fans? Should we go to the ledge? Did one of the most incredible runs in modern baseball history (in fact, I believe I read in the Tribune that they did set a record) just give us hope that will be crushed? Have the Sox forgot how to hit, again? NO!

While if there was ever a time to panic it would be now, I would ease your finger off the button and relax. The Sox will be fine no matter what happens tonight or even the next night against the Minnesota Twins. Nothing will better for the Sox then a return home where there bats seem to come to life. Once they get some momentum going at home again it should carry over to the road.

The main reason not to panic is the fact that the White Sox pitching staff leads the league in Quality Starts with 71 after Edwin Jackson turned in another excellent performance last night allowing one earned run over six innings. What does that really mean? It  means the Sox will have an opportunity to win a majority of their games. That number means in 63% of the games the Sox have played this year their starting pitchers have allowed three or fewer runs and have pitched a minimum of six innings in those games. You have to like your teams chances with those type of numbers, and I do.

I’ve got a crazy idea the Sox will putting at least six runs on the board tonight against the Twins. I think Carlos Quentin will hit a home run tonight, Mark Kotsay will drive in a run tonight, and Alex Rios will be Alex Rios tonight. There really isn’t  a much tougher team at home right now. I know the Twins have the same home and road record as the Sox, but as of late the Sox have been hard to beat at US Cellular Field.

Sox fans, sit back, relax, and watch the White Sox take a one game lead over the Twins tonight as Freddy Garcia gets the eleventh win he was robbed of last week after another quality start for Freddy. Humidity is high in Chicago today, I expect a lot of sweat and a lot of Sox runs.