Comments on: Game 100: Tigers at White Sox

By: T Smith

T Smith — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:47:39 +0000

Wow. I can hardly stand to watch past the 7th inning. It’s no longer even enjoyable. We literally have a WS-caliber offense/Starting-Five coupled with a Little League bullpen. My new viewing strategy, in games with a 3 run lead or less, will be to turn off the TV in the seventh, take a deep breath, run out to the local spa, maybe do some Yoga and practice some some relaxation-breathing, maybe get a massage, maybe tune into some harps and strings from the good ‘ol I-Pod, and then return home in a renewed state of mind before I flip on ESPN to learn how the Little League fared.

I’ll say it again, and again, and again, and again, and again… and again:

McBride/Durbin/Miner et. al are all good pitchers — that’s not the issue, and I mean no insult or disrespect to them as players/pitchers — but they’re long guys — NOT SETUP GUYS. They’re the guys you want when your starter falls off the mound in the 3rd or 4th or 5th inning.

In the seventh and eighth inning (and ninth inning, too) you need a strike-out pitcher who throws strikes, throws hard, and doesn’t give up the walk. On top of that, ask a guy like Miner to be a SETUP guy, and he will likely pitch WORSE than normal. He will likely produce more walks/errors/wild pitches, etc. than he would in his comfortable role (oops — I’m really not a genius — yes, yes, I admit — I SAW the game).

Since I hadn’t formulated my more Zen approach prior to this latest bullpen melt-down, I guess I’ll just now succumb to my more pedestrian routine and head off to the bar…

Good night all.

By: Chris in Nashville

Chris in Nashville — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:01:00 +0000

I agree with that statement, he would be a great 4th OF on a team like this, he seems to versatile and can rake, but can he make adjustments at this level when they start figuring out how to pitch to him? That is the biggest question for any young hitter really.

By: Kyle J

Kyle J — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:41:03 +0000

Raburn’s definitely got the potential to be a long-term option as a fourth outfielder, though. He’s versatile. Only 26. Career minor league slugging % near .500.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com.....burn.shtml

By: Eric Jackson

Eric Jackson — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:17:50 +0000

Ya, Chris is right. Brent Clevlen is a good example. He came up and was hot last year, now he’s batting .222 in Toledo.

They should certainly play him while he’s doing well but he’s not a dependable long-term strategy.

By: Chris in Nashville

Chris in Nashville — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:03:48 +0000

Raburn had a great game last night….but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to be an everyday player in the league…let’s slow down on that talk.

By: tiff

tiff — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:39:18 +0000

So seriously, when will they cut Ne!f!??

By: Ken in Cincinnati

Ken in Cincinnati — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:09:01 +0000

I definitely like Rayburn in left field over Monroe at this point, and possibly even Thames when he returns. At the very least, we’ll have a great platooning corps to keep our players fresh and add to our pinch hitting options. Regardless of how Jim spreads playing time, it appears we’ve just added some firepower and depth to our bench. Or will we have to send an outfielder down when Thames comes off the DH? Couldn’t we just send Hessman down?

By: Dirk

Dirk — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:18:42 +0000

correction: “very frustrated the first 4 Innings..”

Everywhere you read, the White Sox have the Tigers “number”. So, this time, they couldn’t remember

By: Dirk

Dirk — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:15:23 +0000

Greetings from Germany

Man, what an important Comebacker. I was very frustrated the first 5 Innings. Seemed like the same as with the Royals series, everytime we score the “others” do the same in the other half-inning plus an awful 1st Inning (and the others weren’t a lot better from Kenny this time. But even he can have a bad start too, from time to time)

Great game from Raburn and good to see that Tim Byrdak has a good one too. His first save… and Grilli gets the win (*cough*)

Today’s game (with “europe-friendly” gamestart ) sees JV vs Danks, and hopefully the series win.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:33:05 +0000

Granderson would have to be a Republican because he certainly doesn’t like the left. (.188 this year, .231 career) He’s a nifty little player, fantastic to watch, and a good guy, but let’s get him hitting .250 against lefties before we send him to either Capitol Hill or Cooperstown.