***OFFICIAL WHITE SOX 2020 SEASON THREAD***

[dennehy]

Somebody mentioned TJ for the kid Crochet, didn't look that intense so hopefully not but if they continue to mold into a starter, it will probably will lead to that. Guys that throw that hard usually run into arm problems. I'd like to see them direct him into the closer role....seems like s good way to get a lot out of him (see Hader in Milwaukee) and keep him off the operating table.

Forearm stiffness and 3-4 mph off his fastball yesterday. Not good signs.

Agree that the closer role is a great fit though.

 

[The Hawk]

Forearm stiffness and 3-4 mph off his fastball yesterday. Not good signs.

Agree that the closer role is a great fit though.

I'm not big on left handed closers. Too many good right handed hitters in baseball these days.. I think their closer of the future will be Huerer when Colome hangs his glove up.

 

[Diehardfan]

I'm not big on left handed closers. Too many good right handed hitters in baseball these days.. I think their closer of the future will be Huerer when Colome hangs his glove up.

I guess the names Chapman, Smith, Hand, Doolittle and Hader must have escaped you......they only combined for about 170 saves in the last full season. The kid has the stuff to match them and his command is already impressive.

 

[The Hawk]

I guess the names Chapman, Smith, Hand, Doolittle and Hader must have escaped you......they only combined for about 170 saves in the last full season. The kid has the stuff to match them and his command is already impressive.

I know they are left handed. So what? There is a reason why there are so few. Fact is out of the top 30 closers in baseball , there are only 7 left handed ones. One is because lefty starters are much more valuable than relievers and the second is that there are many more right handed batters than left handed batters in baseball.
I'd say that is would be really a waste to pigeon hole this kid to be a relief pitcher at his age and they are too smart to do that. They will try their best to make him a starter.

 

[Diehardfan]

I know they are left handed. So what? There is a reason why there are so few. Fact is out of the top 30 closers in baseball , there are only 7 left handed ones. One is because lefty starters are much more valuable than relievers and the second is that there are many more right handed batters than left handed batters in baseball.
I'd say that is would be really a waste to pigeon hole this kid to be a relief pitcher at his age and they are too smart to do that. They will try their best to make him a starter.

Seriously? You really don't know why there are so few? OMG. You really are dense. I guess you didn't know that close to 90% of the people on this planet are right handed. For that reason good left handed pitchers are worth their weight in gold. MLB does a decent job of finding them and their numbers are bit higher....like 20% of the pitchers are left handed. There's a reason why lefties that are fairly useless hang around forever. This kid Crochet has the stuff to be an epic closer. He's only thrown 6 fucking innings and he already hurt his arm. You start him and force him to stretch it out and throw 200 innings a year.....you will end up with another Rodon.

 

[The Hawk]

Seriously? You really don't know why there are so few? OMG. You really are dense. I guess you didn't know that close to 90% of the people on this planet are right handed. For that reason good left handed pitchers are worth their weight in gold. MLB does a decent job of finding them and their numbers are bit higher....like 20% of the pitchers are left handed. There's a reason why lefties that are fairly useless hang around forever. This kid Crochet has the stuff to be an epic closer. He's only thrown 6 fucking innings and he already hurt his arm. You start him and force him to stretch it out and throw 200 innings a year.....you will end up with another Rodon.

Why the insults? Try being a real person for a change instead of throwing around crap like this. Teams do not draft pitchers in the first round to be relief pitchers, particularly those guys with his kind of stuff. Starters are much more valuable than relievers. And you cannot use one example of one pitcher development arm trouble as a prediction that another will have it or not. They all are different. Neither you or I have the prognosis of Crochet's arm trouble. All I know is that the Sox have another guy on their roster who throws right handed and has/had the same velocity. ARe you going to make the same prognosis on him for being a closer also because he throws so hard?

The fact is that the White Sox will treat those two guys as starters for the time being and try to build them up to take the typical stress on their arms and bodies. Depending how that goes, it may be that one or the other will not develop their make-up enough to be a legit major league starter which is much harder than to develop a reliever. By the way, relievers blow out their arms also, not just starting pitchers.

 

[Diehardfan]

Why the insults? Try being a real person for a change instead of throwing around crap like this. Teams do not draft pitchers in the first round to be relief pitchers, particularly those guys with his kind of stuff. Starters are much more valuable than relievers. And you cannot use one example of one pitcher development arm trouble as a prediction that another will have it or not. They all are different. Neither you or I have the prognosis of Crochet's arm trouble. All I know is that the Sox have another guy on their roster who throws right handed and has/had the same velocity. ARe you going to make the same prognosis on him for being a closer also because he throws so hard?

The fact is that the White Sox will treat those two guys as starters for the time being and try to build them up to take the typical stress on their arms and bodies. Depending how that goes, it may be that one or the other will not develop their make-up enough to be a legit major league starter which is much harder than to develop a reliever. By the way, relievers blow out their arms also, not just starting pitchers.

No....because hard throwing right handers are not as hard to find......80% of MLB pitchers are righties. You got a kid that can throw 100 MPH, good control and is left handed to boot....now you have a rarity. You are correct that anybody can blow out an arm but the more pitches you throw, the higher the chance of that happening. Top closers rarely work more than an inning a day, maybe 20 pitches.....you want your starter to go 6 or 7, or 100 pitches which ever comes first.. Besides, I'll take someone that can help me 3 or 4 times a week any day over a once a week starter.

Just remember this prediction....if they make him a starter, they will destroy him.

 

[The Hawk]

No....because hard throwing right handers are not as hard to find......80% of MLB pitchers are righties. You got a kid that can throw 100 MPH, good control and is left handed to boot....now you have a rarity. You are correct that anybody can blow out an arm but the more pitches you throw, the higher the chance of that happening. Top closers rarely work more than an inning a day, maybe 20 pitches.....you want your starter to go 6 or 7, or 100 pitches which ever comes first.. Besides, I'll take someone that can help me 3 or 4 times a week any day over a once a week starter.

Just remember this prediction....if they make him a starter, they will destroy him.

You have no basis for making that prediction and it is not true that starting pitchers who throw hard have more chance to blow out an arm. Typically, starting pitchers have three or more pitches that they throw and do not have to throw hard while they are in the game. And a lot of hard throwing relievers hurt their arms because they do throw max velocity during their inning. These guys also do not get the rest that starters do after their appearance.

You can go along and believe that a reliever who works 3-4 times a week is more valuable than a starting pitcher but you go against what most baseball experts believe. I'm not minimizing the importance of a great reliever but the history of baseball does not support your theory about a 100 MPH lefty closer being the answer to a team over a top notch left handed starting pitcher. ITs also why the starter makes a whole lot more money than the reliever.