Neyer on the White Sox

[MRKARNO]

That was a challenge for the White Sox in 2003, and for all the things that went wrong, at least management didn't do anything stupid with Paul Konerko or Joe Crede. Both got off to horrendous starts, but the Sox stuck with them -- granted, there weren't any viable replacements aboard -- and both hit in the second half of the season like we all knew they could.

Here are the OPS's for Konerko and Crede, before and after the 2003 All-Star Game:

Before After
Konerko 567 853
Crede 625 892

(Remember, OPS is on-base percentage plus slugging percentage, so you can probably guess that 567 and 625 aren't real good). What happens before the All-Star break does count, and when predicting the future we can't just assume that those three months don't mean anything. But if Konerko and Crede both hit like they can for a whole season, the White Sox have a good chance to score more runs than anybody else in the division (preventing them is a whole 'nother thing).

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2004/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=1763415

[hold2dibber]

The problem with PK's pre/post ASG splits from '03 is that while it is true that he was phenominal in Julyl and August, it is also true that he returned to being absolutely terrible in September (.599 OPS, .179 avg., .286 OBP, .313 slg). So it's not like he finished the year slugging, as the pre/post ASG splits seem to suggest. In truth, he had 2 great months in '03 and 4 historically, remarkably horrendous months. We all know that PK has the capability of being a damn good MLB hitter, but we also know he has the capability of being completely worthless (and for long stretches). Will he become the PK of '02 or will he become Todd Hundley? I sure hope it's the former, but I'm far from convinced that it won't be the later.

[pudge]

Originally posted by hold2dibber
The problem with PK's pre/post ASG splits from '03 is that while it is true that he was phenominal in Julyl and August, it is also true that he returned to being absolutely terrible in September (.599 OPS, .179 avg., .286 OBP, .313 slg). So it's not like he finished the year slugging, as the pre/post ASG splits seem to suggest. In truth, he had 2 great months in '03 and 4 historically, remarkably horrendous months. We all know that PK has the capability of being a damn good MLB hitter, but we also know he has the capability of being completely worthless (and for long stretches). Will he become the PK of '02 or will he become Todd Hundley? I sure hope it's the former, but I'm far from convinced that it won't be the later.

Great post, dibber. Very well said.