*Official* August 31st Postgame: Deep Breaths People

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by DSpivack

Should we trade Beckham, Ramirez, and Viciedo, too? They have much lower OBPs than Dunn.

They're a lot younger and are nowhere near as one dimensional as Dunn is. Dunn hasn't had an OBP higher than .333 since May. His highest batting average since that time has been .211 too. Beckham has had a better slash line than Dunn in June and August too. Dunn has been pretty awful since the end of May.

[central44]

Originally Posted by Jollyroger2

Here's the issues with that. They have five more head to head matchups with these guys, and have now lost 8 of the last 10 vs. them, with many of the games in ugly fashion. They have proven they could play well at times and have done well vs. some very good teams. But they have been remarkably inconsistent. Last time they were in Detroit they got swept. In the key series in Baltimore they dropped three of four.

I'm not happy with mediocrity and I'm not falling back on the "well we shouldn't even be here" excuse. That might work in May or June but this is (almost) September. This team has shown it can play well but they are maddeningly inconsistent. And I'm sick of losing to these jerks. Maybe some people will be content with missing the playoffs but not me. Part of me was hoping the Sox would come out and whip these guys for a change but I should have known better.

I agree we shouldn't be content with missing the postseason. The Sox have proven this year that they can play with anyone. Texas and NY might be the "elite" teams, and the Sox have dominated both all year. If they can get into the postseason they can do damage. The "we shouldn't be here" argument doesn't hold water anymore. The only thing that's been proven is that 2011 was a fluke year, and the 2012 team is very much the group we were all excited about going into the 2011 season.

But keep in mind, Detroit is a very tough team to play in their ballpark. The Sox need to weather the storm and then take care of business when they come to Chicago, as they are not a good road team. We all knew this would be a tough series. That doesn't mean a whole lot at this point in time. There's still a month to play, including four games in Chicago against these guys (not to mention the two left in THIS series).

There is still a lot of baseball to play.

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

In the six remaining games with Detroit the Sox will face Verlander twice. Keep that in mind (I'm sure the Sox hitters are...)

Lip

And I'm sure they will face Sale twice.

[central44]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

In the six remaining games with Detroit the Sox will face Verlander twice. Keep that in mind (I'm sure the Sox hitters are...)

Lip

Verlander just got lit up by KC. Yeah he's great, but it's hardly an automatic win for them--especially if the Sox have Sale going.

[Jollyroger2]

Originally Posted by central44

Verlander just got lit up by KC. Yeah he's great, but it's hardly an automatic win for them--especially if the Sox have Sale going.

Sale isn't automatic either, as we all saw in Baltimore this week.

[Lip Man 1]

5187:

Detroit has beaten Sale this year if I remember correctly. The Sox have gotten to Verlander once in what, the last five years?

Maybe they'll surprise us and themselves and light him up. We'll see.

Right now though Comerica Park is turning into the latest version of the Sox "House of Horrors" 10 losses and their last 11 games there.

Lip

[DSpivack]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

5187:

Detroit has beaten Sale this year if I remember correctly. The Sox have gotten to Verlander once in what, the last five years?

Maybe they'll surprise us and themselves and light him up. We'll see.

Right now though Comerica Park is turning into the latest version of the Sox "House of Horrors" 10 losses and their last 11 games there.

Lip

And the Tigers a bad road team, whereas the Sox are not. These teams still have 2 to play at Comerica and 4 at USCF. I'm not assuming anything because of what happened in the past.

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

5187:

Detroit has beaten Sale this year if I remember correctly. The Sox have gotten to Verlander once in what, the last five years?

Maybe they'll surprise us and themselves and light him up. We'll see.

Right now though Comerica Park is turning into the latest version of the Sox "House of Horrors" 10 losses and their last 11 games there.

Lip

I don't think they will necessary light him up but it's not like Sale is an automatic loss here. Especially against the left handed heavy Tigers.

[Jollyroger2]

Originally Posted by doublem23

The Sox have actually been very consistent this year. You can take just about any decent sized chunk of the season and the Sox have played about as well as they have all year long.

April... 11-11
May... 18-11
June... 13-14
July... 14-11
August... 16-12

That's actually very consistent for any MLB team.

As for people who keep posting the Sox's record against the Tigers, ****, you guys realize that has no bearing whatsoever on the rest of the games we have with Detroit, right? It wouldn't matter if the Sox were 10-0 against them or 0-10. The Tigers had owned KC this season, too, and look what happened to them earlier this week.

The Sox will be fine. Just relax. However content or not content you personally are with making or missing the playoffs is also completely irrelevant. Just relax, people. This is what you want when you decide to be a baseball fan. Meaningful, tough games late in the season.

The record vs. Detroit does concern me, because obviously the Sox are on the short end of it. Had they at least broken even the division lead would be a more manageable 4 or 5+ games.

But the trend is what concerns me more. They've now lost 8 of the last 10 vs them, and Detroit frankly is nothing special. For some reason, the Sox have more often than not found ways to lose to them with regularity and that's not promising. Maybe they'll shock me and turn things around on them but we'll see.

[all*star quentin]

I can't wait until De Aza comes back on Sunday. Really need him in center. Watching Wise go after the Delmond Young hit to left center gap was a flashback for me. Weak sauce.

[Soxman219]

I am super disappointed in the White Sox tonight. The Sox had many opportunities to win this game, but failed. Not scoring another run in that based loaded 4th got me angry as hell. Then when AJ was on 3rd with one out in the 7th and the Sox couldn't get him in, I knew we weren't going to win. Fister should have given up 7 runs tonight at least, but he was let off the hook. Now the Sox have to face better pitchers for the next two games.

But the Sox can win those games, they just need to play better.

[central44]

Originally Posted by Jollyroger2

Sale isn't automatic either, as we all saw in Baltimore this week.

I never said he was. But it's silly to assume that the Sox have no chance of beating Verlander, especially when they have a legitimate ace of their own to pit against him.

[soltrain21]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

In the six remaining games with Detroit the Sox will face Verlander twice. Keep that in mind (I'm sure the Sox hitters are...)

Lip

Good. They can knock his teeth in twice.

[Soxman219]

Originally Posted by soltrain21

Good. They can knock his teeth in twice.

That's the spirit!

[Lip Man 1]

Quentin:

Good point. The Sox really have avoided "major" injuries (save for Danks and Morel) but it seems like this season has had one guy after another on the 15 day DL.

Floyd twice, DeAza, A.J. missed a week, Konerko with that bizarre concussion, Hudson, Humber....Robin even if he wants to, can't seem to put his 'regular' lineup out there for any stretch of time.

The Sox have had to pitch guys in spot starts who shouldn't have been in that situation and given at bats to guys like Danks and Olmedo.

Those add up in possible wins and losses.

They haven't had a lot of depth on this club for whatever reason or reasons.

Lip