*Official* 'Four Score and Bombs Away' 5/26 CLE vs CWS Postgame Thread

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by TomBradley72

AND some very nice defense from Tank and TCM today- Viciedo is quickly becoming a + LF.

I'm as big a Viciedo backer as there is around here, and I don't know if I'd go that far... Overall his range leaves a lot to be desired, a lot of his liabilities are hidden by U.S. Cellular Field which is a very small, symmetrical OF.

He is getting better though and, at the very least, is in no way a downgrade over Pierre. The OF defense of Viciedo-De Aza-Rios is so much better than Pierre-Rios-Quentin, it's laughable.

[TomBradley72]

Originally Posted by doublem23

I'm as big a Viciedo backer as there is around here, and I don't know if I'd go that far... Overall his range leaves a lot to be desired, a lot of his liabilities are hidden by U.S. Cellular Field which is a very small, symmetrical OF.

He is getting better though and, at the very least, is in no way a downgrade over Pierre. The OF defense of Viciedo-De Aza-Rios is so much better than Pierre-Rios-Quentin, it's laughable.

I agree to a certain extent on his range- and maybe The Cell's LF protects him a little bit- but he covers the line/corner better than anyone I can remember- for example yesterday he made 2 nice catches- one on a foul ball down the line near the rail, and the other fading away towards the foul pole on a deep fly into the corner- I am sure Pierre and CLee do not get those balls and I doubt Pods or TCQ get them. On top of that- when he covers those balls down the line- he comes up throwing with his bazooka arm which is light years better than anyone else we've had out there that I can remember.

For the overall defense- since Rios has broad range in RF, that frees up De Aza to shade a little more towards LF when needed and cover the gap- freeing up Dayan to focus on straightaway LF and the line.

I think by the end of this season he'll be the strongest defender we've had in LF since Calderon in the early 90's.

Specific to the Central Division- the other LF's are Damon (Indians), Gordon (Royals), Dirks (Tigers), and Willingham (Twins)- I'd put him at #2 in the Division today- behind Gordon.

For the league overall- in addition to Gordon- I'd put Trout (Angels) ahead of Dayan as well- after looking at all of the other LFs in the American League- I'd put Dayan as #3 in the AL. Not only from his personal performance- but also because there are not that many really good LFs in the league this year.

[jdm2662]

First game of the year. I picked a good game to go to. Perfect weather, lots of offense, and got to spend the night out down there.

[Chez]

Baseball is a funny game. It's hard to believe that two weeks ago, the Sox were having trouble scoring runs off Luke Hochevar and the rest of the Royals staff. Now they are absolutely mashing.

Konerko, A.J. and Viciedo are using the whole field -- not trying to pull everything. Great approach.

[sullythered]

Sox currently second in the AL in run differential.

[#1swisher]

Viciedo drove in five runs and Konerko went 4-for-4.

White Sox Recap
http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/mlb/...1&mode=preview

[Tragg]

That arm of his counterbalances the lack of range. Sure he allows extra hits; but he suppresses runs scoring from 3rd as well; and he minimizes singles turned into cheap doubles.
All in all, Viciedo probably breaks down to at least average.

I don't see a lot of games, but De Aza doesn't seem to me to be that great a defensive center fielder. But as pointed out above, Rios' range in right helps him.

[shingo10]

Originally Posted by Chez

Baseball is a funny game. It's hard to believe that two weeks ago, the Sox were having trouble scoring runs off Luke Hochevar and the rest of the Royals staff. Now they are absolutely mashing.

Konerko, A.J. and Viciedo are using the whole field -- not trying to pull everything. Great approach.

The one thing I know is the more I watch baseball the less I understand it.

[asindc]

Was at game yesterday, first one at Comiskey since 2009. I picked a good one for my return. Was there with brother and nephew, sitting along LF line just before foul pole. The lineup is playing with confidence. I think both Dunn and Pauly are very relaxed at the plate knowing that they will have run scoring opportunities (De Aza getting on base) and don't necessarily need to supply all the power (AJ, Viciedo). Good atmosphere at the park.

[fisk4ever]

Originally Posted by slavko

WSI. The place where we complain about hitting so many home runs that Hawk needs another call to avoid boring us. Suffer.

This particular Hawk complaint was not that the call is boring, per se, but that "stretch" or "he looks up" could be eliminated when the ball is already over the wall. I agree that I'm picking nits, and I will gladly suffer 4-5 times a game!

[soxinem1]

Originally Posted by mrfourni

Was there any reason why Bob Saget sang the national anthem? He sounded terrible

Much like his HBO Comedy Special.