New year, new me.
Prior to Thanksgiving, I was hovering around 190 pounds.
Checked in this morning at a solid 192.6 butt ass naked.
That said, “Operation Lose 10 Pounds” is in full effect.
I’m also ready for baseball.
Gone are the days of the aborted fetus that was the 2022 season.
Football is dead as a doornail in Chicago.
Figured let’s do a little mailbag to ring in the new season.
Whats your ideal timetable for calling him up?
This ain’t an ideal world though.
The latter, to me, is a tall task.
Less than a year again, Colas was feasting on HiA pitching.
I HOPE that Colas walks in and makes us all say, “woah.
The Sox struck gold with this guy”, but my expectations are extremely tempered.
That’s an instant improvement just by default.
What are your predictions for them offensively in 2023?
It was time to move on though.
I think Vaughn takes a HUGE step forward this year.
I’m talking .300/.370/.500 with 30 bombs.
Fangraphs projects him to be a 2.4 win player with 24 bombs this year.
Barring injuries I do think this team can find the home run stroke again with the bats.
My question to you is what is your biggest concern with the team heading into the season?
Lack of left handed power?
Lots of question marks all around but I am not ready to completely bail on this squad just yet.
Happy New Year
I disagree.
As I mentioned earlier, the OF defense is VASTLY improved by default.
You won’t have two of the very worst defenders manning RF and LF this year.
Benintendi and Colas are also LHH.
The lineup balance has SUCKED the last 2-3 years.
Every last one of them.
They CAN’T be as gutted with injuries as they were the last two years, right?
If these guys stay healthy the duration of the season, that’s another improvement by default.
A lot hinges on health.
Eloy looked awesome in the 2nd half of 2022.
Give me that for all of 2023.
Lu looked awesome the latter half of 2021.
Give me that in 2023.
Anderson almost won multiple batting titles prior to 2022.
Give me that Anderson in 2023.
Moncada… yeah just give me his 2021 slash line, which isn’t asking a lot AT ALL.
Health bounce backs play a vital role in the 2023 season.
That goes without say.
See ya Saturday for #108Day, let’s get fucked up!!!
-BeefLoaf
Good hearing from you Beefloaf.
Last year the Vibes guys were Elvis Andrus, Johnny Cueto and Danny Mendick.
None of those guys are here moving forward.
To answer your question…
I have no idea.
You’re correct though.
Not sure who that’s gonna be this year though.
(doesn’t seem like his personality key in)- Gio?
(I think it needs to be an every day player)
Going down the list…
I truly have no idea.
I just hope to Christ it’s not Leury Garcia.
This kinda stuff will sort itself out in spring training though, I’d imagine.
Would’ve been a massive waste of time.
Second question, admittedly a meathead question: can Grifol get these guys to care again?
How much of this fell on Tony LaRussa’s massive clubhouse disconnect?
Looking forward to reading the mailbag, and as always, fuck KenWo.
Personally, I’ll never stop putting heat on the organization and demanding excellence.
White Sox fans are PISSED right now.
I truly have never seen anything like it out of a fanbase.
Let’s flush 2022 and look ahead to 2023 with Grifol in charge.
Prior to getting hired, I had never heard of the guy.
But after asking people and players around the league, I truly think they found their guy.
Gone are the days of TLR falling asleep in the dugout, in are the days of ACCOUNTABILITY.
That alone will be another improvement from the last 2 years.
Don’t feel like busting ass a la the Cleveland Guardians?
Here’s the bench.
An underrated addition is Mike Tosar as a roving hitting instructor.
He’s tasked with getting the Sox to hit bombs.
He’s been great at getting players to hit bombs in the past.
200 bombs should be the goal this year.
That’s a big swing from last year, but very doable on sheer power potential of the lineup.
Not saying it will happen, but it SHOULD happen.
I now think the White Sox staff is the least of their worries.
3 months ago, it was near the top of their worries.
I’m ready to go to war for Grifol.
Keep the kid healthy and Im thinking we see another jump.
Will Crochet be a big factor this year in a swing/relief role?
He should have a Kopech 2021l key in role in my opinion.
Asking Kopech to go from 70IP in 2021 to taking on a full workload last year was insanity.
That said, he was awesome in his first 10-12 starts of 2022.
Watching him completely shove against the NYY was a thing of beauty:
Need more.
That said, THE WHITE SHOULD BRING BACK CUETO.
Kopech will need rest.
The rest of the rotation will need rest.
Currently, the Sox rotation depth consists of… Davis Martin?
That’s a recipe for disaster.
That’s asking for trouble.
Hope Kopech’s knee is 100% too.
Can we rely on Luis Robert all year to hold down centerfield?
Need him to be a superstar for this team to go anywhere but can he still be that guy?
Keep up the good work brother.
Excited to see what barstool Chicago has in store for the upcoming year.
Robert might have been the biggest disappointment in 2022 out of everyone.
That didn’t happen.
He kept swinging at those shitty sliders off the plate and was hurt.
NEED TO STAY HEALTHY.
yo GOD STAY HEALTHY.
I wouldn’t put too much into his defensive numbers though.
He was battling that weird vertigo shit last year.
Assuming this all clears up, Robert should return to his typical elite defensive self.
The OF defensive has gone from top of 2023 worries to bottom of 2023 worries for me.
Robert will be great again in 2023, at least defensively.
Need the MVP potential to come offensively though.
All in all - there are a SHIT TON of ifs, ands or buts in this mailbag.
The White Sox were 81-81 last year when quite literally everything went as badly as it could have.
No more yoinked hammies, no more 30% K rates from Moncada.
Time to put the fuck up or shut the fuck up.
It’s all on the players at this point.
On paper, the roster is STILL the best in the division.
That’s an objective fact.
Whether or not they play to their potential remains to be seen.
I don’t think that happens though.
I’m excited again.
See everyone Saturday for the 108 live show at Reggie’s.
