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Why The White Sox Refuse To Make Matt Davidson An Everyday Starter

By
Sean Sears
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The White Sox are trying to be bad. If possible, historically bad. However they currently sit one game below .500 and currently boast the league’s best team ERA at 3.09. Clearly this team did not get the memo on tanking.

I wrote about the White Sox potential to be a somewhat decent team in 2017, with a rotation that included players with solid upside in Derek Holland and James Shields (yeah, that James Shields) along with hitters like Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier, this team could possibly win enough games to be annoying.

It’s still early, and I think everyone remembers the Sox hot start in 2016, but this team is full of fool’s-gold players that are clearly over-performing. However, one of those players who is turning some heads is slugging 3rd baseman/DH Matt Davidson. Currently, the 26-year-old former No. 3 overall pick in 2009 is slashing .324/.333/.676 with three home runs and 10 RBI’s in 36 plate appearances.

While the sample size is small, it is easily the most encouraging moment in not only Davidson’s time on the south-side but of his entire career. Despite the improvement in production, Davidson is still struggling to crack the lineup card on a consistent basis, playing in 11 games with only 8 starts. For a guy who is currently second on the team in batting average and RBI’s playing on a club who ranks 3rd last in home runs, you would think Davidson’s hot start would warrant more playing time, right?

Well, after doing some statistically digging, I found what may be the issue. Strikeouts.

As I point out in these tweets, Davidson is going down on strikes in almost half of his at bats, good for 17 strike outs on the season. For a guy who has seen about half as any many plate appearances as the White Sox’ regulars, that is just an absurd amount strikeouts. And while it’s unlikely that Davidson will continue to strike out in half of his at bats, he still owns a career 33.6 strike out percentage and has only walked once so far this season.

However, when he’s not striking out, he’s doing stuff like this.

It’s entirely possible that manager Rick Renteria and the White Sox are easing Davidson into the lineup on a more consistent basis, which does make sense. While the slugging DH is 26-years-old, he has only played 43 major league games, with the majority of them coming in 2013 while he was a member of the Diamondbacks.

Another possibility could be that while the Sox would love to see Davidson develop into a bonafide-power presence on their lineup, this team needs to be awful for their “re-tooling” season to be considered a success. Davidson’s hot bat combined with more playing time could have easily helped Chicago push across a few more runs and sequentially added a win or two to their season record. It’s also worth mentioning that Davidson currently holds the 6th best batting average when the game tying or go-ahead run is on base, batting .600 (3 for 5) in those situations according to Baseball Savant.

Of course, this is all speculation and assumption, however the White Sox are in a tough spot in regards to Davidson who has two more club-options before arbitration starts. If Davidson continues to crush and builds a case for a big payday, there stands a good chance the Sox won’t be able to afford the bargain slugger – who is on a one-year-deal worth $537,000. Davidson is also out of minor league options with the Sox, so it’s not like GM Rick Hahn can just send him to Triple A Charlotte to get a few extra at bats.

So really, the only option for the Sox is slowly build off of more good at bats, impressive games, and long hot streaks in hopes of Davidson finally turning the corner at age 26. And while most White Sox fans would love to see the power-hitting Davidson included in the everyday lineup, the best and more cautious approach would be to keep utilizing Davidson in situations he’s more likely to succeed in and hope he develops some patience at the plate. Continue to build his confidence while also focusing on the club’s future in hopes that Davidson’s success in 2017 doesn’t stunt the White Sox’ attempt to rebuild their farm system.

White Sox Fan Runs On Field, Eludes Security

By
Aldo Soto
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The Chicago White Sox have a few problems, but the biggest one is that fans keep eluding security guards with ease when they run on the field. It happened again during Sunday’s series finale between the White Sox and Cleveland Indians, as a fan decked out in a Paul Konerko jersey ran on the field in the ninth inning and easily got by the first security guard that tried to get him down.

Of course, whoever the man was had an advantage of having a knock off White Sox jersey that ripped in half almost immediately. Who knows, maybe Chris Sale had already done some damage to the jersey beforehand that made it tear so easily.

Nevertheless, step up your game White Sox security. Here’s a good recap of the entire incident.

This fucking guy.

Such a gentleman.

A post shared by RAD (@imthechupacabra) on

“Can I interest any of you ladies in a hotdog?” #Sox #enemyterritory #gocubsgo

A post shared by RAD (@imthechupacabra) on

At least it’s better than White Sox fans beating the shit out of each other?

White Sox Fans Are Already Beating The Shit Out Of Each Other

What a week for fans on both sides of town.

The Aerial View Of The Park At Wrigley Looks Like A Penis

By
Aldo Soto
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It’s been an interesting start to the 2017 season for the Chicago Cubs and basically everything associated with the team. On field, the team hasn’t played its best, but it has also delivered some dramatic moments in the first three weeks of the season. We’ve seen walk-off home runs, comeback wins, a banner raising, a ring ceremony and a woman flashing her breasts at Wrigley Field. Well, we have more hilarious stuff going on and it just happens to be that the Park At Wrigley looks like a penis.

Wrigley Aerials, (follow it now, awesome views of Wrigley Field) had this great photo of the brand new Park At Wrigley.

Interesting lines indeed.

https://twitter.com/WrigleyAerials/status/856524089305042944

That’s just funny. Childish? Yeah. Still funny.

It seems that the Cubs just can’t debut anything without having some penis controversy. Remember when Clark The Cub jumped on the scene?

Obviously the dick shot of Clark wasn’t the Cubs’ fault, but couldn’t someone double check that the architecture of the brand new fancy Park didn’t look like testicles and a penis?

The Cubs have the best front office in baseball, the best team in baseball and they’re defending World Series champions, but yet these things still happen. #ThatsCub, I guess?

Deshaun Watson Lovers Are Panicking Over His Wonderlic Score

By
Erik Lambert
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deshaun watson wonderlic

The Deshaun Watson Wonderlic scores are out and people starting to lose their minds. Just like the ball velocity notes that came out of the combine, this latest news comes across as some sort of warning sign that NFL teams might be walking into a trap with the Clemson quarterback. Of course by now Chicago Bears fans are asking the inevitable question.

What the hell is the Wonderlic test anyway?

That’s fair. People have never really taken enough time to truly explain what it is and the purpose for using it at the scouting combine. Most people know that if a player hits a certain high number it’s apparently good and if they hit a low number it’s bad. Why though? Well here is an excerpt from wonderlictestsample.com to help explain.

“The Wonderlic Personnel Test was developed by E.F. Wonderlic in 1936. Like the IQ test, the Wonderlic was created to measure the intelligence of test takers. It consists of 50 questions that the examinees have 12 minutes to answer. An average score is 20, which would be roughly equivalent to an IQ of 100. The maximum score on the test is a 50.

Since its creation in the 1930s, the Wonderlic has been used by the military as well as private corporations to test candidates’ intelligence. It was first used in the NFL by legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry in the 1970s.”

Okay so in essence it’s a test meant to measure how well a football player can think under pressure. The higher the score, the more likely it is he’ll have a clear head when the pressure is highest on the field. In that case a fairly important test. Or is it?

Deshaun Watson Wonderlic results aren’t supported by history

Based on general understanding, the expectations for a quarterback Wonderlic test are as follows. It’s preferred they hit a minimum score of 21. The average score is 24 and anything 30 or higher would be ideal. Andrew Luck for example scored a 33 five years ago. So basically any QB who comes in under that 21 threshold is a huge risk.

That’s not good news for Watson then. This table from Walter Football will help illustrate why.

So basically of all the combine quarterbacks who took the test, Watson had the lowest score. Not ideal considering his entire argument for being a top draft pick is intelligence, leadership and ability to thrive under pressure. Could this revelation hurt his stock as a possible first round pick?

Not really

In truth the Wonderlic can be a useful tool but it is by no means a surefire method to identify top quarterback talent. Some guys just aren’t good test takers. It’s the same for any position. Here is a list of quarterbacks over the years who performed, shall we say, “poorly” on the Wonderlic. Fans might recognize some of these names.

  • Derek Carr (20)
  • Daunte Culpepper (18)
  • Terry Bradshaw (15)
  • Jim Kelly (15)
  • Randall Cunningham (15)
  • Steve McNair (15)
  • Donovan McNabb (14)

Just to recap that list features two Hall of Famers, a former league MVP, a six-time Pro Bowler, a four-time Pro Bowler and one of the best young QBs in the NFL right now. All of them had scores as bad or worse than Watson did.

So yeah. Maybe it’s not wise to completely trust in the Wonderlic as a deciding factor for quarterback evaluation.

Blackhawks Fire Assistant Coach Mike Kitchen After 7 Seasons

By
Matt Barbato
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Joel Quenneville

The Chicago Blackhawks said changes were coming after a disappointing end to the 2016-17 season. The first domino fell Monday with the firing of assistant coach Mike Kitchen.

The team announced Kitchen had been relieved of his duties on Twitter Monday just before noon.

“We believe this decision is best for our organization moving forward,” Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman said in a statement. “We appreciate his many contributions.”

Kitchen joined the Blackhawks in 2010 after the team won the Stanley Cup the postseason prior. His tenure ends with the team after seven seasons as Joel Quenneville’s assistant and two additional Stanley Cup championships in 2013 and 2015.

Kitchen oversaw Chicago’s defensive group and penalty kill. The penalty kill was exposed early in the season and finished 24th in the NHL last season. The Blackhawks defensemen were grossly out-played in the playoffs.

The Blackhawks were bounced out of the postseason in the first round for the second straight year at the hands of a division rival. However, this most recent series against the Nashville Predators was a bad stretch of play at the least and an utter embarrassment at most.

It’s clear the front office has identified at least one scapegoat for the disappointing finish. Quenneville and Kitchen also worked together with the St. Louis Blues from 1998-2003, so this decision might’ve come from Bowman.

We’ll see if there are more changes to come during what should be an interesting offseason.

 

Addison Russell’s New Hobby Proves He’s A Large Child

By
Gus
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The youth of the Chicago Cubs roster has always been something that has drawn a lot of attention to outsiders since the team began their turnaround in 2011. Theo Epstein made it a point to trade away older players and build up the team’s farm system with young, check that, VERY young, prospects with the hopes they’d eventually make it up to the big leagues.

Sure enough, one by one, the “baby Cubs” began to make their appearances on the team’s big league roster starting in 2012.

23-year-old Anthony Rizzo debuts in June of 2012.

21-year-old Javier Baez debuts in August of 2014.

22-year-old Kris Bryant debuts in April of 2015.

22-year-old Kyle Schwarber debuts in June of 2015.

21-year-old Addison Russell debuts in April 2015.

The youth of the team turned out to be a blessing as the majority of the players weren’t even born during some of the teams previous failures so it’s a great example of “ignorance is bliss.” All throughout the postseason last year, all the analysts talked about was the fact that the Cubs only issue would be their inexperience of playing on the big stage and as it turned out — they were completely wrong.

The five “baby Cubs” I mentioned above were the driving force to help lead the team to the World Series championship in 2016. The World Series win was SUCH a big deal that people still forget these guys are still kids. Nowhere can that be better seen than in Addison Russell’s new hobby, collecting Pokemon cards.

Jesse Rogers of ESPN wrote today about Russell’s love for the Japanese animated TV show which goes above and beyond most people’s love for television. Russell actually collects baseball-type cards of Pokemon characters and has his favorite players autograph them when the Cubs play them during the course of the season.

Let that sink in.

One of the best shortstops in Major League baseball collects cards of his favorite cartoon characters and then has his favorite baseball players sign them.

“I’ve signed a lot of baseball cards of myself, and I just thought it would be cool if professional athletes would sign Pokémon cards. I started collecting them more, and now I’m asking guys to sign them.”

Russell started collecting the cards this past off-season as a way to relate to his younger relatives. He understands the confusion on most people’s faces when they hear a grown man is collecting cartoon cards even if they are his own teammates.

Reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant looked at the sheet of Pokemon cards and said, “What are you doing? I loved it. I love everything about Addy. He’s a big kid.”

As of today, Russell has around 25 signatures of players including: Corey Seager, Kenley Jansen, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Jonathan Villar, and Corey Knebel. That’s not including the signatures he has from his Cubs teammates either.

Russell isn’t sure who he will ask next for a signed card but he’s anxious to get a few specific cards signed by his favorite players.

“I have some badass Pokémon cards that I need signed.”

If this isn’t a clear sign that the Cubs have some unbelievably skilled baseball players on their roster who just so happen to be large children, then I don’t know what is. Russell still isn’t sure what he’ll do when he gets all of his cards signed but said he may give the cards to his young son or he’s open to the possibility of trading some of the cards as well.

To get a better idea of what the Pokemon cards consist of, Randall Sanders has taken the liberty of creating his own “Cubs version” of Pokemon cards.

So there you go Pokemon fans, if you’re looking for a Pikachu, Jigglypuff, or Vulpix card you may want to reach out to Russell and see if you guys can work something out.

From Middletown To Chi-Town: Kyle Schwarber’s High School Coach Chats With Sports Mockery About His Legendary Rise

By
Gus
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PHOTO: Jason Cave

I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Cubs’ slugger Kyle Schwarber’s old high school baseball coach, Jason Cave, with the intentions of trying to give fans a better picture of Kyle Schwarber the person as opposed to Kyle Schwarber the baseball player. Every baseball fan knows about Schwarber’s ability to absolutely murder a baseball but I wanted to get Cave’s insight as to why Theo Epstein tagged Schwarber as one of his “pillar players” for the Chicago Cubs and then proceeded to call Schwarber “untouchable” regarding potential trades when Schwarber’s name kept popping up last season.

In just over 85 big league games, Schwarber has emerged as one of faces of the franchise and was tabbed as one of the “pillar players” Epstein was looking for when he took over the Chicago Cubs in 2011. In case you’re unaware, Epstein’s “pillar players” are players that exude not only great baseball skill, but also have outstanding character which Epstein believed was necessary to change the entire culture of the Chicago Cubs. (Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Addison Russell are the other three in case you’re wondering)

Being a high school coach myself, I’m a firm believer in the impact that a coach can have on a high school athlete so I thought it’d be cool to reach out to Cave to see how Schwarber conducted himself as a regular high school kid from Middletown, Ohio before he turned into a legend in Cubs history.

Bears Reportedly Showing The Most Interest In This QB

By
Erik Lambert
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bears want mitch trubisky

The Chicago Bears want Mitch Trubisky. It’s no secret that GM Ryan Pace is still very much intent on landing a top quarterback in 2017 draft. Mike Glennon is a nice veteran to have in place, but a long-term option? It’s hard to feel like that pans out. At best he’ll be a solid game manager for them. It doesn’t erase the fact this team needs a true franchise guy.

Odds continue to say that if the Bears want their best chance at one, they have to get him early. Several experts believe four quarterbacks could go in the first round alone. That means Chicago gets the fifth-best one on the board if they wait until the second round or they have to give up extra picks to trade back up into the first.

Now it seems the reports are growing that they do indeed plan to take one at #3 overall. Who will it be? Well they’ve been connected to three names the most in Deshaun Watson of Clemson, Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech and Mitch Trubisky of North Carolina. Most assume Watson is the favorite due to his rousing college success.

However, sources continue to insist that their real target is Trubisky. Chris Trapasso of NFL.com and CBS Sports believes that is the case.

The Bears want Mitch Trubisky

Of course such things must be taken with a grain of salt right before the draft itself. “Lying season” the people call it. Still, there’s every reason to think Trubisky is indeed the target. His skill set might be the most complete of any prospect at the position. He’s also inexperienced. That means he won’t be a starter right away, making the acquisitions of Glennon and Mark Sanchez all the smarter. They can hold down the fort and also help mentor the young man.

https://twitter.com/CleMeyerson/status/855562312186572800

At the same time this could be an elaborate ruse by the Bears. Word has been prevalent for the past week that the Cleveland Browns are in the midst of a crisis at the #1 pick. Shocker right? According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the team is still wrestling with whether or not to take Texas A&M pass rusher Myles Garrett. He is after all the consensus top prospect in the class. Or do they get their quarterback of choice, in this case being Trubisky?

Several people can’t fathom how this is even a question. It should be a no brainer decision. That is unless the Browns really want Trubisky and don’t feel they’ll be able to trade high enough to get him if they took Garrett #1. Fearing that the Bears would pounce at #3 is exactly the sort of thing that would spark such indecision.

Truth or fiction?

Sorting this out, like most draft-related information, is tricky. It’s clear enough Trubisky is the favored QB for most experts and is a good fit for the Bears system. On top of that it is known that they have been the least showy in their meetings with him. They put on quite the public display on the Clemson pro day for Watson. Mahomes met with them several times as well. The fact that Chicago sent none of their big names to the North Carolina pro day was interesting.

Does that reflect lack of interest? More likely it could be an indicator that the Bears really like him and don’t want anybody else to think that. If nothing else it’s another fairly reputable analyst putting his reputation on the line stating this to be the truth. That should say something.

These Were Actual Trends The Last Time Bears Drafted Top 5 Quarterback

By
Erik Lambert
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jim mcmahon
TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 6: Quarterback Jim McMahon #9 of the Chicago Bears gives off a stern look in a game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tampa Stadium on October 6, 1985 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Michael Minardi/Getty Images)

Can anybody remember the last time the Chicago Bears drafted top 5 quarterback? It’s a fun trivia question for casual fans. Most who don’t know will smack their heads upon hearing the answer. It was none other than Jim McMahon back in 1982. The team took the standout from BYU with the fifth overall pick that year. The first under new head coach Mike Ditka.

McMahon would be one of the more controversial players of the decade, but also one of the best. He went 46-15 in Chicago during his run, helping the franchise to win its first Super Bowl in 1985. He’s also the last quarterback to make a Pro Bowl for them. In all a pretty good return on such an important pick.

Over the past 35 years though the Bears have had three other opportunities to get themselves a top five QB and failed to pull the trigger. In 1998 and 2003 they didn’t pull the trigger because the options available were poor. However, the streak should’ve ended in 2005 when they had Aaron Rodgers on the board with their #4 pick. They took Cedric Benson instead.

So the streak continues. Want to feel old? Here are a bunch of things that were popular in 1982 when the Bears made that pick.

The NBA Just Punished Rajon Rondo For His Tripping Incident

By
Erik Lambert
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rajon rondo

Rajon Rondo is having a rough week. Just when it seemed like he was ready to regain his standing among the best point guards in the NBA, it all went wrong. He was outstanding for the Chicago Bulls in Games 1 and 2, almost averaging a triple double. Then news dropped that he’d fractured his right thumb. An injury that could keep him out a couple weeks.

If that weren’t bad enough, it got worse when cameras caught him in Game 3 extending his leg on the bench as Jae Crowder was running down the sideline. It looked to the casual viewer like Rondo was trying to trip him. An accusation he later denied.

Lighter pockets

Be that as it may, Rondo didn’t convince the NBA league office. For the incident they decided to slap him with a significant fine according to ESPN.

Chicago Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo was fined $25,000 for sticking out his leg from the bench in an attempt to trip Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder on Friday.

NBA vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe announced the fine.

Rondo said after the game Friday that he was not trying to trip the Celtics player.

“When you tear an ACL, your legs get stiff on you every once in a while,” Rondo said. “I stretched my leg out. I also do that throughout the game. I guess he was so deep into our bench, it looked maybe whatever may have happened.”

It may not sound like a lot in the context of an NBA salary, but there is no doubt this was a warning to Rondo. For all his brilliance on the court, the man has a history of being unpredictable and reckless when he’s frustrated. Possibly not being able to finish a series he was playing so well in can rank right near the top in those situations. They want him to behave and taking money from his pocket is a good way to do that.

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