Where has all the power gone?

[LITTLE NELL]

I had the Sox at the beginning of the year penciled in for about 190 homers, right now they are on a pace for 127, what is going on with them that they can't hit the ball over the fence, the 1970 Sox, worst Sox team in history had 123 homers. I know the ball has been deadened a little but it doesn't seem to have much of an effect on other teams. My guess is that pitchers know that Sox hitters will swing at anything and have no idea how to work the count so they aren't seeing too many good pitches to hit and continue to hit ground balls, pop ups and of course striking out way too much while walking very little. Last night was typical, 10 K's and 2 walks.

[Frater Perdurabo]

They aren’t getting enough runners on base, so opposing pitchers don’t have to pitch out of the stretch and they don’t get distracted and don’t make as many mistakes.

And if the pitcher does make a mistake, Sox hitters are already behind in the count and therefore swinging defensively and thus not able to drive the ball.

[Noneck]

Its because they only have one proven home run hitting player and hes aging. The rest are not or just projected to be.

[Frater Perdurabo]

While Robert has played in parts of three seasons, he only recently played his 162nd game. So he and Vaughn are basically in their second seasons. Their power will come; they are both learning to make adjustments to MLB pitching. Moncada (oblique) and Grandal (left leg) both have had injuries that affected their left-handed swing, and Eloy has been out. These aren’t excuses; they are legitimate reasons that partially explain why we haven’t seen the expected power materialize.

[Chez]

I used to be in the camp that preferred lots of doubles and sustained rallies over the "all-or-nothing" game that had previously gripped the Sox and the rest of the MLB. But the power outage this season on the Southside is baffling. Frater raises several excellent points to explain it, but when you see the Twins launch five home runs last night to account for ALL of their runs (with no homers from either Buxton or Correa), it makes you wonder.

[BigKlu59]

I had the Sox at the beginning of the year penciled in for about 190 homers, right now they are on a pace for 127, what is going on with them that they can't hit the ball over the fence, the 1970 Sox, worst Sox team in history had 123 homers. I know the ball has been deadened a little but it doesn't seem to have much of an effect on other teams. My guess is that pitchers know that Sox hitters will swing at anything and have no idea how to work the count so they aren't seeing too many good pitches to hit and continue to hit ground balls, pop ups and of course striking out way too much while walking very little. Last night was typical, 10 K's and 2 walks.

Nice title Nell… Sounds like some 60’s Folk hit that reached #1 on WLS Top 10.

Yup, in 70 the expectations weren’t as high and they saved a lot of money in the budget for pyrotechnics. Were probably able to buy more towels and foot powder the next season because of the perennial impotence. Difference was a K was a mortal sin an those guys put the ball in play.

In this day and age there is no excuse. Time was when every team had one or two mashers and everybody else did what they had to do to get on base. That’s the difference.

Now you don’t get to the bigs as a starter unless you can Roman Candle the ball into the seats in 20 AB or less. Guys on other teams have no problem getting it to the seats, but for some reason even on our Homer friendly park we can’t even make a deposit with regularity.

Im over the excuses for these guys. It all boils down to the hitting science itself. Either the Professor is teaching from the wrong material,or the students need some remedial classes.

BK59

[LITTLE NELL]

Nice title Nell… Sounds like some 60’s Folk hit that reached #1 on WLS Top 10.

Yup, in 70 the expectations weren’t as high and they saved a lot of money in the budget for pyrotechnics. Were probably able to buy more towels and foot powder the next season because of the perennial impotence. Difference was a K was a mortal sin an those guys put the ball in play.

In this day and age there is no excuse. Time was when every team had one or two mashers and everybody else did what they had to do to get on base. That’s the difference.

Now you don’t get to the bigs as a starter unless you can Roman Candle the ball into the seats in 20 AB or less. Guys on other teams have no problem getting it to the seats, but for some reason even on our Homer friendly park we can’t even make a deposit with regularity.

Im over the excuses for these guys. It all boils down to the hitting science itself. Either the Professor is teaching from the wrong material,or the students need some remedial classes.

BK59

Yes, it was a take off of "Where Have all the Flowers Gone".

Your last sentence sums it up, the answer is a combination of both.

[BigKlu59]

I used to be in the camp that preferred lots of doubles and sustained rallies over the "all-or-nothing" game that had previously gripped the Sox and the rest of the MLB. But the power outage this season on the Southside is baffling. Frater raises several excellent points to explain it, but when you see the Twins launch five home runs last night to account for ALL of their runs (with no homers from either Buxton or Correa), it makes you wonder.

You are absolutely correct. See the same thing all over the league. My wonderment is tempered though when it’s snapped into reality when observing these guys swinging at trash that should be taken out to the dumpster. They themselves are putting themselves in those sawdust manufacturing, Bambie eyed at bats.

BK59

[Noneck]

Im convinced moncada is not a power guy, hes a 15 homer guy in a full season. Grandal is a broken down old catcher thats on his last legs.

[BigKlu59]

Im convinced moncada is not a power guy, hes a 15 homer guy in a full season. Grandal is a broken down old catcher thats on his last legs.

Typical Sox snake eyes luck my man. A can’t miss prospect and hoping for a Carleton Fisk reboot. I’m putting the roll in my pocket and taking a walk down the street on this one. Man, where have we seen this before.

BK59

[Popa]

They aren’t getting enough runners on base, so opposing pitchers don’t have to pitch out of the stretch and they don’t get distracted and don’t make as many mistakes.

And if the pitcher does make a mistake, Sox hitters are already behind in the count and therefore swinging defensively and thus not able to drive the ball.

I believe Frater hit the nail on the head. Our Sox hitters always seem in the defensive mode by being down in the count. A low and away outside slider has them "grabbing some bench".
Thank goodness the north side team hasn't found the magic the twins have. The press coverage would be unbearable.

[Irishsox1]

Injuries, old age and bad roster management. Third base, Catcher, Second Base were all in need of upgrades after last season and the Sox decided to not do anything, unless you count grabbing Harrison off the scrap heap. They also have no speed, just 35 stolen bases....gets back to not putting pressure on the pitchers. Injuries have hurt some good power hitters because between Robert and Jimenez that's a total of 9 homeruns.....Nine times! That's how many times Ferris Bueller ditched school!

[Domeshot17]

I think a lot of this is the result of the hitting coach and philosophy. We are 4th lowest in homers in the majors and dead last in walks. We are 7th lowest in slugging and bottom 10 in OPS. This is why we have the 7th lowest runs scored in baseball. You look at the 4 guys who lead our team in exit velo - Abreu Vaughn Burger and Robert - and none of them of launching the ball high enough, they are low launch angles. This tells me they are being coached to hit doubles and not home runs. You can say all the launch angle stuff and exit velocity doesn't mean anything, but its just a way to quantify why balls are not leaving the ball park. Simply put, get those 4 to hit the ball higher (and Vaughn needs to do a better job of hitting the barrel), and balls will leave the park.

[voodoochile]

Injuries, old age and bad roster management. Third base, Catcher, Second Base were all in need of upgrades after last season and the Sox decided to not do anything, unless you count grabbing Harrison off the scrap heap. They also have no speed, just 35 stolen bases....gets back to not putting pressure on the pitchers. Injuries have hurt some good power hitters because between Robert and Jimenez that's a total of 9 homeruns.....Nine times! That's how many times Ferris Bueller ditched school!

Well I think most people would disagree about C and 3B. The speed issue also is related to leg problems, not an overall lack of speed. They've been highly efficient at stealing bases but have put the reins on due to the leg issues. Starting to see things loosen up again. I expect the Sox will be stealing plenty of bases in the second half. Not sure why anyone would think they needed an upgrade at C after the season Grandal had last year.

Edit: And Seby has been just fine since his call up. His new approach at the plate is working well and so far playing at the MLB level. He's posting an .873 OPS with 7 XBH in 51 AB. The weird thing is he has reverse splits to a dramatic degree, hitting RHP at a .916 OPS clip but only .500 against LHP. Expect that to even out. He put in the work and right now he's performing offensively just fine.

[Domeshot17]

The problem is everyone could see Grandal was not catching like he had in the last due to his legs. So his bat in the Lineup meant needing a strong number 2 catcher and while Zavala has done well you have McGuire and his sub .600 ops on pace for a career high of ABs