Aardsma, Brownlie, look pretty good today

[professahesse]

Even though he gave up a few hits in his second inning Aardsma looked good.....and 97mph? Thats good heat. Brownlie's curve looked good too.

[mg420]

i agree. those two guys along with novoa will be the ones 1st called up if/when wuretz & williamson have issues. howry on the other hand looked horrible.

[Soul]

Wuertz really makes me nervous. I think it's a mistake to put him on the roster.

[XZero771679666304]

Wuertz really makes me nervous. I think it's a mistake to put him on the roster.

 

I agree. I have never been impressed by him, and I would swap him out for Aardsma in half a heartbeat.

 

It may just be my perception, but Wuertz seems to either dominate or flat out stink, especially when he pitches in a couple games in a row. When Wuertz gets even a little tired, it's BP.

[MPrior]

Wuertz really makes me nervous. I think it's a mistake to put him on the roster.

 

I agree. I have never been impressed by him, and I would swap him out for Aardsma in half a heartbeat.

 

It may just be my perception, but Wuertz seems to either dominate or flat out stink, especially when he pitches in a couple games in a row. When Wuertz gets even a little tired, it's BP.

 

I agree that it makes me nervous that he's not doing well, but I have been impressed with him in the past. He can be pretty sick when he's not misused, so it mostly just makes me sad that he's getting roughed up so badly.

[Soul]

Wuertz really makes me nervous. I think it's a mistake to put him on the roster.

 

I agree. I have never been impressed by him, and I would swap him out for Aardsma in half a heartbeat.

 

It may just be my perception, but Wuertz seems to either dominate or flat out stink, especially when he pitches in a couple games in a row. When Wuertz gets even a little tired, it's BP.

 

I agree that it makes me nervous that he's not doing well, but I have been impressed with him in the past. He can be pretty sick when he's not misused, so it mostly just makes me sad that he's getting roughed up so badly.

 

It seems as though Wuertz was very good for awhile when he first joined the major league club. And since it has been more or less a slow burn downwards. Now he's just getting slaughtered. I think he needs time away to regroup. Is he out of options or something? Because I can see teams really beating the snot out of him this year.

[professahesse]

It seems to me that Wuertz's delivery takes too long or is to easily seen by batters. Can't the coaches teach some deceptive delivery techniques or is that going to mess with their mechanics too much?

 

Did I just miss Aardsma having that much speed or has he somehow upped it a little recently? The kid was really bringing it today. And with good movement too.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Wuertz is a guy we need to keep in there. He has good stuff, and misses more bats than just about anyone. There's a lot pointing toward him being a very good reliever in the future. Aardsma gave up a ton of baserunners at AA and doesn't have better stuff than Wuertz.

[Neuby]

Wuertz is a guy we need to keep in there. He has good stuff, and misses more bats than just about anyone. There's a lot pointing toward him being a very good reliever in the future. Aardsma gave up a ton of baserunners at AA and doesn't have better stuff than Wuertz.

 

I would think Ardasma and his 99mph fastball and knucklecurve.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Wuertz is a guy we need to keep in there. He has good stuff, and misses more bats than just about anyone. There's a lot pointing toward him being a very good reliever in the future. Aardsma gave up a ton of baserunners at AA and doesn't have better stuff than Wuertz.

 

I would think Ardasma and his 99mph fastball and knucklecurve.

 

Aardsma at 99 mph? McKamey's prospect book has him 88-95 on the FB.

[rickrolled]

Wuertz is a guy we need to keep in there. He has good stuff, and misses more bats than just about anyone. There's a lot pointing toward him being a very good reliever in the future. Aardsma gave up a ton of baserunners at AA and doesn't have better stuff than Wuertz.

 

I would think Ardasma and his 99mph fastball and knucklecurve.

 

Aardsma at 99 mph? McKamey's prospect book has him 88-95 on the FB.

 

I didn't see him hit 99 today but he did get up to 97 at one point.

[Jon]

Len mentioned during the game today that there was some discrepancy in the two radar guns. One pitch by Wuertz, I think, was clocked at both 84 and 88.

[Guest]

Wuertz is a guy we need to keep in there. He has good stuff, and misses more bats than just about anyone. There's a lot pointing toward him being a very good reliever in the future. Aardsma gave up a ton of baserunners at AA and doesn't have better stuff than Wuertz.

 

I would think Ardasma and his 99mph fastball and knucklecurve.

If Aardsma has hit 99, that's news. From the reports I've seen, he has worked mainly in the low 90's this spring (91-94) and has occasionally pumped it up to 96-97. That's fantastic, because last year he was missing that kind of oomph.

 

Also, I believe his secondary pitch is a slider. I remember reading an interview with him last year after the trade where he talked about everything being about the slider and making it as sharp as it was in college. I could be mistaken about that one, though.

[srbin84]

Wuertz is a guy we need to keep in there. He has good stuff, and misses more bats than just about anyone. There's a lot pointing toward him being a very good reliever in the future. Aardsma gave up a ton of baserunners at AA and doesn't have better stuff than Wuertz.

 

I would think Ardasma and his 99mph fastball and knucklecurve.

If Aardsma has hit 99, that's news. From the reports I've seen, he has worked mainly in the low 90's this spring (91-94) and has occasionally pumped it up to 96-97. That's fantastic, because last year he was missing that kind of oomph.

 

Also, I believe his secondary pitch is a slider. I remember reading an interview with him last year after the trade where he talked about everything being about the slider and making it as sharp as it was in college. I could be mistaken about that one, though.

 

It's a knucklecurve.

[Omar]

Is it a possibility Aardsma could start this year? In MVP Baseball 2005, he is categorized as a starter... He has the stuff from what we saw today... especially with the knuckecurve.

 

Or should he be a reliever?

[srbin84]

Is it a possibility Aardsma could start this year? In MVP Baseball 2005, he is categorized as a starter... He has the stuff from what we saw today... especially with the knuckecurve.

 

Or should he be a reliever?

 

The Cubs were using as a starter for a few games in the minors last year.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Is it a possibility Aardsma could start this year? In MVP Baseball 2005, he is categorized as a starter... He has the stuff from what we saw today... especially with the knuckecurve.

 

Or should he be a reliever?

 

The Cubs were using as a starter for a few games in the minors last year.

 

He started 3 games, and relieved in 30.

[srbin84]

Is it a possibility Aardsma could start this year? In MVP Baseball 2005, he is categorized as a starter... He has the stuff from what we saw today... especially with the knuckecurve.

 

Or should he be a reliever?

 

The Cubs were using as a starter for a few games in the minors last year.

 

He started 3 games, and relieved in 30.

 

I know.

[CUBZ99]

The radar gun today seemed like it was slow all day. I didn't see anybody hit 90 until Howry hit it once or twice.

[srbin84]

The radar gun today seemed like it was slow all day. I didn't see anybody hit 90 until Howry hit it once or twice.

 

Well, if that's the case, Aardsma was even more impressive, hitting 95-97 consistantly.

[Pistolcub42]

Its great seeing Aardsma throwing that hard again. If he gets it all back together again the LaTroy deal should be one the most lopsided deals in a long time. It would definitely rival the Hundley deal....

[CubsWin]

Is it a possibility Aardsma could start this year? In MVP Baseball 2005, he is categorized as a starter... He has the stuff from what we saw today... especially with the knuckecurve.

 

Or should he be a reliever?

I don't have much hard data to back-up this opinion, but I think one of the reasons Aardsma is recovering some of the speed on his fastball is that he is being used as a reliever. The Cubs have plenty of depth for their rotation (Guzman, Hill, Marshall, etc.). I think Aardsma would best serve the Cubs out of the pen.

[CubsWin]

Wuertz really makes me nervous. I think it's a mistake to put him on the roster.

 

I agree. I have never been impressed by him, and I would swap him out for Aardsma in half a heartbeat.

 

It may just be my perception, but Wuertz seems to either dominate or flat out stink, especially when he pitches in a couple games in a row. When Wuertz gets even a little tired, it's BP.

 

I agree that it makes me nervous that he's not doing well, but I have been impressed with him in the past. He can be pretty sick when he's not misused, so it mostly just makes me sad that he's getting roughed up so badly.

I agree with MPrior. Wuertz has a nasty slider when its on. For some reason, its just not on right now. Maybe he's tipping his pitches and the scouts caught on late last season or while looking at tape over the winter. Maybe its something else entirely.

 

As I watched him today, I was reminded of Borowski's collapse a while back. He didn't have the same life on his fastball, and it was downplayed as normal spring training stuff and no big deal. But then later we learned that he was injured. Wuertz's velocity on his fastball was easily 91-93 and the slider was 84-86 all season last year, but he didn't come close to that today. I'm wondering if there isn't something structurally wrong with Wuertz's arm? I wouldn't be surprised if he comes up injured in the coming weeks.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'm rather impressed if Aardsma is back in the mid 90s this season. He did fall apart late last season, I have no problem with him returning to the minors.

[Monco]

Wuertz was a starter until 2004.When they moved him to the pen his velocity jumped.He pitched in 75 games last year.This may seem far-fetched,but is it possible that Johnnie B. overused him?