Guzman called up

[Jon]

i thought the cubs were in the business of earning roster spots.

 

hill 19 ip, 11 h, 3 er, 5 bb, 23 k's, 1 hr, 1-0, 1.42 era

guzman 16 ip, 15 h, 12 er, 3 bb, 23 k's, 4 hr, 1-2, 6.61 era

 

guess not.

 

please just trade hill.

Who knows. Hill should be the one getting the start right now.

 

Of course, I sure as heck hope they decided on that Wednesday spot before the move was made. I won't be happy if they disrupted Guzman and then brought Hill up for Wednesday.

[WindyCity]

FWIW -- during the broadcast Len mentioned that Hill or Guzman would get the start on Wednesday. No decision has been made yet.

[abuck1220]

i thought the cubs were in the business of earning roster spots.

 

hill 19 ip, 11 h, 3 er, 5 bb, 23 k's, 1 hr, 1-0, 1.42 era

guzman 16 ip, 15 h, 12 er, 3 bb, 23 k's, 4 hr, 1-2, 6.61 era

 

guess not.

 

please just trade hill.

Who knows. Hill should be the one getting the start right now.

 

Of course, I sure as heck hope they decided on that Wednesday spot before the move was made. I won't be happy if they disrupted Guzman and then brought Hill up for Wednesday.

 

either way, i'll be disappointed. hill deserves to start, but it's foolish to have gooz be the 20th option out of the pen and mess up his schedule...but at least he's been 100% healthy over the past couple years, so i'm sure he can take the yanking around.

[Guest]

i thought the cubs were in the business of earning roster spots.

 

hill 19 ip, 11 h, 3 er, 5 bb, 23 k's, 1 hr, 1-0, 1.42 era

guzman 16 ip, 15 h, 12 er, 3 bb, 23 k's, 4 hr, 1-2, 6.61 era

 

guess not.

 

please just trade hill.

Who knows. Hill should be the one getting the start right now.

 

Of course, I sure as heck hope they decided on that Wednesday spot before the move was made. I won't be happy if they disrupted Guzman and then brought Hill up for Wednesday.

Those HR are really the only significant difference between Guzman and Hill to this piont; In all other aspects each is doing very well. The question is whether or not Angel's tendency give up gopher balls is something we should be worried about, and I don't think it is just yet.

 

Angel actually looks like he's doing a better job of keeping the ball down than Hill at this point, giving up fewer fly balls (34.2% FB% for Guzman, 35.0% for Hill) and getting more grounders (42.1%/40.0%). Those extra 3 HR may just be a product of pitching conditions or other factors rather than a real advantage Hill has over Guzman.

Edited April 23, 2006 by Anonymous

[Danny82]

Forgive me if I still feel more confident in Gooz starting at the major league level than Hill. Hill has gotten rattled in his starts more often than not.

 

And you don't know for sure how Gooz is going to be used during his time up. The fact remains that he can help this team right now.

[abuck1220]

Forgive me if I still feel more confident in Gooz starting at the major league level than Hill. Hill has gotten rattled in his starts more often than not.

 

so b/c gooz hasn't had the chance to get rattled, he gets the call? gallagher hasn't shown to be rattled in a big league game yet, do you want to bring him up? heck, i haven't been rattled in a major league game yet either.

 

if you'd rather have gooz over hill, fine. but that seems like a strange reason to favor gooz.

[Outshined_One]

Didn't Williams come into ST having lost 10-15 pounds?

 

Hendry just seems like he's throwing everything he can at the wall to see what sticks. While it is early in the season, moves like these just smack of desperation. Granted, this is partially the result of some dumb moves in the offseason as well as bad bullpen management, but hey, they've been digging this hole and seem intent on digging their way out.

 

I really hope this works out for the best, but at the rate things are going, the outlook isn't good.

[Danny82]

It's not strange at all.

 

It's perfectly understandable for one to wonder whether or not Hill will be able to perform consistently at the major league level when he has been so erratic so far when he has been up.

 

Historically, Gooz has had better command.

[abuck1220]

It's not strange at all.

 

It's perfectly understandable for one to wonder whether or not Hill will be able to perform consistently at the major league level when he has been so erratic so far when he has been up.

 

Historically, Gooz has had better command.

 

fine, but that's not what you said before. you said you didn't want hill b/c he seemed 'rattled' when he was up before. to me that sounded like you were questioning his mental toughness, not his command/control.

[Danny82]

It's not strange at all.

 

It's perfectly understandable for one to wonder whether or not Hill will be able to perform consistently at the major league level when he has been so erratic so far when he has been up.

 

Historically, Gooz has had better command.

 

fine, but that's not what you said before. you said you didn't want hill b/c he seemed 'rattled' when he was up before. to me that sounded like you were questioning his mental toughness, not his command/control.

Well, I am. I think they go hand in hand to some extent.

 

Hill used to have awful control. Since that time, he has shown he has decent command at AA and AAA. However, he hasn't shown that he has good command yet at the major league level. Mental toughness could very well have something to do with that. Maybe that is something that will come to him as the game at the major league level "slows down" a bit for him, or maybe it won't. While I clearly hope that he does find that command at the major league level, it certainly is fair to question whether it ever will.

[Jon]

i thought the cubs were in the business of earning roster spots.

 

hill 19 ip, 11 h, 3 er, 5 bb, 23 k's, 1 hr, 1-0, 1.42 era

guzman 16 ip, 15 h, 12 er, 3 bb, 23 k's, 4 hr, 1-2, 6.61 era

 

guess not.

 

please just trade hill.

Who knows. Hill should be the one getting the start right now.

 

Of course, I sure as heck hope they decided on that Wednesday spot before the move was made. I won't be happy if they disrupted Guzman and then brought Hill up for Wednesday.

Those HR are really the only significant difference between Guzman and Hill to this piont; In all other aspects each is doing very well. The question is whether or not Angel's tendency give up gopher balls is something we should be worried about, and I don't think it is just yet.

 

Angel actually looks like he's doing a better job of keeping the ball down than Hill at this point, giving up fewer fly balls (34.2% FB% for Guzman, 35.0% for Hill) and getting more grounders (42.1%/40.0%). Those extra 3 HR may just be a product of pitching conditions or other factors rather than a real advantage Hill has over Guzman.

Well, there wasn't a wind blowing in his last start. He also gave up a double and a triple in his rough first, but I'm not necessarily worried about that. I do think that when you combine his ERA with other factors (specifically his history), though, that it's cause to keep him in the Iowa rotation. I'd like to see him get up to speed before making his debut and cut down on those lengthy ABs.

 

With 3 starts each (I think), the only real difference between Hill and Guzman is their ERA. The GOs, FOs, Ks, and BBs are all basically the same. But I'd rather Guzman stay on schedule and make his starts right now so he can work through this. Hill's control seems pretty good right now for what we can expect from him. Angel, on the other hand, will have better control when he's really going strong.

[Jehrico]

For those who say Jeromes only had one bad outing...hes walking almost a guy an inning, striking out less than half as many as he is walking, and has a collective whip over 2. Its not just one bad outing...he has been bad overall if you look at his peripherals.

 

As for Guzman, his numbers are kind of funny...23Ks, 3BBs (outstanding!), whip around 1.2 (good but not great), ERA over 6 (not good), 4 hrs (not good)...does anyone know if he was given certain things to work on while he wsa in AAA, or was he just sent down there to pitch and do his best? Im wondering if he was told that they just wanted to see him keep his velocity up, show a little endurance, and work on keeping the BBs down or something like that. The results for him in the early part of the AAA season have been mixed.

 

edit: correction: WHIP for him is wrong, it should be 1.13 instead of 1.2 (15 hits and 3 walks in 16 IP), which is a bit better...

Edited April 23, 2006 by Jehrico

[TXCubsFan]

Though Hill is pitching well, he is still making adjustments at AAA that will make him a more dependable, consistent pitcher in the long-run. Nothing wrong wth giving him more work at Iowa, whether to incorporate him into the Cubs rotation next year or to use him as trade bait.

[TenzilKem]

I believe that 3 of the home runs Guzman gave up were in a start in Albuquerque, which has always been a hitter's paradise.

 

If we want to go strictly on ERA, maybe the Cubs should have called up Augie Ojeda. He's got an ERA of 0.00 after throwing a scoreless inning in Iowa's blowout loss today. His ability to pitch, switch hit, and play three positions would give Dusty a myriad of options late in a game. You could consider him a poor man's Brooks Kieschnick--or maybe utterly destitute starving homeless man's Brooks Kieschnick would be more accurate.

[abuck1220]

It's not strange at all.

 

It's perfectly understandable for one to wonder whether or not Hill will be able to perform consistently at the major league level when he has been so erratic so far when he has been up.

 

Historically, Gooz has had better command.

 

fine, but that's not what you said before. you said you didn't want hill b/c he seemed 'rattled' when he was up before. to me that sounded like you were questioning his mental toughness, not his command/control.

Well, I am. I think they go hand in hand to some extent.

 

Hill used to have awful control. Since that time, he has shown he has decent command at AA and AAA. However, he hasn't shown that he has good command yet at the major league level. Mental toughness could very well have something to do with that. Maybe that is something that will come to him as the game at the major league level "slows down" a bit for him, or maybe it won't. While I clearly hope that he does find that command at the major league level, it certainly is fair to question whether it ever will.

 

i guess we disagree then. i don't think wildness = lack of mental toughness.

[Danny82]

Neither do I. And, in fact, I never said they were the same thing.

 

But lack of mental toughness can lead to a player reverting to his once-erratic ways when he pitches in the majors. And I question whether that might be the case with Hill.

[abuck1220]

fine. i'm just not ready to make a final judgment on hill's mental stability based on 7 erractic major league innings (and 15 good to great innings).

[Brian]

Hill hasn't been ruled out

 

Guzman was in the bullpen on Sunday as a long-relief candidate if needed, but he could start on Wednesday in Williams' spot. The Cubs' other option for Wednesday could be left-hander Rich Hill, who is pitching at Iowa.

 

Someone should see if they can kind find numbers from the minors of Hill vs. the Marlins because Hill and most of the Marlins probably faced each other last year in AA.

Edited April 23, 2006 by Brian

[abuck1220]

Hill hasn't been ruled out

 

Guzman was in the bullpen on Sunday as a long-relief candidate if needed, but he could start on Wednesday in Williams' spot. The Cubs' other option for Wednesday could be left-hander Rich Hill, who is pitching at Iowa.

 

that would be even more stupid than just having gooz start. why mess with guzman's schedule now that he's finally healthy?

[Brian]

Hill hasn't been ruled out

 

Guzman was in the bullpen on Sunday as a long-relief candidate if needed, but he could start on Wednesday in Williams' spot. The Cubs' other option for Wednesday could be left-hander Rich Hill, who is pitching at Iowa.

 

that would be even more stupid than just having gooz start. why mess with guzman's schedule now that he's finally healthy?

 

easy answer: this is the cubs.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

As was reported in the Game Thread, Garwilly and I noticed Guzman in the dugout and then noticed Williams was no where around. When Baker signed autographs by us, I asked him if Guzman was up. He said yes. Then I said, "Do you think he's ready to help us?" Baker responded, "We need him to be. Our bullpen is used up." So I asked, "Oh, he's going to be used out of the pen?" Baker said yeah....we need an arm. Baker made no comment about who would start on Wednesday.

 

 

 

I spoke with Santo after the game as he was exiting the booth through the Redbird Club. Supposedly, no one knows who Wednesday's starter will be. If Guzman isn't used out of the pen, then he could get the start.

[JWCUB]

As was reported in the Game Thread, Garwilly and I noticed Guzman in the dugout and then noticed Williams was no where around. When Baker signed autographs by us, I asked him if Guzman was up. He said yes. Then I said, "Do you think he's ready to help us?" Baker responded, "We need him to be. Our bullpen is used up." So I asked, "Oh, he's going to be used out of the pen?" Baker said yeah....we need an arm. Baker made no comment about who would start on Wednesday.

 

 

 

I spoke with Santo after the game as he was exiting the booth through the Redbird Club. Supposedly, no one knows who Wednesday's starter will be. If Guzman isn't used out of the pen, then he could get the start.

 

Vance, you are one lucky man. 8)

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

As was reported in the Game Thread, Garwilly and I noticed Guzman in the dugout and then noticed Williams was no where around. When Baker signed autographs by us, I asked him if Guzman was up. He said yes. Then I said, "Do you think he's ready to help us?" Baker responded, "We need him to be. Our bullpen is used up." So I asked, "Oh, he's going to be used out of the pen?" Baker said yeah....we need an arm. Baker made no comment about who would start on Wednesday.

 

 

 

I spoke with Santo after the game as he was exiting the booth through the Redbird Club. Supposedly, no one knows who Wednesday's starter will be. If Guzman isn't used out of the pen, then he could get the start.

 

Vance, you are one lucky man. 8)

 

I'm hoping the pic I took with Ronny comes out.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Geez, promote Guzman so he can throw long relief? Wow.

 

Hill must have been in on whatever Hairston did to Dusty.

[Danny82]

Geez, promote Guzman so he can throw long relief? Wow.

 

Hill must have been in on whatever Hairston did to Dusty.

 

???

 

Either Hill or Guzman is starting Wednesday.