7/4 CUBS (Hill) vs. Nats (Chico), 11:05am CT, WGN-TV, XM 183

[soccer10k]

If Hill and/or Marshall continue to struggle, what sort of options do we have in AAA and AA?

 

None. And Hill should have a pretty long leash, seeing as he's *still* the Cubs second best pitcher this season.

 

You could easily make a case for both Lilly and Marquis being better than Hill this year. But they're all pretty close so any difference between the three is a small one.

 

Heh, I actually have Marquis as the best starter this season so far but there's definitely a good argument for Lilly ahead of Hill now. Z still has a bit of work to go.

 

But hey, that's just my opinion.

 

Yeah, my bad and I agree with you. I assumed (incorrectly and stupidly) that Z was the ace.

 

Marquis, Hill, and Lilly are the top-3 this year. I docked Marquis a bit because he's got a worse WHIP than Hill and Lilly though he does have the better ERA.

[XZero771679666304]

Bowen and Soto should swap places.

 

I think Koyie and Soto should swap places, and Soto should start.

[98navigator]

Petrick coming in to pitch

[anabiono]

this is awesome...someone posted about no heartbreakers recently...

 

well...getting shutout by chico is a bit of a heartbreaker

 

Chico pitched 6 shutout innings in his last start. He's a rookie who has been inconsistent but he's better than his overall numbers show to this point.

 

I am not surprised that he pitched well. I predicted it.

 

groovy...do you want a cookie?

 

:wink:

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

maybe uncle larry will spend the all-star break figuring out what 90% of major league baseball knows about rich hill

 

Maybe Cousin Jim will spend his trying to get a catcher who can hit higher than his weight.

[abuck1220]

oh well, better to have a bad start and no offense on the same day, i suppose. should have seen an offensive letdown coming with hill on the mound...

Yeah but we have to hit Matt Chico. It wouldn't be so bad a start if it was by itself, but he has done this in three of his last four now. He needs to make some adjustments.

 

i don't think anyone is saying that hill hasn't been bad lately. he was really bad today and against the padres. i actually thought he wasn't terrible against the brewers, but he was obviously far from good. the break is coming at a good time for him.

[TruffleShuffle]

If Hill and/or Marshall continue to struggle, what sort of options do we have in AAA and AA?

 

None. And Hill should have a pretty long leash, seeing as he's *still* the Cubs second best pitcher this season.

 

You could easily make a case for both Lilly and Marquis being better than Hill this year. But they're all pretty close so any difference between the three is a small one.

 

Marquis has definitely been better after you put this start from Hill in. His ERA is half a run lower. His opponents OPS is probably 70-80 points lower than Hill's. The only thing Hill would have on him is WHIP, which isn't the best indicator when you consider that Hill is a fly ball pitcher who gives up lots of extra base hits and Marquis is a ground ball pitcher who gives up lots of singles.

 

regardless, the cubs' starting rotation has been very good this year. Last year if we were having this conversation, we'd be talking about a bunch of guys with ERAs over 5.00 once you got past Zambrano. If Rich Hill is the Cubs 4th or 5th best starter with an ERA under 4.00 and a good WHIP, I'm fine with that.

[CubColtPacer]

this is awesome...someone posted about no heartbreakers recently...

 

well...getting shutout by chico is a bit of a heartbreaker

 

Chico pitched 6 shutout innings in his last start. He's a rookie who has been inconsistent but he's better than his overall numbers show to this point.

 

I am not surprised that he pitched well. I predicted it.

 

Yeah, this is 5 out of 6 quality starts for Chico, and he has only given up 1 run in his last 19 innings.

[98navigator]

Izzy at SS, Riot at 2B

 

Izturis hitting 9th leading off the next inning

[illiniguy]

oh well, better to have a bad start and no offense on the same day, i suppose. should have seen an offensive letdown coming with hill on the mound...

Yeah but we have to hit Matt Chico. It wouldn't be so bad a start if it was by itself, but he has done this in three of his last four now. He needs to make some adjustments.

 

i don't think anyone is saying that hill hasn't been bad lately. he was really bad today and against the padres. i actually thought he wasn't terrible against the brewers, but he was obviously far from good. the break is coming at a good time for him.

The Brewers game was more proof of him tipping pitches. They knew what was coming, but his stuff was still good enough that they could only foul a lot of it off. You don't accidentaly foul what, 37 pitches? in 3 innings off one guy.

[CubColtPacer]

If Hill and/or Marshall continue to struggle, what sort of options do we have in AAA and AA?

 

None. And Hill should have a pretty long leash, seeing as he's *still* the Cubs second best pitcher this season.

 

You could easily make a case for both Lilly and Marquis being better than Hill this year. But they're all pretty close so any difference between the three is a small one.

 

Marquis has definitely been better after you put this start from Hill in. His ERA is half a run lower. His opponents OPS is probably 70-80 points lower than Hill's. The only thing Hill would have on him is WHIP, which isn't the best indicator when you consider that Hill is a fly ball pitcher who gives up lots of extra base hits and Marquis is a ground ball pitcher who gives up lots of singles.

 

regardless, the cubs' starting rotation has been very good this year. Last year if we were having this conversation, we'd be talking about a bunch of guys with ERAs over 5.00 once you got past Zambrano. If Rich Hill is the Cubs 4th or 5th best starter with an ERA under 4.00 and a good WHIP, I'm fine with that.

 

That's very true. The starting pitching has been very good overall, and that includes Hill's above average season so far.

[Iceblink]

Bowen and Soto should swap places.

 

I think Koyie and Soto should swap places, and Soto should start.

 

I think Hill is out of options, and he's done a pretty good job catching (including that great play picking Sori's throw against the Sox.)

[Iceblink]

Izzy at SS, Riot at 2B

 

Izturis hitting 9th leading off the next inning

 

Let's figure out the odds of an Izzy homah!

[anabiono]

whatever...chances are we are going to crap this game...so...i really just don't want them to drop under .500 for the rest of the season...

 

if they can do that...i don't care what happens...

[98navigator]

this is awesome...someone posted about no heartbreakers recently...

 

well...getting shutout by chico is a bit of a heartbreaker

 

Chico pitched 6 shutout innings in his last start. He's a rookie who has been inconsistent but he's better than his overall numbers show to this point.

 

I am not surprised that he pitched well. I predicted it.

 

Yeah, this is 5 out of 6 quality starts for Chico, and he has only given up 1 run in his last 19 innings.

 

Exactly. He has been pitching well. The key was to keep their offense down today; the Nats lost Chico's last start after he left the game.

[illiniguy]

Bowen and Soto should swap places.

 

I think Koyie and Soto should swap places, and Soto should start.

 

I think Hill is out of options, and he's done a pretty good job catching (including that great play picking Sori's throw against the Sox.)

Does anyone think a team will claim him though?

[TruffleShuffle]

this is awesome...someone posted about no heartbreakers recently...

 

well...getting shutout by chico is a bit of a heartbreaker

 

Chico pitched 6 shutout innings in his last start. He's a rookie who has been inconsistent but he's better than his overall numbers show to this point.

 

I am not surprised that he pitched well. I predicted it.

 

actually based on his WHIP of 1.54 and 13 HRs allowed, his ERA should be worse than it is right now. But I will grant that he's pitched better the past few outings.

[Chocolate Milk]

Maybe people are recognizing a pattern or something with Hill. Guys are sitting on that curveball when it comes in. They know it's coming.

[bcruise]

Izzy at SS, Riot at 2B

 

Izturis hitting 9th leading off the next inning

 

White flag time.

 

No, not the good one, either.

[98navigator]

this is awesome...someone posted about no heartbreakers recently...

 

well...getting shutout by chico is a bit of a heartbreaker

 

Chico pitched 6 shutout innings in his last start. He's a rookie who has been inconsistent but he's better than his overall numbers show to this point.

 

I am not surprised that he pitched well. I predicted it.

 

groovy...do you want a cookie?

 

:wink:

 

I'm just saying you have to look at the pitcher individually and not assume that he's bad because he's a National.

 

Jason Bergmann won't be a piece of cake tomorrow if he pitches to form.

Edited July 4, 2007 by 98navigator

[TruffleShuffle]

Bowen and Soto should swap places.

 

I think Koyie and Soto should swap places, and Soto should start.

 

I think Hill is out of options, and he's done a pretty good job catching (including that great play picking Sori's throw against the Sox.)

Does anyone think a team will claim him though?

 

i sure hope not, he's worthless AAA roster filler... signed as a minor league free agent. If Hill gets sent down and someone claims him, big damn deal. He sucks.

[anabiono]

this is awesome...someone posted about no heartbreakers recently...

 

well...getting shutout by chico is a bit of a heartbreaker

 

Chico pitched 6 shutout innings in his last start. He's a rookie who has been inconsistent but he's better than his overall numbers show to this point.

 

I am not surprised that he pitched well. I predicted it.

 

groovy...do you want a cookie?

 

:wink:

 

I'm just saying you have to look at the pitch individually and not assume that he's bad because he's a National.

 

Jason Bergmann won't be a piece of cake tomorrow if he pitches to form.

 

no, you are fine...i wasn't trying to be a jerk

 

i don't like starting the day off with a bloody cubs loss...kind of puts me in a craptacular mood

[illiniguy]

Bowen and Soto should swap places.

 

I think Koyie and Soto should swap places, and Soto should start.

 

I think Hill is out of options, and he's done a pretty good job catching (including that great play picking Sori's throw against the Sox.)

Does anyone think a team will claim him though?

 

i sure hope not, he's worthless AAA roster filler... signed as a minor league free agent. If Hill gets sent down and someone claims him, big damn deal. He sucks.

I agree, this like DFAing Jacque should be a no-branier.

[UMFan83]

4-45 for catchers since Barrett was traded now. 1-23 from Bowen alone, and 3-22 for Hill

[illiniguy]

4-45 for catchers since Barrett was traded now. 1-23 from Bowen alone, and 3-22 for Hill

The record isn't bad though, I don't think this is the main reason for the spike though.