Lou's Press Conference - Kendall will start Game 3

[E.J.]

The over/under for D'Back stolen bases on Saturday has been set at 12.

 

by whom?

 

faaaaaantastic. I take the over

 

I was kidding.

 

sort of.

[minnesotacubsfan]

The over/under for D'Back stolen bases on Saturday has been set at 12.

 

by whom?

 

faaaaaantastic. I take the over

 

I was kidding.

 

sort of.

 

I suspected, but I was wondering earlier (when Sweet Lou Lou announced Kendall as starter) if anyone in Vegas was taking bets on this sort of thing.

 

I had to ask.

[Keener98]

Lous being out managed so badly this series its ridiculous. Im so glad we got a veteran manager with post season experience. Hey at least Z and Soto will be rested for opening day now.

 

we've got a lot of baseball left.

 

Yea we do we have 2008, 2009, 2010, etc... just wish we had more left in 2007

[illiniguy]

Lous being out managed so badly this series its ridiculous. Im so glad we got a veteran manager with post season experience. Hey at least Z and Soto will be rested for opening day now.

 

we've got a lot of baseball left.

 

Yea we do we have 2008, 2009, 2010, etc... just wish we had more left in 2007

Well I still am gonna enjoy what is left. Who knows how long it will be until we get back.

[USSoccer]

Hahahahahaha

 

Kendall is going to bat 2nd and go 0-4 with 4 weak pop flys to RF, Hill is going to throw a shutout and Kendall will get all the credit.

[Soul]

Hahahahahaha

 

Kendall is going to bat 2nd and go 0-4 with 4 weak pop flys to RF, Hill is going to throw a shutout and Kendall will get all the credit.

 

This is the game where we do everything right and STILL lose. You ought to know the pattern by now.

[JonnyRed]

Let's also remember that Hill is a young pitcher starting his first playoff game....Maybe having a veteran presence behind the plate won't be such a bad thing.

[BigbadB]

Rich Hill probably hates it when Geovany Soto catches him. Who would want a catcher who called a 1 hit shutout in your last start?

 

Yeesh.

 

On a happy note, if Rich Hill tosses a perfect game tomorrow, no one will be able to steal 2nd on him or Kendall.

[Mizzou]

Let's also remember that Hill is a young pitcher starting his first playoff game....Maybe having a veteran presence behind the plate won't be such a bad thing.

Good point. I think that Hill is a little lacking in the mental department. I'm not saying he's an idiot or anything, but he just comes off as being a little... shaky. I would much rather have Soto starting, but hopefully Kendall's presence helps keep Rich calm and collected.

[TBone]

If Kendall's catching last night, does Lilly shake him off at the curveball indicated by Kendall to go fastball against Young?

 

I don't know, just asking...

[rynefan]

Ha ha, great move, Lou! Without Z and Soto in the lineup, there goes the power, or what little there was!

[abuck1220]

Let's also remember that Hill is a young pitcher starting his first playoff game....Maybe having a veteran presence behind the plate won't be such a bad thing.

Good point. I think that Hill is a little lacking in the mental department. I'm not saying he's an idiot or anything, but he just comes off as being a little... shaky. I would much rather have Soto starting, but hopefully Kendall's presence helps keep Rich calm and collected.

 

soto was catching in hill's last start (the one-hitter) and he caught hill's first big league shutout. plus, i'm guessing he caught him a lot in iowa. if anything, hill would probably feel more comfortable with soto.

[CUBZ99]

Let's also remember that Hill is a young pitcher starting his first playoff game....Maybe having a veteran presence behind the plate won't be such a bad thing.

Good point. I think that Hill is a little lacking in the mental department. I'm not saying he's an idiot or anything, but he just comes off as being a little... shaky. I would much rather have Soto starting, but hopefully Kendall's presence helps keep Rich calm and collected.

 

soto was catching in hill's last start (the one-hitter) and he caught hill's first big league shutout. plus, i'm guessing he caught him a lot in iowa. if anything, hill would probably feel more comfortable with soto.

 

Dude, Kendall is a veteran. Haven't you been watching how well all of the grizzled veteran's have been handling the pressure? I wonder how much blame went on Soto for calling last night's game? Lou is known to be real tough on his catchers, and he may have been upset with Soto's pitch selection.

[Guest]

Let's also remember that Hill is a young pitcher starting his first playoff game....Maybe having a veteran presence behind the plate won't be such a bad thing.

Good point. I think that Hill is a little lacking in the mental department. I'm not saying he's an idiot or anything, but he just comes off as being a little... shaky. I would much rather have Soto starting, but hopefully Kendall's presence helps keep Rich calm and collected.

 

soto was catching in hill's last start (the one-hitter) and he caught hill's first big league shutout. plus, i'm guessing he caught him a lot in iowa. if anything, hill would probably feel more comfortable with soto.

 

Soto caught Hill each of the last two years at AAA.

 

Have there been any complaints regarding Soto's game calling abilities? Maybe some of the pitchers don't like throwing to him behind the plate.

 

At least we will know that if the Cubs win Saturday's game that Soto was the problem all along. :lol:

 

Z and Soto seem to have a good connection; Hill and Marmol have been caught more by Soto than Kendall between the majors and minors.

[Guest]

This is why I was hoping Kendall would start in game 1. I felt it'd be his best matchup as a hitter plus Z holds runners pretty well, helping to negate some of Kendall's rag arm.

[sethuel1]

god dammit Lou.

[salukifudd]

This is why I was hoping Kendall would start in game 1. I felt it'd be his best matchup as a hitter plus Z holds runners pretty well, helping to negate some of Kendall's rag arm.

 

Completely in agreement with you on this one.

[minnesotacubsfan]

god dammit Lou.

 

+1

[Coach C]

Awesome. Let's bench our productive player, and continue to keep playing the guys who aren't being productive.

 

Sheer genius!

[TBone]

Well, I know I'll get flamed for this, but who cares at this point. I'll be in Chi-town for the weekend, won't get to check the board, and may be trying to forget about baseball for the next 3 months by the time I get back.

 

Nonetheless, it's obvious this lineup isn't hitting the ball. Something's gotta change, and maybe Lou's just trying to get something going. If you look at the possibilities for changes, other than Cedeno over Theriot, I'm not sure there's another logical choice. Although noone's said Soto doesn't call a good game, maybe the pitchers are a bit edgy w/ a rook behind the plate. I don't know, but I don't think this is as bad a deal as many of you make it out to be. (outside of the chance we may very well give up the NLDS record for stolen bases against in a game) I think many of you have too big of a man-crush on a guy who's played all of 19 big-league games and produced big-time offensively in a relatively small sample size.

 

The key to this game will not be who's batting and playing catcher, but rather if we can get a good start out of our pitcher and if anoyone on this team can get a big hit, perhaps bunt a ball fair in the right situation, and our bullpen.

 

Having said that, I hope the DBacks don't wind up with a single in the 9th, steal 2nd, then 3rd with 1 out, and hit a sac fly to win it.

 

Is anyone else wondering why in the heck we're one of the worst bunting teams in MLB along with the inability for pitchers to hold runners? Very poor coaching in that regard at this point in the season to not be able to do these things.

[badnews]

This is why I was hoping Kendall would start in game 1. I felt it'd be his best matchup as a hitter plus Z holds runners pretty well, helping to negate some of Kendall's rag arm.

 

That's the exact same thing I'm thinking.

 

Seriously, someone explain this. I've been saying Kendall/Hill would be a poison match-up ever since the Mets were eliminated.

 

Consider this: Rich Hill was tied for 4th in the NL in stolen bases allowed with 23. Chris Young and Greg Maddux of the Padres (hello Michael Barrett?) were 1st and 2nd.

 

Jason Kendall is the worst catcher at throwing out baserunners in the major leagues for those who have a qualifying number of innings.

 

The Diamondbacks are tied for the 3rd most steals in the majors since the All-Star Break.

 

Can the foolishness of this decision be overstated? Okay, the Cubs could win the game, definitely. But it isn't logical. This would be like if the Angels were facing the Yankees in the ALDS, Game 7, bottom of the 9th, a 3-0 lead, bases loaded, and the manager brings in Bartolo Colon to face A-Rod (look up those splits if you don't remember). Yeah, maybe Colon gets A-Rod out and wins the Angels the ALDS. But it doesn't make any sense.

 

Kendall should've caught Zambrano if he needed to play, Zambrano is one of the better Cub pitchers at not allowing steals. Furthermore, Soto has been one of the better Cub hitters. There's been an off day. Soto and Hill are more used to each other than Soto and any other Cub starter.

 

I can definitely see the Cubs winning this game and people saying "How dare you question Lou." But it doesn't make sense. Even an .846 OPS isn't that awesome. If Lou is so interested in the splits, hey, why not put Sean Marshall on the roster? He did very well against the Diamondbacks.

 

I'm baffled and a little sickened by this.

[badnews]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore;_ylt=ArJwnuvW9RGJeyK.792b_6aFCLcF?gid=260525120

 

Check out the Astros' stolen base line.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=260525120

 

Will Lou cry?

[Backtobanks]

Kendall has been working on his throws to 2B. He has almost perfected hitting the cutoff man (Hill) who then relays it to 2B.

[Exile on Waveland]

Completely ridiculous.

[CubColtPacer]

It's quite possible that they feel Rich Hill is so bad at holding runners on that no catcher could throw runners out. I remember a lot of bases stolen against Hill this year without a throw. If that's the case, then most of those bases would be stolen on Kendall or Soto. Just a thought.