4/6 Astros (Backe) at Cobs (Zambrano), 1:20 PM CT, WGN

[RedFlash]

How the hell are we only two games out of first?

 

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

Tim Kurkjian (or some other ESPN anchor, they are all the same to me) picked them to win the division and I laughed at it at the time but now...

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview08/news/story?page=08expertpicks

 

It's not an ESPN anchor that made that proclamation, cause Kurkjian predicts the Cubs to win the division in 2008. In fact only two ESPN personalities even picked against the Cubs (Pedro Gomez, and Nate Ravitz). So I clearly have no idea who you are talking about. But if you believe someone at ESPN has picked the Cards, then I will roll with it, and say whoever said that, must be an idiot. Because that said idiot clearly would not have done their homework, mean the Cards have 9 guys ALREADY on the DL. And it's not just crappy players, I'm talking 4/5ths of the rotation (Carpenter/Clement/Pinero/Mulder) and 3 members of the bullpen (Johnson, Kinney, and Springer). Not to mention they are not very good offensively, (Pujols, and who?), not very deep....In other words, the Cards are simply not a very good team. The Cards team looks like a 65 win team. So whoever the idiot that says the Cards would win the division in 2008, is clearly an idiot, or being sarcastic.

[Dirt Dog Sparly]

Helllllooooooo :wave:

 

Does anyone other than myself remember Pie getting hit on the hand? I know the holier than thou-ness runs rampant on this board but people please get some chill pills or something.

[gerby23]

I find it funny how people are allowed to have their favorite players and no one can say anything bad about them (Pie) but if someone happens to like someone else (Theriot) they get railed on.

 

I for one *hope* Pie pans out, I just don't see it with his utterly impatient approach, especially everytime someone happens to be on base. I mentioned this yesterday and Tomy23 got on me, be I refer to him as the Dominican DuBois. Not because of any real similarities other than they both seem to be AAAA players. Again, I hope he becomes the next (insert star here), but I really feel its premature to do anything but simply HOPE for that.

 

And FWIW, I would also rather see Theriot on the bench or even a bus outta town.

[Keener98]

Helllllooooooo :wave:

 

Does anyone other than myself remember Pie getting hit on the hand? I know the holier than thou-ness runs rampant on this board but people please get some chill pills or something.

 

Helllllllllooooo, he played the following game, and nothing has been mentioned in the papers or on tv that he was sitting because of his hand being hurt. Sorry if my holier than thouness bothered you.

[Keener98]

Felix Pie is on the bench for 2 of 6 games. Season over. Fire everyone.

 

But seriously, I think the writing was on the wall that it'd be a center field platoon when we got Reed Johnson. I'm not entirely sure what anybody else expected here. If Reed plays well for us, I'll be happy, and I won't even care if they use the Baseball White Guy platitudes for him which usually means we're automatically supposed to resent that player. I think that he's One Of Those really chaps a lot of people here.

 

What type of platoon is it when the LH hitter sits against RH pitchers, and the RH hitter faces the RH pitcher? Seems like an odd platoon to me...

[TruffleShuffle]

I for one *hope* Pie pans out, I just don't see it with his utterly impatient approach

 

i have to jump in here, because this is a very common misconception of pie. he's not utterly impatient; he's averaged 3.74 pitches per at bat, which is nearly or very slightly above where aramis ramirez is most years. pie actually shows decent patience at the plate. his biggest problem, IMO, is pitch recognition and judgment about what to swing at. when he gets in a hole he does a poor job of shortening his swing and making contact. there are also times when he is ahead in the count and swings at a pitcher's pitch, grounding out or popping out weakly. if anything, his instincts are lacking at the plate, but he is not a true hacker in the vein of corey patterson.

[gerby23]

I for one *hope* Pie pans out, I just don't see it with his utterly impatient approach

 

i have to jump in here, because this is a very common misconception of pie. he's not utterly impatient; he's averaged 3.74 pitches per at bat, which is nearly or very slightly above where aramis ramirez is most years. pie actually shows decent patience at the plate. his biggest problem, IMO, is pitch recognition and judgment about what to swing at. when he gets in a hole he does a poor job of shortening his swing and making contact. there are also times when he is ahead in the count and swings at a pitcher's pitch, grounding out or popping out weakly. if anything, his instincts are lacking at the plate, but he is not a true hacker in the vein of corey patterson.

 

Point taken, poor choice of words by me. My biggest concern is swing seems so long and loopy, that its easy to find the holes. If he had a shorter, more compact swing, I would be less concerned about his 180 ish PAs.

[CubmanPi]

That thing they did yesterday where they outscored the other team was pretty sweet. They should do it again.

[ctcf]

How the hell are we only two games out of first?

 

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

Tim Kurkjian (or some other ESPN anchor, they are all the same to me) picked them to win the division and I laughed at it at the time but now...

 

But now what? Now that they've started the season 4-1 you think they're going to make a huge run at the division? There's absolutely nothing to 'but now...' about. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the White Sox, and Florida are atop their respective divisions, you worried about them too?

[VanceJergins]

How the hell are we only two games out of first?

 

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

Tim Kurkjian (or some other ESPN anchor, they are all the same to me) picked them to win the division and I laughed at it at the time but now...

 

But now what? Now that they've started the season 4-1 you think they're going to make a huge run at the division? There's absolutely nothing to 'but now...' about. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the White Sox, and Florida are atop their respective divisions, you worried about them too?

 

Based on what we've seen this season, I see no reason not to be worried about them. Royals and Cardinals in the world series.

[Vanilla Ice]

How the hell are we only two games out of first?

 

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

Tim Kurkjian (or some other ESPN anchor, they are all the same to me) picked them to win the division and I laughed at it at the time but now...

 

But now what? Now that they've started the season 4-1 you think they're going to make a huge run at the division? There's absolutely nothing to 'but now...' about. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the White Sox, and Florida are atop their respective divisions, you worried about them too?

 

I could see Tampa Bay hanging in for awhile

[erik316wttn]

I'd stick with Pie and let him work through this mini-slump. If his confidence is shot, he won't do anything at this level, especially at his young age.

[erik316wttn]

How the hell are we only two games out of first?

 

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

Tim Kurkjian (or some other ESPN anchor, they are all the same to me) picked them to win the division and I laughed at it at the time but now...

 

But now what? Now that they've started the season 4-1 you think they're going to make a huge run at the division? There's absolutely nothing to 'but now...' about. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the White Sox, and Florida are atop their respective divisions, you worried about them too?

 

I could see Tampa Bay hanging in for awhile

 

Tampa's going to surprise a lot of people this year. I'm not saying they'll make the playoffs, but they have a solid young core of players and they could be good for a long time, much like the Brewers are starting to be.

[ctcf]

How the hell are we only two games out of first?

 

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

Tim Kurkjian (or some other ESPN anchor, they are all the same to me) picked them to win the division and I laughed at it at the time but now...

 

But now what? Now that they've started the season 4-1 you think they're going to make a huge run at the division? There's absolutely nothing to 'but now...' about. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the White Sox, and Florida are atop their respective divisions, you worried about them too?

 

I could see Tampa Bay hanging in for awhile

 

Tampa's going to surprise a lot of people this year. I'm not saying they'll make the playoffs, but they have a solid young core of players and they could be good for a long time, much like the Brewers are starting to be.

 

I think you're right there as well. I wouldn't be shocked if they put up a winning season.

[SABR Gamer]

I'm going to the game today.

 

Come on Cubs, get back to .500!

[anabiono]

How the hell are we only two games out of first?

 

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

Tim Kurkjian (or some other ESPN anchor, they are all the same to me) picked them to win the division and I laughed at it at the time but now...

 

But now what? Now that they've started the season 4-1 you think they're going to make a huge run at the division? There's absolutely nothing to 'but now...' about. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the White Sox, and Florida are atop their respective divisions, you worried about them too?

 

I could see Tampa Bay hanging in for awhile

 

Tampa's going to surprise a lot of people this year. I'm not saying they'll make the playoffs, but they have a solid young core of players and they could be good for a long time, much like the Brewers are starting to be.

 

I think you're right there as well. I wouldn't be shocked if they put up a winning season.

 

i honestly wouldn't be shocked if they finished second in that division

[bhogg]

I said it when we signed him and I'll stick with it. Reed Johnson will be the regular CF for the Cubs. It's just a matter of time.

[VanceJergins]

I said it when we signed him and I'll stick with it. Reed Johnson will be the regular CF for the Cubs. It's just a matter of time.

 

Crapping on all our young players wouldn't be so bad if we could trade them and get something decent. Instead, we have servicable, major league ready, better than adequate 25-27 year olds playing in Iowa. We're never going to use them and their value is just lowering and lowering.

[Exile on Waveland]

How the hell are we only two games out of first?

 

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

Tim Kurkjian (or some other ESPN anchor, they are all the same to me) picked them to win the division and I laughed at it at the time but now...

 

But now what? Now that they've started the season 4-1 you think they're going to make a huge run at the division? There's absolutely nothing to 'but now...' about. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, the White Sox, and Florida are atop their respective divisions, you worried about them too?

 

I could see Tampa Bay hanging in for awhile

 

Tampa's going to surprise a lot of people this year. I'm not saying they'll make the playoffs, but they have a solid young core of players and they could be good for a long time, much like the Brewers are starting to be.

 

I think you're right there as well. I wouldn't be shocked if they put up a winning season.

 

You're right twice over. Tampa Bay is going to be much improved, and their future is even brighter -- though upward mobility will always remain difficult in that division. You're also right that the Cardinals record after five games is basically irrelevant.

 

Edited for repetitive redundancy.

[dew1679666265]

I said it when we signed him and I'll stick with it. Reed Johnson will be the regular CF for the Cubs. It's just a matter of time.

 

ESPN and the Sun-Times are reporting Pie's wrist is bruised after getting plunked. It makes all kinds of logical sense to let a kid who is likely to struggle anyway rest a bruise on his wrist. It's all about the manager putting his player's in the best position to succeed, is it not?

 

Pie suffered a bruise on his wrist after being plunked in the eighth inning of Thursday's game, but he will likely not have an X-ray as it is not considered serious, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

[VanceJergins]

I said it when we signed him and I'll stick with it. Reed Johnson will be the regular CF for the Cubs. It's just a matter of time.

 

ESPN and the Sun-Times are reporting Pie's wrist is bruised after getting plunked. It makes all kinds of logical sense to let a kid who is likely to struggle anyway rest a bruise on his wrist. It's all about the manager putting his player's in the best position to succeed, is it not?

 

Pie suffered a bruise on his wrist after being plunked in the eighth inning of Thursday's game, but he will likely not have an X-ray as it is not considered serious, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

 

Ok, well that makes it more understandable.

[CubmanPi]

HOUSTON:

 

M. Bourn

H. Pence

D. Erstad

C. Lee

M. Tejada

G. Blum

T. Perez

J.R. Towles

B. Backe

 

 

CUBS:

 

A. Soriano lf

R. Johnson cf

D. Lee 1b

A. Ramirez 3b

K. Fukudome rf

M. DeRosa 2b

R. Theriot ss

H. Blanco c

C. Zambrano p

[Vanilla Ice]

ugh

 

bring on cedeno

[Outshined_One]

I don't think anyone would blame Lou if he hit Zambrano 7th in this lineup.

[dew1679666265]

I said it when we signed him and I'll stick with it. Reed Johnson will be the regular CF for the Cubs. It's just a matter of time.

 

ESPN and the Sun-Times are reporting Pie's wrist is bruised after getting plunked. It makes all kinds of logical sense to let a kid who is likely to struggle anyway rest a bruise on his wrist. It's all about the manager putting his player's in the best position to succeed, is it not?

 

Pie suffered a bruise on his wrist after being plunked in the eighth inning of Thursday's game, but he will likely not have an X-ray as it is not considered serious, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

 

Ok, well that makes it more understandable.

 

As much crap as Hendry and Lou are taking on the Pie issue, it seems they're actually being very careful as to when they put him in games. I like this tactic as it makes things easier for Pie.

 

For now, put him in the best chances to succeed (i.e. not playing him against lefties who he's never been any good against and not playing him when he's injured) and as his confidence rises, leave him out there in the more difficult situations.