Cotts recalled; Ascanio optioned

[Guest]

So is there any question that Ascanio loses his confidence and gets shelled in Iowa and gos the way of Billy Petrick?

 

Petrick's drop off came after his velocity dropped.

[jersey cubs fan]

We agree there. I just don't like sending Ascanio down when he hasn't "earned" the demotion. If Hendry really doesn't believe that sending guys to AAA after a stint in the majors is deflating for them, he's fooling himself. If you don't need to do it (for performance or roster reasons), I'd prefer not to.

 

Whether or not it's deflating doesn't really matter. You can't manage a roster without sending guys back to AAA from time to time. We aren't talking about some sort of franchise player here. He's a reliever. And the Cubs felt, somewhat justifiably, that they needed a left handed arm out there. That's your roster reason.

[salukifudd]

How did we get Ascanio again? I can't seem to remember.

[cybercub]

Cotts sucked when I watched him pitch against Round Rock 5/17.

 

I guess he must have been fantastic in his other appearances.

[BigbadB]

How did we get Ascanio again? I can't seem to remember.

 

We basically traded Jacque Jones for him.

 

Jacque Jones to Detroit for Omar Infante

 

Omar Infante was then spun to Atlanta for Ascanio.

[salukifudd]

How did we get Ascanio again? I can't seem to remember.

 

We basically traded Jacque Jones for him.

 

Jacque Jones to Detroit for Omar Infante

 

Omar Infante was then spun to Atlanta for Ascanio.

 

Ah ha, thanks BbB.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

How did we get Ascanio again? I can't seem to remember.

 

We basically traded Jacque Jones for him.

 

Jacque Jones to Detroit for Omar Infante

 

Omar Infante was then spun to Atlanta for Ascanio.

 

We also gave up Will Ohman to the Braves. Ohman has been decent for the Braves so far.

 

I'm disappointed in this move. I wanted to see Ascanio given more of a shot as I like his stuff.

[Tracer Bullet]

We agree there. I just don't like sending Ascanio down when he hasn't "earned" the demotion. If Hendry really doesn't believe that sending guys to AAA after a stint in the majors is deflating for them, he's fooling himself. If you don't need to do it (for performance or roster reasons), I'd prefer not to.

 

Whether or not it's deflating doesn't really matter. You can't manage a roster without sending guys back to AAA from time to time. We aren't talking about some sort of franchise player here. He's a reliever. And the Cubs felt, somewhat justifiably, that they needed a left handed arm out there. That's your roster reason.

 

Why does it matter what arm the guy throws with? I understand the Cubs' rationale, I just don't agree with it. I think it would make more sense to give Ascanio a longer look. Of course, I rarely get concerned with what hand a guy throws with or what side of the plate he hits from, whereas this seems to concern Mr. Hendry a great deal.

[RedFlash]

This is a nothing move, IMO. But I do know that during his time up, I am convince Ascanio will become a very good arm out of the bullpen for the Cubs. I love his stuff, and him and Weurtz are the reasons why they should let Howry walk. (Eyre is a different case). But it was also evident that Ascanio needed a little more seasoning at AAA. But he should be back at some point this yr.

[Guest]

blah, wait until Cotts blows the first game he gets thrown into

 

 

and there you go. watching marquis and then cotts is like water torture.

[Little Slide Rooter]

How did we get Ascanio again? I can't seem to remember.

 

We basically traded Jacque Jones for him.

 

Jacque Jones to Detroit for Omar Infante

 

Omar Infante was then spun to Atlanta for Ascanio.

 

Ah ha, thanks BbB.

 

Dont forget Will Ohman. The fact that we were able to spin Ohman and Jones into not only a valuable reliever, but saving Carlos Marmols arm from falling off by the break should be the first sin that this teams ready for good things.

[Sammy Sofa]

Cotts actualy looked decent for most of tonight. Those 2 runs came in off of a soft liner that took a bounce off of Lee's glove.

[hawkeyecub]

Cotts actualy looked decent for most of tonight. Those 2 runs came in off of a soft liner that took a bounce off of Lee's glove.

 

I didn't think his command was great (way too much of the plate when he was ahead with 2 strikes) but his stuff looked good.

[cheapseats]

 

Why does it matter what arm the guy throws with? I understand the Cubs' rationale, I just don't agree with it. I think it would make more sense to give Ascanio a longer look. Of course, I rarely get concerned with what hand a guy throws with or what side of the plate he hits from, whereas this seems to concern Mr. Hendry a great deal.

 

There's a ton of research that indicates that platoon splits are real, predictive, and persistent for both hitters and pitchers.

 

I fully endorse populating the roster with the best available players, but when it comes to bench players and bullpen pitchers, I've got no problem with Hendry adding lefties. By and large, non-starters are fungible commodities, so it makes sense to have a few players on the big league club that can take advantage of platoon splits.

[Skyballer]

Neal Cotts sucks in real life, but in MLB The Show, he's the best pitcher on my team. Back on track, he HAS been pitching well so I guess I'd like to see him in action at the majors. Kind of a meh move.

[Tracer Bullet]

 

Why does it matter what arm the guy throws with? I understand the Cubs' rationale, I just don't agree with it. I think it would make more sense to give Ascanio a longer look. Of course, I rarely get concerned with what hand a guy throws with or what side of the plate he hits from, whereas this seems to concern Mr. Hendry a great deal.

 

There's a ton of research that indicates that platoon splits are real, predictive, and persistent for both hitters and pitchers.

 

I fully endorse populating the roster with the best available players, but when it comes to bench players and bullpen pitchers, I've got no problem with Hendry adding lefties. By and large, non-starters are fungible commodities, so it makes sense to have a few players on the big league club that can take advantage of platoon splits.

 

While that may be true, you have to use those splits correctly. I don't have confidence in Lou to look beyond matching up righties v lefties, when some people have the opposite split. I also am not convinced Lou really looks into it sufficiently, otherwise Reed Johnson would never see the field against a RHP.

 

But really, if the choice is a good RHP against a righty or an average or worse LHP against a righty, I'll take the good RHP. Ascanio may not be good, but he wasn't bad enough to not be given a longer look to find out. And I don't think Cotts is good enough (despite his #s in AAA) that you HAVE to have him up right now.

[biittner77]

What this move does is give Piniella flexibility with when and how he's going to use Eyre.

 

While that may be true, you have to use those splits correctly. I don't have confidence in Lou to look beyond matching up righties v lefties, when some people have the opposite split. I also am not convinced Lou really looks into it sufficiently, otherwise Reed Johnson would never see the field against a RHP.

 

In general it seems like most managers don't pay much attention to splits beyond the obvious and often incorrect if the pitcher is LH I want a RH batter to face him.