4-12-10 postgame thread: Chicks dig the longball!

[ConstableRabbit]

Tom Ricketts was walking the bleachers concourse during the game, and I got to stop and say hi. It was pretty cool to see... seems like he really cares about the team and the fan experience. Pleasant teeth, great smell -- a class act all the way.

[CubmanPi]

"I'd just like to congratulate you on all your success. You smell terrific!"

[17 Seconds]

(and that Milwaukee team is a mess even with Casey '"ex-Cub" McGehee starting out strong). Let's see what he does with another weak offense in Houston this weekend.

 

milwaukee's offense hasn't been bad so far. they've been average.

[SouthSideRyan]

(and that Milwaukee team is a mess even with Casey '"ex-Cub" McGehee starting out strong). Let's see what he does with another weak offense in Houston this weekend.

 

milwaukee's offense hasn't been bad so far. they've been average.

 

Atlanta's offense isn't bad either, and Dempster owned them

[Careless]

I like winning!

 

I like winning. I hate Dempster. I hate the contract he signed after 08. He’s really nothing more than a slightly above average pitcher whose career year in 08 outwitted Lou the Great (not a hard thing to do) into not using his best pitcher over the course of September AT ALL during the playoffs.

 

To a left-handed batter, Dempster is nothing but a drum. His five year numbers going from 09 back thru 05:

BAA- .281/.243/.259/.310/.278

WHIP – 1.55/1.29/1.53/1.97/1.97

 

For his career (over 1600 IP, not a small sample size) his BAA/WHIP against lefties is .281/1.73.

 

I’m sure Dempster apologists will say he was just coming back from the injury in 05 and 06, but he’s not nor ever will be an elite pitcher. When he struggles with his command against lefties, he’s no more than mediocre. Given his track record, his career year in 08 is understandable since it’s about the only time he’s ever been half competent against them.

 

Props to Byrd for having a nice day in front of the home fans on his first try. If your $10 mil pitcher can't hold a 4 run lead for 2 innings, why is he on the team as a reliever?

If this guy and Dempster's mother touched, they would instantly be converted into energy.

[Sammy Sofa]

Wow, the Dempster rant is so random and out of nowhere. So bizarre.

[CubbieBum]

Wow, the Dempster rant is so random and out of nowhere. So bizarre.

 

This post reminds me of OMC. How bizarre. Oooo baby. It's making me crazy to be honest. Every time I look at this thread it's in my face.

[CubInOK]

Fire everybody and trade all the bums.

[BCVM22]

http://home.comcast.net/~bcvm22/cubs/4122010.mp3

[illiniguy]

Yeah, there are lots of guys to go off on before Dempster. That was a weird one.

If only we had some cowardly mods who would delete anything bad said about any of our players or coaches, where could we find a mod like that? Oh wait...

[Guest]

Yeah, there are lots of guys to go off on before Dempster. That was a weird one.

If only we had some cowardly mods who would delete anything bad said about any of our players or coaches, where could we find a mod like that? Oh wait...

 

Please don't clutter this thread with IB drama.

[illiniguy]

Yeah, there are lots of guys to go off on before Dempster. That was a weird one.

If only we had some cowardly mods who would delete anything bad said about any of our players or coaches, where could we find a mod like that? Oh wait...

 

Please don't clutter this thread with IB drama.

Sorry. It was a good win, I would pulled Dempster an inning sooner though.

[swordsman]

I believe the title of this thread is an implicit promise of chicks being in the thread and there are none.

 

I feel duped.

[Eephus Speed]

Thought Len was a little over the top with his Cardinals are stacked rhetoric, has he taken a close look at their pitching staff? It's pretty damn far from stacked.

 

Just wait until the schedule shifts and the back 3 in their rotation catch a good team. The Cardinals right now are the best team in the central but they are far from a lock. If either Gorz or Silva continues to pitch well the Cubs rotation will be deeper than anyone in the central.

 

We're 44-22 since the start of last season in games started by Carpenter or Wainwright. We're 40-16 in Wainwright's starts dating back to the start of the 2008 season. Those 2 provide a pretty big safety net. The back 3 are fine. Penny and Lohse are league average, and Garcia is a very talented youngster. As a Cardinals fan, I'm not worried about effectiveness. Health is my only concern.

 

Our bullpen is more iffy. Franklin (with his flukishly low HR/FB%) and Hawksworth (very low BABIP) are probably not going to get nearly as lucky as they did in '09, though anything is possible when you're talking about a measly 50 or 60 innings. Brad Thompson's departure, on the other hand, is addition by subtraction.

 

Having a strong defense (Molina, Ryan, Rasmus, Pujols, etc.) and a groundball staff helps a lot. Not to mention an offense that should be quite a bit better than it was last year.

 

But are we a lock? Of course not. I do think, though, that the Cardinals (along with the Phillies) are in a pretty comfortable situation.

[17 Seconds]

I wouldn't put them with the Phillies in that sense

[Eephus Speed]

With Blanton (and now Rollins) out, and the Braves being stronger than the Cubs/Reds/Brewers, I think it's fair to say the Phillies are - at the very least - no more of a favorite to win the NL East than the Cardinals are to win the NL Central.

 

And then there's the wild (NL) West, where every team but San Diego has a chance.

 

I don't think there's a clear favorite in any of the AL divisions.

[SouthSideRyan]

No team in the NL is close to the Phillies

[Eephus Speed]

No team in the NL is close to the Phillies

 

Well, I'd argue that the Cardinals are. I rank the Phillies #1 and the Cardinals a fairly close #2...and I think there's a pretty big drop-off after that.

 

But that's a different discussion. What I was saying is that the Cardinals have about as good of a chance of winning the NL Central as the Phillies have of winning the NL East. I don't think any of the other 4 divisions have a clear favorite (of course, 2nd place in the AL East will still get you into the postseason).

[17 Seconds]

No team in the NL is close to the Phillies

 

Well, I'd argue that the Cardinals are. I rank the Phillies #1 and the Cardinals a fairly close #2...and I think there's a pretty big drop-off after that.

 

But that's a different discussion. What I was saying is that the Cardinals have about as good of a chance of winning the NL Central as the Phillies have of winning the NL East. I don't think any of the other 4 divisions have a clear favorite (of course, 2nd place in the AL East will still get you into the postseason).

 

how many very good players do the cardinals have? 4? the cards are pretty much carp/wainwright/pujols/holliday and then a bunch of filler (though rasmus is looking pretty good so far).

 

the phillies look pretty stacked to me.

[XZero771679666304]

No team in the NL is close to the Phillies

 

Well, I'd argue that the Cardinals are. I rank the Phillies #1 and the Cardinals a fairly close #2...and I think there's a pretty big drop-off after that.

 

But that's a different discussion. What I was saying is that the Cardinals have about as good of a chance of winning the NL Central as the Phillies have of winning the NL East. I don't think any of the other 4 divisions have a clear favorite (of course, 2nd place in the AL East will still get you into the postseason).

 

how many very good players do the cardinals have? 4? the cards are pretty much carp/wainwright/pujols/holliday and then a bunch of filler (though rasmus is looking pretty good so far).

 

the phillies look pretty stacked to me.

 

Yeah, on paper the Phils' roster is pretty convincingly better than the Cardinals'.

[Eephus Speed]

Bear in mind that Ibanez and Happ are both expected to regress quite a bit.

 

CHONE's preseason WAR projections for each team's starting 8 were as follows:

 

Molina: 3.5, Ruiz: 2.4

Pujols: 7.2, Howard: 4.4

Schumaker: 1.6, Utley: 6.1

Freese: 1.8, Polanco: 3.0

Ryan: 2.7, Rollins: 3.8 (but he's headed to the DL)

Holliday: 4.9, Ibanez: 2.0

Rasmus: 3.4, Victorino: 2.9

Ludwick: 2.0, Werth: 3.2

 

Total: 27.1 for STL, 27.8 for PHI

 

CHONE didn't do WAR projections for pitchers. With regression expected from Happ and Blanton out for a bit, I like our rotation just a bit more...even though Halladay is better than anyone on our staff.

 

Bullpens and benches are pretty tough to project.

[Guest]

I'll take the under on 10 WAR out of Rasmus, Ryan, Ludwick, and Freese.

[Eephus Speed]

10 seems about right to me. I expect Ryan to be worth a little less than projected, and Rasmus to be worth a little more. The projections for Ludwick and Freese are reasonable. Of course, all I really want from Freese, Lopez and Co. is more production than we got from Thurston and Co. in 2009...and that's not asking for much.

 

FWIW, I do think the projection for Werth should be higher (the playing time projection, based on his history, is rather low).

[illiniguy]

I don't think there is any way that Carpenter makes it through this whole year as healthy and good as he was last year.

[Andy]

I don't think there is any way that Carpenter makes it through this whole year as healthy and good as he was last year.

I didn't think there was last year.