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Banedon

By Banedon,
in Chicago Cubs Talk

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We've got a chain called Donato's that makes amazing pepperoni pizza. They put a million slices on, and the pepperoni is really crispy, which is amazing

About the best chain pizza I've ever had.

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SouthSideRyan MVP

SouthSideRyan

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random pizza musings

 

The Papa John's in my area is not bad at all. Pizza Hut is [expletive] terrible and if you can believe we don't even have a Dominos anywhere within 20 miles from where I live.

 

Luckily there's a mom and pop pizza place a mile from me that serves quality [expletive].

 

there's some good pizza in tulsa, but nothing close to us. hilariously there is a "chicago-style" pizza place a couple miles away that i've yet to try

 

I guarantee it's terrible. Every time I've had it outside of Chicago it's been a dried out mess

XZero771679666304 Knoxville Smokies

XZero771679666304

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random pizza musings

 

The Papa John's in my area is not bad at all. Pizza Hut is [expletive] terrible and if you can believe we don't even have a Dominos anywhere within 20 miles from where I live.

 

Luckily there's a mom and pop pizza place a mile from me that serves quality [expletive].

 

there's some good pizza in tulsa, but nothing close to us. hilariously there is a "chicago-style" pizza place a couple miles away that i've yet to try

 

I guarantee it's terrible. Every time I've had it outside of Chicago it's been a dried out mess

 

I've had a few outside of Chicago that were good, but by and large I think you're right.

ConstableRabbit Myrtle Beach Pelicans

ConstableRabbit

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random pizza musings

 

The Papa John's in my area is not bad at all. Pizza Hut is [expletive] terrible and if you can believe we don't even have a Dominos anywhere within 20 miles from where I live.

 

Luckily there's a mom and pop pizza place a mile from me that serves quality [expletive].

 

there's some good pizza in tulsa, but nothing close to us. hilariously there is a "chicago-style" pizza place a couple miles away that i've yet to try

 

I guarantee it's terrible. Every time I've had it outside of Chicago it's been a dried out mess

San Francisco has 2 chicago-style pizza places that I think are better than some of the places based in Chicago.

treebird All-Star

treebird

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San Francisco has 2 chicago-style pizza places that I think are better than some of the places based in Chicago.

 

what are they?

Edited by treebird
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Fangraphs fantasy piece on the Cubs bullpen from about 10 days ago

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/cubs-bullpen-not-a-joke-technically/

 

Closer

Jose Veras

 

The Cubs signed former Houston closer Jose Veras to a one-year deal over the offseason (with an option for 2015), and new Chicago skipper Rick Renteria stated earlier this month that Veras will be the team’s closer in 2014.

 

He’s on his sixth team since 2010, which seems like a bad thing, but he’s been generally good at each of those stops, posting ERAs, FIPs, xFIPS, and SIERAs between three and four each season. He’s been good, but not elite. The lone exception to that was his stint with the Astros, where he saved 19 games, with a 2.93 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 3.52 xFIP, and 3.02 SIERA.

 

The most notable change for Veras in 2013 was his significantly improved control. Somewhat of a high-wire act prior to last season (lots of strikeouts, lots of walks), Veras posted a walk rate of 8.7 percent, down nearly five percent from 2012.

 

For the first time in his career, his first strike percentage crossed 60 percent (and was 63.9 percent in his stint with the Astros) so it’s plausible that a change in approach led to better control and better results. In particular, Veras pumped more sinkers into the strike zone than ever before, going from 62.4 percent in 2012 to 68 percent in 2013 according to Texas Leaguers.

 

It’s unclear if Veras is throwing the pitch differently (both due to sample sizes and potential classification confusion between the sinker and fourseam fastball) but Texas Leaguers also shows a change in movement on Veras’ sinker last year — adding one inch in vertical movement, and losing one inch in horizontal movement. The rest of his pitches were pretty static, so it seems this is the key to watch. If he pumps sinkers into the zone and can limit his walks while maintaining his strikeout rate, he could be a very effective closer for the Cubs. If the Cubs ever win, that is.

 

 

It’s an ultimate Jekyll and Hyde scenario, as Strop’s pre and post trade splits paint pictures of completely different players. On the Orioles, he was a walk and homer machine. On the Cubs he was a downright dominating force. So, which is it? Well, small sample sizes and the fact that his pitch usage didn’t change much make it virtually impossible to say. Strop could be a bullpen ace. He also could find himself closing games for the Iowa Cubs. The fact that he’s had past success before this season-ending run with the Cubs is encouraging, but he’s gone through fits and spurts of being awesome and horrible before. We just don’t really know what to expect, as unsatisfying as that may be.

 

He’s less of a household name, but Parker was no less dominating for the Cubs than Strop. In 49 appearances with the big league club, Parker struck out 28.2 percent of the batters he faced, and walked 7.7 percent. He was an extreme flyball pitcher, though, generating just a 28.7 groundball rate, and will need to replicate last year’s 6.7 percent HR/FB% in order to maintain his strong 2013 numbers. He’ll be among the team’s top setup options to start the year, with a chance for an occasional save, or an expanded role if things break right.

 

We can be less sure about the roles of Rondon and Vizcaino, two electric but often injured players.

 

The Cubs nabbed Rondon from the Indians in the Rule V draft prior to last season, and the righty threw 54.2 innings for the club, more than his previous four seasons combined. The results were not especially encouraging (a K:BB of less than 2, and a middling ERA/FIP/xFIP/SIERA) but beggars can’t be choosers. Health was the most needed element of Rondon’s game, and he seems to have made strides there. He has the arsenal of a late inning reliever, so assuming a healthy 2014 it would not surprise to see him snag holds or saves.

 

Vizcaino hasn’t pitched since 2011, but a recent report by Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Gonzales has him hitting 98, and once again looking like the player he was as a top prospect for the Yankees and Braves. We’ll need way more than one positive report to bank on Vizcaino in 2014, but it’s a positive sign to say the least.

 

Often rumored as a trade piece, James Russell will nonetheless be back to serve as the top lefty reliever. His strikeouts and walks both went in the wrong direction last year, but it seems more like a one year blip than a trend to be concerned about. Another 19 holds are a fair expectation. As with anything not nailed down on the North side, it would not be a surprise if Russell ended the season playing elsewhere.

Proven Veteran First Round Pick

Proven Veteran

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San Francisco has 2 chicago-style pizza places that I think are better than some of the places based in Chicago.

 

what are they?

Patxi's and Little Star

 

ETA, haven't heard of Zachary's

I almost said Patxi's. Zachary's is in the east bay. I think it's the best deep dish in the bay. I'm not a huge fan of little star though.

Clem Fandango All-Star

Clem Fandango

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Cubs manager Rick Renteria said Sunday that he's looking at Starlin Castro as the team's leadoff hitter.

Castro is far from an ideal fit given his career .322 on-base percentage and lowly .284 OBP last year, but the Cubs don't really have any great options. Emilio Bonifacio figures to hit at or near the top of the order when he's in the lineup, but he's expected to fill a super utility role for now. The news doesn't really change Castro's fantasy outlook much, as he was almost surely going to bat either first or second.

treebird All-Star

treebird

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Cubs manager Rick Renteria said Sunday that he's looking at Starlin Castro as the team's leadoff hitter.

Castro is far from an ideal fit given his career .322 on-base percentage and lowly .284 OBP last year, but the Cubs don't really have any great options. Emilio Bonifacio figures to hit at or near the top of the order when he's in the lineup, but he's expected to fill a super utility role for now. The news doesn't really change Castro's fantasy outlook much, as he was almost surely going to bat either first or second.

 

i'd love to just pencil in castro-rizzo 1-2 and then not revisit the issue until the all-star break.

Cubswin11 All-Star

Cubswin11

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Posted
Posted (edited)
Cubs manager Rick Renteria said Sunday that he's looking at Starlin Castro as the team's leadoff hitter.

Castro is far from an ideal fit given his career .322 on-base percentage and lowly .284 OBP last year, but the Cubs don't really have any great options. Emilio Bonifacio figures to hit at or near the top of the order when he's in the lineup, but he's expected to fill a super utility role for now. The news doesn't really change Castro's fantasy outlook much, as he was almost surely going to bat either first or second.

 

i'd love to just pencil in castro-rizzo 1-2 and then not revisit the issue until the all-star break.

Agreed. Might as well assure those 2 get the most ab's with this train wreck of an offense over the first 100 games or so.

Edited by Cubswin11
imb MVP

imb

Old-Timey Member
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Cubs manager Rick Renteria said Sunday that he's looking at Starlin Castro as the team's leadoff hitter.

Castro is far from an ideal fit given his career .322 on-base percentage and lowly .284 OBP last year, but the Cubs don't really have any great options. Emilio Bonifacio figures to hit at or near the top of the order when he's in the lineup, but he's expected to fill a super utility role for now. The news doesn't really change Castro's fantasy outlook much, as he was almost surely going to bat either first or second.

 

i'd love to just pencil in castro-rizzo 1-2 and then not revisit the issue until the all-star break.

Agreed. Might as well assure those 2 get the most ab's with this train week of an offense over the first 100 games or so.

 

My thinking exactly. Get them as many chances to hit as possible, everyone else can eat dirt until the kids come up.

davell Chicago Cubs

davell

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http://espn.go.com/espnradio/chicago/play?id=10476439

 

Theo talks with Jesse Rogers about a number of things.

 

Addresses/acknowledges the fact that they haven't delivered on his promise of dual fronts.

 

Holy balls, Jesse, spit the question out in 50 words or fewer.

 

Epstein says they've given up on dual fronts.

 

If you don't have money to spend, you kind of have to. He keeps mentioning how he had no real idea on Chicago politics and without the renovation money, he's stuck. To me, it's easily his biggest mistake since taking over-Banking on things that have still yet to happen.

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http://espn.go.com/espnradio/chicago/play?id=10476439

 

Theo talks with Jesse Rogers about a number of things.

 

Addresses/acknowledges the fact that they haven't delivered on his promise of dual fronts.

 

Holy balls, Jesse, spit the question out in 50 words or fewer.

 

Epstein says they've given up on dual fronts.

 

If you don't have money to spend, you kind of have to. He keeps mentioning how he had no real idea on Chicago politics and without the renovation money, he's stuck. To me, it's easily his biggest mistake since taking over-Banking on things that have still yet to happen.

Is the he you're talking about Theo or Tom? Also, I really need some help here. The renovations are a mid term project without any tangible benefit until they are finished. I know about the score board, but I thought they were using that money to fund the rest of the renovations?

 

The money woes of the Cubs just don't make sense to me. I mean, how are the Ricketts going to sink sums of money they say they do not have for baseball players into renovations that require bigger sums of money?

Backtobanks Knoxville Smokies

Backtobanks

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The money woes of the Cubs just don't make sense to me. I mean, how are the Ricketts going to sink sums of money they say they do not have for baseball players into renovations that require bigger sums of money?

 

That's what I always questioned. I can't believe that anyone seriously thought the city or state was going to help when both of them are broke and have been for quite awhile.

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Patrick Mooney ‏@CSNMooney 20s

Ricketts has no regrets re: Zell's sale terms: "We’ll get through it. We’re doing the smart things that are building the future of the org."

 

I feel like this is the closest we've come to an acknowledgment/admission from Ricketts of the terms of the sale limiting the organization.

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