arizona fall league gets started...

[CubsWin]

I was using the term "arm" euphmamistically.

 

Not trying to be mean, or pick a fight, or insinuate anything, but the word "euphmamistically" makes me laugh. That is all.

It could have something to do with the fact that I spelled it wrong. :wink:

[Brian]

11/3

 

A. Guzman (SP): 5.0 IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 3K, 1HR (3.86)

 

 

1.) E. Patterson (2B): 1-3, 2BB (.273)

4.) M. Murton (LF): 1-3, RBI, K (.321)

6.) B. Sing (1B): 0-3, BB, 2K (.288)

[Laura]

Brandon Sing just got tossed from today's game by the home plate umpire. Tie game, bottom of the 9th.

 

Mesa Top 9th

Pitcher Change: Ryan Basner replaces Shawn Kohn.

Brandon Sing strikes out swinging.

Mesa Solar Sox third baseman Brandon Sing ejected by HP umpire Kevin Causey.

 

 

Sing was playing 1B all game; the 3B reference in the PBP is a mistake.

[Brian]

ump must have an itchy trigger finger.

 

 

Bottom 10TH B:0 S:0 O:0

Phoenix Desert Dogs left fielder Jarred Ball ejected by HP umpire Kevin Causey.

 

Bottom 10TH B:0 S:0 O:0

Phoenix Desert Dogs pitcher Beau Dannemiller ejected by HP umpire Kevin Causey.

[Brian]

11/4

 

4.) B. Sing (1B): 0-4, K (.268)

 

 

D. Aardsma (RP): 1.0IP (10.12)

 

 

 

fun fact. Mr. Jennie Finch was the winning pitcher for phoenix today :D

[Jon]

ump must have an itchy trigger finger.

 

 

Bottom 10TH B:0 S:0 O:0

Phoenix Desert Dogs left fielder Jarred Ball ejected by HP umpire Kevin Causey.

 

Bottom 10TH B:0 S:0 O:0

Phoenix Desert Dogs pitcher Beau Dannemiller ejected by HP umpire Kevin Causey.

I think my temper would be rather short, too, in the 10th inning of a fall league game in Arizona.

[Balsa]

Uh it says on cubs.com that

 

After picking up his first win in a three-inning relief appearance, Koronka was removed from the Solar Sox roster due to personal reasons. No replacement has been named. Koronka, originally a 12th-round draft pick in 1998 by the Cincinnati Reds organization, did not allow a run in 13 innings in the AFL.

 

WHAT? Anyone have an explanation for this? :-#

[biittner77]

Uh it says on cubs.com that

 

After picking up his first win in a three-inning relief appearance, Koronka was removed from the Solar Sox roster due to personal reasons. No replacement has been named. Koronka, originally a 12th-round draft pick in 1998 by the Cincinnati Reds organization, did not allow a run in 13 innings in the AFL.

 

WHAT? Anyone have an explanation for this? :-#

 

Cubs wanted to get him out of there before he got lit up so they could trade him? Maybe they saw what they needed to see to make their decision.

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

Uh it says on cubs.com that

 

After picking up his first win in a three-inning relief appearance, Koronka was removed from the Solar Sox roster due to personal reasons. No replacement has been named. Koronka, originally a 12th-round draft pick in 1998 by the Cincinnati Reds organization, did not allow a run in 13 innings in the AFL.

 

WHAT? Anyone have an explanation for this? :-#

 

Cubs wanted to get him out of there before he got lit up so they could trade him? Maybe they saw what they needed to see to make their decision.

 

...or he had a family emergency he needed to see to.

[Balsa]

Uh it says on cubs.com that

 

After picking up his first win in a three-inning relief appearance, Koronka was removed from the Solar Sox roster due to personal reasons. No replacement has been named. Koronka, originally a 12th-round draft pick in 1998 by the Cincinnati Reds organization, did not allow a run in 13 innings in the AFL.

 

WHAT? Anyone have an explanation for this? :-#

 

Cubs wanted to get him out of there before he got lit up so they could trade him? Maybe they saw what they needed to see to make their decision.

That doesn't sound like personal reasons.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

To me it doesn't really matter. Koronka is terrible, he doesn't belong on our roster. 13 AFL innings don't change what he's proven over 936 minor league IP.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

All it says at the AFL site is: "November 1: RHP (?) John Koronka from the Chicago Cubs organization has been pulled due to personal reasons. No replacement has been named."

[craig]

To me it doesn't really matter. Koronka is terrible, he doesn't belong on our roster. 13 AFL innings don't change what he's proven over 936 minor league IP.

 

I'm going to respectfully disagree. I think Koronka has a chance to provide some service to the Cubs. Some players improve, and he has done so over each of the last several seasons. He's better now in AFL than he was during the year; he was better this year than last; last year than the year before. His ERA the last two seasons in the inflationary PCL were 4.24 and 4.34. Not thrilling, but hardly "terrible". Mitre, who's been highly regarded by many on these boards, had a higher 4.33 ERA thiis year. Zambrano's ERA's in the PCL were up around 4, not much better than Koronka's.

 

I'm not saying Koronka has any chance to be an excellent major league pitcher, or much chance to even be average. But sometimes having a somewhat-below-average player is a lot better than having a terribly-terrible player.

 

Koronka hasn't been that far off from being a servicable player. Not so far off, IMO, that with some improvement he might become one. Probable? No. But possible, yes.

 

I was surprised how hard he threw with the Cubs, regularly in the 90's. We've often seen situations where a guy throwing rotation has his arm tired a bit after regular rotation work, and perhaps also needs to pace himself a little. It's not at all exceptional for a rotation pitcher to pick up 1-3 mph when he moves to relief, when he's throwing with all he's got for 1-2 innings, and when he's psyched to the max for the pitches he throws. In relief, I think it's possible that Koronka would be regularly in the 90-94 mph range. His change isn't bad. It wouldn't take too much refinement of his curveball for that to become a more useful K-pitch.

 

Given the very mediocre standard for lefty relievers, I don't think it's that much of a stretch to see Koronka possibly evolving into a decent lefty reliever. No, not a great one, or a thriller, or a big stud guy. But instead of spending $2 on Guthrie or $12 on Remlinger, I think it's possible that Koronka might be a guy who can do a better job at minimum wage, in the not distant future. Probable? No. But possible enough to give the possibility consideration.

 

It wouldn't surprise me at all if in 2013 Koronka has a well-established big-league career as a 2nd lefty reliever, and when we look back we see guys we had much higher hopes for (Mitre? Wellemeyer? Leiecester?) never made a mark.

 

I'm not saying Koronka is very good or very likely to establish a career, or is a better prospect than Mitre or Wellemeyer or Sisco or Pinto. But he's not so much worse that it would surprise me if he ended up having more long-term success?

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Well stated Craig, and I would add even more forcefully that I think more of Koronka than Mitre and Wellemeyer, both of whom are hopeless IMO. You'll never make a difference at the big league level if you can't progress every year at the minor league level, and Mitre and Wellemeyer are simply incapable of getting over the hump, after multiple tries and multiple opportunities. They are no longer legitimate prospects, and much as it pains me to say (particularly in Welly's case), they have become organizational filler. You might think that harsh, but put yourself in the shoes of any team OTHER THAN the Cubs--would YOU be interested in Welly or Mitre? Would you trade anything of value for them? No? Then that's the definition of "organizational filler."

 

Koronka has the advantage of being a lefty and showing progress. I don't think the Cubs will keep him because his ceiling is low, but he has value. I'd be surprised if he weren't part of a trade package this winter. It would also free up a valuable 40-man roster spot to protect someone younger, with a higher ceiling, that the Cubs want to keep--like Ryu or Marshall, for example.

[mg420]

To me it doesn't really matter. Koronka is terrible, he doesn't belong on our roster. 13 AFL innings don't change what he's proven over 936 minor league IP.

 

how many ab's did jeff bagwell have in the minors to prove he couldn't hit for power?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

To me it doesn't really matter. Koronka is terrible, he doesn't belong on our roster. 13 AFL innings don't change what he's proven over 936 minor league IP.

 

how many ab's did jeff bagwell have in the minors to prove he couldn't hit for power?

 

Well, I guess you could bring up the one exception when there are hundreds of examples otherwise.

 

Koronka had the best season of his career that was on par with one of Mitre's worst, and he's a year older than Mitre. I'd be really interested to see what Koronka's GB/FB ratio is. Because if he doesn't get ground balls, then there's not much hope for sustained success, since he doesn't K a lot of guys, and has pedestrian stuff.

 

EDIT: Bagwell only had 731 AB's total in the minors, that's not much at all for an entire minor league career.

[mg420]

To me it doesn't really matter. Koronka is terrible, he doesn't belong on our roster. 13 AFL innings don't change what he's proven over 936 minor league IP.

 

how many ab's did jeff bagwell have in the minors to prove he couldn't hit for power?

 

Well, I guess you could bring up the one exception when there are hundreds of examples otherwise.

 

Koronka had the best season of his career that was on par with one of Mitre's worst, and he's a year older than Mitre. I'd be really interested to see what Koronka's GB/FB ratio is. Because if he doesn't get ground balls, then there's not much hope for sustained success, since he doesn't K a lot of guys, and has pedestrian stuff.

 

EDIT: Bagwell only had 731 AB's total in the minors, that's not much at all for an entire minor league career.

 

actually he is just the first one off the top of my head. guys like moyer & tewksberry were horrible in the majors until they were in their late 20's. ryan sandberg didnt have a spectacular minor leauge career either but he did pretty well in his major leauge career. i bet albert puljos didnt have any where near his major leauge #'s in his minor leauge career. how did randy johnson do in the minors? there are also alot of guys with great minor leauge #'s who never do anything in the bigs so it goes both ways.

Edited November 5, 2005 by mg420

[Transmogrified Tiger]

To me it doesn't really matter. Koronka is terrible, he doesn't belong on our roster. 13 AFL innings don't change what he's proven over 936 minor league IP.

 

how many ab's did jeff bagwell have in the minors to prove he couldn't hit for power?

 

Well, I guess you could bring up the one exception when there are hundreds of examples otherwise.

 

Koronka had the best season of his career that was on par with one of Mitre's worst, and he's a year older than Mitre. I'd be really interested to see what Koronka's GB/FB ratio is. Because if he doesn't get ground balls, then there's not much hope for sustained success, since he doesn't K a lot of guys, and has pedestrian stuff.

 

EDIT: Bagwell only had 731 AB's total in the minors, that's not much at all for an entire minor league career.

 

actually he is just the first one off the top of my head. guys like moyer & tewksberry were horrible in the majors until they were in their late 20's. ryan sandberd didnt have a spectacular minor leauge career either but he did pretty well in his major leauge career. i bet albert puljos didnt have any where near his major leauge #'s in his minor leauge career.

 

Pujols had a .921 Minor League OPS reaching every level before age 21. Both Moyer and Tewksbury had good to great minor league numbers. I don't understand why we're trying to make Koronka out to be the exception to the rule here. He hasn't impressed at any level, he's 25, he doesn't have great stuff, and he was terrible in his short stint in the big leagues.

 

EDIT: Sandberg's minor league numbers are pretty similar to his career numbers, and like Pujols he did it at a very young age.

[Brian]

11/5

 

1.) E. Patterson (2B): 2-5, K (.282)

5.) M. Murton (LF): 0-3, 2BB, SB (3), CS (1) (.310)

9.) B. Coats (CF): 1-4, K (.296)

[Joe_Cub]

11/4

 

4.) B. Sing (1B): 0-4, K (.268)

 

 

Man oh man what happened to Sing?

[don_kessinger_was_good]

11/4

 

4.) B. Sing (1B): 0-4, K (.268)

 

 

Man oh man what happened to Sing?

 

No big deal, Sing isn't a serious prospect. Like David Kelton and Micah Hoffpauir before him, Sing is one of those marginal guys that puts together some good seasons in the low to mid minors and fools you into thinking he's a legitimate prospect. In reality, his ceiling is as a bench player in the big leagues, and those guys are a dime a dozen.

 

He seems like a nice kid though and is from Joliet, so I hope he makes it, but I'm not on pins and needles waiting to find out.

[CuseCubFan69]

11/5

 

1.) E. Patterson (2B): 2-5, K (.282)

5.) M. Murton (LF): 0-3, 2BB, SB (3), CS (1) (.310)

9.) B. Coats (CF): 1-4, K (.296)

 

My cyber money says that Murton is tired. I wish these games were on TV.

[Brian]

11/5

 

1.) E. Patterson (2B): 2-5, K (.282)

5.) M. Murton (LF): 0-3, 2BB, SB (3), CS (1) (.310)

9.) B. Coats (CF): 1-4, K (.296)

 

My cyber money says that Murton is tired. I wish these games were on TV.

 

yup, if they are serious about him starting in left next season I think it's time to send him home.

[Brian]

10/7

 

1.) E Patterson (2B): 4-6, RBI, 2K, SB (.312)

3.)B. Coats (CF): 0-1, RBI sac fly (.286)

4.) M. Murton (LF): 4-4, 2RBI (.344)

5.) B. Sing (DH): 2-6, 2B, 2K (.274)

 

D. Aardsma (RP): 1.0IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, K (10.04)

 

Aardsma gave up the only run in the 17-1 victory for Mesa, and gave up 2 of the 5 hits.

Edited November 8, 2005 by Brian

[Neuby]

11/5

 

1.) E. Patterson (2B): 2-5, K (.282)

5.) M. Murton (LF): 0-3, 2BB, SB (3), CS (1) (.310)

9.) B. Coats (CF): 1-4, K (.296)

 

My cyber money says that Murton is tired. I wish these games were on TV.

 

With Murtons 4-4 today I bet your glad your betting with Cyber money :lol: