TruffleShuffle

he's rakin' baby... OPS over 1.100 in May

2 triples on the night :shock: If the gamecast is accurate, it doesn't look like the second one missed being a homer to dead center. 3-5 with 2 runs and 4 RBI; OPS up to .913.

I-Cobs! :shock: :shock: :shock: * Pitcher Change: Steven Rowe replaces John Rheinecker. * Scott Moore triples (1) on a line drive to left fielder Jason Botts. * Eric Patterson singles on a ground ball to left fielder Jason Botts. Scott Moore scores. * Ronny Cedeno doubles (4) on a line drive to left fielder Jason Botts. Eric Patterson to 3rd. * Coaching visit to mound. * Mike Fontenot walks. * Mike Kinkade singles on a ground ball to right fielder Kevin West. Eric Patterson scores. Ronny Cedeno scores. Mike Fontenot to 2nd. * Geovany Soto homers (4) on a fly ball to right field. Mike Fontenot scores. Mike Kinkade scores. * Pitcher Change: Randy Williams replaces Steven Rowe. * Koyie Hill doubles (11) on a line drive to center fielder Freddy Guzman. * Buck Coats singles on a ground ball to third baseman Desi Relaford. * Micah Hoffpauir flies out to right fielder Kevin West. * Scott Moore pops out to third baseman Desi Relaford in foul territory. * Eric Patterson triples (3) on a line drive to left fielder Jason Botts. Koyie Hill scores. Buck Coats scores. * Ronny Cedeno singles on a line drive to right fielder Kevin West. Eric Patterson scores. * Pitcher Change: Steven Rowe replaces John Rheinecker. * Scott Moore triples (1) on a line drive to left fielder Jason Botts. * Eric Patterson singles on a ground ball to left fielder Jason Botts. Scott Moore scores. * Ronny Cedeno doubles (4) on a line drive to left fielder Jason Botts. Eric Patterson to 3rd. * Coaching visit to mound. * Mike Fontenot walks. * Mike Kinkade singles on a ground ball to right fielder Kevin West. Eric Patterson scores. Ronny Cedeno scores. Mike Fontenot to 2nd. * Geovany Soto homers (4) on a fly ball to right field. Mike Fontenot scores. Mike Kinkade scores. * Pitcher Change: Randy Williams replaces Steven Rowe. * Koyie Hill doubles (11) on a line drive to center fielder Freddy Guzman. * Buck Coats singles on a ground ball to third baseman Desi Relaford. * Micah Hoffpauir flies out to right fielder Kevin West. * Scott Moore pops out to third baseman Desi Relaford in foul territory. * Eric Patterson triples (3) on a line drive to left fielder Jason Botts. Koyie Hill scores. Buck Coats scores. * Ronny Cedeno singles on a line drive to right fielder Kevin West. Eric Patterson scores. * Mike Fontenot singles on a line drive to right fielder Kevin West. Ronny Cedeno to second. * Mike Kincade flies out to left fielder Jason Botts.

You need a new league. actually this league is generally quite knowledgable, but there are one or two people who are impatient. I don't think it's terrible that Lowell was a FA; his numbers were nothing special last year.

winning streak? hell no. 5-2 dodgers.

Why not get into a deal with the DRays. bring back Longoria, Niemann, and anyone of their young outfielders. Longoria was a ss for a while also. D-Rays have a team payroll of $24M this year... Z is making about half that. He's going to want way more than they could hope to pay him, and they're not in contention this year, so there's no reason for a rental. And lastly, they wouldn't trade perhaps the best hitting prospect in baseball for Zambrano, let alone trade him with two other valuable players.

Peoria has apparently been PPD.

God-awful outing for Veal... 3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 2 HR allowed.

sorry in my anger, i didnt add the BBs in for PAs. You are correct. And i wouldnt advocate any of the pitchers you mentioned coming in serious situations. Well isn't Eyre a much bigger problem than Ohman? His OBPA, SLGA and WHIP were significantly worse last year than Ohman, and he's been so bad this year that he can't be used in any situations where the game is even somewhat in doubt. Ohman is effective if used properly; he pitched 65 innings last year and was pretty good - great against LHB and about average against RHB. There's a place in the bullpen for a pitcher like that.

Ah, good point in checking the numbers of LuGo versus Dempster. I guess Lou knew what he was doing after all. Still, I object to the number of times that Ohman has been put in to face a decent lefty, while an obvious pinch hit situation is in place. It makes a lot more sense to use him against very good LH batters who won't be pinch hit for, or at the start of an inning when two of the next three batters coming up are lefties.

might want to check that math, pythagoras. His OBPA is .304, which unfortunately for your poorly-formulated argument is worse than three members of the Cubs' bullpen (Howry, Guzman, Eyre) and is only .005 worse than everybody's savior, Michael Wuertz.

silly. so i guess Lou can only use Ohman when his psychic or ouiji board tell him that the other manager isnt going to pinch hit. So the situation to use Ohman now is day games only, with 1 man on not in scoring position, lefty coming to the plate and the opposing manager wont let pinch hit for him. Good to have him available just in that case. :roll: Wrong. :roll: There was righthanded hitter in the opposing dugout who is a better hitter than the guy at the plate. Kent has a 311/394/518/912 line against LHP the past three years, and has been hot, with a 1.531 OPS in the past week. On the other hand, Gonzalez has a 272/369/473/842 line against RHP from 2004-06, and has been even worse than that in 2006 and the first part of 2007. Being as it's obviously a key situation in the game, do you want your closer pitching against Luis Gonzalez, or Ohman pitching against Jeff Kent? Anybody with half a brain (apparently this doesn't include Lou Piniella) knew that Kent would hit for Gonzalez there, so you're weighing those two options. I'd prefer Dempster against the weaker hitter, and so would anybody with an ounce of common sense.

Time to bring 'em back! Kudos to iceblink for his idea last year... this year I'll update the standings weekly, then more frequently toward the end of the season as the chase really heats up! Team L-W L% GB L10 Exp L-W -------------------------------------------------- Cincinnati 31-18 .633 --- 7-3 27-22 Texas 30-18 .625 0.5 7-3 27-21 Kansas City 30-19 .612 1.0 4-6 30-19 Tampa Bay 28-19 .596 2.0 6-4 30-17 Washington 29-20 .592 2.0 3-7 31-18 St. Louis 26-19 .578 3.0 6-4 29-16 Pittsburgh 27-20 .574 3.0 7-3 27-20 Colorado 27-21 .562 3.5 5-5 30-18 Houston 27-21 .562 3.5 8-2 28-20 Baltimore 27-21 .562 3.5 7-3 26-21 NY Yankees 26-21 .553 4.0 6-4 21-26 Toronto 26-21 .553 4.0 4-6 24-23 Chi. Cubs 25-22 .532 5.0 6-4 20-27 So far, the chase for the #1 pick (a.k.a. Pedro Alvarez) is hotly contested. Cincinnati does not have a huge RS-RA deficit, but they've shown that they know how to lose the close ones. With some pretty good starters, a deep (though average) bullpen and a solid offense, I'd expect them to start to fall in the standings as we head on through the summer. Texas is another team that has managed to lose the close ones, outperforming their expected L-W by a solid three games. Their pitching -- not exactly an organizational strength -- has been horrid again this year, with a league-low 17 quality starts in 48 games, and the second-worst ERA in baseball. Still, the offense is potent enough that this team may struggle to stay near the top of the rankings. Next up are three teams that really know how to compete in the Fecal League - Kansas City, Tampa Bay and Washington. On paper, Washington may have the "best" team in baseball, but their recent play (only three losses in their last ten games) is a bit concerning. Still, they're my pick to capture the FL crown. Meanwhile, KC and TB have a good deal of young talent, but overall their teams are probably too green behind the ears. They should be big factors in the race this summer. Pittsburgh and Colorado are certainly no strangers to the Fecal League. The Pirates started out fairly poorly, but are on a solid 7-3 run in their last ten. The talent on their roster might be a little much to expect a higher finish than last year's 4th place. Colorado has also proven to be inept from the mound, though with hitters like Holliday, Hawpe, Helton and others with last names not beginning with "H", their great pitching may not be able to overcome their mediocre hitting. It's a delight to see the Cardinals in the FL chase throught the first 50 games of the season. In typical Cardinal fashion, they've lost fewer games than their expected loss total. It's not hard to see why this aging roster is struggling, but chances are that the Cardinals will simply be too lucky to lose enough to stay in the thick of the race. Houston is showing potential, as their 8-2 record in the last ten games has sent them shooting up the FL standings. The roster certainly does not have the talent that it had in past years, with Clemens, Pettitte and Beltran having moved on. If the young talent like Hunter Pence, Luke Scott, Wandy Rodriguez, Chris Sampson and Matt Albers prove that they aren't ready for the bigs, this team could certainly be a contender. Baltimore and Toronto - who really cares. They'll probably be middling teams that finish around 10th. In fact, I'd expect clubs like the Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners to make a better run at the top 5. Then we get to our two most overachieving teams, the Cubs and Yankees. Each squad has an impressive five losses over the expected amount, suggesting bullpen incompetence and a know-how to lose. Given the amount of talent on the Yanks and their obscene $190M payroll, as well as the knee-jerk ownership of Big Stein, it would be a shock if the Yankees even a top 15 finisher in the FL standings. The Cubs, on the other hand, are no stranger to losing, but this year's roster has a deeper starting rotation and upgrades at some of the offensive positions. Unless the Cubs are ravaged by injuries, I wouldn't expect them to finish too highly in the FL standings. Stay tuned throughout the summer as the contenders are separated from the pretenders! It should be another race down to the wire.

locate that fastball, rich

You win. Gm# Date Opponent Score Starter Opp Starter 47 Sat 05/26 @ Los Angeles 4- 2 Zambrano Hendrickson 48 Sun 05/27 @ Los Angeles - Hill Tomko 49 Mon 05/28 Florida - Marshall Nolasco 50 Tue 05/29 Florida N - Marquis Willis 51 Wed 05/30 Florida N - Lilly Mitre 52 Fri 06/01 Atlanta - Zambrano Redman sweet, if no rainouts and everyone stays healthy, then i get to see rich hill in atlanta on 6/7!

and in what is becoming typical lou style, he wasn't even used in the right way.

This makes no sense. A new owner is going to come in and slash payroll by at least $20M? For what purpose, to alienate the fans of the team that was just purchased? The Cubs sell out most games and have big media deals; they're not going to shrink their payroll into the territory into the area of a team like the Blue Jays or A's. I understand your role on this board is as unbridled pessimist, but at least try to make some sense while playing this role.

no way!!! i was waiting for the juan pierre walkoff granny.

mike friggin lieberthal? that guy hasn't been good for 5 years.

the cubs can make anything difficult

boy am i surprised that the cubs offense scored a couple of early runs and then mailed it in for the rest of the game. that's rare.

I'd hardly call Wuertz-Dempster "automatic"

blanco friggin sucks... good job signing him to a two-year, $5.5M deal, jim. I'd hate to have better offense from Soto at 15% of the cost.

hey ohman faced one batter today with the bases loaded and got him out.... i guess he's awesome now.

despite lou's best efforts, cubs still have a two run lead.