CubinNY

Rocky Cherry has some good stuff according to the announcers. I wonder what it tastes like rocky or cherry? Cubs win and Mariners winless.

I don't understand this grouping. Is that Carlos Guillen? He's hit .300 plus for three straight years. And while he's no threat to the HR record, I wouldn't say he's got no power. Similarly, Bellhorn wasn't devoid of power either. Juan Pierre has no power. Neifi Perez has very little power. But Bellhorn certainly has (had?) some. I admittedly didn't dig too deep when siting examples, I guess very little power? Bellhorn has 69 HRS in 2,400 PAs (27 of those came in one year with the Cubs).

I'm not sure how it proves anything like that-anybody can be taught to take more walks at the expense of some of their hits. What San Diego is trying to do is instill plate discipline and make their hitters better, which I don't think this evidence has any proof for that at all. Edit: I do think plate discipline to a point is learned (some of it is natural, and some of it can be improved)-but this shows me very little except that they pushed their hitters to take more pitchers, which in a couple leagues caused high walks, high SO's, and very low AVG and SLG. That's not true at all. The high strike outs, low average, and slugging are independent of plate discipline. It shows how bad some of the players are in their system. Adam Dunn has high strikes, low average and great slugging. I can't agree with the bolded statement. While I in no way believe that lower AVG and SLG numbers are the result of their more patient approach at the plate (it probably has a lot to do with a lack of talent, by and large), they are definitely not independent of one another. They're all linked pretty closely as the result of a general approach at the plate. My only reply is that you can teach Ronny Cedeno to be more patient at the plate, yet he will never be able to slug like A-Rod. How do you account for the Adam Dunns and Mark Bellhorns of MLB? I'm not sure what you're asking. Adam Dunn's and Bellhorn's (or any ballplayer's) abilities are all the result of their approaches at the plate and their world class hand-eye coordination. Obviously, Ronny's slugging (or his patience or his overall hitting ability) will never be at ARod's level. That doesn't make SLG independent from OBP or from batting average or even strikeouts, and certainly not from the hitter's actual approach to batting. They're all intertwined (to varying degrees) and are all the result of what the hitter is doing up there at the plate. Dunn's numbers are a result of an incredibly powerful swing, a very patient approach at the plate (both of which could lead to strikeouts), and an assload of hitting talent. I'm not being clear. There are hitters who are patient but with no power and low batting average (Bellhorne, Hattiberg, C. Guillen) There are hitters who are patient with lots of power and low batting average (Dunn, Burrell, Youklis) There are hitters who are patient with lots of pwer and high batting averges. (Pujols, Bonds, Howard) There are hitters with little patience, no power and low batting average (Neifi, Izturis) (but not many) There are hitters with little patience lots of power and low batting average (Kingman, Soriano, Monroe, Francouer) There are hitters with little patience lots of power and high batting averag (Vlad, Aramis, LaRoche) What I am saying is that SLG and AVE are independent of patience. The best players combine all three and that's why we call them the best. Having patience at the plate does not automatically make a player a better hitter.

I knew this would happen. The NY media love to get into speculation. I'd love A-Rod but don't see it happening.

I'm not sure how it proves anything like that-anybody can be taught to take more walks at the expense of some of their hits. What San Diego is trying to do is instill plate discipline and make their hitters better, which I don't think this evidence has any proof for that at all. Edit: I do think plate discipline to a point is learned (some of it is natural, and some of it can be improved)-but this shows me very little except that they pushed their hitters to take more pitchers, which in a couple leagues caused high walks, high SO's, and very low AVG and SLG. That's not true at all. The high strike outs, low average, and slugging are independent of plate discipline. It shows how bad some of the players are in their system. Adam Dunn has high strikes, low average and great slugging. I can't agree with the bolded statement. While I in no way believe that lower AVG and SLG numbers are the result of their more patient approach at the plate (it probably has a lot to do with a lack of talent, by and large), they are definitely not independent of one another. They're all linked pretty closely as the result of a general approach at the plate. My only reply is that you can teach Ronny Cedeno to be more patient at the plate, yet he will never be able to slug like A-Rod. How do you account for the Adam Dunns and Mark Bellhorns of MLB?

I'm not sure how it proves anything like that-anybody can be taught to take more walks at the expense of some of their hits. What San Diego is trying to do is instill plate discipline and make their hitters better, which I don't think this evidence has any proof for that at all. Edit: I do think plate discipline to a point is learned (some of it is natural, and some of it can be improved)-but this shows me very little except that they pushed their hitters to take more pitchers, which in a couple leagues caused high walks, high SO's, and very low AVG and SLG. That's not true at all. The high strike outs, low average, and slugging are independent of plate discipline. It shows how bad some of the players are in their system. Adam Dunn has high strikes, low average and great slugging.

Obviously I think plate discipline can be learend, however the data are far from conclusive. Because the Pads minor leagures were very bad the previous year any improvement last year could be attributed to regression toward the mean. The important thing is sustainability. If these guys can sustain the righer rates then we have more data. Yet the rates sitll aren't that much above average. I'd like to see some real sustained improvement above the mean before I'd draw any conclusions.

The records of minor league of teams don't matter. 90% of those guys won't make it to the big leagues.

Nice article from Bruce, regarding Lou's temper and the play of the Cubs. There are some good quotes from Lou. http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp?id=287509 So far Lou is nothing like Dusty.

This is from Phil Rogers Column in the Trib Those data are from last year. I will be interested to see if they can be repeated this year.

It seemed like his walk rate was going up until Dusty came along. He basically had one semi-decent year under Joshua. Even when he went off in Winter ball last year he never walked. Dusty's philosphy may have been coincedentially related to Ronny making the big club. Ronny is a pretty free swinging player. Which season are you referring to with Joshua? He was with Von in 2004 (.279/.328/.401). He had better seasons without Von in 2001 in Mesa (.350/.398/.466) and 2005 in Iowa (.355/.403/.518). I was referring to 2005 and I though Jusha was the hitting coach. I really don't consider Mesa numbers important and 2004 were just ok. -------- Edit: Upon futher reflection, I was referring to 2004 but it looks like 2004 and 2005 are about the same. IsoD .49

It seemed like his walk rate was going up until Dusty came along. He basically had one semi-decent year under Joshua. Even when he went off in Winter ball last year he never walked. Dusty's philosphy may have been coincedentially related to Ronny making the big club. Ronny is a pretty free swinging player.

Stay calm people, The sucks aren't going to be playing for the big club come April.

Man, if Ryan Harvey would just learn the strike zone he would be something special. It's not too late, let's hope a light turns on. BTW> This should be moved to minors.

Not only are you in the mix, but you can inexplicably throw out 11 more wins in the playoffs and win it all! It's f'in great! yay luck go.to.hell. Love the signature

Len and Bob :) Love that shirt "You can put it on mute... Yes!"

The Stepford wives were drugged up and showed little emotion. I agree with Rob, he is saying all the right things, hopefullly he does them too. Doesn't that make it a correct analogy? He's saying "I like some emotional players on my team. You can't have 25 zombies out there. You need a combination of personalities." Yes that does make it correct. That's what I figured he meant. BTW anybody can see a video clip of that interview on cubs.com (inside the kerry wood article). I saw it the other way. Basically,"I like emotional guys but you can't have 25 emotional guys on the team". Whatever, it's still funny

What channel is this on on XM? On 177 I'm getting the Yankees.

Even when he makes a bad analogy he's funny and you get the point The Stepford wives were drugged up and showed little emotion. I agree with Rob, he is saying all the right things, hopefullly he does them too.

Who put the bee in your bonnett? Again, just so I can see if you are reading or not. Do you think Pettitte is worth $16 million next year given his age and health and recent trends?

Instead of having a coronary why don't you tell us what is. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/statpages/glossary/#era+

I'm thick? Look at the trends in the data. Aside from 2005 when he blew up, Pettitte hasn't come close to his 119 ERA+ since 2002 when he reached age 30. Three out of the last four years his ERA+ has been a shade over 100 (league average) and trending downward. His WHIP is pretty decent and stable but nothing to write home about. His periphreials are pretty decent but again trending in the wrong direction. Notice I didn't say he was terrible, I said he was right around average and In my opinon he is. But let's just say you are correct and I'm not, do you think he's worth $16 million this year given his age and health history?

I'm not too worried. CF in Wrigley is pretty easy all things considered. Probably much easier then RF or LF with the wells.

I am not understanding you. Pettitte hasn't played in the AL for three years. Do you think his career numbers will hold up this year? Even at career numbers is he worth 16 million dollars? I am sorry but at this point Pettite is around a league average pitcher.

I read it the first time, and you've never adressed what I wrote back to you. Do you read other peoples responses? Where has Pettitte been pitching for the last three years? Are the next three years going to look more like his last three years or like his first three years? Now factor in pay. He played in a bandbox. Factor in long term commitment. MMP ranks right around Wrigley in terms of park factors, although they do flutuate from year to year. It's neither a hitter heaven nor a ptichers delight. Long term commitement has nothing to do with this as he signed a 1 year contract. He's an average pitcher that is getting paid 16 million dollars. Didn't this start off with comparing Pettitte to our signings of Marquis and Lilly? I'd rather have Pettitte at one year and 16 mil than either of the guys we signed for multi-year deals. No. I haven't compared the signings to anyone. In fact I said that Pettitte, Lilly, and Marquis have nothing to do with each other. I simply stated Pettitte's contract was bad. The fact that Marquis or Lilly also have bad contracts is irrelevent to my point. Mephastopoles pointed out that Pettitte has a career ERA+ of 119 which is above average. I said I don't care what his careeer ERA+ is and that judging a pitcher requires more than looking at ERA. Apperently, he didn't read my posts becuase he keeps saying the same things. Pettitte is a little better than a league average pitcher at this point in his career and an injury risk. Paying him 16 million dollars for one year is not a good idea in my opinion.