jjgman21

Reyes is pretty luck Aram wasn't in first pitch mode like usual in the second inning because that hanging slider would have gone a long way had Aram taken a hack at it. a couple months ago, Z made no bad pitches, and still lost the game on a freak pop up off the bat of Russel Branyan that managed to find the basket.

allow me to disagree with this part of your post 100 106 73 91 95 68 89 79 121 wazzat? that's the IsoD of the 9 batters who lead Boise in ABs. the walk rates of many of the Iowa hitters also detracts from this claim.

naw. instead, many will continue their sudden change of heart about the value of defense out of a catcher. easier to continue the bitch parade that way.

I agree with the lack of correlation, but shouldn't Barrett's 30 OPS+ as a Padre make you stop grinding this ax at some point?

I wonder what the implications are regarding his pending suspension. certainly it is both the player and the team that should suffer, but it looks like the Padres may weazel out of the roster harm caused by one of their players misbehavior once again.

Not the NBA. MLB moniters this and will punish a team that the feel is abusing the DL. I also think Pagan could just be sent down, so why DL him. The Cubs have had a number of conveniently timed injuries in the past...I definitely think it's a phantom injury. the Cardinals routinely have phantom injuries. the latest being Mike Maroth. gives up 14 or so runs in two relief outings, and miraculously he has an injury.

that said, based on some of the things I explored in the first post, what would you expect from Soto if he were recalled or handed the job in spring? to me the turn around is undeniable. I wouldn't mind a 260/.300/.400 would be what I expect if he got regular playing time in his first extended playing time in the big leagues. I know you're not one of them, but...he's caught Hill, Marshall and Marmol in the minors and he's caught guys like Z and Dempster a lot too since he's been one of the last catchers to report to the minors in spring training each of the last three seasons. how about going beyond the numbers. what is it about Braun that allowed him to translate the numbers directly to the majors and what is it about Soto that would cause such a huge dropoff. in other words, what are Soto's holes, weaknesses, etc. and what indicators reveal said holes/weaknesses. going further on the other part of this post, he's caught Wuertz alot too as evidenced by the debate that Sarcastic and I had a month ago. I imagine he and Ohman had some overlap in the minors. he's probably caught Wood quite a bit in ST and rehab outtings. really, the only pitchers in the entire system that Kendall and Hill have more experience with are Howry, Eyre, Marquis and Lilly. as for playoff/pennant chase experience, Kendall and Hill have a combined, what, one pennant chase/playoff experience between them. I suppose Kendall was in one other unsuccessful pennant chase, falling out of the playoffs in the last week of the season after two months of being in first (not the experience I want). it's a groovy attempt at an explanation, but if Hendry or Lou came out and said that, it would truly be laughable.

I don't take that article as conclusive proof of anything, but I think it raises an interesting question. essentially what they are saying is the armor locks his arm in such a way that alot of the mechanical flaws that can occur during a swing are eliminated. I can certainly see a brace that would prevent a batter from over extending his arms or rolling his top hand over. why this possibility is so preposterous to many of you I have no idea. it's the same principle that is at play with any brace, eliminating unwanted movement while allowing wanted movement. just anecdotally, the routine Barry goes through in removing the 'pad' sure makes it seem like there is more to that thing than just a pad. there's like a dozen straps and buckles he unhitches just to get out of it. protective pads simply don't require all of that, and if nothing else, it certainly goes beyond any protective measure. what is also interesting is he claims he needs this pad to protect his surgically repaired right elbow. the guy has a 15 year old lingering injury that requires bigger and better protection as the years go by? come on. one would think that if he were so interested in protecting surgically repaired joints from injury, he'd put a pad on the knee that he's had three or four surgeries on in the past two years.

that said, based on some of the things I explored in the first post, what would you expect from Soto if he were recalled or handed the job in spring? to me the turn around is undeniable.

perhaps it was my interpretation of the context of the statements that you made. seemed to me your first post in this thread was an admission of the dismissal of Soto based on Cedeno, only you insist that the Cedeno experience is a relevant basis on which to compare. statements like "struggle to accept," as well as other statements tend to make me believe you are in fact dismissing out of hand, regardless of caveats. but you keep talking about factors and concerns, when you really need to eliminate the 's' on both those words, because you really insist on only one factor, one concern, that he doesn't have a history. that is why I laid out his history in the first post and some of the statitistical changes that have taken place since he started hitting well. going in circles like this doesn't really change what really appears to be a dismissal, only now with a caveat. but whatever. bottom line, recall and play Soto, if for no other reason to find out if his play has been flukish or he is AAAA, because if they end up resigning Kendall thinking Soto won't cut it without ever even giving him a chance to prove it after the year of baseball he has put up, my head might explode.

For me, it's not out of hand dismissals of his ability to help us this year or next. I fully admit he could come to the majors and hit as well as he currently is. Problem is, there's enough evidence against him to make me very concerned. I bring the Ronny Cedeno case up only because he is another player who's never been well known for his bat either in the minors or majors and is all of a sudden hitting well in Iowa. Sure, Soto is a different player and could very well hit well, but there are enough similarities to make me concerned. The fact that everyone is hitting well in the PCL makes me think the pitching is a little (or a lot) down this year - not so much park factors. It may just be coincedence that Soto's breakout year is coming when many other players are hitting above their averages, but the correlation concerns me quite a bit. other than the vast generalization you make in the second paragraph, there are really very few similarities. sure there are alot of Cedenos and Duboises, but there is also alot of Posadas, who had OPS of 714, 785, and 865 in the three years he spent at AAA, or Chris Duncans who never hit for crap unless repeating a level, then suddenly went from an OPS of 807 in the PCL to an OPS of 952 in the majors. most minor leaguers don't make it at the major league level, so it's easy to say 'chances are he won't hit at the ML level.' that doesn't change the fact that dismissing Soto due to Cedeno is a weak argument. you have to look at other things. did Cedeno have patience throughout his minor league career? no, not really. did Cedeno show the ability to hit for power in his minor league career? no, not really, not even in his 'breakout' year of 2005. was there any sudden change in the way the ball left his bat? I don't have the stats other than for 2005, but I am guessing not to the extent that we have seen the past two years from Soto since Ronnie's gb/ld/fb ratio was 57/11/34 (total 102 b/c of rounding, also note that 6.8% of his balls in play were pop ups, so his flyball to the outfield percentage was actually 27%). thanks for your reply, but you really added nothing other than a better articulated version of 'Soto won't succeed because Cedeno didn't succeed.' and the only reason he's doing well is because of the PCL.'

nice Michael. try something a little different every now and then. hey Cubs. watch and learn at the feet of the immortal Ty Winnington. if you don't make contact the first two times, odds are it wasn't a strike and you won't make contact the third time.

Jacque?

once again, I implore this entire team to stop swinging at pitches that are nowhere near the strikezone.

just sit Cliffy.

fugly swing.

wish we had a speedy guy on the bench to pinch run here. but no, Lou needed to waste the bench instead of bringing Fontenot into the game after ph'ing. edit-forgot it was Cedeno at second, but I still don't agree with how he's used the bench this game.

cubs are awesome in extras.

Lees are sucking on 3-0 tonight.

wandy also got that location all night.

gimme a break. wandy got that location all night long.

c'mon blue.

and bravo to you if you are right. seriously, what else is to be gained by posting this over and over?

please stop swinging at pitches out of the strikezone.

But, but Cedeno and Murton tore it up at Iowa, isn't that enough? The Cubs, the only team in Baseball with guys who tear up the minor leagues but, can't manage to hit their weight in the big leagues. consistent playing time The Cubs can't afford to let these guys "settle in" to MLB in the heat of a pennant race. They're ready of they're not. Cedeno is one thing, but give Murton a week's playing time and he would do just fine. can they afford to? I would think they wouldn't lose much whether it were Fontenot, Floyd, Pagan, or whoever who lost the playing time.