jjgman21

exactly, almost word for word minus "of doom," what I was going to say. and he too can be a third catcher.

How is Murton going to get to a .380 OBP? He's short of .360 this year, and he has a slightly favorable platoon distribution(faced a higher % of LHP than if he played every day) and his BABIP is about 30 points higher than his LD% says it should, which means he doesn't really have much room for growth AVG wise. His minor league IsoD was a little higher, but his BABIP dropping 10 points is just as likely(probably moreso) as him improving those 10 in IsoD. the problem with the LD% stat is it does not qualify flyballs, groundballs, or line drives. a humpback soft liner increases LD% while a worm burning hard hit groundball decreases LD%. same with towering flyballs caught just in front of the centerfield fence. Murton almost always hits the ball hard, just on the ground too much. just like with IsoP, its a situation where you have to look beyond the stats. an adjustment or two from a competent coach and alot of those groundballs become liners through the infield, just as alot of his liners through the infield become linedrives over the outfielders heads and into the gaps.

in 2002 at GT, Murton slugged .536. in 2004, before being traded to the Cubs, his SLG was .452. he faded once with the Cubs, but that slg would currently rank him tied for 14th in that league. in 2005, he slugged .498 in an extremely pitcher friendly league. if he finished the season in AA in 05 and kept that slg %, it would rank him 10th in the league. instead, he followed it up with a .500 slg % at AAA and a .521 slg % in the majors. there's very little in his past that suggests he won't hit for more power than he is this year. someone brought up Giles. I was just looking at his stats in a different context. look what he slugged when he was 24. look at Edmonds. there are plenty of players that take a year or two of ML ABs to develop their power. Bonds slugged .426 at age 24. Adam LaRoche slugged .455 last year at age 24, right around where Murton will probably end up this year. think the Braves are glad they didn't platoon him and his .555 slg % at age 25 this year. You've got to look at IsoP. His year at Georgia Tech was under .200, not very good at all for a top college player. That .452 SLG was accompanied by a .301 AVG for a .151 IsoP. He did have a better run in his first major league stint, but his performance before and since then have proved that to be an anomaly. It goes back to the point that Minor League numbers in the right context are very good predictors of major league performance. It's not an absolute, but exceptions like Edmonds don't make it any more likely that Murton adds power. why do you call players like Edmonds the exception? seriously, how many players do you think hit 20 HRs at age 24 in the major leagues? 4? maybe 5? I understand the concept of predictability, but I think this is a case of looking too much at the stats and not enough attention to the obvious observations. Murton has the make up (strength, strike zone judgment, patience, etc.) of a guy that can hit for power. some decent coaching and a few adjustments to make him stop pounding the ball into the ground, and he'll hit for power. his IsoP isn't so low because he's slapped singles over the secondbaseman's head. more likely it was because his hits were line shots through the infield instead of line drives off the wall or in the gaps. if he doesn't hit for more power, the Cubs should have three positions in the top three or four offensively in the NL (as pathetic as the NL is, four if they found a different platoon partner for Jones besides Murton), and you can get by with Murton's OBP for another season and see if that power develops. with the potential for an Izturis/Cedeno middle infield, the point I am about to make is not so obvious as it was three weeks ago, but I really don't understand the mentality that says you have to have a power bat in leftfield because that is 'traditionally' what has been done, especially when you have a .900 OPS catcher. give either Cedeno or Izturis the SS position, get a .360 OBP for second and center, get a righthanded platoon partner for Jones in right. .360 (CF/2B) Murton Lee Aram Jones/platoon partner Barrett .360 (2B/CF) Cedeno if Murton's power comes around, swith him with whoever bats seventh and let him drive in some runs. cheap, easy, done. (caveat - I realize this team is heavily dependant on Lee returning to form and Aram coming back, but if both those things don't happen, nothing will matter anyway.)

in 2002 at GT, Murton slugged .536. in 2004, before being traded to the Cubs, his SLG was .452. he faded once with the Cubs, but that slg would currently rank him tied for 14th in that league. in 2005, he slugged .498 in an extremely pitcher friendly league. if he finished the season in AA in 05 and kept that slg %, it would rank him 10th in the league. instead, he followed it up with a .500 slg % at AAA and a .521 slg % in the majors. there's very little in his past that suggests he won't hit for more power than he is this year. someone brought up Giles. I was just looking at his stats in a different context. look what he slugged when he was 24. look at Edmonds. there are plenty of players that take a year or two of ML ABs to develop their power. Bonds slugged .426 at age 24. Adam LaRoche slugged .455 last year at age 24, right around where Murton will probably end up this year. think the Braves are glad they didn't platoon him and his .555 slg % at age 25 this year? people are just way to damn spoiled these days with the Cabrerras and Guerreros and Pujols and Bays and Wrights and Howards. those players are the exception, not the rule. players don't just waltz into the league and mash 30 HRs in their first year. they need to develop and Murton is right at the age that many players historically have developed their power. let the guy have the position, give him some good coaching instead of combatting his skill set, and he will be just fine.

I don't remember that specifically, but Patterson leaping the GABP wall is up there too as far as recent catches go. The Sosa grab is still on the Cubs.com video highlights page: Corey's on 4/19/05 http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/multimedia/tp_archive.jsp?c_id=chc&ym=200504 possibly the best play I've ever seen a Cubs make. the most memorable part about Sosa's: it came the day after he hopped on a ball off the wall and got thrown out at second nearly costing the Cubs the game and with that make-up-for-the-late-break lunge he redeemed himself in the eyes of many. shoulda been a routine running grab. BBTNs list is terrible, though I did like the Hollandworth face munch. iirc, it came when Sosa was on the DL and Hollandworth was mashing in his place. that play really put the Cubs in a spot b/c Hollandworth couldn't play for a few days. Macias came to the rescue and did quite well the rest of the road trip, giving Dusty the confidence to over play him for a couple years.

I can't believe someone who suggests a guy who had a 19/598 bb/ab ratio last year is not getting completely flamed.

Since Wood's out for the rest of the year anyway, there would be no reason not to move him to the 60-day. Lee I'm not sure about, if they're still holding out hope for him returning this year. or they could DFA Bynum, Negron, Neifi and Rusch.

I see that. looking at the 40 man pitchers and who pitched lately, gotta be either Marshall or Miller, unless they move Lee and/or Wood to the 60 day DL and add someone else to the 40 man. Marshall's injury wasn't arm related. if his mechanics are in tune, I think he could give us 4-5 without much of a problem, even though short rest and on rehab.

just treat it as another rehab start and only ask for 4-5. gotta be willing to sacrifice an occasional game for the better of the entire team. is Miller on the 40 man, or still on the 60 day DL?

Cubs rookies tonight 10.2 IP 7 H 2 R 2 BB 9 K

Marshall only pitched three innings in his start 8/12. maybe he gets the nod?

looks like the longest gamethread since 6/2

rejoice! a meaningless game for a meaningless team wastes only five and half hours of my time tonight. thank god the Cubs made so many quick outs or it would have been alot more.

I highly doubt Murt gets benched against the lefty. TT, damn, quick on the pessimism trigger there. at least let a couple get on ahead of Berkman first.

double play, out of the inning? what was that Mabry.

had the opportunity to do that three times earlier tonight and chose to try to pull the ball. about time, Aram.

I don't ask for much, how about just a couple good ABs early in the inning here and see what happens.

another chance...this park sucks.

outside corner is closed for business.

maybe this should just go to Rollerball rules.

Astros relief corp 11 IP, 128 pitches. past seven innings, 1 H, 1 BB, 7 IP, 66 pitches

Mateo in his spot and then on to Hill? I meant Marmol

appropriate or not, Kajagoogoo and solo acts that sprung from Kajagoogoo should never be reverenced ever again anywhere.

Mateo in his spot and then on to Hill?

Didn't Theriot get on with a sleeve-assault? I believe he was hit squarely in the back. no. caught the jersey.