fiver

Perhaps this should be placed in the Rants forum, but I think this is a topic for serious discussion. I've been noticing all too often that Cubs players have been jogging out of the box when they deem the ball they hit to be a somewhat routine out. This absolutely infuriates me. It happened last night with Hairston I believe. Someone might have to help me out on the specifics of the AB last night (poker night at my place and was several New Castles into the evening already), but Hairston hit a fly ball that was affected by the strong wind, and it ended up dropping. Had he been hustling, he may have been able to leg it out into a double. This seems to be a common occurence for this team, and this is something that no major league manager should tolerate. These guys get paid millions of dollars to play a game that most of us adore. They should be running full speed out of the box in each and every at bat whether it be a weak grounder to the pitcher or a routine fly ball. How has it become acceptable for a major leaguer to trot out of the box? My high school coach years ago didn't allow it...period. Thoughts?

ZZ - I think that would be exactly on target if Gerut wasn't a factor at this point. Even if Dusty does bench Holly, won't Gerut split time with Murton and get most of the AB's against righties?

There isn't a source for minor league splits. Last year you could find some at USA Today, and that required a lot of search. Let me approach this a different way then....Ron and DJAXX have probably seen Murton play the most, but can anyone comment on his ability to hit RH pitching...He obviously did an adequate job this season or his average wouldn't have been so high at AA, but I'm wanting to know the specifics. How does he handle a tough slider from a rightie? Fastball high and tight from a right hander?...etc. I was able to catch a couple of games earlier this season when they visited Mobile, but I'd say less than 10 AB's just isn't an adequate sample size. I wouldn't have a problem with Murton facing right handers like Tomko. But I'm not too sure he's ready to face guys like Schmidt, Carpenter, Morris, or others. You can't compare AA right handers with some of the good ones in the NL. I do agree, Dalgreen...I'd say that the fact that he's struck out 5 times in 10 plate appearances against major league righties gives some indication that he may have a little work to do to become a substantial everyday player. He's going to be a platoon player for the remainder of the season...or at least while we are "in the playoff picture". That said, I think it is very unlikely that he starts next season as our "everyday" LFer. If we fall out of the race, then Dusty MIGHT run Murton out there against quite a few RH'ers just to see where we stand for next season.

There isn't a source for minor league splits. Last year you could find some at USA Today, and that required a lot of search. Let me approach this a different way then....Ron and DJAXX have probably seen Murton play the most, but can anyone comment on his ability to hit RH pitching...He obviously did an adequate job this season or his average wouldn't have been so high at AA, but I'm wanting to know the specifics. How does he handle a tough slider from a rightie? Fastball high and tight from a right hander?...etc. I was able to catch a couple of games earlier this season when they visited Mobile, but I'd say less than 10 AB's just isn't an adequate sample size.

I wondered why Holly wasn't used in that situation as well. My conclusion was that Dusty likely won't start Gerut over Holly, so Dusty felt this was the best way to get Gerut some type of PT. Edited b/c my conclusion was likely not the main reason Gerut was given the AB. Gerut's numbers agains righties are indeed MUCH better than Holly's.

Can someone provide Murton's L/R splits from his minor league career? I'm not aware of a site that provides minor league splits.

oops....now see where this was mentioned in another thread

Cortizone wasn't the elixir for Larry either. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2117155

Lets hope that his groin doesn't "fall back off" either...(knocking on wood...then realizes Wood is on the DL AGAIN and keeps fingers crossed instead) :lol: :lol: :lol: Thanks for clearing that up. I couldn't figure out what that meant and thought that I might be falling behind in my Baseball jargon. I suspect he probably won't be playing too much at SS with Peoria? I'm 99.9% sure that he'll be playing SS tonight. Check out this snippet from the suntimes: http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-csep26.html He's been playing short already in Mesa.

The Cubs face another lefty, Brad Halsey, on Thursday. Sadly, I find myself looking ahead in the schedule to see when the Cubs face a lefty so I can see Murton and maybe even Cedeno in the lineup. I'm pretty sure that Murton will get the nod...I'm not so sure about Cedeno. Neifi has actually hit left-handers better than righties this season. He's also had clutch hits in consecutive days, so I'm thinking that might even further strengthen Dusty's convictions. I'm hoping Cedeno plays though..

Lets hope that his groin doesn't "fall back off" either...(knocking on wood...then realizes Wood is on the DL AGAIN and keeps fingers crossed instead)

I enjoy the show on the ride home from work...You've had a journalist that lives in Chicago on the show briefly before as I recall, but it definitely wasn't Bruce...Jeff Vorva from the Daily Southtown or am I way off? Anyway, I certainly agree that Bruce would be a tremendous guest, and it's great to see you posting on NSBB. BTW, for those that aren't aware....Jim Hendry is a Spring Hill College alum, a Roman Catholic Jesuit college in Mobile. I've heard Jim do brief interviews for SpanishFortCub's radio station on several occassions.

There are indeed quite a few Cubbie faithful in the greater Mobile listening area. I'm sure I listen to your show...wnsp? morning or afternoon?

Was it your money they loss...no, and it may have given us a few more wins for the year. If we are there at the end of the year they won't hesitate to spend some cash to get more. well, technically one could say yes to that question if they buy tickets to wrigley, cubbie merchandise, etc. The underlined protion remains to be seen. That said, I think we'll pickup someone before the deadline, but don't count on it being a major addition.

"I'm only paranoid because they want me dead" - Jerry Fletcher

so what are the odds that Murton starts again today? With an 0-4 yesterday and a righty pitching against us today...my bet is on Holly.

I was able to make it to the Southern League All-Star game last night. While I was somewhat disappointed that Felix Pie and Matt Murton weren't taking part in it, Casey McGehee and Buck Coats were the starting 1B and SS respectively. Both played well...the former hitting a HR and the latter had two hits. I was most impressed by Delmon Young. He didn't play all that well last night, striking out twice and only getting one hit. However, he did place second in the HR contest preceeding the game, he showed a rocket of an arm in right field, and he is extremely fast on the bases. Has anyone noticed his numbers so far this year in AA? .336, .385, .582, 20HR, 25SB, and 70 RBI...I think he'll end up being better than his brother and I'm just wondering how long it will take for him to make the Tampa roster? Thoughts?

Yes. and that was the point to my earlier post asking if others have felt that this team is not any longer giving it their all for DB. I think we may be nearing the end of the Dusty Baker era. :cry: :^o

hey everyone....I've been busy at work today, and I don't have time right now to go through the whole game thread. I've only seen a couple of the recent losses, but does it appear as though this team has quit on Dusty? Are they hustling in the field?...running out ground balls? making silly errors? baserunning blunders? Or are they still just impatient at the plate and thus providing next to nothing on offense. Also...what was up w/ prior today? wild? Sorry for all the questions, but just wanting a synopsis if possible...if not then maybe i can catch up on my reading this weekend as i wait for the hurricane

No, I agree with you, Brian.....although I do see how my words could be interpreted as me being angry about the trade at this point in time. I've been able to watch Murton a few times this season, and I'm happy that we have him on board....I'm thinking that he'll rebound from his less than stellar June and regain the Southern League batting title.

Pawelek's strikeout numbers certainly do indicate that he has very good "stuff", but we've crossed this bridge many a time in recent years. Above all...let's hope he remains healthy. Speaking of health...I'm very happy to hear that Justin Jones seems to be pitching decently again. Of course, I'd rather it be in a Cubs uni....but I wasn't disappointed with the trade when it occurred.

Pfft. That's easy. Ernie Banks Billy Williams Ron Santo Or did you mean within the past 25 or so years? Because that's tougher. :D Mark Grace On the second part of your post, I'm thrilled we didn't top philly's offer to Thome right now. Indeed...that Lee guy that they are trying at 1B right now isn't so shabby..lol

Wolf.. As you can see, it is fairly difficult for most Cubs fans to praise Morris. However, I'll give credit where it is due. Morris may be lucky this year, but has pitched very nicely for your Cards. He has a nack for getting people out when he needs to, and you don't see him walking batters and then giving up a homerun immediatly afterwards very often (see Kerry Wood)....actually, you can modify that previous statement to just state that he doesn't walk many batters in any situation. Someone had mentioned 4 years at 32 mil for a proposed contract this offseason. My understanding is that he'll get more than that amount if his WHIP stays around 1.10, his ERA around 3, and he wins somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 games.

Were they in the West, really? I don't remember that detail for some reason. ummmm...Zane Smith...Claudell Washington..Odibe Mcdowell. That's about all I have from the top of my head...Even though the Braves were much closer to where I lived in the 80's, the Cubs were still my team.

....and Bobby Cox has a lot to do with their succes IMO....He managed some very good Toronto teams in the early '80s and then became the GM of Bravos. He soon after appointed himself manager of the team and that was one of the first of many good decisions that he made for the Braves thereafter.