Laura

Thanks, kc! More interesting homework.

Oneri said he would start, The Idaho Statesman said they weren't sure whether he will start or not. I'm not sure who to trust. :P Ha. I was referring to local Indiana papers; he's a Valpo boy (and you know the rest).

Awesome, BK, as always! I do have a couple of simple-minded questions about DIPS. I apologize in advance; I'm still wrapping my brain around some of this info. Be nice! Is there a general sense of whether DIPS has predictive value for future performance at the minor league level? I know there are some data validity questions with some of the accessible stats from A-AA, so this may be unfair to ask. Have is it been applied much at the minor league levels? How do you (or anyone else who wants to chime in!) explain the dERA being worse than the ERA? Could it be somewhat attributed to the groundball%, as Craig mentions as a possibility? Part of the reason I ask is because my introduction to dERA grew out of reading discussions about the 2003 Glendon Rusch. He had an opposite dERA/ERA split and some asserted that provided hope for him to improve, which he did in '04, but then regressed again. I recall that Rusch was said at the time to be one of the unluckiest (for lack of a better term) pitchers in baseball because of that gap, which some blamed on lousy BrewCrew defense. I don't *think* that line drive % was readily available at the time (pre-HBT) and a few people mentioned that one contributing explanation for Rusch's splits might be that he was giving up an inordinate number of line drives vs other base hits and that wasn't captured in dERA. So I'm wondering whether a pitcher with the opposite split would be termed lucky, for lack of a better term. ETA: Never mind, I'll post the '05 dERA momentarily. THANKS!

No point right now. But they could move him to the all-former-position-player-pitching-roster and I can hope to see them all take the field at one time someday.

Why even pitch to Carlos Lee in the first? :(

fyi - local papers have Samardzija pitching at least 2 innings tomorrow; not clear whether he'd start.

LINK Cubs mentioned: Randy Wells in the intro. HOT #6 Rich Hill In the Team Photo Eric Patterson, 2b, Cubs (Double-A West Tenn):

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/PremiumForum/images/smiles/w00t.gif

poor Marshall.

It's going to be great hearing DLee hit. He's barely back, I'm not expecting anything from him, but it's just good that he's playing again. From a practical standpoint, I'm not sure if it would have mattered much whether he played tomorrow in Iowa or in Minny. He better be DHing, though.

Now we know it's because Bynum had swelling in his arm (see the "According to news" thread) -- but I can see how it made absolutely no sense before that was known.

Info on Bynum's injury from Rotoworld: Freddie Bynum was taken to the hospital on Saturday night after experiencing swelling in his right arm. Bynum had an operation for a blood clot in his right shoulder in Sept. 2004, so there's going to be no fooling around here. If he needs to go on the DL, it means that Matt Murton will definitely hang around following Derrek Lee's return. Jun. 24 - 10:39 pm et

Sounds like he will be in the Cubs game tomorrow. LINK

Peoria wins over the Swing 9-7 -- 2HRs for Ryan Norwood Full game report at PeoriaChiefs.com (Thanks, Nathan!). From the full report, sounds like two embarrassing groundball-through-the-legs errors on Swing 1Bman AJ Van Slyke (I'm guessing a relation to Andy Van Slyke?). 4 of the Chiefs' 9 runs were unearned.

Thanks, Nathan! Peoria Chiefs press release: The First Half Western Division Champion Peoria Chiefs, in conjunction with the Chicago Cubs have announced two more player moves before Saturday night’s game in Quad Cities. Catcher Blake Lalli and right-handed pitcher Jon Mueller have joined the team while injured catcher Peter Farina has gone back to extended spring training in Mesa, AZ and outfielder Matt Ciaramella has been promoted to High-A Daytona of the Florida State League. Lalli was signed by the Cubs as a 5th year senior out of Gardner-Webb College prior to this June’s draft. He was on Boise’s opening day roster on Monday and saw action in three of the Hawks first four games going 0-for-7 at the plate. Lalli was All-Atlantic Sun Conference in 2006 and 2005 while batting .389 with 11 homers this season. He set school records this spring in walks and OBP. He bats from the left side and is a native of Gibsonia, PA. Mueller was drafted in the 16th round of last June’s draft but played in the Northwoods Summer League last year and didn’t sign with the Cubs in time to play pro ball in 2005. This season he has already seen action at both AAA and AA in the Cubs organization. He made his pro debut on June 12th in AAA Iowa of the Pacific Coast League. In one outing he allowed two runs and struck out two in 2 2/3 innings of work. He then went to West Tenn where he appeared in four games going 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA. In four innings at AA, Mueller stuck out two and walked three. He is a native of La Crosse, WI and was drafted out of the University of Minnesota. In his one season with the Golden Gophers, Mueller was 0-1 with a 2.86 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings. Ciaramella began the season with the Chiefs and appeared in 61 of the teams 71 games so far in 2006. The switch hitter saw action at all three outfield spots as well as DH and committed just one error on the season while racking up three outfield assists. The Utah native batted .213 with one homer, five doubles, 20 runs scored and 10 RBI with the Chiefs. He left Peoria Saturday morning and will be in Daytona in time for the Florida State League game tonight. Farina joined the Chiefs on Thursday and was expected to be the backup to Mark Reed for the second half of the season. But an injured ligament in his right thumb forced the Cubs to send him back to extended spring training for more tests and rehab. Mueller and Lalli are expected to meet the team in Davenport, IA in time for Saturday’s 7:00 PM start. The Chiefs roster is two players under the 25 man limit.

I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it sounds like Miguel Negron is limping around rather badly and may be injured?

I'll write something up and email it and post it here if anyone's interested. Next Wednesday the 28th will be a day game and thus not broadcast on WNWS. It should be Gallagher's next start, so it's too bad it won't be available. I'm trying to tune in the game right now, and it's again so choppy that I can barely track what's going on. :x 1-0 Smokies ... oops, 3-0 Smokies just now on a 2-R HR off of Brownlie.

8) is now just plain ole 8) as in (8). http://www.northsidebaseball.com/PremiumForum/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif is now '8-)' http://www.northsidebaseball.com/PremiumForum/images/smiles/L33T.gif

Yeah, I had to give up on the game. It was pretty brutal. :( I tried to tune in when I got home, but it kept dying out on me.

DJaxxFan is at the DJaxx game ( :) ) and reports that both benches have ... expressed some concern to the home plate ump over the strike zone. Pat Listach wasn't pleased with the 4th inning Braves run because the runner seemed to miss 3B by a wide margin. Gallagher walking too many, but continuing to elude trouble with well-timed double plays and Ks.

radar gun wasnt on the the 1st inning....mostly 85-87 39 pitches, 25 strikes....3 hits, walk, 3 ks.... scheduled to start at Wisconsin for us on Tuesday... Thanks, Nathan! His ERA is to 2.88, WHIP to 1.09. Homer Bailey had a nice AA debut.

Daytona update:

If you have something non-stupid to add, add it. Either way, avoid the personal attacks.

I'm game. So when Steve Kline suggest that Mark Prior get hit by one, it's wrong, and it's okay for two of us to say it. I'm becoming less and less proud to be a Cub fan with comments lke this. There's a 4-page thread on Ozzie Guillen, a manager with a World Series ring and a competitive team this year, and it's all negative. So many "real" Cub fans talk about how obsessed with the Cubs Sox fans are, and how they're fickle, and don't exist. Judging by this section of the board and half the people that are/were Cub "fans," many of us aren't too far from that either. I feel like making some of you feel like that Sox pitcher last night. Grow up. I find it real tough to criticize a manager who just brought a World Series to a town where our manager does nothing but underachieve and make excuses. Yes, it was wrong, but how many of you wouldn't trade Guillen for Baker? Prior has never pissed off anyone in the papers or on the field (hitting Bonds doesn't count). Buerhle is right up there with Bonds among players who are pricks. Someone who accuses Dempster of being on the juice, says Mad Dog uses spit, says the Rangers use a scoreboard to steal signs, someone who tries to kill Travis Hafner, it's pretty easy to wish for a line drive or a 100 mph fastball to his head. Have any of your 227 post not been about the Cards or the White Sox. You are so obsessed with those two teams. Let the hatred go and talk about the cubs some. First off, I talk about the Cubs plenty. Secondly, Jordan>Miller. Miller was the NBA equivilant to Mark Buerhle to me. A [jerk] who played on a team who's guts I hate Watch the language. And the use of possessive pronouns.

I've been busy so I've been half listening to the game but I haven't heard anything about the rotation. Personal guess is that Downs gets the start tomorrow but I haven't heard anything yet. Yes, they said it would be Downs tomorrow.