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Last night was a mind-boggling display of bench usage by Piniella.

His velocity is down a touch and there isn't much difference between the fastball and change-up right now. He's throwing strikes, but fat ones.

Steve: Joe, when you think about teams bringing in runs with 2 outs, what do you think of ? Joe: I think about experience! A veteran ballclub with guys who know how to hit with 2 outs Steve: Definitely. This Red Sox team is experienced in those spots. Correlation between RISP, 2 out and lineup age: 0.0039 :good:

If he's open to the bullpen, the K/BB ratio might do him and a team some good. However, I seem to recall Smoltz saying he'd never pitch in relief again...

Fontenot was available as well, but he was saving them for the 9th --- Dusty style!

The break definitely helped with getting his velocity back to 93-95. In Florida, he was 89-92. However, if he gets into a predictable count or doesn't locate, he's way too hittable because there is no movement. It's reminiscent of Farnsworth minus 3 or 4 mph.

The bp fastball was on display again. Instead, it was the bottom of the Rockies lineup rather than the middle of the Marlins lineup. I will never be comfortable watching him with a 1-run lead.

Saturday was the first time he's blown a > 1 run save chance. The other four were 1-run games and when he blows them, it's with the HR ball. And, interestingly enough, Gregg hasn't blown a save at Wrigley Field. You get what you get with Gregg. Every two weeks, he shows up with his bp fastball. It may work against the Nationals, but it ain't getting past two 20-HR guys on the Marlins. Regardless, I will be very nervous watching him down the stretch because just like Borowski, anyone with a bat in their hand is a threat against him.

Sandy Koufax went down in his prime at 30 having pitched nearly 700 innings the two years before his arm fell off. Then, you have a guy of the same era like Juan Marichal who threw nearly 300 innings a year for 15 years. Drysdale threw 300 innings a year and his arm fell off at 30. Jim Bunning pitched till he was 40. I mean, we could go on and on over cases of guys who could throw and throw and throw...and those who couldn't. That is just one era. The 1960's. Needless to say, a lot of advancements have been made both medically and statistically which demonstrate the benefit of controlling a pitchers workload, but there will still be pitchers who are highly predisposed to injuries because of what they throw and how they throw it. It is only prudent, as a manager, to look at as much data as possible and try to relate it to how a pitcher throws. Limiting and controlling a pitchers workload is the best control a manager has of extending the lifetime of his pitchers. It is a process and the more repeatable you make it, the better chance that the process will be optimized; in non-human terms. Dusty's problem is that he has failed time and again to be proactive. Throwing a guy out there for 120-130 pitches in September, in the heat, and in a 7-0 game is reckless. Throwing a guy out there after a 2 hour rain delay is reckless. Throwing a relief pitcher 4-5 days in a row, routinely, is reckless. These are all areas where the manager has failed to do his homework and went with his gut. It is not an exact science, nor will it ever be because of the human element. All you can do as a manager is to try and be as proactive as possible and hope that increases the lifetime of a pitcher.

Meanwhile, NC should steamroll the Budcrew based on pitching matchups alone...

That's a recipe for disaster. Zambrano doesn't want to pitch in relief, Lou is tempted to pitch him in relief. I can see the following scenario play out. Zambrano gets up to warm up, sits down because he doesn't need to enter the game, his back tightens up; and then he can't pitch on Friday.

Gregg's HRA numbers are alarming. I you look at every other periphery stat, he's right on par with the rest of his career, except he's done a much better job limiting his walks. Gregg now leads all reliever's in HR's allowed. Basically, the guy shows up every 2 weeks with a bp fastball. No movement, no deception. Might as well just lay it on a tee those days and go home. It would probably be less painful.

That was fun. Maybe Fuld will be the loogy tomorrow ?

I thought he was gonna put Heilman in left and bring in Marshall...then, put Heilman back on the mound... :thumbsup:

It's possible that Ramirez is dehydrated. Should be fun to see Soriano at 2nd. I'm sure Heilman will send the down 1-2-3....

Admittedly, Lou has looked senile at times, but what the [expletive] was he supposed to do tonight ? Guzman/Marmol/Gregg. Smardzjia blows, Heilman is worse, and Grabow pitched the 6th. Gregg's the closer and tonight he threw bp fastballs. That's what you get from Kevin Gregg once every 7 or 8 times out.

Tremendous...5th & 14th picks next season...I'm already looking forward to it even though my team looks poised to win 6 of its last 7...

16th/30th in the NL in OBP/OPS, respectively. Coupled with the defense he plays, he's been nothing but solid this season. Leadoff is the perfect place for him in the lineup.

heheh...wow

Will they do an hour long documentary on why Alex Gonzalez couldn't field a two-hopper to short ? Or maybe why Kyle Farnsworth gave up a 3 run double to Mike Mordecai ? What a waste of an hour...

Wells reminds me a lot of Kevin Tapani. Fastball, slider, change-up. Before you know it, Wells quietly pitches 7 innings. Tapani did that a lot.

Indeed. Getting a Top 50 prospect for decent 2nd baseman is about as good as you can do...

Damn you, why couldn't you have made that trade before LAST night's game? :twisted: Just to screw you over! Actually, I think Todd and I tried to make a Wandy trade a while back, but it worked out this time after a couple proposals. Todd has a really good starting rotation. If things pan out, I think I've done a good job so far trying to retool my team. Wandy & Vasquez for Snider, Parker, Posey, and a 1st rounder next year.

The squeeze was idiotic. If Fontenot makes contact with a Valverde fastball (which he did), the run scores, game over. The only time I'd squeeze is with Andres Blanco/Ryan Theriot up, 1 out, and the pitcher on deck. Otherwise, it has no place in the Cubs offense.

At some point you have to just cut your losses...