rawaction

About time that worked. Oh yeah, and trade Soriano by Monday.

LaHair's kind of awesome.

Upton and Granderson's K rate per plate appearance are not nearly that high. Upton is a career 24.8% with a high of 28.1%, and Granderson is a career 22.2% with a high of 25.6. Jackson was 29.8% in AAA last year and 30% even so far this year. That's a big difference If he can get between 20 and 25 like that, be would be just fine. But he has a long way to go to project those sorts of strikeout numbers in the majors. Are you doing by PA or AB? By PA. By AB would of course make everybody's numbers higher (for example, Jackson has struck out in close to 35 percent of his AB's, while only close to 30% of his PA). Yeah, I realized I was using the wrong number on ESPN.

Kendrick has a WHIP of 2. Strong change he throws 7 shutout innings tonight.

It's not terrible though. The contact rate is pretty bad, but the .105 ISOD and .175 ISOP are respectable. If he was hitting .260, that's an .800 OPS. The problem is with that many strikeouts, hitting .260 becomes almost impossible. He has a .325 BABIP as it is. To have a .260 average, his BABIP would have to be .384. I'm starting to get very concerned about him at this point. He's had 375 AAA plate appearances, and has struck out almost 30 percent of the time. That would already be the 5th highest in MLB without even accounting for the increase in pitcher quality he'll face when he hits the majors. He has enough secondary skills and plays a premium enough position to carry a high strikeout rate, but close to 30 percent in the majors would be majorly pushing it. Close to 30 percent in AAA is really bad. I understand that, but he can still be a productive player in the MLB even with that high of a K rate. Guys like BJ Upton (granted with more speed and better defense) and Curtis Granderson (more power than Jackson) have been successful with a 30-ish percent K rate. Obviously, it's not ideal but possible. Upton and Granderson's K rate per plate appearance are not nearly that high. Upton is a career 24.8% with a high of 28.1%, and Granderson is a career 22.2% with a high of 25.6. Jackson was 29.8% in AAA last year and 30% even so far this year. That's a big difference If he can get between 20 and 25 like that, be would be just fine. But he has a long way to go to project those sorts of strikeout numbers in the majors. Are you doing by PA or AB?

It's not terrible though. The contact rate is pretty bad, but the .105 ISOD and .175 ISOP are respectable. If he was hitting .260, that's an .800 OPS. The problem is with that many strikeouts, hitting .260 becomes almost impossible. He has a .325 BABIP as it is. To have a .260 average, his BABIP would have to be .384. I'm starting to get very concerned about him at this point. He's had 375 AAA plate appearances, and has struck out almost 30 percent of the time. That would already be the 5th highest in MLB without even accounting for the increase in pitcher quality he'll face when he hits the majors. He has enough secondary skills and plays a premium enough position to carry a high strikeout rate, but close to 30 percent in the majors would be majorly pushing it. Close to 30 percent in AAA is really bad. I understand that, but he can still be a productive player in the MLB even with that high of a K rate. Guys like BJ Upton (granted with more speed and better defense) and Curtis Granderson (more power than Jackson) have been successful with a 30-ish percent K rate. Obviously, it's not ideal but possible.

It's not terrible though. The contact rate is pretty bad, but the .105 ISOD and .175 ISOP are respectable. If he was hitting .260, that's an .800 OPS.

according to baseball-reference he's signed through 2015. Cot's has him as a free agent after this season. Maybe br is more up to date? He signed an extension in January thru 2015. http:// http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/07/angels-ink-howie-kendrick-to-four-year-contract-extension/

Yeah, I'm expecting big things. Cutler was on pace for 3700 yards with scrubs at WR last year. Cutler has a great history with Marshall. I'm expecting 90 catches, 1100 yards from him. Cutler has a good rapport with Bennett. Forte will still get his numbers. Throw in an actual talent with Jeffery on the outside and the ability to use the TE for a change, and I'd be mildly disappointed if Cutler doesn't throw for 3800+ yards and I half expect him to crack the 4000 yard mark again.

Has Kerry Wood blown every lead he's had this year.

Yahoo has Castro as being hit by pitch, but then has LaHair's HR as a solo shot?

And the Smokies have given up 5 runs so far in the 5th with only 2 balls having left the IF. Both of those were only station-to-station singles.

Rhee kinda fell apart, as the defense (his included) went to [expletive]. Started 6 up- 6 down. With Cerda making the assist or putout on every ball in play. Lake started it out with an error at SS. Cerda also made an error.

I'm really starting to get excited about him. My concern is still if he is too much like Marshall, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

He's not as good defensively (that isn't to say he can't play defense well at 2B or SS) but he can get on base a lot better than Barney and is more athletic/faster. I'd rather have Watkins than Barney as a backup middle infielder. What about as a starter? I'm guessing ideally, neither is a starter....but do you think Watkins could be a league average starter at 2B?

He knew it was a K. He stepped off the mound and turned as if to watch the ball go around the horn.

Dolis didn't know the game was over. LOL. Must have thought the first strikeout was last inning since he's not used to striking out multiple guys in an inning.

The Rzo homered! That's going to catch on! Jackson grounded on to 2nd in the 1st. I'll take it. He put the ball in play.

What the hell is this game?

I'll be first to admit I'm not up on the minors like I used to be, but what's the deal with Watkins? I've heard his name mentioned a few times here, but what's his story? He looks like a better, left-handed version of Darwin Barney. Can he be a productive major leaguer?

He already is a legit prospect, having put up respectable numbers young for his league in the last 3 years, despite no patience whatsoever.

Why move your best Guard to get "depth" at tackle? I understand moving your best guard if you want to get "better" at tackle, and think you won't get much worse at guard. But that's clearly different. If you want depth at tackle.....here's an idea.....draft or sign a GD TACKLE! If the Bears are moving Chris Williams to tackle, he'd better be the starter at one of the tackle spots, because otherwise your best 5 linemen aren't on the field and everything the team has preached the last 2-3 years has been BS.

Why you getting your panties in a bunch? Nobody is trying to rub in your face that you were wrong. And I think plenty of people would want to see a matchup of top 10 teams if IU and NC St. both happen to be that in December. 4 out of the next 5 posts were pointing it out... I was just admitting the mistake. 'Nobody' was hyperbole, but I still think UNC / IU is always a bigger draw than NC St. / IU, unless one of the sides is going to be clearly inferior. Plus, rankings at the start of the year aren't always the greatest. And I didn't say otherwise to any of that. UNC/IU is clearly a bigger draw that NCSt/IU. But is UNC/IU that much bigger than UNC/Michigan or UNC/Mich St or UNC/Ohio St. or UNC/Wisconsin? Eh, probably about 50/50, I guess. But IU/NC St is about as good of a draw as any of those other teams and NC State.

Why you getting your panties in a bunch? Nobody is trying to rub in your face that you were wrong. And I think plenty of people would want to see a matchup of top 10 teams if IU and NC St. both happen to be that in December.