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rawaction

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Everything posted by rawaction

  1. rawaction
    For the record, baseball is still 9 on 9. 9 players in the field at a time. And 9 players hit. In both leagues. Baseball is so specialized as it is. You have players whose sole job is to get out lefthanded hitters. Often times, that is done vs. 1 batter. There have been players in baseball history who were specifically pinch runners. What's the difference between a guy specifically having a job to face 1 hitter from a certain side of the plate or running the bases and another having the specific job to hit? Also, how many DHs are truly guys that are hanging on their last leg because of the DH position? Maybe the guy we'll see tonight, Cliff Floyd, but he played the field all of last year. Maybe Thome. Papi could play 1B if he had to, and has in interleague play past. As could Hafner. Giambi has moved back to 1B. You have young guys without positions like Cust and Butler DH'ing because they stink in the field, but they are nowhere near old.
  2. rawaction
    Have you seen him recently? He's playing like a star. Not coincedently, it coincides with him being healthy for the first time all year.
  3. rawaction
    This is a pretty interesting topic. There's really no right or wrong answer, unfortunately. Kerry Wood had the worst mechanics and got hurt. Prior had supposedly the best mechanics and got hurt. Zambrano's mechanics lie somewhere in between and he has been pushed past the threshold several times over the year, yet he has not been hurt. Every pitcher reacts differently to different workloads. John Smoltz is on the opposite end of his career of Marmol, but listens to his body more than any pitcher I can ever remember. He doesn't feel he can throw 100 pitches every 5 days, but is very comfortable (would be w/o injury and has been in the past) taking the ball for 1 inning, and occasionally 2, a few times a week. I see reason to be concerned about Marmol's past usage. But it is clear that Lou was concerned too and is taking the proper steps to combat this. However, I don't think there's any way you can assume or predict he will get injured because of some arbitrary number such as 85 appearances or 100 relief innings.
  4. rawaction
    Good day for Felix. 3-5, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, HBP, SF.
  5. rawaction
    World Series Preview? This is going to be a tough series. Kazmir has been nearly unhittable this year, and isn't walking anyone either. Rays are a middle of the road offensive team. The Cubs may be getting a break too, as their main source of power, Carlos Pena, is on the DL. The Rays are also a team that likes to run, and a lot of that will be limited due to Crawford serving the last game of his suspension tomorrow. Not to mention, the Cubs go with Dempster and Zambrano who are great at limiting the running game. Crawford is also having leg issues. The Rays will throw anywhere from 6 to 7 LH batters in a lineup on any given night, but Dempster and Zambrano haven't really had much of a split vs. LH hitters. Could see a sweep in this series, or being swept. The Rays are 5-7 in their last 12. They have scored 4 or fewer runs 12 times in their last 16 games. Runs will be hard to come by with Kazmir/Dempster. I like the Cubs chances in the Zambrano/Sonnastine game, but anything can happen. I think the Cubs can do damage against Shields, but I think Gallagher matches up horribly vs. the Rays. Taking 2 of 3 and having a streak of 4-straight non-losing road series would be excellent.
  6. rawaction
    I like Winn, but he's pretty pointless until Jim Edmonds falls flat on his face.
  7. rawaction
    It was the unsubscribe button I needed. Thanks.
  8. rawaction
    And as I predicted....I lost. Sucks to have won 6 in a row, finally lose one by 5 points no less, and just have a 1-game lead.
  9. rawaction
    Yeah, tons of complaints in this thread. FWIW, Marmol hasn't been very sharp in a while. His slider doesn't have the same break it had early in the season. He's technically hanging it and throwing it for strikes (shouldn't really stay in the zone). However, nobody can hit it because of the movement/velocity. His fastball has been tough for him to keep in the zone, without taking something off of it.
  10. rawaction
    Not to derail this thread or diminish anything that Aramis has provided. But Ramirez is the highest paid offensive player on the team this year. He is the only regular (along with Theriot) who is either in his prime or is the closest to it, depending on what you consider the prime years. He should be the team's best player. Interesting note. As good as Aramis has been, if he put up the same numbers all year, this would be his 2nd worst OPS as a Cub. Right between his .913 of '06 and .915 of '07. So, as to say something completely positive....Aramis' power will come around to his normal numbers, and this will wind up being the best season of his career. He has made himself an elite hitter by increasing his patience. He has also made himself one of the top 3 defensive 3B in the game of baseball. For someone, who is supposedly so lazy, he has clearly worked hard to take the necessary steps to become a great player.
  11. rawaction
    Splitter or no splitter, it doesn't matter if Marquis doesn't hit his spots. Marquis has great movement on all his pitches. But nobody is gonna pound a sinker in the ground if it's not gonna be a strike anyway. I think he still tips his pitches at times. Also, a lot of his pitches aren't in the zone when they are released out of his hand. If he can give the Cubs more consistent outings he can help the Cubs deep into the season. His ERA has gone from 5.28 to 4.24 in 6 starts.
  12. rawaction
    Jays and Cubs don't really look like a great match for trades, though. Could see them being interested in Eric Patterson, but they could use some big time power out of their corner spots, since nobody knows what has happened to Rios' power. Cubs can't really help out there, unless they consider Hoffpauir and Kroeger prospects still. But they probably aren't getting any big time prospects for Burnett anyway. I wonder if they would be interested in Patterson, Marshall, and Ceda. Gives them 2 ML ready guys and a potential power RH arm for the pen, which they could use.
  13. rawaction
    Good scouting report. I'm guessing he has a good changeup, because he only has 11 Ks in 130 ABs vs. RH hitters. 31 in 170 vs. lefties. Still, LH hitters have been 70 OPS points better vs. Litsch. Probably not a guy the Cubs are gonna get to before the 2nd time thru the lineup. But being that he's not a strikeout pitcher, the Cubs should be able to wait him out and still get some good swings with 2 strikes. So yeah, Lilly has to have a strong start to the game. I'm hoping that going against his former team will get the adrenaline going, in a good way for Ted. Looking thru the boxscores, the guys that seem to have the most success against Litsch are the guys who cut down their swings. He's given up 34 hits in his last 4 starts, but most of those hits have NOT come from guys that typically put up big numbers. So, guys like Theriot, Fukudome, and Derosa could have good showings today.
  14. rawaction
    He averages over 6 IP per start (barely, I admit). He's been under 6 innings 6 times in 14 starts, but has gone into the 8th four times. The other 4 starts are exactly 6. Don't think it's a big problem for a starter to go 6 innings, especially with this bullpen. Or you can think about it this way. Burnett would be replacing Sean Gallagher, who is going 5 1/3 on average in his starts. And has gone 6 innings, just twice in 7 starts.
  15. rawaction
    Burnett hasn't had an ERA over 4 since 2001 and that was 4.05, his highest ERA in any season with more than 13 starts. Career .234 BAA, 8.2 K/9, typically keeps the ball on the ground and doesn't give up many HRs. His numbers in May were only a little better than I think you could expect to him from here on out. 3.43 ERA, .228 BAA, near 3-to-1 K/BB ratio. Burnett would be a great pickup. He's a guy that Rothschild could help take that next step. He has all the stuff, just needs to keep his head out of his rear more consistently.
  16. rawaction
    This. He's been great, and if your expectations were superstar level, then you set the bar too high from the start. Exactly. His power numbers will get better. Heck, they already have. He hit a HR on opening day, and didn't hit another til May 10th. He hit 3 in a span of 12 games after that. For comparison's sake, since May 30th, Fukudome has hit 3 HRs. That's more than anyone else on the roster outside of Mark Derosa, who has 4. Ramirez has 0. Lee has 1. Pointing that out not to say he will be one of the team's best power hitters from here on out, but to point out that his power will increase as he goes around the league a 2nd and 3rd time. Kosuke's ISOP is still way below where it probably should and will be, but he's not Ryan Theriot out there.
  17. rawaction
    I did something and now I get emails everytime somebody posts in my private fantasy league forum. How do I take that off?
  18. rawaction
    Wow. Griffey just GIDP'd on a 3-0 pitch with runner at 3B and 1 out. Volquez still on the hook for the loss, possibly costing me fantasy points.
  19. rawaction
    I'd like to see a walkoff hit of some sort.
  20. rawaction
    I love you Tony Larussa! Seriously? Lohse running. Izturis hitting.
  21. rawaction
    I see the Edmonds situation ending that way also. He's just not that good anymore. Though, I will throughly enjoy this hot streak right now. Hopefully, Pie is ready to step in like Soto was last year and make it a non-issue.
  22. rawaction
    Nice post....as usual. Indeed. Very good post. Agree with everything.
  23. rawaction
    No. He was having a great year despite his obvious flaws.
  24. rawaction
    Pirates won't trade Bay. If they do, it would be in the offseason. I think odds are about 90% that they trade Nady though. Bay is the face of that franchise. McClouth has shown to be another player they can build around. Doumit may be the answer at C. Laroche is their only other decent offensive player, and there's not much of a market for him. They also really like Jason Michaels in their OF, and have McCutheon and others in the minors. Nady could get them a pretty decent 3B bat to bridge the gap to Alvarez or a decent arm to throw in that rotation. They could use a power RHP in the worst way.
  25. rawaction
    I don't know if this has been posted in here, but Adrian Peterson had emergency apendectomy surgery on Monday.
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