Jon

Has Sergio thrown any hard sinkers yet? All of his fastballs have been as straight as a pitch can be. Sigh.

Stop talking, Jon. It's just so frustrating that Hendry can't see the obvious here. Sergio should not be in the 'pen. He's a sinker ball pitcher with control issues, for goodness sake.

Like I said...

Looks like Mitre's approach out of the 'pen is to throw that big breaking ball more. He doesn't have his hard sinker, which is to be expected. Unfortunately, this could likely mean that he'll give up more HRs.

HBP that got him between the shin guard and knee. Ronny's looking good up there. And once again, Jenkins really wanted to let that one go over his head. Thinking about diving on that one? Yeesh.

Man. It looked like Dubois got all of it...

Nice breaking ball. Ron getting the most out of those binoculars with Jennifer Anniston being at Wrigley today to shoot some flick.

And the Mitre bullpen experiment begins... Ugh. Ramirez left the game.

According to a report, Tyler Graham will return to OSU.

Of course, he has your email address blocked and has that restraining order on you right now, but he'll come around...

Scott Williamson came out of the bullpen today for Mesa and gave up just 1 hit over 2 IP while striking out 3 and walking none.

Scott Williamson pitched today for Mesa. He didn't do too well, but the important thing is that he's pitching: 1.1 IP, 3 hits, 6 runs, 2 earned, 1 BB, 3 Ks He started the game for the M-Cubs and pitched a 1-2-3 first (K looking, 2 groundouts). Things went bad when the first man he faced in the 2nd reached thanks to a passed ball on a strikeout which was followed by a HBP. He faced 10 batters.

Prior feels very good today but they have yet to make a decision on Sunday's start.

Prior's simulated game: 5+ IP, 75-77 pitches, threw everything, thinks he's ready to go. It's up to Jim and Larry right now.

I'm not sure there has been any news, although I haven't been able to listen in a few days. As was mentioned, he did go on the 7-day DL just in time for a needed roster move and the initial diagnosis was "slight ankle sprain" before the tests. ITI doesn't have any info, so it may just be that there haven't been any updates. Hopefully Ron can fill us in, although I know he wasn't able to get much internet access when they were visiting the Braves.

I like the sound of that split-finger Pawlek is working on. By the way, how common is Veal's velocity inconsistency among college pitchers? Thanks for the write-up.

1st inning Wood vs. Krynzel -up and away, 1-0 -swing and a miss, 1-1 -outside, 2-1 -taken at the knees, 2-2 -strike out swinging on a fastball up and away Wood vs. Morris -taken at the knees, 0-1 -outside, 1-1 -slider taken, 1-2 -strike out swinging on a slider low and in Wood vs. Durrington -shows bunt, low and in, 1-0 -HBP (fastball) Wood vs. Hart -flied to the wall in deep, deep center 1 IP, 12 pitches (7 strikes), 0 hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks ----------------------------------------------------- 2nd inning Wood vs. Nelson -outside, 1-0 -outside, 2-0 -way outside, 3-0 -low, walk Wood vs. Zuniga -taken, 0-1 -foul (slider), 0-2 -foul -strike out called at the knees Wood vs. Mosquera -high, 1-0 -outside, 2-0 -swing and a miss (chased), 2-1 -swing and a miss (chased), 2-2 -grounded to third, out at first, Nelson advances to second Wood vs. Barnwell -pop up foul, 0-1 -taken, 0-2 -low and away, 1-2 -behind Barnwell's head (breaking ball), 2-2 -outside, 3-2 -low and away, walk Wood vs. Glover -swing and a miss (high fastball), 0-1 -foul, 0-2 -strike out swinging (slider) 2 IP, 34 pitches (19 strikes), 0 hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks ------------------------------------------------------- 3rd inning Wood vs. Krynzel -outside, 1-0 -foul, 1-1 -low, 2-1 -up and away, 3-1 -walk Wood vs. Morris -bunted foul, 0-1 -foul, 0-2 -foul -low, 1-2 -flied to left Wood vs. Durrington -low, 1-0 -bunt single Wood vs. Hart -taken (breaking ball), 0-1 -swing and a miss, 0-2 -lined to third Wood vs. Nelson -taken at the knees, 0-1 -backdoor breaking ball, 0-2 -strikes out swinging (chased) 3 IP, 52 pitches (31 strikes), 1 hit, 3 BBs, 5 Ks ----------------------------------------------------- 4th inning Wood vs. Zuniga -basehit grounded to left Wood vs. Mosquera -foul, 0-1 -outside, 1-1 -RBI double grounded down the third base line, Zuniga scores, 1-1 tie Wood vs. Barnwell -inside, 1-0 -foul, 1-1 -low, 2-1 -grounded to first 3-1, Mosquera to third Wood vs. Glover (infield in) -taken, 0-1 -foul, 0-2 -basehit to left bounced over McClain's head, Mosquera scores, 2-1 Sounds Wood vs. Krynzel -ball, 1-0 -up and away, 2-0 -swing and a miss, 2-1 -foul, 2-2 -strike out swinging on a breaking ball Wood vs. Morris -flied to center Kerry Wood's final line: 4 IP, 69 pitches (43 strikes), 2 runs, 4 hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks

Prior threw a simulated game today! By Mazur's count, he threw 58 pitches over 4 innings. His arm felt good and his strength was there. Great news. Mark gave up 1-run on a HR to Macias.

And more importantly, he threw all of his pitches.

Here's what I had: Wood vs. Watson (lefty) -high and away, 90 mph fastball, 1-0 -high and away, 91 mph fastball, 2-0 -just outside, 89 mph, 3-0 -high, leadoff walk Wood vs. Godwin (lefty) -low, 92 mph, 1-0 -jammed, popped foul, 1-1 -picks off the speedy Watson, 1-3 on the out -foul back, 1-2 (all fastballs so far) -strikes him out swinging Wood vs. Brendan Harris -check swing, strike, 0-1 -check swing, low, 1-1 -foul back, 1-2 -low and away, curve, 2-2 -strikes out swinging 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks, 13 pitches, 6 strikes Wood vs. Cepicky (lefty) -strike taken, 0-1 -up and away, 1-1 -up and away, change, 2-1 -bloop double down the left field line, Hubbard throws it over second, down to third on the error. Wood vs. Short -jammed, foul, 0-1 -ball, 1-1 -foul, 1-2 -flied to right, sac fly, RBI, 1-0 Zephyrs Wood vs. Melo -foul, 0-1 -ball, 1-1 -foul, 1-2 -basehit to right Wood vs. Labandeira -ball, 1-0 -hit and run to short, out at first, runner to second Wood vs. Kuzmic -up and away, 1-0 -up and away, 2-0 -taken, 2-1 -swing and a miss, 2-2 -inside, 3-2 -slider low and in, walk Wood vs. Yarnell -strike, 0-1 -swing and a miss, 0-2 -foul -foul -breaking ball, strike out 1 earned, 2 hits, 3 Ks, 2 BBs, 38 pitches Wood vs. Watson -up and away, 1-0 -foul, 1-1 -change, lined to short and Cedeno makes a great catch (bullpen up) Wood vs. Godwin -foul, 0-1 -backdoor slider taken, 0-2 -breaking ball, bloop single Wood vs. Harris -inside, 1-0 -grounded to short, 6-4-3 DP to end the inning Final line: 3 IP, 1 earned, 3 hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks, 46 pitches. The radar gun is slow, so don't worry about the readings. He had his normal velocity and when he was missing with the fastball, he was mostly missing up and away (like normal). Kerry also crushed one high off the wall in center and coasted into third with an easy triple. He scored the tying run a pitch later. He was scheduled to throw 60 pitches but had to leave because of the rain delay. He'll almost definitely have to have two more starts at Iowa in order to get that pitch count up now.

Wow! Prior threw off the bullpen mound earlier today! Just fastballs and changeups, but he felt he had some life on his pitches and felt good.

Not a signing, but according to Bob Brenly on the air, his son isn't going to sign with the Cubs. He's going to college and it was more of just a nice gesture.

Good news on Kerry. He threw very well off the mound today and he'll report to Iowa on Monday to start two or three games. Here's the latest on Prior: