CubColtPacer

But God forbid we give the prospects we call up enough time to show what they can do at the major league level. Ride the pine kiddies...Cliff Floyd needs to get his AB's. And we can't have Jacque Jones throwing a temper tantrum. Exactly the reason I used "manic" to describe the shuffling. You can include the quarter cup of coffee Soto got. I don't think he will be the next Johnny Bench, but for kripe's sake, why give the guy a chance. Didn't Soto help foster Hill's turn around late last year when he was called up and caught him? No, he didn't. Hill started turning around in early August, and Soto didn't come up until September. Soto started 7 games in September-2 of those were Hill starts. 1 outing was Rich Hill's complete game shutout 1 outing was 5 innings, 4 runs

Crap, he's only allowed 2 runs both times he's faced us (4/9 & 6/11) but he didn't get the win either time. Howry gave up the lead in the first game (and got the loss by giving up a 2 run homer to Everett. Definitely a game to forget) and Z won the second matchup with 8 innings of 1 run ball. He also homered to win 2-1. This guy is due to get blasted by the Cubs. We also have acquired the secret weapon against Woody Williams-Jason Kendall. He better not sit tomorrow. He is 18/35 against Williams on his career! I rarely if ever see a hitter who is over .500 against a pitcher in that many at-bats. It also would be a good day to give DeRosa off. He is 1/10 against Williams, and Fontenot is 2/3 against him. Since we already know EPatt is playing tomorrow, it looks like: EPatt Theriot Lee Ramirez Floyd Fontenot Jones Kendall Marshall Personally, I'd move Kendall up in the lineup tomorrow. He has now extended his on base streak to 10 games, and in 7 of those got on base at least twice. Combine that with his numbers against Williams, and he should really move up in the order.

First batter of the game! And the last batter of his game (in a tough spot - 2 on, 2 out). Jeff's final line: 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 K/2 BB, 7 GO-9 FO. That's a really encouraging start. Hopefully he can put together a few good starts before the end of the year. I fail to see what is encouraging about those numbers. Well, most people would have predicted that he would have gotten shelled. 3 of the flyouts were popups, so he got 10 outs in the infield. Also, only 1 extra base hit (a double). If he can continue to keep the ball in the park and allow mostly singles, he can survive even with the low strikeout numbers. Obviously, it would be a lot better if his secondary pitches come around a bit and he can increase those K numbers though because that raises his projection value by quite a bit. So maybe really encouraging was a bit too far, but it was definitely encouraging (as was his Daytona starts since the break).

First batter of the game! And the last batter of his game (in a tough spot - 2 on, 2 out). Jeff's final line: 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 K/2 BB, 7 GO-9 FO. That's a really encouraging start. Hopefully he can put together a few good starts before the end of the year.

Exactly Ryan was "benched" to get his swing back because Lou said his bat was getting slow. Not because of him being in the doghouse like Cedeno, Murton, Pie. It seems as if once a young player gets in Lous doghouse there is no coming out of it, but a Veteran gets his chance to work his way out of it. Cedeno wouldnt be on the team if Lou didn't want him. Pie wasn't in the doghouse he didn't hit. We will have to agree to disagree, because him being here means nothing. It was the most logical choise with how Ronny was hitting, and how much Izturis sucked. There's gonna be a problem, then, if Lou buries Pie in the doghouse and Hendry continues to say Pie's untouchable in trade discussions. I'm not sure Pie is in the doghouse. Lou started him for a while when Soriano was hurt, and then Pie played himself out of the job. Lou started him for a longer period in June, and then Pie played himself out of the job again. I'm not sure Pie will get another chance this year (except for limited starts in September when rosters expand) but I haven't seen anything to suggest that Pie has fallen into the doghouse. If he was in the doghouse, why would Lou be working with him personally so much right before he went down again? Also, Lou said that he would love to have Pie up with the ballclub the whole year because he added value to the club, but that he understood if Hendry felt it was better for Pie's development to get consistent at-bats down at the minor league level.

This isn't entirely true. Lou has given Cedeno a second chance and he's allowing Eyre and Jones the opportunity to play; one could argue that he was forced to do so by the contracts of the last two but that didn't stop him from burying JJ (and Cesar) for long stretches a few months ago. On the subject of Pie, this team can't afford to allow him to hit .200. There are 52 games left in this season and Lou isn't a AAA manager. Overall, Lou has done a fine job this season and while I like Murton, I'm not going to lobby for him over any other player. I don't care who plays just as long as they are productive. It's not like Murton was hitting the cover off the ball at any point this season for the Cubs (and his defense was a problem--and it had very little to do with playing RF for the first time because he failed to make routine plays on balls that should have been in the glove). Hell, we're talking about the same manager who thought Theriot wasn't a ML SS earlier in the year. Yet, he allowed Theriot to play enough to win the job fulltime. When? The only players under Lou who have been given 2nd chances are proven veterans like Jones and Eyre. Also, its not loke FLoyd is hitting the cover off the ball, or Pagan but yet we continue to see these guys in RF over a guy like Murton. Theriot definitely got a second chance after his awful month. Pie got a second chance (but not a third yet). Theriot got a 2nd chance because there was nobody other than Cesar Izturis to play over him. Pie was given sporadic AB"s and Lou is surprised he didnt play well? Felix's AB's were anything but sporadic. Most of his at-bats each time he was up came all bunched together before he was benched and then sent down each time. Similarly, Jones was only given a second chance because Pie failed. Eyre was given a second chance because he started impressing in his limited time. Also, Eyre is still behind just about everyone else in the bullpen, similar to how Cedeno is still behind all the other infielders.

This isn't entirely true. Lou has given Cedeno a second chance and he's allowing Eyre and Jones the opportunity to play; one could argue that he was forced to do so by the contracts of the last two but that didn't stop him from burying JJ (and Cesar) for long stretches a few months ago. On the subject of Pie, this team can't afford to allow him to hit .200. There are 52 games left in this season and Lou isn't a AAA manager. Overall, Lou has done a fine job this season and while I like Murton, I'm not going to lobby for him over any other player. I don't care who plays just as long as they are productive. It's not like Murton was hitting the cover off the ball at any point this season for the Cubs (and his defense was a problem--and it had very little to do with playing RF for the first time because he failed to make routine plays on balls that should have been in the glove). Hell, we're talking about the same manager who thought Theriot wasn't a ML SS earlier in the year. Yet, he allowed Theriot to play enough to win the job fulltime. When? The only players under Lou who have been given 2nd chances are proven veterans like Jones and Eyre. Also, its not loke FLoyd is hitting the cover off the ball, or Pagan but yet we continue to see these guys in RF over a guy like Murton. Theriot definitely got a second chance after his awful month. Pie got a second chance (but not a third yet).

Why? Marshall and Hill will be fine. Don't worry about it. But Marquis wont, so there is reason to have concern about our rotation. Gallagher has been pretty good at AAA. He could take Marquis' spot in the rotation. LOL yea that will happen when pigs fly. Ive been on the Gallgher replaceing Marquis for awhile, but realistically its not happening. Marquis still has 2 years 14 mil left we are stuck with him. Oh and Gallagher has been VERY good at AAA. 3-1 2.16 ERA. Yea thats decent, but to bad we give out long term contracts to below average starting pitchers. The biggest problem is finding Gallagher a roster spot. If Marquis is still struggling as much as he has been, Lou might turn to Gallagher sometime in September when rosters expand.

Why not call him up to the big team? You lose a corner OF with power, replace him with a corner OF with power. 20HR, .593 SLG, 1.017 OPS I wouldn't mind calling Kroeger up as soon as he gets playing back in Iowa again and proves that he is healthy.

That's really overstating the situation. Pie had a line of .224/.240/.388 the first time he was up, and a .211/.290/.322 line the second time he was up. I don't know what you'd call that, but I'd call it pretty terrible. The Cubs cannot afford a player right now with an OBP under .300 playing everyday.

Well so does Murton. So we can guess that maybe he won't. If you ask me you've gotta give kids like Murton, Pie, Patterson the majority of the at bats over guys like pagan, floyd, and jones. You use those 3 if they happen to have good carreer #'s against a certain pitcher. But that's not how this team thinks. . If it were me. . Theroit SS Patterson 2B Lee 1B Ramirez 3B Derosa RF Jones CF Murton LF Kendall C P I like this lineup This is largely the reason I think this move is stupid. Not to re-hash the whole Murton debate, but what Lou/Hendry need to do is bring up Pie, play him in CF...acknowledge that Fontenot is a bench player, play DeRo @ 2b, & let Murton play RF full time--put non-slugging Cliff in LF... I know I'm not breaking new ground, as this seems to be the consensus on this board... Even assuming EPatt is put in CF, why? Put the, ahem, "natural" CF w/ the big club...not a guy who has played there for a stertch of games in the minors.. 1) The Cubs are not going to bench Jones because of Soriano's injury. If they weren't going to do it yesterday, they certainly aren't going to do it today (and Jones is off to a fast start in August after having a decent July). In fact, one could argue that Jones is the superior player to Floyd at this point of the season. 2) Pie hasn't hit at all either time he's been called up. The organization must think that Patterson with his shorter swing will be able to adjust to major league pitching faster than Pie, and since this club needs offense right now they need to bring up the best bats they can (except apparently at backup catcher). Also, Patterson is a top of the order hitter, which really shouldn't matter but it does in most major league organizations, and that helped Patterson get here as well.

Not hitting in the majors does not = big league success either. Just ask most of the Cubs roster. I can see your point when talking about Soto, but what do we have to lose? As for Murton, he's proven it already with 550+ ABs. What do we have to lose? The very good OBP that Kendall is putting up with the Cubs. Of course, there are possibilities for gains as well.

Kendall was on 2nd when Murton pinch-hit in the 9th.

As far as the Jacque Jones thing, did you really want to burn Jones there? With the Soriano injury, they had already used Fontenot. If you burn Jones without even an at-bat, now you've used your top 3 hitters off of the bench in the 7th inning. When the pitcher's spot comes up again (which might be in a big spot), you only have Ronny Cedeno and Koyie Hill left on the bench.

did I mention that he'd get 4 AB's a week for the Cubs? At this point, Pie only has 3-4 weeks in his minor league season left anyway. I'd like him to be called up even if he does only get a few at-bats a week. One, he can help the team right now just being a defensive replacement, pinch runner, etc. (and it won't hurt him too much because there isn't much minor league season left). Second, if he can survive on the squad through the end of the month, he can be placed on the postseason roster, where he could be very valuable in that role.

I think Murton didn't come out last night because Lou didn't like his numbers against Glavine. I think you'll definitely see Murton against just about every left-hander, but the question is how many right-handers? So tonight, it will probably be: Theriot Fontenot Lee Ramirez (maybe a change here) DeRosa Murton Pagan Kendall (or Hill-Kendall has started 3 straight) R. Hill

I thought it was going to be somewhat close the first time I saw it (and was wondering why Soriano did it) but when I saw the replay I could see that if Soriano runs at full speed all the way and slides into the bag, the throw definitely would have been late.

With Sori being so hot and cold, losing him right now during the middle of a cold streak isn't so bad. Hopefully he can come back and start to hit another hot streak (as I believe he did the first time he was hurt). His numbers have been absolutely atrocious since the All-Star Break anyway, so the player who is going to replace him does not have large shoes to fill in that regard, and the offense has done well during that time even with Sori struggling. If it is somebody like Murton that gets a majority of the starts with Soriano out, that would make this lineup have very little power, but the OBP in the lineup would be higher then I may have ever seen a Cubs lineup, especially with Jacque and Kendall being hot and providing very good OBP's at the bottom of the lineup to add to all the other guys who are known as good OBP guys (Lee, Ramirez, Murton, Floyd, Theriot, DeRosa probably are all 350 or above OBP guys (at least 340 or above) and if Jones and Kendall or even just one of them continues to join them-wow).

The thing is-your assumption at the beginning of the post is not completely correct. Kendall's OBP with the Cubs is over .365. There are 6 catchers out of 50 in the major leagues with 100 AB's that have that number. He is not playing terribly offensively. So-do the Cubs ride out his hot streak and take his defense with it, or do they make a move even when he's doing well offensively? Opposing players are running at will against him. We can't keep giving other teams 2nd and 3rd base. Kendall hasn't made a good throw yet. There are kids in high school that have a better chance at throwing guys out. The Cubs faced the #1 and #2 teams in stolen bases in the NL. That magnified the problem. Many of the teams the Cubs have left on their schedule (Houston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis) do not run much at all. Also, I'm not sure any catcher could really increase the CS percentage that much. Soto made 2 very good throws to try to nail runners while he was here, and he was late each time. The pitchers are really bad at holding runners on, and that is the biggest part of the problem. That's why the Cubs have had 6 catchers run through the organization this year while not being able to find anybody that can throw runners out. If you think about it, who on the starting staff can hold runners even decently? Zambrano-that's about it.

The thing is-your assumption at the beginning of the post is not completely correct. Kendall's OBP with the Cubs is over .365. There are 6 catchers out of 50 in the major leagues with 100 AB's that have that number. He is not playing terribly offensively. So-do the Cubs ride out his hot streak and take his defense with it, or do they make a move even when he's doing well offensively?

Lineup Soriano Theriot Lee Ramirez Floyd DeRosa Pagan Kendall Marquis I like it. Right-handed lineup except for Floyd, and Floyd has always hit Glavine well and Murton has not. Here is the Mets lineup: Reyes Castillo Wright Delgado Alou Green Lo Duca Milledge Glavine

I really didn't think when the Cubs traded Barrett that this would happen. Every other catcher besides Kendall has been absolutely awful, and so has Barrett. It is really strange. Everybody but Barrett's numbers coming up are with the Cubs-Barrett's numbers are his Padre numbers. Jason Kendall: .244/.354/.317 (41 AB's) Michael Barrett: .223/.223/.287 (94 AB's) Koyie Hill: .153/.221/.271 (85 AB's) Rob Bowen: .065/.167/.097 (31 AB's). It's pretty hard to get under a .250 OBP-or at least I thought it was. Barrett, Hill, and Bowen seem to be doing pretty well at it though. Kendall right now is doing a really good job at what he does. Walk, get hit, and hit singles. If he can just continue to get on base at a decent rate, that hole at catcher won't be nearly as bad (especially if Soto comes up and takes Hill's 1-2 starts per turn through the rotation away from him). As for the person who suggested re-signing him, I wouldn't come anywhere near to doing that. Just thank him for hopefully 3 good months, and move on. We don't want a repeat of the Gary Gaetti situation.

Prior, Zambrano, Clement, and Estes. The first 4 starters were the reason the Cubs got in to the playoffs for the most part. Prior was 3rd in the NL in ERA, Zambrano was 7th, Wood was 8th, and Clement was 27th.

The Mets threw 47 pitches in the 3rd inning.

Lilly is slow, and the ball was bunted hard enough for it to be a double play possibility. Yup-I also just looked back at the Jones play. If Jones reacts instantly and dives back to the bag, Wright may have tagged him anyway (it would have been close). So there are no assurances that even if he knew he was safe, that he could have gotten back to the bag in time.