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Shhhhhhhh. It's mostly a result of his BABIP and HR/FB coming back to earth as had to at some point. If you take this last stretch where he's struggled (12 games) here are his numbers: 44 AB's, 8 H, 2 HR, 8 BB, 13 K's .182/.308/.318, BAPIP of .207, K/PA: 25%, BB/PA: 15.4% The BB/K ratio is just fine and actually better than he has done on the season. He's had a couple series during that stretch where he has struggled with strikeouts, but a couple series where he has not as well. 2 HR's is fine for that stretch. The only really bad thing about his line over the last couple weeks is the lack of doubles.

Not that I can think of. It's pretty much just money, and really not all that much money unless you've got a wave of 4-5 Super Twos. I think it can be a decent amount of money. While the first year salary would be the same (just a year earlier) there is extra time for the raises to build up. And while they still can't be compared to free agents until their final year of arbitration, that still adds up. For example, Ryan Howard just finished what would have been his 4 arbitration years. And he earned 10 million, 15 million, 19 million, and 20 million in those 4 years (Philadelphia chose to give them the last 3 years in an extension that didn't have any free agency on it). So the Phillies probably would have saved 15-20 million dollars if they hadn't made Howard a Super Two in the first place.

And honestly, as many good surprises as there have been, there have been just as many disappointments. Soto, Barney, and Volstad all being much worse than expected, Marmol forgetting what the strike zone looks like, Kerry not being very good, and Soriano not bouncing back as hoped. Far from everything has gone right and I'm really not all that disappointed in how the season has gone thus far. Barney's been on a hot streak. Right now, everything about him this year has been better than last year. Better walk rate, better strikeout rate, more extra base hits, more line drives, less popups, and excellent defense. He'll probably get a little worse as the season goes along, but so far he's been a valuable player.

No, you don't understand. He HAS to go pro. :D That seems foolish, he's a damn good college player. I doubt that's the guy that gets Creaned. Oh, I know, I'm just kidding. The latest rumor I've heard from my IU friends is Abell. That doesn't make sense either, who the hell is going to back up Yogi? My favorite idea is sending Jurkin to prep school because the scholarship situation really clears up after this year, lol. Abell makes some sense from a basketball standpoint. As promising as he was last year, he really has no place on this year's team. He should only get spot minutes without injuries. His junior and senior year he should get a decent amount of minutes as the backup point guard, but I could completely understand if he wants to transfer and go play 3 years somewhere else and get more minutes. I'd have a harder time swallowing Etherington since he helped recruit players to Indiana, even though he'll certainly get more playing time somewhere else. Jurkin and Patterson it would depend more on why they weren't coming. If they suddenly decided to transfer, that would be almost certainly at Crean's pushing. If they didn't qualify, that's a different matter.

It's pretty obvious that either a sophomore or a freshman is going to leave the program altogether, if it is because of a transfer or because one of the freshman didn't become academically ineligible. That will reset the scholarship numbers. Creek also probably won't get a 5th year, and then they might try to sign Anya as an oversign in preparation for Zeller leaving. If all those happened, then IU would be fine in all three years again. If they don't get Anya and Zeller leaves, then they probably give the scholarship to Creek for that year and recruit somebody else in the 2014 class.

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).

Agreed, but 25% would still be worrisome because of how far it may go up when he hits the major leagues, and he's got to be really good at avoiding strikeouts to get back there anytime soon. I'm not sure if he'll stay at 30, but it's hard to imagine him getting much past 25 this season if he even gets there.

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.

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.

In a non-shocking development, the NBA has decided that the referees had it right on Wade's foul. No flagrant 2, and not even a fine.

I see several people comparing the Jason Smith hit on Blake Griffin earlier in the year and the Wade hit on Collison last night. Anybody have any thoughts on how they compare? Was the Wade hit better or worse? And should the NBA even consider a suspension like they gave Smith? As for the series, the team who wakes up and starts hitting their open 3's first will win. George especially is doing a fantastic job on Wade/LeBron, and the Heat are doing a great job fronting Hibbert/West. It will be a defensive struggle for most of the games, but I bet only one more game at the most will be in the 70's...they'll do a little better offensively most nights. But I do think losing Bosh has helped the Miami defense and really hurt their offense.

I'd say it's far from a given they beat Indiana without him. I would think that would require a big series from Hibbert. I don't know if he can do that or not. No, he honestly can't. He's not a guy who will put a team on his back for multiple nights in a row. But I don't think he needs to. He just needs to draw enough attention (and West as well, who could possibly put the team on his back himself) to give the perimeter scorers some room. The Pacers were close on Sunday and got 23 points combined from Granger, George, and Hill on 25 shots. Those are the players who need to play decently to give the team a shot.

DAMN. UNC. How do they determine these matchups? Do they try to evenly match them based on what the teams will be like that year, or based on the previous year? It's obviously not random. I believe it's a little of both with no published 'formula'. UNC just lost most of their starters to the NBA didn't they? It should be a cake walk for the Hoo Hoo Hoosiers at the Hall of Calls. Probably won't even be within 10. Yeah, let's go with that. I was kinda hoping for a re-match vs. NC State. I think IU and NCSt are basically at the same points in their programs. Really bad teams a few years ago that turned it around quicker than expected. Last year, going into the game, I thought the winner might sneak in the 7-10 seed range in the NCAAs, with the other just missing out. This year, they are a couple near locks for getting to Sweet 16, with a shot at a final 4 both. I think they were trying to draw the casual fan in. It's easier to get ratings marketing a top 15 UNC team trying to go into Assembly Hall and knock off a potential #1 Indiana team then it is an NC State team, even if they end up being top 10.

DAMN. UNC. How do they determine these matchups? Do they try to evenly match them based on what the teams will be like that year, or based on the previous year? It's obviously not random. It's in large part what's good for television (trying to create the juiciest matchups possible without creating too big of mismatches) and also who was at home/road the previous year. In this case, Duke, UNC, and NC State are supposed to be the class of the ACC next year. Both IU and Duke played on the road last year, so they were unlikely to play each other. NC State just played IU last year, so UNC was the only logical choice. As you can see, both the other two got road matchups against two of the other elite teams in the Big 10 in Ohio State and Michigan.

I go back and forth on Bosh's value. I tend to agree with some people who think the Heat are better defensively when he's out of the lineup, and LeBron and Wade taking more shots isn't too bad for them offensively. But at times like the first half yesterday they need Bosh to pick up the slack because nobody else on that roster can when LeBron and Wade aren't hitting. I feel more confident about the Pacers chances of winning this series after the game yesterday. They have a good gameplan against the Heat, and now they just need to hit a couple of those 3's that turned into transition opportunities for the Heat instead yesterday. I still think it's likely the Heat win the series especially after having won the first close game, but the Pacers aren't going anywhere either.

We can replace Brewer with Butler, but its gonna be tough to get similar production from Korver and Watson with the veterans minimum. As bad as they were in the playoffs, they were valuable in the regular season, and I think Korver really struggled getting open without Rose out there in the playoffs. Even without Rose, Korver remains basically our only dangerous shooter. I'm not sure who they are going to be able to get for the vet minimum who can come in and run around screen after screen to get open and hit 40% of his 3s. If the Bulls werent cheap, I'd suggest amnestying Boozer and resigning all 3. This way, you give Taj starter minutes, you keep most of your depth which carried us at times this year, and the difference between Boozer's contract and Brewer/Korver/Watson combined leaves you with $2.4 mil extra, which can be spent to replace backup PF and would probably net a better player than could be had for the vet minimum. But I just cannot see Reinsdorf willing to eat $50 million. Is amnesty of Boozer a realistic option? A lot of people mention this, and it certainly seems like a good idea. But I've never heard it even mentioned by any credible source. And I thought you're only liable for the part of the contract that another team doesn't pick up. Someone will pay Boozer decent money. It's not like he's making 400% of what he's worth, like Soriano for instance. If a team under the cap places a bid, then the Bulls are not liable for the part of the contract that the bid covers. From what we saw of the amnestied players last year though, teams under the cap are rather reluctant to give up that space for a flawed player like Boozer. The Bulls might be able to save 4 million a year under that scenario, but I can't seem them saving much more than that, and it could be less because the market is so limited and teams might gamble to try to pick him up on the cheap.

The Cubs didn't even get through the lineup 3 times. I wonder how often that happens. Especially when the team has 5 hits on the day.

Entering the day, the Cubs were 7th in the NL in starters ERA and 11th in relievers ERA. 13th best in offense. There is a huge chasm between 6th and 7th (the Marlins are 6th at a 3.07 ERA and the Cubs are at 3.72) while the bullpen can catch 3 teams very easily.

If it were just about Anya, I completely agree with you. As Exile said though, I don't know if it is all about Anya. It could be because Crean liked what he did with Creek and Oladipo. It could be just his general contacts in the region. I would certainly hope Crean wouldn't give out something as important as an assistant coach primarily for one player. Even putting aside the ethics question, Crean doesn't need to do things like that to recruit players. As for the Roth situation, I'm pretty sure that you don't get approval for an injury waiver until after your senior year, no matter when the injury occurred. So Roth didn't count in regards to the oversign. I feel bad for him, because he's done everything asked of him. But a 5th year on scholarship would just be a bonus, not a guarantee. I hope he gets to play somewhere next year, whether it's for Indiana as a walk on (not likely) or somewhere else.

Pitcher A: 7.02 K/9, 3.07 BB/9, 0.66 HR/9, 18.7% LD rate against, 3.59 FIP, 3.74 xFIP Pitcher B: 5.73 K/9, 2.73 BB/9, 0.55 HR/9, 18.0% LD rate against, 3.38 FIP, 4.12 xFIP The differences between them are not that huge. Z isn't going to be able to strand 88 percent of his runners all season, and Volstad will start stranding more than 46 percent of them.

Tracking flyballs/linedrives isn't all that athletic of an activity. It's largely instinctual after years of following balls coming off bats from that distance/angle. Well, then spend some money to make an app where players can "see" thousands of fly balls coming off a bat (based off real plays in games) one after the other and watch it on their IPad from different positions on the field... the player has to decide quickly which way to break. You could even use the accelerometer/GPS and camera to do an agumented reality thing. You could even have it support different wind conditions at the different parks, etc, so you could see how a ball reacts with the wind blowing in or out. It's not going to be as good as real practice reps, but I have to believe something like that would accelerate the learning process. All kidding aside, this is the sort of thing you do in the offseason, not the middle of a season. You'd have to give LaHair all of next winter/spring to try and learn the position. The all star break wouldn't be enough time, especially since he will be playing in that game. If this were his first time playing the outfield, I'd agree. But LaHair has 157 minor league games out there. He even had 107 major league innings of playing the outfield just last year. He's familiar with what needs to be done out there, even if he isn't very good at it.

Dumping at least 2 of them without adding salary (or dumping all 3 and re-signing Asik to a small deal) gets them out of the luxury tax. That seems to be the goal if that info is true. And that's a really scary goal because the Bulls will likely have to go into the luxury tax eventually to not get worse than they are right now. There are ways to build the team and avoid the luxury tax, but they won't be easy.

What I'm glad to see from LaHair is that the peripherals are slowly improving. The strikeout rate is slowly coming down, the walk rate has picked back up, the amount of line drives are up, and the IFFB percentage has continued to drop. The BABIP and HR/FB rate are still ridiculously high, but the other numbers are starting to get into ranges where they won't indicate huge trouble for him when the BABIP and HR/FB normalize.

I don't see Volstad getting pulled from the rotation anytime real soon. Other than a handful of poor innings Volstad has looked pretty good, so it's not like there is no reason not to hope he'll get it together. And Wood wasn't exactly mowing them down in Iowa, either. Unless they think Volstad has something mechanically wrong that makes him incapable of pitching out of the stretch, I agree they won't pull him anytime soon. The biggest reason his numbers are so bad is a 46.3% LOB rate, which is just ridiculous. Opponents are hitting just barely better than league average against him, the LD percentage he's allowing is fine, his HR rate is good, and the only other issue is that his K's are slightly down so far. Overall though, pretty solid and eventually he'll start getting out of these big innings.

I didn't say anything about taking Volstad's spot. I said I thought they might try and give Wood another start while he's up here. I can see the benefit, but they probably didn't think it was worth playing so shorthanded for a few days. Four bench players runs out really quickly, and with the off day coming up and with Garza going to take his next turn all the starters are going to get an extra day of rest anyway. And by the time they would need Wood to break up that 13 game stretch he'd be eligible to come back up anyway.