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Ramirez pinch-hitting was the best move. Lou couldn't win there either, because there were several people in the game thread calling him several different names if he didn't PH with Ramirez there. What better situation can you put your biggest hitter on the bench in then bases loaded in the late innings?

bunting with your cleanup hitter. Trying to steal 3rd with 2 outs. Id really like to know if the steal sign was on or not. I have to think it was because I really dont think Barret would just steal 3rd with 2 out like that Did Murton try to steal with him? If not, I doubt the steal sign was on-there would be no reason for Barrett to go and not for Murton to go.

So because the bullpen sucks, Lou must walk on eggshells and bring in the exact perfect person or he's an idiot? The perfect person of course being Howry or Ohman, every single time. Never mind that a strategy like that will send those 2 to the DL by July. This makes no sense. Eyre sucks, he's on the team. Either get him off the team, or Lou will have to use him. Period, end of story. There is no reason at all to bring Eyre in with the game so close. Just leave Wuertz in he can get lefties out to just in case you or Lou hasnt noticed. I wouldn't have put Eyre in there either, but Ohman has been better pitching to right-handers than Wuertz has been pitching to left-handers the past three years. Why is it so bad for Ohman to pitch to an occasional right-hander, but Lou is called out if he doesn't leave Wuertz in to face every left-hander?

My hope is that it was just in case the pitcher's spot came up that inning. Guzman should pitch this inning now, and then be pinch hit for.

1 win-the game against Washington at home. Yup. Game 3 sweep. I was there, and I won tickets to it. That was the Ward hit over the leftfielder, right? Yup-that was the ballgame all right.

Yep. Glad he's not starting. :roll: In the past week, I've watched the game threads. The couple times Guzman has done well, people complained that he was doing well in the bullpen and therefore he should be starting. When he did poorly Friday night, people complained that he did poorly therefore he should be starting. I guess it's a no win :D

1 win-the game against Washington at home.

No need for patience right there. He got a pitch he liked and hit it to the wall Patience is NEVER a bad thing, IMO. It was the guys first pitch in the game. I agree patience is never bad, however with Aram he got a pitch he liked and drove it cant really complain. On NSBB, there's always a reason to complain. It's in the User Agreement. It's basic baseball. No reason not to take the first pitch in that situation. It's not like the guy grooved a fastball, IIRC. Eh, whatever. I just rewatched it-a fastball right down the middle. Ramirez hit the best pitch he was going to see in that at-bat.

If this becomes a loss, it is on Lou today.

This move is-almost inexplicable. I don't even know what to say except to hope that his pitching has somehow returned to early last year, even though I'm pretty sure it hasn't.

Wow-that pitch was really, really close.

I don't like the bunt call here. DeRosa hits into too many outs that won't bring the run home from 3rd, and Barrett is too good of a hitter. And there's the out.

Wuertz should at least start the next inning, if not pitch the 8th.

Are you on the Cubs payroll? Ive never seen you disagree with anything the Cubs or Lou do lol LOL-I've disagreed with some things (like Dempster becoming starter-I was vocally very against that move) but on moves that I think can go either way, I like to present the other side of the argument. Since most of the time people say the Cubs are so wrong in making all these moves, my other side seems like I support them more than I do. Personally, I would have kept Hill in, but it's a very close decision and I'm not upset that he was taken out either.

From the way they've been used recently, Guzman is one of the setup men (with Wuertz and Howry). Marmol is the long man.

Remember also that in the 6th inning they got several good swings off of Hill-he certainly wasn't assured of continuing to pitch a shutout either.

I thought the pitch on Izturis was ball 4, but after seeing the strike 1 call on Theriot in the same spot, I'm not so sure now.

I don't even know where Izturis was going with that pitch-he's much better at pitches on the outer half of the plate. He had to either walk or figure out a way to get Murton home there-and swinging at that pitch was not that.

What a tough division! Is it me or is this game an hour late for a getaway game? Sunday games rarely start before 1:00 local time. If this were a Thursday game getaway day, it probably would start at 3:10 EDT rather than 4:10, but not on a Sunday.

Aramis with a scheduled day off against a left-hander? This should be interesting-that probably makes the lineup today: 1-Soriano 2-Theriot 3-Lee 4-DeRosa 5-Barrett 6-Murton 7-Izturis 8-Pagan That order could be way off though. 4/5/6 are interchangeable, as is 7/8. Also, if Soriano moves down the order (which I doubt a little bit with just an off day), Theriot moves up to the top slot, Pagan into the 2 spot, and Soriano probably in the 4 slot with the rest of the order the same.

3 things: 1) With Milwaukee playing so poorly, it seems a bit premature to give up on the season right now. If the Cubs bullpen shakes out a little bit of the dead weight and they put the arms in the proper order, this team will be right in it. 2) Cabrera is not a free agent until after the 2009 season. 3) Aramis has a NTC.

I hate to say it, but I beginning to think Theriot might suck. He only appears to be a slightly better hitter then Iz, and he has no range. I would keep Iz at SS and at the 8 spot everyday, and then figure out who the super sub is between Dero and Ryan. In each of his last 3 seasons in the minors, his OBP was .367, .365, .367. So he's got that going for him, which is a heck of a lot more than Izturis can say. That translates to, what, .335 in the bigs? Izturis' defense might just be enough to make up that difference. I'd say there's an argument to be made that they are about equal players. I didnt look today but Izturis OBP is up to something like .325. Which not great is better than Jones and Barrett. He has been quite abit better than Theriot this month. I am not a big fan of Izturis but if he can have a .325 OBP for the year that would be pretty solid if he quits making errors. I think his defense has gotten a lot better this month also-in April, everybody was cringing about if he'd throw it wide every time. Lately, pretty much every time the throw is right to the glove, with a stronger arm than he showed earlier in the season (although not as strong as he used to have). BTW, his OBP sits at .331 at the end of the day today.

I wondered if he might have a nagging injury as well, but the most likely answer is that Theriot is going through a cold streak, and DeRosa and Izturis have both played much better than him the past 2 weeks.

silly. so i guess Lou can only use Ohman when his psychic or ouiji board tell him that the other manager isnt going to pinch hit. So the situation to use Ohman now is day games only, with 1 man on not in scoring position, lefty coming to the plate and the opposing manager wont let pinch hit for him. Good to have him available just in that case. :roll: Wrong. :roll: There was righthanded hitter in the opposing dugout who is a better hitter than the guy at the plate. Kent has a 311/394/518/912 line against LHP the past three years, and has been hot, with a 1.531 OPS in the past week. On the other hand, Gonzalez has a 272/369/473/842 line against RHP from 2004-06, and has been even worse than that in 2006 and the first part of 2007. Being as it's obviously a key situation in the game, do you want your closer pitching against Luis Gonzalez, or Ohman pitching against Jeff Kent? Anybody with half a brain (apparently this doesn't include Lou Piniella) knew that Kent would hit for Gonzalez there, so you're weighing those two options. I'd prefer Dempster against the weaker hitter, and so would anybody with an ounce of common sense. Bring Dempster in to face a left-hander in a key spot? That's just as bad or worse as bringing in Ohman to face a right-hander. Here are their 3 year splits: Ohman vs RHB: .239/.349/.369 Dempster vs LHB: .286/.394/.401 BTW, Luis Gonzalez is 10 for 18 career against Dempster with a double, 2 home runs, 3 walks, and 0 K's-a .556/.636/.944 line for his career. Interestingly enough, Gonzalez is 4/6 against Ohman with 2 doubles, a home run, and a walk, but since Ohman is a LOOGY they put Kent in, who is now 0 for 3 with a walk against Ohman. Ohman against Kent is not a good matchup, but Dempster vs Gonzalez is not a good matchup at all.

Are you serious? Not really-there's a small buyout in 2009. He's signed through next year, and then they almost certainly will let him go (unless he somehow has a career year in 2008, then they might consider it (for right or wrong)).