CubColtPacer

I doubt Lou would end the experiment this early, at least not on a permanent basis. I can't say who will play tomorrow for sure, but I don't think the team has seen the last of Theriot at short, and my guess is that Theriot will be given a couple more days at SS at least. Kind of a funny sample size thing-if Theriot and Izturis do what they did today for the next 2 days (Theriot 0-4, Izturis 1-1) then they will have virtually identical offensive numbers for the season (2 points OBP and 2 points SLG would be all that separated them.) While I don't expect that to happen, it is still amazing to watch the numbers bounce around this much, and that scenario isn't altogether out of the realm of possibility.

It would have been just as close there-I looked at it a couple of times, and from the speed of the ball/length of throw, it would have been really close at first.

Edmonds is a lefty. I think the difference in ability between Wuertz and Cotts covers for the platoon disadvantage. What about the difference between Edmonds and Taguchi?

I don't think that was a failed hit and run (Theriot/Soriano). Theriot does not have to change his strategy whatsoever because Soriano was running on the 3-2 count-he has to swing on all the strikes and look at all the balls anyway. I dunno, Soriano had a pretty good jump and was about halfway to second when Theriot swung and popped it up. That kind of pitch is rarely swung at otherwise, considering it was high and inside. Theriot swung at the exact same pitch with a 3-2 count in the first inning, and he should have taken it both times for a walk-I don't really see how Soriano running the second time really changed that fact.

I don't think that was a failed hit and run (Theriot/Soriano). Theriot does not have to change his strategy whatsoever because Soriano was running on the 3-2 count-he has to swing on all the strikes and look at all the balls anyway.

Anybody think Wuertz can go another inning after all those pitches?

I don't see how that's that stupid-unless you're implying that the Redskins don't have anywhere near that depth. That is the goal of every team though to be exactly what Gibbs is talking about.

Marquis didn't have good stuff all day-he was doing a great job of avoiding the big mistake until that pitch. Oh well, for not having good stuff 3 runs in 6 2/3 is still good-let's hope the bullpen can hold this now.

1st of hopefully many Pie!

Are you serious??? Dude, didn't I show you earlier that Cedeno was a much worse SS in the minors than Theriot was? I've seen Cedeno make that play a few times this year-that kind of ball is when he usually does his little spin move. Ok yah, I agree Cedeno has more range, but Theriot's defense isn't nearly the liability people are making it out to be. Maybe not, but that's 3 plays already tonight where a SS with more range makes plays. Theriot needs to improve upon that if he intends to stick there. Theriot's the best of the options. Cesar has been a complete flop offensively and defensively. Ronny might be a suitable backup, but he hasn't shown that he's a prime time player. I'm willing to give Theriot more than a few innings to stick at SS. Yeah exactly, me too. One of those plays he just looked nervous. When he might have been able to make a DP. He's just not used to playing SS, and on the grand stage to boot. Give him atleast a few more starts to see if he gets comfortable. GO RAMMY!! Oh, I'm willing to give him some time there, just like I was willing to see if Izturis could get the bat going at the beginning of the season. It's certainly possible that Theriot will greatly improve upon what he's done tonight, or it's also possible that the Cubs could just use a different SS when Marquis is on the mound (since most of the other pitchers are flyball pitchers, that would still have Theriot at SS 4/5 of the time, and Theriot's bat wouldn't be needed as much with Marquis in the lineup). That doesn't have to be determined until they let Theriot play a couple of weeks though.

Are you serious??? Dude, didn't I show you earlier that Cedeno was a much worse SS in the minors than Theriot was? I've seen Cedeno make that play a few times this year-that kind of ball is when he usually does his little spin move. Ok yah, I agree Cedeno has more range, but Theriot's defense isn't nearly the liability people are making it out to be. Maybe not, but that's 3 plays already tonight where a SS with more range makes plays (4 if you count the not taking the out at second, which I am not). Theriot needs to improve upon that if he intends to stick there.

Are you serious??? Dude, didn't I show you earlier that Cedeno was a much worse SS in the minors than Theriot was? I've seen Cedeno make that play a few times this year-that kind of ball is when he usually does his little spin move.

Wednesday showed the tradeoff of how important Theriot's bat could be in the lineup. That inning just showed the tradeoff of his defense-both the error and not being able to get a ball that a SS should get and instead having it go into LF. It's an interesting tradeoff, and one that will just have to continue to be monitored.

fouled out to third.

Reyes with 44 pitches through 2.

wonder where all those guys are going to hit in the lineup. My guess would be: Soriano/Theriot/Lee/Ramirez/Barrett/Murton/DeRosa/Pie.

I've heard one of the PTBNL might be the Athletics trying to get Koufax's rights from the Israeli's. The Reds were desperate to get him to have another left-hander in their bullpen. :D

For Colts fans, he really reminds us of a healthy Brandon Stokley-there is a pretty big contingent of Colts fans that say that if he's available at 32, the Colts have to take him. I would like him, but I'm not sure I'm quite completely in that camp.

I think that answers the question of if Lou was telling the truth when he said that Murton had a stiff back and that he would play him soon.

That's actually a great call. I'm kinda feeling that also... I have made this call just about every game. I'll be right one of these times. He had a hit in his pinch hit appearance, then a couple hits the last outing, right? I don't know that he "breaks out" but I could sure see a few good performances in a row here... He is 4 for 11 with 2 doubles since he came back.

That's what I think the Raiders should do as well.

I'm not sold on Russell either. I think Quinn may end up being an average QB, but I don't want an average player at any position with a top-5 pick in the draft. I think I'll stop debating this now because none of us really know whether he'll be good or bad in the NFL, and I know I'm just going to end up arguing with 5 ND fans about this, which will be futile. See my edit-I wouldn't draft Quinn either in the top 5, but I think he's the best QB out there this year. I have many of the same questions about Quinn as I did Leinhart last year.

So, 1 fantastic game, 2 great games, a decent game, and 2 bad games against good defenses. Curious what that averages out to overall, but Brady Quinn wasn't the reason ND looked bad in 3 games this year. There are college football QB ratings, not NFL QB ratings. Other games in 2006: Michigan State: 113.3 Purdue: 117.9 Stanford: 116.0 Navy: 150.8 UNC: 136.1 Air Force: 148.5 Army: 112.9 Actually, no they are not. You just posted what his performances would be on the NFL QB scale. For example, the Navy game he had a 210.72 on the college scale, and for Air Force he had a 234.67. You can find all his actual college ratings here: http://cfbstats.com/2006/player/513/60149.html my bad... it's confusing, because on his overall player page, ESPN lists his QB rating as 146, which obviously has to be on the college scale. But in the game log, it usees NFL scale. Stupid ESPN. Regardless, the numbers bear out that he played significantly better against bad teams. From the games I saw this year, it seemed like he struggled against more confusing defensive schemes, and especially against defenses with very good team speed. Just about every QB plays much better against bad teams in college. Russell certainly did. Quinn was really good against defensive schemes in 2005, and he didn't just lose that ability in 2006-what he lost was any idea of an offensive line. Against Michigan, the line played absolutely horribly. Against LSU, Quinn played probably his first truly bad game in 2 years. Edit: I want to add that I am very worried about Quinn being not great in the pros. However, it has nothing to do with his ability to play in big games-other then the LSU game (where the running game was the only thing to show up and Quinn did not) in every other big game Quinn did his best to carry the entire team by himself while everyone else faltered, even the receivers who dropped several key passes (in 2005 usually the whole offense showed up, but not the defense).

What's the difference? Level of competition makes it easier to get a higher rating in college? There are different scales for college and the NFL-truffle was probably looking at Quinn's ESPN site, which lists his ratings on the NFL scale, not the college one. why the crap do they do that? Probably because more people know what is good and bad based on the NFL one. Bukie's point from earlier on this page now stands though about the quality of most Quinn's games, and it gets even more pronounced when you look at 2005-he only had 1 game under 90 rating (NFL rating) in 2005, and that game was the USC game when Quinn led an 88 yard drive resulting in him running in what was supposed to be the game-winning TD with less than 2 minutes left.

What's the difference? Level of competition makes it easier to get a higher rating in college? There are different scales for college and the NFL-truffle was probably looking at Quinn's ESPN site, which lists his ratings on the NFL scale, not the college one.