MSG T

Who's the dude with sunglasses to the right (our left) of you and Kerry? ;)

Clearly, you know this. That's why they bid on Darvish. That's why they reportedly made offers to both Pujols and Fielder (both of whom they were, unsurprisingly, outbid on because AL teams have more leeway to go nuts on guys like that). But, since it didn't happen, that was never in the plans. The Cubs didn't sign any of them. Had they wanted to, they could have. That's my evidence. Where is yours? Would you seriously have wanted the Cubs to sign any of those guys to bigger contracts than they got? Cause that's what it would have taken. I'd love to have seen Prince or Albert playing 1B, but not for the contracts they signed.

Didn't we just hear a week or so ago that pitchers have good enough control to hit a guy in an area that won't cause damage? So occasionally they do let one get away from them? Hmmm...

I realize that this article doesn't apply directly to baseball, but I thought the basic concept is something I'd like to see implemented eventually. Could be used for strikes and balls once the technology progresses to the point of using microsensors. http://phys.org/news/2012-05-football-goal-line-technology-trial-danish.html

Didn't he have more than the rest of the team before the game tonight? Just getting back from work and haven't checked updated stats, so I'm purely guessing.

I don't think there's ever been a reason to have Rizzo in Iowa City. You could say that about anyone. Iowa City is great, but I doubt Rizzo has ever been there.

I hope he goes to a school that wasn't restricted. Saw a thing from his AAU coach that he may still try for a full release.

His dad lives in Washington, IA, and he was paying in-state tuition. Nice to see my memory isn't completely shot, only partially.

Yes, he could do that with Iowa as well. Actually, isn't that what Recker did at Iowa? Or did he transfer to ASU then wound up at Iowa paying his own way? I know there was something screwy with his transfer. Went to Arizona, then because of his car wreck was allowed to leave and go to Iowa with no penalty. Yep. And I may be wrong, but I don't think he was on scholarship at Iowa. I think he was paying in-state tuition (IIRC his dad lived in Cedar Rapids at the time, or maybe mom) I'm finding a bunch of articles on google that says that Recker paid his own way. I had no idea this happened. That was my memory of it. I think his dad moved to Iowa for work around the time he went to AZ.

Yes, he could do that with Iowa as well. Actually, isn't that what Recker did at Iowa? Or did he transfer to ASU then wound up at Iowa paying his own way? I know there was something screwy with his transfer. Went to Arizona, then because of his car wreck was allowed to leave and go to Iowa with no penalty. Yep. And I may be wrong, but I don't think he was on scholarship at Iowa. I think he was paying in-state tuition (IIRC his dad lived in Cedar Rapids at the time, or maybe mom)

Even if he doesn't throw 200 innings, he's far more valuable as a starter while throwing 130-150 innings as opposed to being a "late inning lefty". That suggests set up or 7th inning guy. God Dusty is stupid. Yeah see these guys are still human so let's actually think this out: He threw 50 innings last year. Triple his workload in a new role and then what? What happens when he hits his limit and they're still in the hunt? Do they let Dusty ride him? Do they move him to the pen? Chapman will start when the time comes...the guy is a special talent and a major investment for them...I think they're doing alright handling him, 18 ST innings be damned. By that standard how is he ever going to get stretched out? Having him work on it during the offseason and spring training, followed by and increase during the season won't push him too hard. And you do realize 130-150 innings is only about 6 innings per week (about one start). Not a lot for a starter. He'd be far more valuable to them as a long relief/swing starter if they don't want to get him too many innings yet.

Even if he doesn't throw 200 innings, he's far more valuable as a starter while throwing 130-150 innings as opposed to being a "late inning lefty". That suggests set up or 7th inning guy. God Dusty is stupid.

Correct. No pitcher that would pitch for free could match Roy Oswalt's production. Maybe the Cards could find someone to pay them to pitch for them, at least the money would be better. I greatly doubt they'd outperform Oswalt's production though.

In just taking a very quick glance at their rates, it appears they are all either at or well ahead of their previous walk rates. Rizzo looks to be just slightly behind his, but the rest appear on target. Just a small sampling Jackson - 215 PAs/28 BB (2011 Iowa), 297 PAs/45 BB (2011 Tenn) combined for 512 PAs/73 BBs = 14% BB rate (his spring was roughly 20%) Vitters - 488 PA/22 BB (2011 Tenn), 228 PA/13 BB (2010 Tenn), 120 PA/8 BB (2010 Daytona) combined for 836 PA/43 BB = 5% BB rate (spring was roughly 13%) That's not too bad, relatively speaking.

Know who else's mechanics weren't all that dissimilar from Maddux? Strasburg, from the comparison posted. That's pretty much my entire point. Strasburg has what is called an inverted W (I didn't come up with the name). His pitching arm isn't vertical when his front foot hits the ground, that's where his problems start (Prior had/has the same motion, with the added bonus of hitting heel first with his front foot). The other guys you bolded have their arms vertical when their foot hits the ground. Note the pictures below, look at Strasburgs pitching arm position while his foot is clearly on the ground, while Maddux' arm is higher than Strasburgs and his foot hasn't hit yet. I will admit, it's easier to see when watching video and going frame by frame. Also, I know it doesn't look like much, but, when you see what happens as the hips turn and the torso starts pulling the arm through, it becomes much more obvious. Strasburg is still raising his arm as those things are happening and the others aren't, and that puts more stress on the arm/shoulder than guys who aren't doing that. Power pitchers with good mechanics will have similar mechanics to guys that aren't power pitchers, they are just able to get more out of their bodies. It's no different than hitters, guys with tons of power will have similar hitting mechanics as guys that don't, they just get more out of the swing. Are there outliers in each example? Sure, there always are. But those are outliers, not the norm.

I love nonsense like that. [instert player name] played for a long time and never got hurt, therefore his mechanics were great. Except that Greg Maddux's mechanics were great. The comparison, however, is ridiculous, so I agree with you in that regard. Maddux was a control pitcher, he didn't need a lot of velocity to get hitters out. Strasburg is a power pitcher. If he utilized Maddux's mechanics, he'd probably never reach the upper 90's on his fastball. Except that Nolan Ryan, Randy John and Roger Clemens weren't all that dissimilar from Maddux and they were power pitchers. The problem with Strasburg, and with Prior before, was that their pitching arms weren't in the right position when their torso started rotating and moving their arms towards the plate. That does two things. First, it causes a timing problem. Their arms are still rotating to get their arm vertical, and get into the correct position. That essentially makes their arms late. Second, and related to the first, is that rotation puts a huge amount of stress on the pitching shoulder and elbow. When I get to a computer, I'll post a couple of pics, but when your front foot hits the ground, you pitching arm (from the elbow to hand) should be vertical (hand above elbow). When Strasburg's foot hits the ground, his elbow and hand are parallel to the ground, not perpendicular. This puts a ton of stress on his elbow and shoulder. If he doesn't fix his motion, he'll need surgery again before long.

Actually Castro should still be in the minors. He should've played at least full seasons in AA and AAA, before maybe getting a cup of coffee with the ML team this year. You wouldn't want to start that arby/FA clock too soon :roll: There's a slight difference between keeping Castro down an extra year or two and keeping Jackson and Rizzo down an extra three months.

I would be fine with it occasionally, but it should at least be 2/3 or 3/4 at home. No one (at least almost no one) does a true home and home with mid-major's. On the other hand UNI is probably the best team in the state the past decade. I don't have a problem playing them home and home. Drake is pretty much useless to both schools aside from one year. That's as much from Iowa and ISU being crap for most of the last decade as it is from UNI having their best teams ever during the same decade.

Agreed. I can see Iowa/ISU keeping the home and home, but Iowa/Drake or ISU/UNI?

Stepping away from the Shaka Smart talk for a moment, it looks like Iowa and Iowa State playing continual home and home's with Drake and UNI might change. It seems the idea of a Big 4 "tourney" in Des Moines might be taking hold. http://thegazette.com/2012/03/19/iowa-ad-decision-on-in-state-basketball-series-coming-soon/

This is really easy to explain, every Creighton basketball fan is also a Nebraska football fan.

Hard to be too upset though. Just making post season play was cool. It's much more entertaining than holding the other team to 51 and losing by double digits.

In some ways I'd hate that, however, the more coaches in the Big Ten that like to play uptempo, the better. Anyone that causes Bo to be more of an outcast is welcome to join the conference. He doesn't play uptempo. They do compared to most of the Big Ten. They would be middle of the pack, similar to what Illinois are currently. They would be 4th in tempo this year, behind Iowa, OSU and Indiana. Last year 7th and 1st in 2010. They may not be the Paul Westhead version of Loyola-Marymount but they play uptempo compared to the Big Ten.

In some ways I'd hate that, however, the more coaches in the Big Ten that like to play uptempo, the better. Anyone that causes Bo to be more of an outcast is welcome to join the conference. He doesn't play uptempo. They do compared to most of the Big Ten.

In some ways I'd hate that, however, the more coaches in the Big Ten that like to play uptempo, the better. Anyone that causes Bo to be more of an outcast is welcome to join the conference.