Little Slide Rooter

Hopefully this just isnt Brewers pitching lulling me into a false sense of optimism. As of now, the only player on the active roster who still makes me physically ill is John Grabow,but hopefully we dont have to worry about him in high leverage situations anymore. After all the trade talk who knew that all we had to do to get a quality 8th inning guy was give up our $20 million ace. I feel good going home to the Nationals and D Backs who have equally bad pitching, at least in the Nats case. I going to say 5-1 or 4-2, depending if we have to deal with Dan Haren, who isnt off to a great start, but hes still Dan Haren.

Most likely someone who has to wear a helmet to the dinner table.

I remember you making similar posts last year when the Cards were running away with the division, and you being accsed of trolling. I guess if the shoe fits.

If it came down to it, considering his emineant demise, I might reluctantly part with Tyler Colvin and Jeff Samardjzia for him. If it would sweeten the deal, maybe throw in Hoffpauir or Fuld. Otherwise, I highly recomend sending him somewhere in the AL.

So far Castro 0-5 with a walk in the double heaer. Win the 1st game 3-4. Cashner went the distance giving up 4 ER with 3/4 BB/K. Despite the win and current 6-0 lead in game 2, the 2 guys that really count have been less than steller today. Carpener has given up 3 hit with 1 BB and 3 Ks through 2. Jay Jackson went 5 IP giving up 2 ER. Shark eventually came in and gave up a bunch of runs, picking up where he left off.

Hell of a way to go home to 2 bad teams. Tyler Colvin picking up where he left off in spring training. We need to keep the kid in the lineup somehow.

Nothing like Brewers pitching to get the offense going. It would be nice to see Lee and Ramirez get going though.

Let the experiment begin.

give me locusts, famine, pestelince, anything but John Grabow. We have 6 relievers better than this ass clown.

And there was much rejoicing. I dont think he pitched an inning this season in which a crooked number didnt go on the board. Tough break for Sandberg though.

Agreed. We would have nothing to lose by signing him. Sure we would. It may mean that Hendrys boy toy Shark would be sent to AAA where he belongs(well he belongs out of baseball but whatever). I'm hoping that Shark gets sent down with Ted's activation today...but Hendry sure loves Shark so who knows. I have a very bad feeling that Shark will not be sent down and either Berg, Gray, or maybe Russell will. Samardzjia is a mistake that Hendry refuses to admit, and we'll continue to pay for.

Well, this guy seems to think so. http://andcounting.adamkellogg.com/2010/04/zambrano-and-soriano-vastly-underpaid.html

In Lous defense, Colvin was 2-5 and Hill 2-4 and Tracy did what Ramirez probably wouldn have done anyway. I really wish there was a way to keep Colvin in the lineup, but as long as Sorianos hot, Byrds productive, and Kosukes not a black hole, hes a 4th or 5th outfielder. As for Hill, as far as backup catchers go, hes pretty good. I dont mind the occasional start, but Geos our starting catcher and should start 4 out of every 5 games.

I like winning. I hate Dempster. I hate the contract he signed after 08. He’s really nothing more than a slightly above average pitcher whose career year in 08 outwitted Lou the Great (not a hard thing to do) into not using his best pitcher over the course of September AT ALL during the playoffs. To a left-handed batter, Dempster is nothing but a drum. His five year numbers going from 09 back thru 05: BAA- .281/.243/.259/.310/.278 WHIP – 1.55/1.29/1.53/1.97/1.97 For his career (over 1600 IP, not a small sample size) his BAA/WHIP against lefties is .281/1.73. I’m sure Dempster apologists will say he was just coming back from the injury in 05 and 06, but he’s not nor ever will be an elite pitcher. When he struggles with his command against lefties, he’s no more than mediocre. Given his track record, his career year in 08 is understandable since it’s about the only time he’s ever been half competent against them. From the 4-12 post game thread sounds like a fun thread The thing is we won that game, and Dempster had like 1 bad inning when he gave up a home run to Braun.

Probably. This would be the time to shop Theriot, but more likely is to put Castro at SS with Theriot at 2B, and have Fontenot start vs. some of the tougher righties and have Baker as the super sub.

This was supposed to be an argument in favor of keeping Marmol in there?? Lou doesn't use any pitcher besides Marmol and Marshall (and soon Z) unless we're down by 3. Are you really worried that Jeff Gray would be too gassed to come in to some important spot because he was used with a 7 run lead? He's not pitching after the 5th inning anyway. With Lilly being activated, someone, probably between Berg, Samardjzjia, and Gray is going to Iowa. This would have been a good time to give one of them a chance to prove himself. Wait, are you saying that that in any way putting out the guy they know will go back down would have been a good idea? Guh? What Im saying is if they havnt fully made the decision yet, they could have sent one of them out to see how they look. Idealy Samardzjia would be gone without question, but I get the feeling that he'll live to blow another game or 20 while Berg is sent packing, even though Berg would be my 3rd choice. Actually 4th choice behind Grabow, but he isnt going anywhere.

castro was probably removed because they were beating the hell out of their opponent. h-j lee was removed in the next half inning after this: Maybe they were trtying to prepare him for the big league club and Lous random defensive substitutions.

This was supposed to be an argument in favor of keeping Marmol in there?? Lou doesn't use any pitcher besides Marmol and Marshall (and soon Z) unless we're down by 3. Are you really worried that Jeff Gray would be too gassed to come in to some important spot because he was used with a 7 run lead? He's not pitching after the 5th inning anyway. With Lilly being activated, someone, probably between Berg, Samardjzjia, and Gray is going to Iowa. This would have been a good time to give one of them a chance to prove himself.

Really? Under 100 ABs of domination elevates him to that level? I do love how he has responded to the prospect hype, but every player goes through highs and lows throughout a full season. he hit really well all of last year, including a very strong showing as the second-youngest player in the arizona fall league. he has to still be one of the youngest hitters in the southern league and continues to rake. the three editors of the BA prospect handbook ranked him at 13, 16 and 29th best prospect in baseball, and obviously he's not moving down anyone's list at this stage. by midseason i'd expect some of the guys ahead of him to not be rookies any more (heyward, matusz, escobar, neftali feliz, maybe guys like strasburg, carlos santana, pedro alvarez) so assuming he continues to play very well, he'd almost certainly have to be considered a top 10 prospect. I guess we will see how he performs in the long haul. He can hold his own with the bat for a SS. Can he play D? Hopefully he isn't Ronny Cedeno with the glove - lots of promise and no consistency. I won't read too* much into his error totals as some of those fields look like the surface of the moon. Graduating to the Top 10 via absence of elite prospects speaks more to the nitpicking of what defines a "prospect" vs comparing Castro to his peers (service time)- to which we will ultimately be evaluating his performance.. * edit spelling I dont know why top 10 is out of the question. He was ranked 22 going into the season, and a handfull of the guys ahead of him are in the majors already.

While I hate to see Marmol overused, its sure as hell fun to watch him pitch. And damn, Dempsters looking for real, shutting down the hottest offense in baseball. This isnt the Reds or Astros.

With the 7 run lead and Braun and Fielder out of the way, this would be a good time to let someone else pitch. Probably wont happent though.

When was the last time that we had a position player prospect that people were as excited about as Castro? He seems more hyped than Pie was, and I wsnt really following the farm that closely when C Patt was coming up.

Defensive redemption by Fontenot.

I still dont feel comfortable if our pen enters into this one.

I wish Jeff Suppan could be cloned and put 5 of him in every rotation in the NL Central. Except for ours.