abuck1220

I'm starting to like our fifth starter candidates better than the ones we're using for #'s 3 & 4. it's taken you this long? is hill in yet?

huh...baker really does think that other teams don't have scouting reports on young players.

williams needs a good outing today. wonder if he's looking over his shoulder with the youngsters pitching so well. by the way, walker drives a sweet mustang.

everyone rags on hill for having a below average fb, but i don't think i've seen marshall top 90 yet. i don't understand why marshall's stock has risen so high above guzman's and hill's.

when we were down in mesa, my brother was pretty proud of the fact that his hat was nicer than a lot of the players'.

Don't know for certain, but you would assume one or both will make appearances today. Ryu is starting tomorrow, and Maddux on Monday. weird...ryu just threw on wednesday...and not that well. why is he getting starts over hill and gooz? and it seems strange that marshall is starting again so soon. I have no clue. Just looking at the Press notes. it was kind of a rhetorical question...not necessarily directed at you. :D

Don't know for certain, but you would assume one or both will make appearances today. Ryu is starting tomorrow, and Maddux on Monday. weird...ryu just threw on wednesday...and not that well. why is he getting starts over hill and gooz? and it seems strange that marshall is starting again so soon.

anybody know if gooz and/or hill will be pitching in relief today? they both threw last on monday, if i remember right.

white people. :roll:

nope.

Was that the Cubs' wives charity auction? It was originally scheduled for Saturday, March 11 (the day after the game I went to), but that game was rained out. I never read whether the auction was also postponed. that's the one. no sign of petrick the day i was at fitch.

only got to go one morning, but i did get to see infield, pfp's, and some bp. i was pumped for harvey and sing in bp, but neither did anything special. craig had the most impressive bp session, as he was knocking em off the rf fence w/ regularity. epatt looked good too, driving the ball well to both gaps. fontenot was taking infield at 3b. coats was at ss, which i thought was kinda stranage...i thought he had been more of an of lately. sing took grounders at 1b and flyballs in rf. he was also with the AAA group for much of the morning. epatt was w/ the AA guys, and so was craig (when's that guy gonna get a shot at AAA?). craig was at 1b. also, didn't the cubs release carlos vasquez last season? i thought they dumped him after the steroids thing. anyway, he was there. blasko and connolly were both there participating in drills. neither of them threw, but i wasn't there to see any pitchers do any throwing. no sign of hagerty.

i was there sunday morning too. but i left at around 10:30 b/c the rain wasn't letting up. plus, i had to go sit in 40 degree weather + rain at hohokam for three hours. though the rain at hohokam kept the crowd (and bids!) down for a charity auction where i scored a pretty sweet piece of memorabilia that i think you guys will like. i'll post scans later...

yeah, that was the problem. these guys really can't be that oblivious to walks, can they?

ok. his team had a 100 mil+ payroll and finished in fourth place and with a losing record.

you're actually criticizing his defense on a play in which he did nothing wrong? walker has showed a little pop w/ some deep drives that don't show up in the box, so i thought i'd share what i saw.

Bring in Lee! Walker displaying his fine defense... i hope you're kidding. he made a good play on the grounder, threw to 2nd, and got back to the bag. not an easy play for anybody, let alone a guy who hasn't played much first. oh, and it looked like his foot was on the bag. not to mention the fact that the pitcher should have been over there. walker also hit a warning track flyball...his second one of those in as many games. marshall looked good...got ahead of almost everybody. had a couple knee buckling curves. hill, guzman, and marshall have all looked worlds better than rusch did on saturday.

why is it that everybody's got such a thing for defense these days? do they think it makes them seem 'fundamental'? wow, your lf and 1b defense got better...two pivotal defensive positions. nevermind the 30 homers you just shipped out...those runs will all be more than made up by having a good defensive first baseman. :roll:

i'm going to fitch tomorrow morning, but i doubt i'll be there for any of the games since they start at about the same time as the big league game. unfortunately, it looks like i'll only make it to fitch once this year...i got rained out on sunday, and we've had two trips to tucson (which means an hour and a half drive, an early start, and no fitch).

yeah, i could have posted this in the game thread, but that's no fun... guzman looked good, but not overpowering. he was all over the place in the first w/ his control...it wasn't like he was getting squeezed or anything. after walking the bases loaded, he just laid the first pitch right in there to green, who smoked one to left center. retired the next six guys though on a mixture of groundballs and flyballs. his only k was vs. gonzo, and he obviously didn't agree w/ the call. tough to get a good feeling for his stuff, as he just flew through the 2nd and 3rd with no ab's going on too long. i'm surprised the papers and the cubs' site focused so much on guzman while hill's three hitless innings seemed to be just an after thought. he wasn't at his filthiest, but he was really commanding his fb. three walks seems like a lot, but the first one came on a 3-2 curve that drew checked his swing on, and that call could have gone either way. snyder walked next on a 3-2 fb that just missed the outside corner. so it wasn't like he was all over the place. on the walk to hudson (in his final inning), however, he missed way up in the zone with a bunch of fb's. that was a bad ab for hill. he definitely seemed to be throwing two curves -- a sweeping one (got green swinging on that one, and could have gotten drew w/ it on a check swing) and a 12-6 one (that he got frazier on). he also got a swinging k (davanon) on a chest high fb and one on a well placed 0-2 fb on the outside corner (tracy). no balls were hit out of the infield against him, and, even more encouraging was that only one of the nine outs he recorded was hit in the air (infield foulout). other stuff...walker's 2b was sliced to lf against mulholland...nice piece of hitting. pie's double looked exactly the same (of course, he looked terrible his first ab). neifi's hr was a bomb, but his double was kind of a bloop. cedeno lined out hard to 1b, as his tough luck continues. his single was a beautiful bunt that was supposed to be a sacrifice. oh, and he was out at first...ump missed that one. he did make a very good play up the middle on a chopper. the riot made a good diving play at 2b. stephen drew looked terrible at ss. both of murton's hits were off his glove, as murton continues to chalk up those infield hits. restovich looked good in both bp and in the game. he goes to rf very well. aardsma throws hard.

that's adorable.

ssh...

What are Pierre's numbers? irrelevant. he's a LEGITIMATE leadoff hitter.

You don't feel the slightest twinge of regret that, Lee and Barrett coming back or not, Team USA just lost? To Team Mexico, no less? not me. now i get to see lee, barrett, teix and street when i go to spring training. maybe i'm a little selfish...or a lot selfish. the worst part is how we're going to have to listen to people saying the us didn't bunt enough.

did the color guy just have a baby or something? he really needs to pace himself.