kjfoster 1553

How is that disturbing? We know he's awesome but an extreme health risk. So, they can't extend him. 5 fantastic innings at a time shouldn't be the least bit disturbing to anybody. Well they could extend him to 7 innings if he didn't throw 90-100 pitches in 5 innings. I completely agree the Cubs are doing the right things with his pitch counts, its just that hes not a very efficient pitcher. Come October when we aren't scoring 8 runs against the likes of the Giants or Braves, its going to be tough to get from Harden's 5 innings to Marmol and Wood in the 8th and 9th. Yeah? And? They could extend everybody to complete games if they didn't get to 100+ in the 6th. So what? What's the disturbing part? Harden has an exception arm that throws a baseball which is very difficult for major league hitters to hit. He also gets hurt easily and can't throw a lot of pitches. We all knew this the day the trade was made, where did it become disturbing? I think what he was trying to say was IF he didn't throw 90-100 pitches in the first 5 or 6ish innings they could/should extend him. I agree with UMFan that he might have to do something down the road about his pitch count and where it gets him in a game. Might have to change how he attacks certain hitters, go for less strikeouts, etc. Sort of like Glavine has been doing as he has gotten older.

How is that disturbing? We know he's awesome but an extreme health risk. So, they can't extend him. 5 fantastic innings at a time shouldn't be the least bit disturbing to anybody. Well they could extend him to 7 innings if he didn't throw 90-100 pitches in 5 innings. I completely agree the Cubs are doing the right things with his pitch counts, its just that hes not a very efficient pitcher. Come October when we aren't scoring 8 runs against the likes of the Giants or Braves, its going to be tough to get from Harden's 5 innings to Marmol and Wood in the 8th and 9th. That's pretty much the kind of pitcher he has been though. Strikes out a ton of guys in minimal work. Extending him to 7 is pointless at this time in the season, but come October I could see it being an option. So what your saying is that you don't want Harden to pitch more efficiently? What I am saying is he isn't going to

How is that disturbing? We know he's awesome but an extreme health risk. So, they can't extend him. 5 fantastic innings at a time shouldn't be the least bit disturbing to anybody. Well they could extend him to 7 innings if he didn't throw 90-100 pitches in 5 innings. I completely agree the Cubs are doing the right things with his pitch counts, its just that hes not a very efficient pitcher. Come October when we aren't scoring 8 runs against the likes of the Giants or Braves, its going to be tough to get from Harden's 5 innings to Marmol and Wood in the 8th and 9th. That's pretty much the kind of pitcher he has been though. Strikes out a ton of guys in minimal work. Extending him to 7 is pointless at this time in the season, but come October I could see it being an option.

CC Sabathia should get the NL Cy Young after he goes 14-0 with an ERA well below 2 in like 16 starts for the Brewers. But I think it will be Webb

I wonder if this includes fan interference calls :( I hope to God that would fall under the umbrella of "homerun calls" I'm sure it does. But it wouldn't blow my mind if Grandpa Selig drops the ball there.

I'm going to step out on a limb and predict that Harden allows exactly zero runs on zero hits today, and he won't walk anybody either. :wink: I like that DBR can have a double meaning. Chicago Cubs - 5 D-bag Dusty Baker Reds - 2 W

source http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080814/SPORTS02/80814075/1048/SPORTS

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/vance_the_cubs_fan/cubssweepsx1.jpg

I think its kinda good because I think it would seem stupid to play a team 17 times in the regular season and then play them again right away in the NLDS, but then again, it seems like the Wild Card winner is in the same division as the team with the best record almost every year, and I think that's bad. IMO they should just seed them 1-4 and have 1 v. 4 and 2 v. 3 no matter what division they are from.

fontenot has a .909 OPS... only 6 teams in baseball have better than a .909 OPS out of the 3 hole. =D> I do love Mike Fontenot

Cubs win 7-4 SWEEP!!!! :yahoo:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=EQA Thought that might help out. It very much did, thank you.

EqA (considers batting as well as baserunning): Edmonds: 316 Soriano: 297 Ramirez: 294 Soto: 288 DeRosa: 285 Lee: 279 Theriot: 271 Fukudome: 267 Thanks! I don't know all the stats that get thrown around here sometime.

In what way?

Not saying we should look to fill this 'imaginary need'. I said I was ok, and would actually prefer to lead Soriano in the leadoff spot.

But when you're only stealing at a 62% rate it's not worth the risk of running into an out when you have your power hitters coming up behind him. Basically we just don't have a "typical" leadoff hitter for this team. IMO he is the closest thing we have if Soriano is moved down (won't happen, which I am fine with)

I don't like the use for this reason. Now on every close call down the line the entire play will take place and then the ump will go use the video screen to determine fair or foul. If an umpire calls a ball close to the chalk foul their will be an argument from the hitting team almost everytime. More often than not umps will make the right call in this situation because they are in closer proximity to the ball, than on a HR call. This often isnt the case on home run balls (unless it is the playoffs or ASG) and controversial home run calls don't happen near as much as a double down the line. This could really slow the game down IMO. I think, I don't know this, but I think that balls that would be consider reviewable that are down the line happen on rare occasions.

That's a bad SB%. I agree, which is why I put it after the good stuff His rankins in ABs and PAs just says that he's played a lot and hit quite a bit at the top of the order. That says nothing about where he should hit. I don't understand why guys want leadoff men and 2 hitters to steal when you have your power hitters coming up behind them. Steals make more sense to me when you have a singles hitter coming up behind them. Why try and steal 2nd when Ramirez woulda doubled you in from first anyway? I would argue if Theriot singles, and steals second, he is MUCH more likely score than if he is sitting on 1st. Even on a double. Hence the reason its 'scoring position' Yes Theriot's OBP has been great this year, and he does take a walk and hit for a high average. Most seasons, he'd be a great option for us at the top of the order. This year, we're lucky enough that we have superior options who bring more than OBP to the top of the order, and lucky enough that Theriot's OBP in the 8 hole can still bring some real value to the team because we have a power hitter hitting 1st, and our #2 hitter isn't some slug who's up there to hit the ball to the right side. I agree he brings amazing value in the 8 hole, but I was going off the concern UMFan had about Lee hitting in the 3 hole, which he adjusted by moving both he and Soriano down in the lineup

Get up at 6 and play some golf!!!!

I don't want 2 of our lower half hitters hitting 1-2. I'm fine with how the lineup is now. It's hard to screw up a lineup as consistent as we have. What does 'lower half hitters' mean? As in not one of the best 4 hitters on our team. Riot should hit either 1 or 2. He is a single machine. Why does being a singles machine mean he should hit 1 or 2? I think he's best served to hit 8, where he can be bunted into scoring position by our bad hitting pitchers, or possibly steal a base for our pitchers that can hit when there are 2 outs. Again, the lineup doesn't matter a lot considering how good each of our hitters are, but I see no reason to give the most ABs per game to Theriot, DeRosa, or Kosuke. Theriot is already 2nd on the team in AB's, 3rd in PA, 4th in BB, leads the team in steals, OBP and BA for everyday players. Sounds like a leadoff hitter to me. Also leads the team in CS, but has a 62.1 SB%

I don't want 2 of our lower half hitters hitting 1-2. I'm fine with how the lineup is now. It's hard to screw up a lineup as consistent as we have. What does 'lower half hitters' mean? As in not one of the best 4 hitters on our team. Riot should hit either 1 or 2. He is a single machine.

I don't want 2 of our lower half hitters hitting 1-2. I'm fine with how the lineup is now. It's hard to screw up a lineup as consistent as we have. What does 'lower half hitters' mean?

:shock: Look at that tongue

Selig said the other day that it would only be for HR balls and fair/foul balls down the line. Said NO to close plays at any base or home. Said NO to balls/strikes. Said NO to balls that could have been 'trapped'. I think that was it.

Not if the starters pitch well and go deep into games. Jason Marquis... not happening Add in that they've been treating Harden a little fragile, so the bullpen could def be an issue. At least they're all rested. I have no problem with how they have pitched Harden, though. The real value he brings to this team starts in October, and if he is over-pitched in the regular season, that would be a bad thing. I didn't mean to imply that they've been wrongfully treating him as fragile - he is, and I also have no problem with how he has been used thus far. Just observing it as it pertains to the short-term bullpen situation. I was agreeing with you. Not condeming.