Aaron Kennelly

http://i.imgur.com/VFi7mu2.gif [glow=red][shadow=blue]FREE CASTRO.[/shadow][/glow] lol

Ugh... these stupid doubleheaders.

Yeah, I am trying to find someone that might fit. I don't see anything that would work better than a pen day. And if it is Aaron Harang... hard pass.

Sure you can. They just can't be on your post-season roster.

4 back in the loss column.

Interesting... I like that idea a lot.

Screw it, I'll ride it out with two pen days. Tomorrow is the biggie, though. As TT said, two pen days isn't optimal. But maybe we can buy a cheap win, since it is the Phillies. And, the pen should be able to remain relatively fresh with all the new arms, thanks to expanded rosters.

Ok. We need to have pen day be against the Pirates and not tomorrow plus against the Cards. We could be close enough to tie or take the division lead by the time that Cards series rolls around. And I just don't want to see both Haren and a pen day against them. Though, now that I think about it, maybe the Cards are bad enough that we should be more worried about the Pirates in the divisional race. And is a pen day against the Cards smart, since they can't score anyway?

That stupid game on Wednesday! http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA2LzEyLzY2L0phY2tOaWNob2xzLjIxZTBhLmdpZgpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/a7087029/e2b/Jack-Nicholson.gif

Schwarber's first home run was smoked. I think I like watching him dong more than anyone else on the team. When he really gets into one, it sounds so loud off the bat. Plus, he likes pimping them.

Yeah, I'm going with: This article is true, in the sense that Javy won't continue to have a K% that is nearly equal to his Swing Strike%. But a lot of the article was conjecture and balderdash. There are a number of reasons that explain Javy's Swinging Strike% and K%. For one, Javy has put the ball in play a lot when making contact. That is, he's hitting less foul balls. Also, he is seeing an inordinately high amount of first-pitch strikes. Thus, by putting the ball in play and not fouling pitches off as much, his K% is going to be deflated, because he is not allowing at bats to continue to the point he strikes out. And, since he is seeing more first-pitch strikes, his at bats are moving quicker to their ultimate outcome. Thus, he's swinging at pitches more often this year, despite being more selective. So: More pitches in the zone equals more swings, which equals more swinging strikes per pitch seen. He'll start seeing more pitches out of the zone, especially if he keeps hitting well. And that will superficially reduce his Swinging Strike%, since he won't be swinging at most of those pitches. It's still pretty early to be making any sweeping conclusions about his plate discipline this year, though. He is correct: That trend won't continue. I would expect his K% to go up. But, if he keeps with this same improved discipline, his Swinging Strike% will probably drop some, too. In fact, it already dropped to 17.3% after today's games. His contact% is up to 65.2% after today's games, as well. His contact% on balls inside and outside of the zone look similar to last year. But, his main improvement has been in pitch recognition. He is swinging at balls in the zone a lot more this year. And he is laying off balls out of the zone a lot more. His O-Swing% and Z-Swing% look like those of a normal, competent hitter. Give it a few more weeks, and I would surmise that his numbers will start to look normal. He'll be a low-contact guy that won't see a ton of pitches in the zone. But, he might also be one that is still laying off those pitches out of the zone. So his Swinging Strike% might be down around 15% and his K% up around 30%. But, you are right, his two-strike approach might help keep him below the 30-35 K% range, and his contact% hopefully is somewhere in the 65-70% range.

kind of disagree here...if Jim Hendry wasn't such a complete failure as GM, the Cubs wouldn't have had such an easy time tanking, earning Kris Bryant & co. so i do give him some credit for putting us on that unavoidable path Ah, yes, the phenomenon colloquially known as the "Jaxon Effect."

Is Sunday still going to be a pen day? If we win tomorrow and the Cards lose at least one of their two games tomorrow, I am hoping they do it on the doubleheader in Pittsburgh instead.

I only got to see the first four innings of the first game and missed all of the donging. :(

Time to dong, fellas.

Ugh. The first homer Arrieta gives up since July 25 is to some scrub.

hahaha

Why are you the way that you are?

It's like 9/11 times two.

Whoops... I forgot about that other off-day. But I'm still not happy!

Yeah, Williams was the first Hendricks-redux guy. This is Hendricks-redux-guy redux guy. Except, Markey apparently is getting it into the mid-90s, so maybe he's more.

It looks like a he got a late start to the season. Maybe just building his arm up to go deeper in games?

yep like i said, even if we gain those back immediately in the next two days, i'm just gonna be lamenting the fact that it could/should be 3.5 I was furious yesterday. And now I am even more furious. And I don't even get to see any dongs tonight, either. http://33.media.tumblr.com/edd2db72075bf1a2511d1d7b7a63c859/tumblr_nmfwr43S4P1u9p9x4o3_250.gif

To ARCubsFan and all of his treacherous kin: The Cards are getting beat 6-0. But, yeah, the division was never a realistic option, and yesterday's game didn't really matter.

Ugh... two doubleheaders in less than a week? Our rotation is going to be all messed up.