Outshined_One

If we're going to moralize about how pot declines athletes' performances, I'd like to make the claim that Mark Grace would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer if he didn't go through a pack of Winstons a game.

Brett Jackson is on his way to Boise. Link

It's hard to tell until we start seeing more numbers, since a lot of the guys are either making their professional debut or making their Stateside debut. The names I've been looking at are the three Australians (RHP Adam Spencer, LHP Cody Hams, OF Sean Williams), RHP Julio Pena, RHP Toby Matchulat, and OF Jesus Morelli. That list will probably change once things start shaking out, especially with regard to this year's draftees.

Considering you'd be moving from one incompetent owner who stabbed his fanbase in the back for another, I'd consider OKC a lateral move.

Box Scores Iowa won 5-4 Box Score CF S. Fuld 4/5, 2 R, 2B (16), 2 SB (20), CS (5), E (3, throw) 3B B. Scales 0/3, 2 BB, K LF J. Dubois 0/4, BB, 2 K C C. Robinson 2/5, R, 3B (3), K 1B S. Clevenger 2/5, R, 2B (6) SS/LF M. Camp 2/5, R, RBI, 2B (4) PH/SS N. Spears 0/1 SP M. Atkins 7.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4/1 K/BB, HBP, 4-14 GO-FO RP J. Berg 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0/2 K/BB, HBP, 2-3 GO-FO RP J. Russell 1 scoreless, 1 H, 2-1 GO-FO Tennessee lost 8-4 Box Score 2B J. Mota 1/4, R, 2B (7), 2 K SS D. Barney 0/4 RF D. Deeds 0/3, BB, R, K 3B M. Smith 2/4, R, RBI, 3B (1), E (9, throw) LF T. Colvin 1/3, BB, R, RBI, K DH T. Wright 1/4, RBI, 2 K C W. Castillo 0/1, BB, HBP SP HW Chen 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 6/2 K/BB, HR, 6-4 GO-FO RP J. Ruhlman 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2/0 K/BB, HBP, 1-2 GO-FO Daytona lost 6-4 Box Score CF T. Campana 4/4, R, RBI, Assist (3B) SS S. Castro 1/5, RBI, PO (3B) DH B. Guyer 2/3, BB, R, RBI, 2B (5), SB (5) C R. Chirinos 0/2, 2 BB, R, SB (2) 3B J. Opitz 0/4, 2 K 1B J. Rosa 0/4, K LF M. Gonzalez 2/4 2B N. Samson 0/4, R, K SP R. Searle 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 9-3 GO-FO RP D. Sasser 2.1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/3 K/BB, 3-2 GO-FO RP D. Cales 1 perfect, 2/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO Peoria lost 4-1 Box Score LF J. Harrison 2/4, RBI, 2B (17), CS (9), Assist (2B) 2B R. Flaherty 1/3, BB 3B J. Vitters 1/4, K CF K. Burke 1/4, K 1B R. Ridling 1/4 DH N. Perez 0/4, 2 K SS J. Lake 0/4, 2 K C M. Brenly 1/3, BB, R, 2B (8), K RF D. Rundle 1/4, 2 K SP J. Bristow 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3/2 K/BB, HBP, 6-6 GO-FO RP M. De Leon 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO Boise gets their first win of the season 5-4 Box Score SS HJ Lee 1/5, R, 2B (2) 2B L. Watkins 1/4, 3 RBI, K DH J. Petraitis 1/4, 2 K 1B G. Rohan 1/4, R, RBI, HR (1) C M. Cerda 0/2, 2 BB, R 3B G. Matheus 0/4, E (2, throw) RF JH Ha 2/3, BB, R, RBI, 2B (2), SB (1) CF J. Valdez 1/4, R, 3 K, SB (1), E (3, fielding) SP J. Nagel 3 scoreless, 0 H, 2/0 K/BB, 5-2 GO-FO, E (1, throw) RP D. Keefe .2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0/1 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO RP R. Sontag 1 scoreless, 0 H, 0/1 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO AZL Cubs with an off day. DSL Cubs 1 won 7-6 Box Score CF M. Pestana 1/4, BB, R, RBI, K 3B J. Pena 0/4, RBI, 2 K, HBP RF X. Batista 1/4, BB, R, 2 K C Y. Fuenmayor 1/3, R, 2 K, PB (8) C C. Romero 0/1 DH Y. Astacio 2/4, 2 R, RBI SS J. Rodriguez 0/2, BB, R, 2 K, E (8, fielding) SS A. Alcantara 1/1, R, E (10, missed catch) SP F. Batista 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3/0 K/BB, HR, HBP, 6-6 GO-FO RP R. Vargas 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1/2 K/BB, WP, 5-4 GO-FO DSL Cubs 2 lost 8-4 Box Score DH V. Bieneme 0/4, BB, 2 K, SB (10) SS J. Montecino 2/5, R, 2 RBI 3B J. Altagracia 0/4, 2 K, E (11, throw) 2B C. Henry 0/2, BB, R, K, E (22, missed catch), HBP CF G. Robles 1/2, 2 BB, R, RBI, K SP F. Pena 3.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2/3 K/BB, HR, 6-3 GO-FO RP A. Encarnacion 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5/1 K/BB, HBP, 1-3 GO-FO OVERALL: 3-4

Kinda sucks they never got him during the season. That would have made the playoffs a hell of a lot more fascinating.

29th rounder Timothy Clubb got the start for the AZL Cubs.

That was about a foot off the plate.

He's perfect for this team.

Form of a whiffle ball bat... Form of a 6 year old Little Leaguer!

Jim Leyland wants to go out for a smoke Fernando, hurry up already.

I'm going to replace that final K with a pickoff.

Marmol walked in a run?! http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1082/1204946508906qc6.jpg

Maybe he's doing exercises? I don't see a base anywhere close to him to make me think it's an in-game shot. His profile picture makes him look like he's 12.

Bummer on Redmond. I was hoping he could develop into a decent reliever.

Searle and Coleman both strike me as back end of the rotation guys, although I think Searle has a better chance to be a 3/4. Searle's bouts of wildness and lack of Ks are a tad bit problematic. Moreover, he's apparently brushed people the wrong way to the point where I've heard some people refer to him as being a bit of a coaching headache. There were reports last year that he was out of shape and then there was the article about him a few days ago talking about how cocky and arrogant he's been coming off in the clubhouse. I love the age and love the sink, but if he doesn't develop worthwhile secondary stuff, he might end up like Justin Berg. Can't say that makes me excited. Coleman is a personal favorite...but I just didn't get a great feeling from him when I saw him. He fit the profile of guys who are sons of former baseball players in terms of his personality and approach. He's very confident on the mound and projects it when he's pitching. He got into and out of trouble, but didn't let it get to him. Plus, his secondary stuff is alright. He locates well and gets decent movement on his pitches. However, his velocity...eh.

The reason why I really like him is that he's a very toolsy SS who is in his first full season of professional baseball in the US and is doing that in A+ as a 19 year old. He's been doing well enough at the plate that it's clear the pitching is not overwhelming him. He also has a very good 14/4 SB/CS ratio. The only knocks on him are his lack of power (excusable given his age), his patience (25/9 K/BB in 222 ABs is reasonable, but more walks would be welcome; a tad bit worrying), and his errors (somewhat worrying, but reportedly he looks very good in the field and just needs more reps/coaching). While the arguments in his favor are mostly upside-based, he already has acquitted himself pretty well in Daytona.

Blair Springfield signed.

Box Scores Iowa lost 5-2 Box Score 3B R. Freel 2/4, 2B (4), CS (1), PO (2B) CF M. Camp 0/4 1B B. Scales 0/3, K, HBP LF J. Dubois 0/4 C S. Clevenger 1/4, R, 2B (5) SS/2B N. Spears 1/4 PH S. Fuld 1/1, RBI SP E. Caridad 4 scoreless, 1 H, 5/1 K/BB, 5-2 GO-FO RP V. Perkins 2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, 2-2 GO-FO RP J. Stevens 1 perfect, 2/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO RP B. Parker .2 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 2/1 K/BB, 3 HBP RP N. Cotts .2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1/3 K/BB, HR, 1-0 GO-FO RP G. Reinhard .2 perfect, 1-1 GO-FO Tennessee won 6-0 Box Score SS D. Barney 0/5 RF D. Deeds 2/4, BB, R, 2 RBI, HR (1) 3B M. Smith 2/4, R, 2B (16) LF T. Colvin 3/4, 3 R, RBI, 2B (3), HR (6), K DH T. Wright 0/2, RBI, K, HBP SP C. Coleman 6 scoreless, 4 H, 4/1 K/BB, 6-8 GO-FO RP A. Maestri 2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/2 K/BB, 0-3 GO-FO Daytona won Game 2 of their DH 3-2 (8 innings) Box Score CF T. Campana 3/4, R, RBI, 2B (4), SB (19), CS (5), PO (1B) SS S. Castro 0/3 2B N. Samson 0/4 C R. Chirinos 1/4, RBI RF B. Guyer 2/4, R, 2 2B (4) 1B J. Rosa 1/3, RBI, 2 K, E (5, missed catch) DH J. Jones 0/2, K PH/DH J. Opitz 0/1 3B M. Gonzalez 2/3, R, 2B (8) SP R. Dolis 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3/1 K/BB, WP, 4-3 GO-FO RP A. Alburquerque 2.1 scoreless, 1 H, 2/1 K/BB, 3-2 GO-FO RP T. Blackford 2 scoreless, 2 H, 1/1 K/BB, 2-3 GO-FO Daytona lost Game 2 of their DH 6-5 Box Score CF T. Campana 0/3, RBI, 2 K 2B N. Samson 0/4 3B J. Opitz 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (2), 2 K RF B. Guyer 3/4, 2 SB (4), E (1, fielding) 1B R. Keedy 2/3, K, 2 E (fielding, throw) PH S. Castro 1/1, RBI DH J. Rosa 0/3, R, K SS M. Gonzalez 0/2, BB SP D. McDaniel 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 1/3 K/BB, 2 HBP, 6-4 GO-FO Peoria off until Thursday Boise lost 5-3 Box Score HJ Lee 1/3, BB 2B L. Watkins 1/3, BB, 2 R, SB (2) 3B J. Petraitis 0/4, 2 K C M. Cerda 2/4, E (3, fielding) RF JH Ha 0/4 CF J. Valdez 0/3 SP L. Suarez 1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2/3 K/BB, WP, 1-1 GO-FO RP D. Nunez 3.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1/2 K/BB, HR, 7-3 GO-FO RP R. Whitenack 2 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 4-1 GO-FO RP Y. Gonzalez 1 perfect, 3-0 GO-FO AZL Cubs won 12-6 Box Score CF F. Guzman 1/4, BB, 2 R, RBI, K, Assist (3B) SS R. Batista 4/5, 2 R 2B D. Fitzgerald 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3B (1) DH C. Thomas 0/3, BB, R, 2 K RF J. Morelli 0/4, 2 K, Assist (3B) LF M. Williams 2/4, 2 R 3B D. Kemp 3/4, R, 3 RBI, 2B (1), 3B (2) SP T. Clubb 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2/2 K/BB, WP, 3-1 GO-FO RP J. Mincone 2.1 scoreless, 2 H, 1/0 K/BB, 6-0 GO-FO RP J. Ginley 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 2-1 GO-FO RP S. Grife 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/1 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO RP D. Cox 1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2-1 GO-FO RP G. Pineda 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2/1 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 won 8-7 Box Score CF M. Pestana 2/4, 2 R, K SS A. Alcantara 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B (5) 3B J. Pena 1/4, R, 2 RBI, 2B (5) RF X. Batista 1/4, 2 RBI, K, SB (1), HBP DH Y. Fuenmayor 1/3, BB, 2B (1) C C. Romero 1/4, K, HBP SP W. Cruz 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3/1 K/BB, WP, HBP, 3-6 GO-FO DSL Cubs 2 lost 6-1 Box Score SS V. Bieneme 0/3, BB 2B J. Montecino 0/4, K, E (9, fielding) C H. Suarez 0/3, BB, K, PB (7) 3B J. Altagracia 0/4, 2 K LF J. Gonzalez 1/4, R, Assist (2B) DH R. Parra 1/3, HBP CF G. Robles 0/4, 2 K SP L. Padron 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0/3 K/BB, 1-4 GO-FO, E (1, pickoff) RP D. Castro 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HBP, 8-3 GO-FO RP D. Severino 2 IP, 2 H, 1/2 K/BB, 1-4 GO-FO RP A. Robles 1 scoreless, 1 H, 0/2 K/BB, 3-0 GO-FO OVERALL: 4-4

I'm waiting to see how Rhee recovers from TJS. Yeah, lots of guys bounce back from it stronger than ever, but after the Luke Hagerty debacle, I tend to be a bit more cautious with pitching prospects recovering from arm surgery.

His hitting's fallen off a cliff this season. I'm not a huge proponent of batting average when it comes to evaluating prospects, but the guy's hitting under .200 so far. As for my list, aside from the obvious of Vitters as the #1... Possible guys from 2-5 (in no order): Andrew Cashner, Jeff Samardzija, Jay Jackson, Starlin Castro Possible guys from 6-10 (in no order): Brett Jackson, Tony Thomas, Ryan Searle, Chris Carpenter, Junior Lake, Ryan Flaherty, Kyler Burke I'm going to hold off on the Boise and Mesa guys until I see some more in-game results, although my gut tells me that Lee will return to my Top 10 next season. If Colvin gets back on his feet at AA, he'll probably make my list since he's still 22. Dan McDaniel has the stuff to make this list, but his production in Daytona has been disappointing lately. Jackson's got enough production in his history and physical tools to merit cracking the Top 10. I think LeMahieu, Kirk, and Raley are interesting draftees who could make some noise if they sign early enough. We might also see a relative unknown from this draft burst onto this list ala Jay Jackson last year, depending on how things shake out.

I thought he was part of the Madoff scam. Yeah it really sucks. I remembered he was part of the Stanford thing. Madoff was a lot of elderly and Jewish people, Stanford had a lot of athletes. But I thought Eyre's accounts were frozen in the investigation, but he actually had a good portion of that money still. The SEC hasn't been able to recover as much in the way of assets as they originally thought.

Getting hit in the face by a line drive will tend to cause issues for pitchers.

Box Scores Iowa PPD - Rain Tennessee lost 1-0 Box Score 2B T. Thomas 0/4, E (13, throw) 3B M. Smith 1/4, 2B (15), K DH T. Colvin 1/4, K SS D. Barney 1/4 1B D. Deeds 2/4, K RF J. Mota 1/2, BB LF R. Canzler 0/3, K C W. Castillo 0/3 SP M. Mateo 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5/3 K/BB, 8-5 GO-FO RP M. Carrillo 2 scoreless, 2 H, 2/0 K/BB, WP, 3-1 GO-FO Daytona lost 2-1 Box Score CF T. Campana 0/4 SS S. Castro 3/4, R, SB (14), E (24, throw) 2B N. Samson 1/4, RBI RF B. Guyer 0/4 3B J. Opitz 0/4, 2 K 1B J. Rosa 0/4 DH J. Jones 0/3, K LF M. Gonzalez 1/3 SP A. Cashner 4 scoreless, 1 H, 4/0 K/BB, 4-3 GO-FO RP H. Williamson 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 2-6 GO-FO RP D. Sasser 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO Boise lost 6-1 Box Score SS HJ Lee 1/4 DH L. Watkins 0/2, BB, K 2B M. Cerda 0/4 3B G. Matheus 1/4, 2 K RF K. Soto 0/3, 2 K, HBP CF J. Valdez 1/4 SP T. Antigua 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4/2 K/BB, HR, 3-5 GO-FO RP T. Mitchell 1.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3/1 K/BB, WP, 1-1 GO-FO RP R. Sontag 1.1 scoreless, 0 H, 0/1 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO AZL Cubs lost 7-3 Box Score CF F. Guzman 0/3, BB, R, K, E (2, fielding) SS R. Batista 1/2, BB, CS (2), E (3, fielding) DH D. Fitzgerald 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B (3), HR (1) 1B J. Bour 1/4, RBI, 2B (1) LF C. Weimer 0/3, BB, K C M. Williams 1/4 RF J. Morelli 2/4, 2 K 3B C. Thomas 0/3, BB, 2 K, E (1, fielding) 2B D. Kemp 0/4, K SP J. Pena 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1/0 K/BB, HR, 3-5 GO-FO RP D. Encarnacion 1 IP, 5 H, 4 H, 3 ER, 2/1 K/BB, HR, WP, 0-1 GO-FO RP J. Simokaitis 1 perfect, 2/0 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO RP C. Martin 2 scoreless, 1 H, HBP, 5-1 GO-FO RP C. Rojas 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2-1 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 won 2-1 Box Score CF M. Pestana 0/4 SS A. Alcantara 0/3, RBI, E (9, fielding) 3B J. Pena 1/4, 3B (1) RF X. Batista 0/4, K C Y. Fuenmayor 1/2, BB, K, PB (7) C C. Romero 0/1, K, E (1, throw) PH/DH Y. Astacio 0/1, R 2B J. Rodriguez 0/2, BB SP L. Liria 5 scoreless, 1 H, 3/3 K/BB, 2 WP, 5-6 GO-FO RP E. Pena 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1/3 K/BB, 3 WP, 4-3 GO-FO DSL Cubs 2 won 4-3 Box Score SS V. Bieneme 1/4, CS (5) CF G. Robles 0/4, 2 K C H. Suarez 1/4, R, RBI, 2B (2), K 3B J. Altagracia 0/4, 2 K, E (10, throw) RF J. Gonzalez 0/3 2B C. Henry 0/3, no errors SP A. Jimenez 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3/1 K/BB, HBP, 7-2 GO-FO RP J. Rosario 4 scoreless, 3 H, 4/1 K/BB, WP, HBP, 3-4 GO-FO RP R. Mejia 1 scoreless, 0 H, 1/0 K/BB, WP, HBP, 1-0 GO-FO OVERALL: 2-4 MWL All-Star Game: East won 6-3 Box Score DH J. Harrison 1/3 3B J. Vitters 0/3, K LF K. Burke, 1/3, R PH-1B R. Ridling 0/2, K RP R. Buchter 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K Chris Carpenter: DNP

He's been having some short outings lately. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs are trying to minimize the effects of dead arm since this is his first full season of professional baseball.