Outshined_One

Milton's heating up at the plate. :D

The whole starting staff has really started to come together nicely it seems. They just got off to a slow start. Plus I think a lot of the problems we had in the early going had more to do with bullpen issues than anything else. Yeah, there were some admittedly bad starts in the early going. However, the rotation even with Harden out isn't too shabby. I'm hoping Randy Wells can keep up his production, although I'm a tad skeptical about that. Now it's just a matter of getting the offense up to a palatable level in order for this team to keep treading water until Ramirez comes back and/or Hendry makes a trade.

Dempster's been getting a lot of heat this season, but, in fairness to him, he has only had one start this year where he hasn't gone 6 IP or more. At the very least, the guy deserves credit for not being a drain on the bullpen. It'd be nice if he were better than consistently mediocre in his starts, though. I have a feeling that'll come in due time.

See guys? Fontenot's hitting well.

Ehhhhhhhhhhhh...it's a close call, but I'd give the edge to Sanchez. I think Sanchez has better stuff and is more likely to pitch 180+ innings this season than Marshall. Still, I think they're fairly comparable pitchers.

Agreed, but there's nothing the Cubs can really do about it. It's not like the whole Porcello situation two years ago where the Cubs passed on him. Two things really annoy me about this draft, the more I think about it. First, this is a really weak draft in terms of college position players, especially where the Cubs will be picking. The more I learn about guys like Brett Jackson, Tim Wheeler, and AJ Pollock, the more leery I become of them. Second, the Cubs have a strongly established history under Wilken of avoiding high school picks with their high draft picks. This is particularly annoying, considering there should be some decent HS pitchers and position players where the Cubs will be picking. So, in other words, my realistic hope is that the Cubs target college pitching. Someone like Baylor LHP/OF Aaron Miller or Texas A&M RHP Alex Wilson would make a lot of sense, given the Cubs' tendencies.

Bingo bango.

Box Scores Iowa won Game 1 of their DH 5-2 Box Score CF S. Fuld 1/3, BB, 2 R, 2B (11) C C. Robinson 3/4, 2 RBI LF J. Dubois 1/2, BB, R 1B S. Clevenger 1/3 SP J. Samardzija 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3/3 K/BB, 9-9 GO-FO Iowa lost Game 2 of their DH 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th Box Score 1B S. Clevenger 0/3, RBI RF/1B D. Deeds 3/5, 2B (9), SB (5) LF J. Dubois 1/5, 4 K 3B K. Reynolds 2/4, K PH/CF S. Fuld 0/2, BB SP G. Reinhard 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5/0 K/BB, HBP, 1-3 GO-FO RP N. Cotts 1 Ip, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/2 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO RP J. Berg 2 scoreless, 3 H, 5-0 GO-FO RP J. Stevens 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2/2 K/BB, HBP, 3-2 GO-FO Tennessee lost 10-7 Box Score CF B. Guyer 2/5, 2 RBI, RBI, 2B (8), SB (4) LF T. Wright 2/4, R, RBI, E (4, fielding) 1B R. Canzler 0/3, 2 K 2B T. Thomas 0/1 3B M. Smith 2/5, 2 RBI, 2B (9) C W. Castillo 3/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (5) SS D. Barney 1/4, R, 2B (9), E (10, fielding) SP C. Lambert 4 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1/2 K/BB, 7-4 GO-FO RP J. Ruhlman 1.2 scoreless, 0 H, 0/1 K/BB, 3-2 GO-FO RP A. Maestri 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0/1 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO RP J. Gaub 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO Daytona won 3-2 Box Score CF T. Campana 0/3, BB, RBI SS S. Castro 1/4, 2B (6) LF T. Colvin 0/3, BB, 2 K 1B J. Rosa 0/4, 2 K DH J. Opitz 2/4, R, 2B (5), K 2B N. Samson 1/4, R, RBI SP R. Dolis 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3/0 K/BB, HR, WP, 7-5 GO-FO, E (2, throw) RP D. Sasser 2 scoreless, 3 H, 3/0 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO RP A. Alburquerque 2 scoreless, 1 H, 5/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO Peoria won 7-5 in 14 innings thanks to a Josh Vitters 2 run HR Box Score SS J. Lake 3/7, 2 R, 2 K 2B J. Harrison 1/6, BB, 2 R, RBI, K 3B J. Vitters 2/5, BB, R, 4 RBI, 2B (8), HR (12), 2 K, HBP RF K. Burke 1/6, BB 1B R. Ridling 1/7, 3 K DH N. Perez 1/7, R, 2 K C M. Brenly 2/7, 2 K, PB (3) LF D. Rundle 2/5, 2 BB, R, RBI SP C. Carpenter 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2/5 K/BB, HR, 6-7 GO-FO RP M. De Leon 3 scoreless, 1 H, 4/2 K/BB, 2-3 GO-FO RP M. Perconte 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 won 7-3 Box Score SS A. Alcantara 1/3, BB, 2 R, K DH Y. Fuenmayor 1/3, BB, R, RBI, K RF X. Batista 0/4, RBI, K 1B Y. Astacio 1/4, RBI, 3B (1) 2B J. Rodriguez 2/4, K, 2 CS (2), PO (1B), 2 E (throw, fielding) SP W. Cruz 2 scoreless, 0 H, 3/2 K/BB, WP, HBP, 3-0 GO-FO DSL Cubs 2 lost 9-8 Box Score CF G. Robles 0/3, K, SB (1), E (1, missed catch) SS C. Henry 0/5, K 3B J. Altagracia 1/4, R, 2 K, HBP RF J. Gonzalez 0/2, BB, 2 K, CS (1), E (1, fielding), Assist (Home) C H. Suarez 1/4, R, RBI, K SP Y. Sanchez 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3/0 K/BB, WP, 1-1 GO-FO RP A. Paulino 1 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 0/3 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO RP A. Jimenez 2 scoreless, 2 H, 3/1 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO OVERALL: 4-3

Strange play. Think he got taken out on the slide at 2B? He was taken out on the slide. His hip jammed. Walked on his own out to the bus. They will look at him tomorrow when the swelling goes down but I wouldn't be too surprised if he plays Saturday. Tough kid and it wasn't as bad as it looked fortunately. Thanks Nate! Here's hoping he's back and at full strength soon.

Tony Thomas went 0/8 today, bringing his ten day total to 5/35. Couple that with two walks and 13 strikeouts and, well, yeah, yuck.

Strange play. Think he got taken out on the slide at 2B?

BA's latest mock has the Cubs taking AJ Pollock at 31. However, it notes that they have been linked to RHP Eric Arnett (Indiana), LHP Chad James (OK HS), RHP Garrett Gould (KS HS), and OF Brett Jackson (Cal). Apparently, they might also be willing to pony up for RHP Jacob Turner (MO HS), who, as mentioned earlier in this thread, has sky-high demands. It's also worth pointing out that James and Gould both are expected to be somewhat tough signs, as they have relatively strong commitments to Oklahoma State and Wichita State, respectively. They probably won't have demands comparable to Turner, but I'm guessing they'd want to sign above slot if either is taken at 31. I'm hoping this is a sign that the Cubs are going to be willing to spend in the draft this year, despite the ownership being in transition.

Anyone know the story regarding Ryan Flaherty's injury?

I sense sarcasm and annoyance.

Routine grounder to third, flubbed it.

I feel like Joe Borowski's corpse is back on the mound with this team. I'll take that win, though.

Maddux for Izturis was Jim Hendry's second worst trade for this team. I'm not sure about that. It's not like that trade really affected us that badly. The 06 team sucked either way and the 07 team made the playoffs despite it. Right now it seems like the DeRo trade is worse than that one. Oh boy. My hatred of Cesar Izturis and the fact that the Cubs could have gotten prospects for Maddux are the two reasons why I despise that deal so much. At least the DeRosa trade might net the Cubs some decent relievers down the road.

Oh dear God.

Intentionally putting the winning run on base would be one of the most moronic things you can do in this situation.

Maddux for Izturis was Jim Hendry's second worst trade for this team.

Soriano fits that bill, but most of the other guys pretty much define the middle ground. Hence handful, not majority or substantial number.

This team has a handful of hitters who vacillate between "really freaking good" and "really freaking bad" without much middle ground.

Eh, makeup call.

I think they sent Furcal back to first because the pitch got away due to it hitting Pierre. I'd have to double check the rule on that one, but I don't think a batter can advance in a situation like that.

Pierre stepped out of the batter's box and offered at a pitch low and in, which ended up hitting him. The ump correctly called it a strike. Meanwhile, Pierre was safe on that one.