Outshined_One

i knew who this was going to be before i clicked on it. that guy had a career IsoD of .060 in the minors, and his ability to hit bad balls is legendary, so vitters has a lot of work to do. I'm not saying he doesn't. However, Vlad in his first two seasons in the minors put up IsoDs of .052 and .050, which isn't all that great. However, as he got older, his plate discipline became much more refined and he did a much better job of taking walks. It goes to show you that improvements are possible with guys who profile like Vitters.

My goodness, that Sandberg is a piece of work. Constantly arguing with umpires and getting ejected. He is so disrespectful. Minor league umpires hardly make any money. They're just the common working man and they have to deal with this jerk of a millionaire who never gives to charity and thinks his stuff don't stink. I hope this arrogant, pompous, creep never manages in the bigs. Anyone who disrespects minor league umpires should be fired. The minor leagues are all about helping the kids become major leaguers. Then again, he never cared about his own kids - why should he care about others. Silly me. Barry Bonds is an ANGEL compared to Sandberg the horrible. It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice!!!!!!

I share this concern, but then I think about Vitters' ability to hit well almost anything remotely around the plate and something's got to give. If you can hit your way on base the way he can, not only do you not need to draw a walk, but you're not going to. At this level, it seems the pitchers aren't good enough to justify a change in approach. Now if he struggles at the higher levels, the adjustment will become necessary. At this point, it is unclear why he isnt walking. Does he lack the ability to recognize a pitch out of the zone? Or is the competition in the MWL so easy to hit for him that he rarely gets the opportunity to walk. Plus, with these young pitchers, its less about game situations and pitching around somebody and more about working on your stuff, throwing strikes and challenging guys to see what you got. At the higher levels, I would imagine the game becomes more nuanced and the pitchers more skilled at hitting their spots just off the plate and so on. Of course, ever since high school, Vitters' game seems to have been plate coverage. Somewhat off-the-charts plate coverage. So even at the higher levels, a pitcher will hit that spot just off the plate at the knees, a spot the pitcher and every other hitter consider unhittable, and Vitters might drive it to the opposite field. If he can and does, his walk rate may remain low. But I ask, if he's getting on base nearly 40% of the time at the higher levels, should I be concerned with how often he walks? I don't know, I'm seriously asking. Vitters' swing is just phenomenal for a right hander. He gets the bat through the zone with great speed and has very, very good plate coverage. So, the guy essentially can make solid contact with any pitch in the zone. The advantage of this approach for him is that he's at a level where he can get away with it. He's not going to be facing many pitchers with refined and advanced pitches, so he's more likely either to get a mistake pitch that he can crush or a really bad pitch that he can easily lay off of. Moreover, the level of defense in the Midwest League is not that good. Even if Vitters makes contact with a pitcher's pitch, there's a good chance that the opposing team will not field his hit ball cleanly. My personal hope that, at some point, Vitters is going to come up to a level that is going to require him to realize that a hacking approach will not serve him well as he advances. I'd rather not see him become a clone of this guy at the plate. However, seeing Vitters turn into this guy at the plate would be quite welcome, especially at 3B.

The diving catch was great, but Braun pretty much was at a dead stop when he rolled over and spread out his arms. That was definitely showboating.

Box Scores Iowa won 3-2 Box Score CF S. Fuld 0/5, K DH J. Fox 2/4, R, SB (2) LF J. Dubois 2/4, RBI, 2 2B (5), K RF D. Deeds 2/3, BB, R, RBI, 2B (7), K SP J. Samardzija 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6/2 K/BB, 3-5 GO-FO RP V. Perkins 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0/1 K/BB, 5-1 GO-FO, E (1, throw) RP J. Stevens 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO RP B. Parker 1 perfect, 2/0 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO Tennessee lost 4-2 Box Score 2B T. Thomas 2/4, BB, R, CS (7), 2 PO (1B x2) SS D. Barney 3/5, RBI, K 3B M. Smith 1/3, BB, RBI 1B/RF R. Canzler 0/3, BB LF T. Wright 1/4, 2B (7) C W. Castillo 0/4 CF B. Guyer 2/4, R, 3B (2), CS (3) SP J. Jackson 6 scoreless, 7 H, 8/2 K/BB, 4-6 GO-FO RP J. Gaub 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2/1 K/BB, HR, HBP, 0-2 GO-FO RP B. Schlitter .2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO, E (1, throw) Daytona won 8-3 in a Game Completed Early (Rain) in the 6th Box Score CF T. Campana 1/4, 2 R, K SS S. Castro 2/4, 2 R, RBI, K DH T. Colvin 1/4, RBI, 2B (5), 3 K 1B R. Keedy 1/3, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K 3B J. Rosa 2/4, 2 RBI, 2 2B (9) 2B N. Samson 1/3, R, E (6, throw) SP R. Searle 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3/2 K/BB, WP, 8-1 GO-FO Peoria won 9-1 Box Score 2B J. Harrison 2/5, 2 R, RBI, HR (1) DH R. Flaherty 2/5, R, RBI, 2B (8), HR (4), K 3B J. Vitters 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (7), SB (2) LF K. Burke 2/5, R, 3 RBI, 2B (16), HR (3), K 1B R. Riding 2/4, BB, K RF N. Perez 1/4, BB, R, K SS J. Lake 0/4, BB, R, K C M. Brenly 3/5, R, 2 RBI CF D. Rundle 1/5, 2 K SP J. Bristow 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3/2 K/BB, 5-7 GO-FO RP J. Beliveau 4 scoreless, 0 H, 8/2 K/BB, 3-1 GO-FO OVERALL: 3-1

Ryno got tossed today...again. Seems like SS Darwin Barney was arguing balls and strikes during Game 2's 7th inning with Ryno getting into the thick of the argument.

Juan Pierre has more than 24 hours in his day!

Oh dear Lord. Seriously, why did FJM close up shop? This article is a sports writing atrocity. Pierre goes on a 10 game hot streak and this article reads like freaking hero worship. I can't wait for Crasnick to write his follow-up article when Pierre goes on a month long 4-3 bender. I'm sure it'll praise Pierre's work ethic, hustle, and heart just as much as this one does.

Cue people whining about banks spending TARP money on financing this deal.

Probably overmatched. He was down in Peoria last season and him skipping up to AA was a bit of a surprise.

A Denver/Orlando Finals would be phenomenally hilarious.

The mileage has piled up on a number of their big names, but I think they'll be good enough next season to make another run. Meanwhile, Boston's not dead yet. Crap.

"Hello, I'm Susan Sarandon. A lot of you know me as Tim Robbins' mother...but I'm actually his girlfriend."

Box Scores Iowa won 12-3 Box Score CF S. Fuld 1/5, R, RBI, 3B (5) C J. Fox 2/4, BB, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR (17), K, 2 PB (2) RF B. Snyder 1/3, R, 3B (2), 2 K LF J. Dubois 1/5, 2 RBI, K 1B/RF D. Deeds 0/5, RBI, PO (1B) SP JR Mathes 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 5/1 K/BB, HR, HBP, 7-5 GO-FO RP K. Hart 3 scoreless, 0 H, 5/0 K/BB, 2 HBP, 3-1 GO-FO Tennessee won Game 1 of their DH 8-7 Box Score 2B T. Thomas 1/4, RBI, K SS D. Barney 2/3, BB, R, RBI, K LF T. Wright 1/4, R, RBI 3B M. Smith 3/4, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR (1), K PH R. Canzler 1/1, R, RBI SP C. Coleman 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, HBP, 8-3 GO-FO RP J. Muyco 1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2/1 K/BB, HR, 1-0 GO-FO RP J. Gaub 1 scoreless, 0 H, 0/2 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO RP B. Schlitter 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO Tennessee lost Game 2 of their DH 5-4 Box Score 2B T. Thomas 1/3, BB, R, RBI, HR (8), K, CS (6) SS D. Barney 3/4, R, 2B (7), K, SB (4) 3B S. Clevenger 0/0 3B/SS M. Smith 3/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (2), E (4, throw) 1B R. Canzler 1/4, K LF T. Wright 1/4, 2 K C W. Castillo 0/3, K CF B. Guyer 0/3, 2 K SP J. Russell 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 7/1 K/BB, HR, 2-6 GO-FO RP D. Cales 1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO Ejections: SS Darwin Barney (7th), Manager Ryne Sandberg (7th) Daytona won 10-3 Box Score CF T. Campana 2/4, 2 BB, 2 K, CS (1), PO (1B) SS S. Castro 1/5, 2 R, RBI, 2B (5) 1B R. Keedy 1/5, 3 RBI, K DH D. Johnston 0/4, BB, 2 K 3B J. Rosa 2/5, 2 R, 2B (7), 3B (1), 2 K LF M. Gonzalez 1/4, BB, 2 R, 2B (5) 2B N. Samson 2/3, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI SP A. Cashner 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4/2 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO RP A. Alburquerque 2.2 scoreless, 2 H, 2/0 K/BB, 2 WP, 4-2 GO-FO RP L. Sommer 1 scoreless, 2 H, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Peoria won 10-6 Box Score LF J. Harrison 2/4, 2 R, RBI, 2B (11), Assist (3B) 1B R. Ridling 1/1, R SS R. Flaherty 2/5, 2 R, E (3, fielding) 3B J. Vitters 3/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B (7), HR (6), K 1B/LF K. Burke 2/5, 2 RBI, 2B (15) CF D. Rundle 1/4, RBI RF N. Perez 1/3, R, 2 RBI, HR (6), K 2B J. Lake 0/4, 2 K C M. Brenly 0/4, K SP M. Hatley 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2/5 K/BB, 2 HR, Balk, 5-7 GO-FO RP K. Kreier 2 scoreless, 2 H, 2-3 GO-FO RP C. Huseby 2 scoreless, 3 H, 4/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO OVERALL: 4-1

Go Magic.

I have Vitters-Thomas 1-2. :D However, Castro is probably #3 after that. I'd really like to know more about him before jumping onto his bandwagon head-first. It's a bit of a pain to find any decent scouting reports out there on him. Namely, I'd like to know whether he's still growing into his body, whether he's been hitting the ball into play with authority or punch and Judy style, and whether he is working long at bats or swinging away early in the count. With Thomas, there's a lot more information out there about him. I feel more comfortable saying that his success this season is sustainable than I do with Castro.

Go figure.

Does anyone have an animated gif of Lilly steamrolling Molina? That was one of the best moments from last season.

Crap.

And roid rage. Don't forget roid rage.

Pay per views tend to be fun times. You'll usually get a ton of matches without much talking or hype. The lineup for tonight looks to be halfway decent, to boot. The Batista Orton match might make you wanna kill yourself though. Uggggggggggggggh. I can't stand Batista.

Kind of driving me nuts seeing a typo you keep repeating, Fred. It's Keppinger, not Kepplinger. :D

Pay per views tend to be fun times. You'll usually get a ton of matches without much talking or hype. The lineup for tonight looks to be halfway decent, to boot.

The Cubs tend to be fairly conservative with position players when it comes to promotions. However, if Vitters keeps this up, I don't see how the Cubs could hold him back any longer. Plus, it's not like anyone's blocking him at Daytona. Opitz and Rosa haven't exactly been world-beaters at 3B this season.