Outshined_One

As much as I try, I really can't bring myself to like Ryan Theriot.

Wow, nice awareness and slide by Rammy.

That's one of the most hilarious doubles I've ever seen.

Gotta love the botched H&R when the Cubs don't do it.

That kid has two dads?

A jazzy catcher to backup the salsa maestro currently behind the plate. So...would that make Wellington Castillo the Tango Master?

Can we adjust Zambrano's ERA to reflect the number of HRs he hits?

I wouldn't pay much attention to ERA when evaluating minor leaguers. You won't find much in the way of good defense down there, plus a lot of the minor league parks are effectively bandboxes. Veal's been so-so. He'll make most Top 10 prospect lists for the Cubs, but he walks way, way, way too many people.

Corey rocking the Evil Spock goatee.

I don't think Derrek can elevate a ball to save his life.

"Forecast: Mottled" Say what?

Fogg doesn't seem to be doing any better in that department.

Good start.

Wow, nice find. That really makes me like Cerda a lot more.

Box Scores Iowa won 5-2 Box Score CF F. Pie 2/4, R, HR (9), 2 RBI, CS (6) 1B M. Hoffpauir 0/4, K 3B C. McGehee 1/4, K DH J. Dubois 2/4, R, 2B (9), 2 RBI, 2K SP J. Stanford 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 2 GO-11 FO RP K. Hart 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 GO-0 FO Tennessee won 2-1 Box Score CF S. Fuld 1/5, R, K 2B N. Spears 1/4 DH J. Fox 0/2, RBI, 2 BB, K LF T. Colvin 0/4, K C W. Castillo 0/4, K 3B J. Lansford 1/4, R, 2B (14) SP D. Veal 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, HR, WP, HBP, 4 GO-9 FO RP R. Roquet 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 4 GO-0 FO RP C. Lambert 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K Daytona at Vero Beach (game one): PPD - Rain. Daytona at Vero Beach (game two): PPD - Rain. Peoria lost 6-2 Box Score SS N. Samson 0/4, R LF C. Andersen 2/4 CF B. Guyer 1/4, 2 K, CS (5), outfield assist at home 1B R. Ridling 0/3, 2 K DH D. Johnston 2/3, R, HR (12), RBI, K SP R. Hernandez 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, HBP, 2 GO-5 FO - shortened outing due to lengthy rain delay RP Z. Ashwood 3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 2 GO-2 FO Boise lost 7-6 Box Score CF K. Calvert 1/5, 2B (7), K LF D. Rundle 0/5, 2 K 3B J. Vitters 2/5, R, 2B (21), HR (5), RBI 1B R. Keedy 2/5, R, 2 K SS R. Flaherty 2/3, R, BB, SB (4) RF K. Burke 2/3, 2 R, 2B (15), 2 RBI, BB C M. Brenly 1/4, 2 RBI, E (3, throw) SP R. Searle 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 6 GO-2 FO RP M. Hatley 2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 3 WP, HBP, 3 GO-4 FO AZL Cubs won 8-3 Box Score DH L. Watkins 1/3, 2 RBI SS S. Castro 2/4, R, 2B (9), RBI 2B M. Cerda 0/3, R, BB, K, SB (1) - second ever start at second base 1B J. Jones 2/4, R, 3B (5), 2 RBI 3B G. Matheus 2/4, 2 R, SB (1) SP L. Suarez 4 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, HR, 4 GO-4 FO RP J. Peña 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 3 GO-4 FO DSL Cubs 1 won 4-2 Box Score SP A. Ruiz 5 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 4 GO-4 FO RP R. Carmona 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 GO-3 FO DSL Cubs 2 won 3-2 Box Score SP E. Figueroa 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, HBP, 9 GO-4 FO Overall: 5-2

Alright everyone, listen up. To put it bluntly, the last game thread was disgraceful. It's one thing when people engage in banter, sort out issues on their own, and keep their overreactions in check. However, there were a number of people who were completely out of line. I don't need to go into any details, but a quick perusal of that thread will illustrate what I am talking about. That kind of behavior cannot continue and will not be tolerated. All of you should know the rules we have for NSBB and for Game Threads. Please stay within those boundaries.

Alright, enough already with the over the top reactions. This is getting ridiculous.

Is that good? Yes... just so long as Vitters doesn't have the same injury problems. Remember, Aramis Ramirez has essentially been Howie Kenrick with more pop. I think O_O compared Vitters to Aramis. I'd love that. I worry about his defense though. I said Aramis Ramirez was Vitters' ceiling. Ramirez coming up through the Pirates' system was fairly comparable to Vitters (Link for Ramirez's minors numbers), although I think Ramirez has a smidge more power and Vitters might be a bit faster on the bases. I don't know if Vitters will ever reach that ceiling (or if he'll surpass it), but the comp seems to work.

Box Scores Iowa lost 8-5 Box Score CF F. Pie 1/5, R, K, E (7, fielding), Assist (2B) 1B M. Hoffpauir 3/5, R, 2B (32), 2 K 3B C. McGehee 2/5, RBI, K RF J. Kroeger 2/5, R, 2 RBI, HR (14), 2 K, SB (10) SP M. Burns 5 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 5/1 K/BB, 2 HR, 5-4 GO-FO RP J. Berg 2 scoreless, 2 H, 2/0 K/BB, 3-1 GO-FO RP M. Wuertz 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3/3 K/BB Tennessee lost 6-4 Box Score CF S. Fuld 2/4, BB, K 2B N. Spears 0/5 RF D. Deeds 3/5, 2 R, RBI, HR (11), K 1B J. Fox 0/4, BB, R, 2 K LF T. Colvin 2/5, R, 2 RBI, HR (14) C M. Reed 2/5, 3B (1), K, PO (1B) SS M. Camp 1/3, HBP SP G. Johnson 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2/4 K/BB, WP, 3-6 GO-FO Daytona PPD: Wet grounds. Peoria with an off day. Boise won 3-2 in the 11th inning Box Score LF D. Macias 2/4 CF D. Rundle 0/5, RBI, 2 K 3B J. Vitters 0/5, RBI, 2 K, E (9, fielding) 1B R. Keedy 0/5, 2 K SS R. Flaherty 2/5, 2 2B (15) RF K. Burke 2/4, BB, R, RBI, 2B (14), HR (6), K, Assist (2B) C M. Brenly 2/4, 2B (9) 2B M. Gonzalez 0/2, 2 BB, R, K, HBP SP J. Beliveau 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 6/2 K/BB, HR, 1-4 GO-FO RP D. Cales 3 scoreless, 1 H, 4/1 K/BB, WP, 3-2 GO RP B. O'Donnell 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO AZL Cubs lost 8-1 Box Score 3B G. Matheus 0/4, E (3, throw) 2B V. Watkins 1/3, BB, 2 K, E (3, throw) SS S. Castro 1/4, 2B (8), 2 K RF Not Jacque Jones 0/3, K PH J. Lake 0/1, K DH M. Cerda 0/1, 2 BB, R, K LF K. Soto 0/2, BB, K LF B. Jost 0/0, BB 1B J. Contreras 1/4, RBI C A. Sosa 0/3, 2 K CF T. Campana 1/3, K SP D. Nunez 3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 3/0 K/BB, 2 HBP, 2-4 GO-FO RP C. Huseby 3 scoreless, 2 H, 1/4 K/BB, 3-4 GO-FO RP T. Matchulat 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3/3 K/BB, 2-1 GO-FO RP T. Mitchell 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3/2 K/BB DSL Cubs 1 won 6-1 Box Score DSL Cubs 2 won 7-3 Box Score

I'm locking this thread for the time being. Everyone take a step back and knock it off with the personal attacks and massively off-topic banter.

It's an interesting question. There's a lot of good hitting and power but it's mostly power that stays inside the ballpark. The weather's pretty cool and wet in Vancouver today, so I would think home runs would be hard to come by. I don't know what the ballpark dimensions are like, though. Wikipedia

There's a pretty good chance Beckham will be with the White Sox at some point next season. He was an advanced college hitter and should slot in fine at pretty much any MIF spot. If you're in one of those leagues that requires you to have a set number of players on your roster (requiring you to drop someone whenever one of your minor leaguers gets promoted), you might want to take that into account, for better or worse. If you're looking for younger guys, OF Aaron Hicks (Twins) and RHP Ethan Martin (Dodgers) are both toolsy with good upsides at their positions. Also, as a point of correction, Brett Lawrie is with the Brewers, not the Twins. He might not stick at C and could end up at 3B or in the OF.

Box Scores Iowa lost 9-5 Box Score CF F. Pie 1/5 LF M. Hoffpauir 2/5, 2 RBI, 2B (31) 3B C. McGehee 0/4, BB, R, K 1B M. Craig 2/4, 2B (5) PH J. Kroeger 0/1 SP M. Atkins 2 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 2/4 K/BB, HR, 1-3 GO-FO RP J. Ascanio 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2/0 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO RP K. Hart 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Tennessee won 4-2 Box Score CF S. Fuld 1/3, BB, SB (5), CS (7) RF M. Camp 0/4 2B N. Spears 2/4, 2 R, 3B (5), K DH J. Fox 3/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (24), K LF T. Colvin 1/4, RBI, 3B (10), K C W. Castillo 1/4, 3 K 3B J. Lansford 0/4, 2 K SP E. Caridad 7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3/1 K/BB, HR, 11-7 GO-FO RP J. Ceda 2 scoreless, 2 H, 4/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Daytona with an off day. Peoria lost 5-4 in 10 innings Box Score RF J. Wyatt 2/4, R, RBI, 2 K, 3 SB (15), HBP SS N. Samson 0/3, BB, E (27, fielding) 3B J. Rosa 0/5, K CF B. Guyer 2/5, 2B (26) LF R. Ridling 0/3, BB, K PR/2B J. Harrison 0/1, R, SB (6) DH D. Johnston 1/4, R C L. Flores 2/3, R, 2 RBI, 2B (1), SB (1) SP A. Santana 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3/1 K/BB, 8-6 GO-FO Boise won 16-9 Box Score CF K. Calvert 4/7, R, 2B (6), RBI, PO LF D. Rundle 1/4, 3 R, 2B (15), 2 BB, K, SB (3) 3B J. Vitters 3/5, 2 R, 2 2B (20), 2 RBI, K, HBP, E (8, fielding) - 25 game hitting streak SS R. Flaherty 1/6, 2B (13), RBI, 2 K 1B R. Keedy 3/4, 3 R, 2B (15), K, HBP - left game after HBP DH S. Hoorelbeke 1/6, 2B (7), 2 RBI, 2 K C C. Perez 2/6, 3 R, 2 2B (11), RBI, K LF D. Macias 4/6, 2 R, 2B (7), 3 RBI 2B M. Gonzalez 4/5, 3 RBI, BB, K SP C. Carpenter 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 7 GO-4 FO RP A. Cashner 2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 GO-4 FO AZL Cubs with an off day. DSL Cubs 1 lost 6-3 Box Score SP Ma. Perez 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3 GO-3 FO DSL Cubs 2 lost 11-4 Box Score DH J. Morelli 3/4, 2 R, 2B (10), 2 SB (13) - 18 years old LF G. Robles 2/3, 2B (5), RBI, BB - 17 years old SP R. Garcia 5 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 7 GO-5 FO - turn 17 years old earlier this month Overall: 2-4

I just got back from the Chiefs game! As always, it was quite the enjoyable time and I really recommend people heading out there to take in a game. O'Brien Field is a really enjoyable place to take in a ball game. Plus the ivy is really coming in nicely! :D My notes from the game... -I met Nate! He was a really nice guy and I was really glad he took the time to say hello and chat with me. I was glad to hear he previously met with a few other people on this forum before! -The game itself was really enjoyable. Peoria won down 5-3 going into the bottom of the 9th with Wyatt-Samson-Rosa due up. Peoria had a number of chances throughout the game, but had trouble cashing in runs. Wyatt hit a hard flyball to LF that Clinton's LF took a weird route on and making an ill-advised dive towards, resulting in Wyatt standing on second. Samson hit a single and got Wyatt over to third. Rosa got himself down 0-2, but managed to hit a shot into right center that scored both runs and got him into third sliding. Guyer did the rest by dumping the ball into the OF for the easy run. -The radar gun was broken half the time in Peoria tonight, so some of my readings on the pitchers could be a bit off. -I liked what I saw of Casey Coleman. He does a very good job of hiding the ball and disguising his delivery. Stuff-wise, he reminded me of Acosta with a slightly better fastball and a curveball with a little less bite to it. In the times the radar looked like it was working, his fastball was clocked around 88-90. It wouldn't surprise me if he got the FB up to around 91/92. His mechanics are fairly sound, although he may need to tighten his glove arm action up. He kept the ball on the ground really well and only hard two hard hit balls the entire night (both to deep center, one dropping for a hit). In the second inning, some cheap grounders were what got him in trouble. He could be a middle of the rotation starter down the road, since it looked like he might be able to bulk up a bit more. -Not much else has changed since I last saw the Chiefs at Wrigley. Rosa needs a lot more seasoning and coaching at 3B if he's going to stick there. Ridling hit yet another shot out of the park. Guyer looked solid in CF and at the plate. Siegfried needs better conditioning if he's ever going to be more than a middle reliever, since his stuff tends to fall off significantly after his first inning pitched. Samson has improved his defense and looks better at SS than when I saw him back in May. -Turning to the Lumber Kings, Justin Smoak is not going to stay in the MWL very long. His first AB was a walk on a full count. His next two ABs were very loud outs to the OF. His double was the loudest hit ball of the night. It would have been a HR if he elevated it another foot or two. He looked solid defensively at 1B, to boot. -Beavan didn't impress me very much as a prospect. Here's his THT Writeup from the 2007 draft. The guy is 6'7, but he was working in the high 80s/low 90s all night. He had a decent breaking ball which the homeplate ump was happy to give him a corner on. His delivery is very slow and very stiff. He still throws across his body, although the recoil is not quite as violent as it was when he was in HS. He seems to have eliminated the step-over from his delivery and has added two steps to his windup that really slowed him down (ball and glove behind his head, turns his back to the batter). He looks much more tall and fall than anything else, imo. That's about it!

I think this is more indicative of the fact that Lovie realizes the offense won't have any room for error and thus needs a quarterback that can limit mistakes. Their performances in the preseason were pretty much even in terms of their abilities. Grossman showed a better touch for the big play, and Orton was more conservative. Grossman can at least play a large role in deciding the outcome of a game, be it in the Bears' favor or not. Orton isn't a playmaker and has never impressed me in the time I've seen him under center. He won't make many mistakes, but he won't move the ball up and down the field at will, either.