Outshined_One

4-3 plz.

I'm guessing Demp is trying to set up the double play via the unintentional intentional walk.

eh, they werent even awake. billingsley made one mistake and lee made him pay. hes been dominating otherwise. He looked vulnerable the first two innings, since it looked like he was working around the zone and had a few bad pitches. Since then, he's been impressive.

Looks like Billingsley has settled down. Hopefully Dempster can hold the Dodgers down today, because Billingsley has ace-quality stuff.

Bill: "Hey Larry, what did you do this weekend?" Joe: "I headed for the mountains of Busch!" Bill: "You got drunk?" Joe: "Damn straight! I also got a ticket for public urination and punched a cop. It was awesome."

Inside the Parker. Didn't Damian Miller hit an insider the park HR against the Cubs a few years ago when he was with the Diamondbacks?

Cubs.com already beat you to it. Also, the dude in the bathrobe in the AM/PM commercial looks like Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men.

I don't think Lenny Harris is good company to keep when it comes to records, Bob.

Derrek Lee likes him some wind blowing out.

I was hoping Pierre would try plowing into Soto while Soto was in full catcher's gear. It would have been like him running into a brick wall.

Pierre in a run down. That brings back memories.

No, but the ivory is scaring him.

Why anyone doesn't pound the strike zone against Pierre is beyond me. He's not an XBH threat.

yes, please. so we'll move fukudome to center for hoffpauir, but not for murton? ok. Where the hell is Murton on the OF depth chart these days? Is he the 11th outfielder? My summary and theories here on that matter.

I have a rock that keeps tigers away from it. While I have owned this rock, I have never been attacked by a tiger. Interested?

Box Score Iowa won 6-4 Box Score 2B E. Patterson 2/4, R, RBI CF F. Pie 2/4, R, 2 RBI, 2B (1), SB (2) LF M. Murton 2/4, R, RBI, 2B (6) RF J. Kroeger 1/4 SP J. Berg 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4/2 K/BB, WP, 8-3 GO-FO RP N. Cotts 1.2 scoreless, 1 H, 3/1 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Tennessee won 6-5 thanks to 2 runs in the bottom of the 10th Box Score CF S. Fuld 2/5, BB, 2 R SS M. Camp 2/6, RBI, K RF T. Colvin 3/4, BB, RBI, 2 2B (9) 1B M. Craig 1/3, 2 BB, RBI, K LF J. Fox 1/4, RBI, K, E (1, fielding) C S. Clevenger 1/3, BB PR/3B M. Matulia 0/1 3B K. Reynolds 0/3, 2 K PH D. Deeds 0/0, BB SP D. Veal 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5/3 K/BB, WP, 8-7 GO-FO Daytona won 9-3 Box Score 2B T. Thomas 2/5, R, 2 RBI, HR (3), 2 K, SB (9) 3B J. Mota 0/4, K C W. Castillo 3/4, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B (8), K, PB (8) RF Y. Carter 0/4, K CF J. Wyatt 1/3, BB, 2 R, RBI, K 1B R. Canzler 3/4, R, 2 RBI, 2B (7), K SS D. Barney 2/4, R, 3 RBI, 2B (10) SP E. Caridad 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 6-8 GO-FO Peoria won 5-2 Box Score SS N. Samson 1/3, BB, R DH J. Donaldson 1/4, R, 2 RBI, HR (4) LF B. Guyer 2/4, 2 R, RBI, 2B (4), HR (1), K 3B J. Rosa 1/3, BB, R, 2 E (13, fielding, throw) 2B M. Smith 1/2, 2 BB, 2B (14) 1B D. Johnston 2/4, 2 RBI, K, E (4, throw) RF C. Andersen 0/4, K CF L. Johnson 0/4 SP B. Muldowney 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4/0 K/BB, HR, 8-3 GO-FO RP T. Blackford 3 scoreless, 2 H, 0/1 K/BB, 8-1 GO-FO OVERALL: 4-0

The fact that he continues to receive regular playing time mystifies me.

I should have clarified that point a little bit better. I didn't lump him into the terrible players group for a reason. He was not a terrible player. However, I also felt that his previous success made him overrated in the eyes of the front office and management. It's like they were willing to give him more of a break, you know? For that reason, I think him, Grieve, and Edmonds did not fit into the other categories, given that their past reputations did a lot to get them signed. Hendry has a long track record of picking up reclamation projects and has been slow to jettison a lot of those guys when they don't pan out or when they are not used as they should be. Hollandsworth was one of the more enjoyable players of the Dusty era. However, he had no business starting every day, given his production. He wasn't terrible, but he was a bench guy, through and through. Frankly, what happened to Hollandsworth while with the Cubs is what I worry ends up happening with Jim Edmonds. Also, after a bit of research, Grieve was with the Cubs for a much shorter period than I remembered. He wasn't particularly memorable, although his numbers weren't too bad. His inclusion on that list might be merited due to his past success, but the Cubs were relatively quick to dump him.

A quick Matt Murton update for those of you wondering about everyone's favorite redhead. Through 118 ABs, he has posted the following numbers in AAA... 5 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 HR, .356/.449/.441, 10/17 K/BB, 2/2 SB/CS Four things are worth noting... -All but three (all doubles) of his XBHs have come in the past 10 games. -He's hitting LHPs to the tune of .485/.553/.606. Against RHPs, he's hitting .306/.410/.376. -The great news is that he has an IsoD of .093. He's not only doing a very good job of being selective in terms of not striking out very often, but he's also walking at a very good rate. -The bad news is that his IsoP is .085. If you're looking at a decent power hitter like, say, Tyler Colvin (probably will hit 20-25 HRs in the majors if he pans out), he is currently sporting a .130 IsoP despite having a down year. While Murton's power stroke seems to be coming back, as seen in his performance in the past 10 games, his trade value and future potential depend heavily on his ability to develop a respectable level of power. It's not just HRs, but it's also XBHs. If Murton wants to become a LF version of Fukudome, he needs to start hitting line drives again. What does this mean? Frankly, if he comes back up with the Cubs, it'll be because someone is injured. Reed Johnson is the resident OF specialist against LHPs and can play every position. Considering Daryl Ward went down, Hoffpauir was clearly called up because he can hit for power. So, unless someone else gets hurt, I don't see Murton coming up to the Cubs any time before the roster expansions in September. I feel kind of bummed saying this, but I think there's a really good chance he'll be traded at some point this season. There's nowhere to put him on the Cubs.

Hello old thread.

I feel that one of Hendry's weakest areas has been with the bench. He's gotten a number of players who... -Play to his manager's weaknesses, such as Dusty Baker's love of veterans over young players (Neifi Perez over Ronny Cedeno) and Lou Piniella's lack of willingness to platoon guys, despite clear splits (Reed Johnson and Pie). -Are, quite frankly, terrible players who should never have been bench options for this team in the first place (Neifi Perez, Damian Jackson, Jose Macias, etc.). -Are overpaid (Henry Blanco). -Are well beyond any past success they once had (Ben Grieve, Todd Hollandsworth, Jim Edmonds). It's not to say that Hendry has been all bad with the acquisitions. Reed Johnson would have been a good pickup if he were used solely against LHPs. Daryl Ward has come up with some big hits and has been productive in a limited role. Henry Blanco would have been a decent pickup if he hadn't been paid so much. However, it seems like Hendry has had a lot of misses in this area. His draft history has also been...underwhelming. Since 2003, here's a list of Hendry's draftees who have signed and attracted attention, either through being in the majors or being named a top prospect: 2003: Ryan Harvey, Jake Fox, Sean Marshall 2004: Grant Johnson, Mark Reed, Eric Patterson, Mitch Atkins, Sam Fuld, Sean Gallagher, Jeremy Blevins 2005: Mark Pawelek, Donnie Veal, Mark Holliman 2006: Tyler Colvin, Jeff Samardzija, Chris Huseby 2007: Josh Vitters, Josh Donaldson, Tony Thomas Granted, there still is plenty of time left before we can pass a final verdict on most of these guys. However, the returns over the past five years have not yielded very good results. None of these guys have been bona fide superstar prospects for much longer than two years after they were drafted, losing their status due to injuries or ineffectiveness. Some of those guys who are close to the majors could become above average major leaguers down the line, but none of them seem like a surefire bet to be above average. Those guys with big ceilings either have a long way to go before they reach those ceilings or there are enough red flags to cause someone to mitigate any optimism for those guys. I don't know if it's been bad scouting, bad luck, or what, but in spite of Hendry being able to up the scouting budget and personnel, it has not paid dividends to the Cubs. It's a bit worrying seeing a number of prospects the Cubs have passed on or been unable to sign have gone on to have success in the major leagues while the Cubs' draftees have not seen that same level of success. Maybe five years from now we'll be talking about Josh Vitters as the Cubs' All Star 3B with Donnie Veal and Mark Pawelek vying for the Cy Young. But, unfortunately, I worry that scenario is rather unlikely.

Box Scores Iowa won 9-2 Box Score 2B E. Patterson 3/4, 2 RBI, 3B (3) CF F. Pie 0/5, K LF M. Murton 0/2, 2 BB RF J. Kroeger 1/4, R, K C C. McGehee 2/4, 2 R, 2B (11), K SP R. Wells 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6/3 K/BB, 6-6 GO-FO Daytona lost 3-2 Box Score CF J. Wyatt 0/3, K 2B T. Thomas 2/3, BB, R, 2B (9), K, SB (8) LF T. Wright 1/4, 2 K RF R. Harvey 0/4, 3 K C M. Reed 2/3, R, 3B (1), K PH Y. Carter 0/0, BB 3B J. Lansford 0/3, BB, K SS J. Mota 0/2, BB, K SP A. Maestri 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4/2 K/BB, 6-8 GO-FO RP B. Petrick 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 0-3 GO-FO RP C. Lambert 1.2 scoreless, 1 H, 2-3 GO-FO Peoria lost 3-2 Box Score DH E. Lara 1/4, K, SB (3) SS N. Samson 0/3, RBI, K, SB (2) LF B. Guyer 0/4, K 1B D. Johnston 1/4, R, 2B (8), 2 K 3B M. Smith 1/3, BB, K, CS (3), E (9, fielding) PR J. Donaldson (no stats, but he returned after a few off days due to injury today) RF C. Andersen 0/4, K CF L. Johnson 0/3 PH J. Rosa 0/1, K 2B G. Guzman 2/3, R, 2B (1) SP H. Chen 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4/0 K/BB, WP, 7-7 GO-FO RP J. Latham 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO OVERALL: 1-2

Thanks for this one, Lou.

Lou Piniella is out-strategizing himself.

Um...what?