Outshined_One

The Hill thing I can understand to a certain degree. He hasn't looked the same as he did last season. However, what drives me nuts are the following things: 1) Where has this been with Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis? Both have been pretty bad this season, but I haven't heard anything from the Cubs about demoting them to the bullpen or putting them on the DL to work out whatever issues are bothering them. Yet, with Hill, the team pushes the panic button? I don't get it. 2) Starting Jon Lieber against the Reds on Wednesday. Lieber is good against right handed hitters, but throws batting practice against lefties. The Reds have very good left handed hitters in their lineup. What's worse, Lieber hasn't been stretched out this season. I have a lot of trouble seeing how he'll last past the third inning. Why call up Gallagher and throw him into the long man role when he could most likely pitch better than Lieber at this point? 3) Ryan Theriot. 4) Mike Fontenot. 5) Ronny Cedeno's mysterious disappearance. 6) Alfonso Soriano not being sent down to the minors to re-acclimate to playing in the field and hitting. 7) Putting Soriano back in the leadoff spot on his return. 8) Felix Pie's mysterious disappearance. 9) Reed Johnson continuing to hit against right handers. This team hasn't been making sense for awhile now...

That is one of the dumbest ideas I've heard since Dusty managed. Lieber is great against RH-heavy lineups, but the Reds are going to trot out a LH-heavy lineup that hits lots of homeruns. Not only that, but Lieber hasn't been stretched out yet this season. At the very least, Gallagher has been stretched out and could probably last longer than Lieber at this point. Moving him to the long man spot is unbelievably short-sighted.

At this point, I'm concerned that Lou has lost all patience for Hill and simply won't let him work through his struggles. Granted, Lou has shown a lot more patience for Marquis and Lilly this season. Unfortunately, that's the way the cookie crumbles. Frankly, the best route at this point is to send Hill down and call up Gallagher. I'd like to see Marshall moved to the rotation, don't get me wrong, but he's the only left handed option the team has in the bullpen at the moment. Something tells me Piniella would never go without a LHP in there. Once Eyre comes back, I can see Marshall being sent down to stretch out.

Have no fear, they will find a way.

I just picked up two tickets. :D

Box Scores Iowa won 6-0 Box Score RF S. Fuld 0/4, R 3B C. McGehee 1/5, 2 RBI, 2B (6), K DH J. Kroeger 1/5, R, 2B (10), K 1B J. Fox 2/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (5), SB (2) SP R. Wells 5 scoreless, 2 H, 4/1 K/BB, 7-4 GO-FO RP N. Cotts 2 hitless/scoreless, 3/1 K/BB, 2-1 GO-FO RP J. Ascanio 1 scoreless, 1 H, WP, 2-1 GO-FO Tennessee lost 10-1 Box Score LF M. Camp 0/3, BB, K, HBP PH D. Deeds 0/1, K PH S. Clevenger 0/1 CF T. Colvin 0/4, 2 K RF R. Harvey 0/4, 2 K 2B/SS M. Matulia 0/3, BB, E (1, throw) SP M. Atkins 5.1 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 3/1 K/BB, HR, 8-4 GO-FO RP M. Avery 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1/2 K/BB, 3-1 GO-FO RP C. Shaver 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1-2 GO-FO Daytona lost 5-2 Box Score CF J. Wyatt 2/4, BB, R, RBI, 2 2B (5) 2B J. Mota 1/5 DH T. Wright 0/4, K LF R. Canzler 0/3, BB, 2 K C M. Reed 1/4, R, 2 K 3B J. Lansford 0/4 SS D. Barney 2/4 SP A. Harben 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3/4 K/BB, HR, WP, 5-5 GO-FO RP C. Lambert 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO Peoria won 4-3 Box Score CF L. Johnson 1/5 SS N. Samson 2/5 C J. Donaldson 1/5, K 1B K. Burke 1/5, K 3B M. Smith 2/5, R, 2B (9), K LF D. Johnston 2/4, 2 R, RBI, 2B (3), HR (3), K RF C. Andersen 0/3, BB, K 2B M. Gonzalez 2/4, 2 RBI, 2B (6) DH E. Lara 1/4, RBI, SB (1) SP A. Cabrera 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3/4 K/BB, WP, 6-5 GO-FO OVERALL: 2-2

He'll replace Rich Hill, naturally. Jason Marquis is untouchable!

I see Chad Fox caused the board to explode.

Some updates from the various games... Marquez Smith and Josh Donaldson both hit HRs, but Peoria is down 8-5 in the 9th. Daytona keeps getting knocked around against St. Lucie and is down 6-1. Ryan Harvey's 3/3 and James Russell had a really nice outing: 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

I've been wondering when we'd see this guy again.

Box Score Iowa won 12-6 Box Score CF S. Fuld 2/4, 2 BB, 2 R, K 3B C. McGehee 3/6, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR (3) 1B J. Fox 4/5, BB, 3 R, 5 RBI, 4 2B (9), K RF J. Kroeger 0/4, 2 BB SP R. Keisler 6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 9/1 K/BB, 2 HR, 3-6 GO-FO Tennessee lost 4-1 Box Score LF M. Camp 0/5 CF T. Colvin 0/3 RF R. Harvey 3/3, BB, RBI, 2 2B (5) 1B K. Reynolds 0/3, BB, K PH M. Matulia 0/1, K 1B D. Deeds 0/1, K SP J. Russell 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 5/0 K/BB, 5-7 GO-FO Daytona lost 11-8 Box Score CF J. Wyatt 0/4, BB, RBI, K, Assist (2B) 2B T. Thomas 0/5, 4 K DH T. Wright 0/3, K 1B R. Canzler 0/1, BB, R C W. Castillo 1/3, BB, R, PO (2B) LF M. Reed 2/3, BB, 2 R, 2B (3), E (1, fielding) 3B J. Lansford 3/4, R, 3 RBI, 2B (5), 2 E (7, throw x2) SS D. Barney 2/4, R, RBI SP M. Carrillo 4.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1/3 K/BB, 3-8 GO-FO RP J. Papelbon 2.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0/1 K/BB, 5-2 GO-FO Peoria lost 8-5 Box Score CF L. Johnson 1/5, K, SB (4), Assist (3B) SS N. Samson 2/5, R, 2B (3), K C J. Donaldson 1/4, R, 2 RBI, HR (2), HBP RF/1B K. Burke 1/4, BB, R, 3 K 3B M. Smith 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B (8), 3B (4), HR (2) 1B J. Rosa 1/2, BB, RBI, HBP LF D. Johnston 1/4, 2B (2), Assist (3) DH E. Lara 2/4 2B M. Gonzalez 0/4 SP C. Siegfried 4 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3/1 K/BB, 2 HR, WP, 3-4 GO-FO RP T. Blackford 1 scoreless, 2 H, 0/1 K/BB, 3-0 GO-FO OVERALL: 1-3

I'm surprised the ump didn't finish the game by bashing Pie over the head with a steel chair and ripping off his gear to reveal a Brewers uniform underneath.

Don't hit and run don't hit and run don't hit and run

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3719/scannersub9.gif

Alfonseca, imo.

Just for fun, assuming Theriot has 4 ABs on average over those five games, a ~3.40 average would result in him being about 7/20 over that span. With an out on the basepaths every five games, that would be equivalent to him having a .300 average. Ouch.

Welly's revenge? Fun times.

He should have been down in Iowa for a few days to do a rehab assignment. The guy needs to work on his strike zone judgment. Soriano's never been about strike zone judgment, though. If anything, he needs to work on his ability to make good contact with the balls he swings at. That's about the only way Soriano could reasonably be expected to be productive. His strike zone judgment has a history of being poor, but it's just been awful this season. The guy has been unnecessarily over-extending and pressing a lot moreso than he did for much of last season.

He should have been down in Iowa for a few days to do a rehab assignment. The guy needs to work on his strike zone judgment.

So...you're saying Albert Einstein was the grittiest human being who ever lived?

Frankly, I'd continue testing Gallardo's knee if he's going to stay out there with bunts. It dumbfounded me when the Yankees refused to bunt in the bloody sock game against Schilling.

So, does Theriot's baserunning negate any perceived defensive upside he has over Ronny Cedeno?

Geovany Soto eats nails and glass for breakfast, fatboy. Don't test him.