Outshined_One

So, can we play "Spot the NSBB Crew"?

St. Ignatius band? hahahahaha...that brings back memories. I see Father Paulson!

Don't some metrics consider Womack to be one of the worst hitters in baseball over the past decade or so? But it's okay since he's SCRAPPY! We need some one who can bunt Pierre over!!!!!!!

Todd Jones's continued resurgence (he was with FLA last season) and Curtis Granderson & Chris Shelton seeing more consistent playing time has definitely helped matters, as well. Looks like my prediction of Verlander winning AL ROY was a good one. 8)

I repeat:

Acquired from the Braves in the Todd Hollandsworth deal last season, along with Angelo Burrows. Low 90s fastball, decent change, and a slider that needs to be tightened up. Drafted in the 13th round of the 2004 draft out of an Indiana HS. There isn't a whole lot of info on him out of that draft in terms of projection, makeup, or anything else along those lines.

6 IP, 95 pitches, 4 H, 2 ER, 6 Ks, 4 BBs, and a no decision.

.364/.453/.418/.871 in just over 60 PA's at Peoria Not to mention he apparently is quite good defensively. Opposing teams praised his quick arm and good instincts behind the dish last season down in Boise. I find this rather intriguing considering the fact that Reed's ability to stick behind home plate was the big question when he was drafted, whereas most people expected his bat to come around. His power is still a bit lacking, but he makes good contact, has nice patience, and can even steal a few bases (5 so far on the season).

Box Scores Iowa won 8-2 Box Score CF F. Pie 2/4, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (5), K RF B. Coats 2/5, RBI, 2B (5) LF M. Restovich 2/4, BB, 2 RBI, 2B (8), K 3B C. McGehee 1/4, BB, R, E (5, fielding) 2B M. Fontenot 4/5, R, RBI C G. Soto 1/5, 2 K PH L. Montanez 0/1 PH M. Hoffpauir 0/1 SP A. Guzman 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 7/1 K/BB, 6-8 GO-FO West Tenn won 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th Box Score CF C. Walker 0/5, RBI, K 2B E. Patterson 0/4, BB, R, K LF N. Jackson 0/4, 2 K 1B B. Sing 1/4, BB, 2B (1) 3B S. Moore 2/5, R, 2 2B (16), 3 K RF A. Greenberg 1/2, BB, K, CS (2), PO PH R. Lewis 0/0, BB C J. Reyes 0/1, BB SP C. Marmol 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 6/2 K/BB, 5-7 GO-FO Daytona won 7-6 with 5 in the 9th Box Score CF S. Fuld 1/3, 2 BB, 2 R, SB (11) DH J. Fox 1/5, R, RBI, 2B (10), 2 K, SB (4) 1B M. Craig 2/5, R, 2 RBI, 2 K 2B N. Spears 1/3, BB, R SP M. Weber 4.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 7-3 GO-FO RP M. Phelps 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO Peoria won 2-1 in the 11th Box Score 2B K. Reynolds 1/4, BB, RBI SS J. Mota 1/4, BB, K RF J. Valdez 1/5, RBI, Assist (Home) 1B R. Norwood 1/4, K, E (2, fielding) DH M. Reed 2/4, 2B (4), SB (6), CS (2) PH R. Chirinos 1/1, R C J. Muyco 0/0, BB PR D. Gregg 0/0, R SP J. Yepez 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5/4 K/BB, HR, 5-6 GO-FO RP M. Avery 3 scoreless and hitless, 2/3 K/BB, 2-5 GO-FO OVERALL: 4-0!

Correct, unless something has changed since the beginning of the season. Wouldn't surprise me. I remembered Kennedy and Donald because they were somewhat well-known in the 2003 draft. John Manuel mentioned LaPorta as a Boras client in a recent chat. ASU OF Colin Curtis is another Boras client. I haven't been able to find any of his HS clients for this year, though.

We had a huge system pass through here heading southeast. It's currently sunny and nice here.

Rowell and Kershaw have been skyrocketing up the charts lately. Neither would be a bad pick, although in Kershaw's case, guys committed to Texas are typically hard to pry away. From my memory, the college Boras advised guys this year are Luke Hochevar, Matt LaPorta, Ian Kennedy, and Jason Donald. Hochevar had that whole ugly incident with the Dodgers. LaPorta has struggled, but is a heck of a power hitter. Kennedy's velocity dropped from 89-91 to 86-88 this year. Donald isn't a name I've heard a lot. I'm unsure who in HS has him. As odd as it sounds, the Cubs picked a pretty good year not to have any picks between the rounds 2-4. Virginia is always a good place to keep an eye on, by the way. The Cubs have a terrific scout in the area (Billy Swoope) who was behind such picks as Sean Marshall, Jason Dubois, Scott Taylor, Justin Jones, and Brendan Harris, among others. That's a pretty nice list, all things considered. This year's crop includes: RHP Jeremy Jeffress (HS) 2B Scott Sizemore (VCU) RHP Harold Mozingo (VCU) Once BA releases their annual area scouting reports, there should be more to add to that list.

Montanez's numbers against lefties are pretty good, too: .389/.488/.417/.905 He has more power, but less patience, against RHPs, though.

Sad to see Greenie and Sing struggling. Hope they can both make the turnaround soon! Iowa will find room to play Monty and Hoffpauir. Both were doing an excellent job down in AA and hopefully will carry over that success into AAA. Heck, maybe the Cubs' investment in Montanez will pay off if he gets called up to the majors in the near future. ;)

From John Manuel's ESPN Chat:

My understanding has been that his defense is good enough for him to stick at third when he comes up to the majors. His problems apparently are ones that can be corrected given proper coaching and time. His last error was on May 7th and it was his 6th of the season. Given there are about 130 games in the minor league season (playoffs included) and West Tenn has played 39 of them (30%), that puts Moore on track for about 20 errors total on the season, assuming he follows the expected path. We'll see what happens. He needs another year in the minors anyways to work on his command of the strike zone.

I think he has a chance to be solid, but not spectacular. His problem last year was that he racked up an obscene number of errors at 3B. He seems to have cut down on that this season, although it still is rather early. He also seems like he needs to work on his command of the strike zone since he's racked up 43 Ks on the season. Still, he's shown plenty of promise. He doesn't have the same ceiling as guys like Pie, Dopirak, or Harvey, but he definitely could be a good everyday guy at 3B if he improves and adjusts accordingly.

Peoria leads 6-1 going into the bottom of the 6th. Blackford has yet to strike out or walk a batter, but has also scattered eight hits. Mark Reed also hit his second HR of the year. Looks like the light's coming on for him at the plate. :D

Pretty much every pitch Springer threw in that AB was aimed straight at Bonds, one way or another. He would have hit him earlier in the AB, but that pitch managed to somehow hit the knob of the bat.

If he re-signs with the Cubs when FA time comes, Carlos Zambrano may very well supplant Ryne Sandberg as my all-time favorite Cub.

Box Scores Iowa with an off day. West Tenn lost 8-0 Box Score CF C. Walker 0/4, K 2B E. Patterson 2/4, 2 2B (9), E (6, missed catch) LF R. Lewis 0/3, BB 1B B. Sing 0/3, BB, 3 K RF N. Jackson 0/4, K C J. Reyes 1/3 3B S. Moore 0/2 SP JR Mathes 2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3/0 K/BB, 3-0 GO-FO Daytona won 11-3 Box Score CF S. Fuld 2/5, R, RBI, 3 K C J. Fox 2/4, BB, 3 RBI, K SS J. Simokaitis 2/5, R, RBI, 2B (1), K, CS (4) SP G. Johnson 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4/5 K/BB, 5-8 GO-FO RP M. Phelps 1 perfect, 0-3 GO-FO Peoria won 6-2 Box Score 2B R. Chirinos 3/4, BB, R, 2 RBI, 2B (13), HR (3), K SS J. Mota 1/4, BB, R, K RF/LF J. Valdez 1/4, R 1B R. Norwood 1/2, R, RBI, HBP DH M. Reed 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (2), SB (5) C J. Muyco 0/4 SP T. Blackford 6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER (1 inherited), 0/1 K/BB, 16-4 GO-FO RP E. Campusano 1 scoreless & hitless, 2/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO OVERALL: 2-1

WOW OTIS89 HASN'T PITCHED IN A WHILE I'll be OK. :lol: Dude, giving up that two run home run in the first was not cool.

Izzo recruited him out of a morgue. No thanks.

Box Scores Iowa won 4-1 Box Score CF F. Pie 2/5, R, K RF B. Coats 1/4, 2 RBI LF M. Restovich 0/3, BB, K 3B C. McGehee 1/3, HBP 2B M. Fontenot 1/3, BB, R, 2 K C G. Soto 2/4, R, 2B (6) SP L. Walrond 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3/5 K/BB, HR, 8-7 GO-FO RP D. Aardsma 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO West Tenn lost 9-7 Box Score CF C. Walker 1/4, BB, 2 R, K RF L. Montanez 2/5, R, 4 RBI, HR (2), 2 Assists (home, 3B) 1B M. Hoffpauir 1/5, 2 K LF R. Lewis 1/4, RBI, K 3B S. Moore 2/4, R, RBI, HR (7), 2 K, CS (3), PO C J. Reyes 0/4, R, K PH/2B E. Patterson 0/1, K SP R. Wells 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5/1 K/BB, HR, 6-6 GO-FO, E (1, pickoff) Daytona won 6-1 Box Score CF S. Fuld 2/3, BB, 2 R, RBI, 2B (6), SB (10) DH J. Fox 3/4, R, 3 RBI, 2B (9), 3B (1) 1B M. Craig 0/4, 4 K (ole!) 2B N. Spears 0/3 SP M. Holliman 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 10/2 K/BB, HR, 5-5 GO-FO Peoria lost 6-1 Box Score SS J. Mota 0/4, 2 K, E (3, missed catch) RF J. Valdez 1/4 C M. Reed 1/4, R, RBI, HR (1) DH K. Reynolds 1/3 SP S. Taylor 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4/1 K/BB, HR, 5-9 GO-FO OVERALL: 2-2

Beat ya to it.