Outshined_One

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.

Ugh, a 27-year-old pounding the ball at AAA or a 24-year-old tearing it up at AA. Dark times. So, 1908 -- how about starting a new Japanese baseball thread to entice us with an OF for 2007? ...who will inevitably end up going to the Yankees or Mariners!

Bring out your dead!

Mother Nature hates Scott Taylor. :(

1) Let's assume the team is facing a formidable opposing pitcher (Roger Clemens, Jake Peavy, or one of their like). At a certain position, you have two possibilities at starter. The first of them is a young and somewhat unproven, yet promising, player who has never faced this pitcher before in his life. The other is an older veteran who has little offensive value, but is excellent defensively, who has seen this pitcher in 6 previous ABs and is 3/6 lifetime against the guy. Which do you start and why? 2) What's your opinion of Adam Dunn? 3) In terms of assessing players, do you prefer statistics or what you see with your own eyes? Why? 4) Overall, do you prefer hitters who have an aggressive approach or a patient approach? 5) Do you need a lefty in your rotation? 6) Do you factor breaking up left and right handed hitters into making a lineup? 7) One of your pitchers goes through periods of time when his mechanics become inconsistent. Do you ride him out, hoping he'll straighten them out on his own, or do you try to straighten them out with the pitching coach? 8) Do you keep track of your starter's pitch counts? At the most, how many pitches would you let a starter throw over the course of a game? 9) How important are wins by a starter to you? 10) In making a lineup, what stats do you use for determining where each player hits?

Box Scores Iowa won 6-0 Box Score CF F. Pie 1/3, R, RBI, HR (4), 2 K RF B. Coats 1/3, BB, R, RBI, K, SB (5) LF M. Restovich 0/4, K 3B C. McGehee 1/4, RBI 2B M. Fontenot 2/4, RBI, K, CS (2) C G. Soto 0/3, R, HBP DH B. Sing 0/1, BB, HBP PR/DH A. Greenberg 0/0, R SP R. O'Malley 6.2 scoreless, 1 H, 7/0 K/BB, 4-8 GO-FO RP D. Aardsma 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO RP M. Wuertz 1 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO West Tenn won 2-1 Box Score CF C. Walker 0/4, K 2B E. Patterson 2/4, R, 3B (4), SB (14) LF N. Jackson 1/3, R, 2B (7), SB (4), HBP 1B M. Hoffpauir 0/3, RBI, K 3B S. Moore 0/3, BB, 2 K DH R. Lewis 1/3, BB, K C J. Reyes 1/4, K SP J. Mateo 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3/1 K/BB, HR, 7-8 GO-FO Daytona won 13-2 Box Score CF S. Fuld 3/6, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B (5), 3B (3), HR (2), SB (9) C J. Fox 1/3, BB, R 1B M. Craig 1/5, R, 2 K 2B N. Spears 0/4, BB, R, RBI SP S. Gallagher 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7/1 K/BB, HR, 9-2 GO-FO Peoria Cancelled: Rain OVERALL: 3-0

Awesome.

Happy Mother's Day everyone! Box Scores Iowa lost 6-0 Box Score CF F. Pie 0/4 CF B. Coats 2/4 LF M. Restovich 1/4, 2B (7), K 2B M. Fontenot 1/3, BB 1B B. Sing 0/3 SP J. Williams 4.1 IP, 12 H, 6 ER, 2/2 KBB, 6-3 GO-FO RP M. Wuertz 1 perfect, 2/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO West Tenn lost 2-1 Box Score 2B E. Patterson 2/4, 2 K, SB (13), PO, E (5, fielding) CF N. Jackson 1/4, 2B (6) RF L. Montanez 1/4, R, K 1B M. Hoffpauir 1/4 PR C. Walker 0/0, SB (14) 3B S. Moore 2/4, K LF R. Lewis 1/4, 2B (7), RBI, K SP C. Shaver 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4/3 K/BB, 8-9 GO-FO Daytona with an off day. Peoria won 5-1 Box Score SS J. Mota 4/5, RBI, 2B (1), K RF J. Valdez 1/5, R 1B R. Norwood 1/4, RBI, HBP 3B M. Reed 2/3, BB, 2 R, RBI, 2B (3) C J. Muyco 1/5, K SP D. Veal 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 9/3 K/BB, 3-4 GO-FO OVERALL: 1-2

Didn't he sit and come back out during a game delayed by rain against St. Louis?

Platoon anyone? BTW, I think that this might be the 15938th time this has been suggested since the season started. I live in fear of Murton platooning with Jones while Mabry starts all games in LF. Mabry's three year splits against lefties aren't too bad (.275/.337/.407/744), but it's hard to tell in terms of the sample size since he's seen roughly five times as many ABs against RHPs (499) as he has against LHPs (91). But the fact that Hendry shelled out the contract he did for Jock is what's the worst part about it.

vs. Left .056/.105/.056/.161 vs. Right .312/.349/.597/.947

I'd debate the awful minor league system part of this post, but that's pretty much to be expected of me considering the amount of work I put into it. What angers me more than anything is that Hendry has had a very rough track record of dealing prospects and young players when it comes to properly assessing their value. Jason Dubois was a pretty good hitting prospect down in AAA, then came up and wasted away on the bench. He eventually was traded for a hobbled OF, who was traded for a scrappy steroid user, who was traded for a slightly older Low A high groundball pitcher. Hendry waited until Dubois' value was at its lowest until he finally got around to trading him. In other situations, he comes to a point where he can no longer hold guys on the roster and trades them away. It comes to a point where it's either trade the guy away or let him go for nothing. In most cases...it might as well be both. Clint Brannon has 4.2 IP under his belt. Zach McCormack is MIA. Lincoln Holdzkom has appeared in only 4 games. Matt Ciaramella is old for Low A and not hitting well. We all shudder at the name of Andy Pratt. Richard Lewis couldn't adjust to AAA. It just annoys me that he has all of these prospects who receive some degree of hype and show some nice talent...but then proceeds to screw up by being indecisive with them until they have no value whatsoever. These guys get yo-yoed back and forth between the majors and minors, don't see much playing time, rot on the bench, and basically never can get into a consistent groove because they don't see the field all that often. After that, they pretty much lose any perceived value they once had. Yes, some of these guys might have been talentless bums. But there once was a point when they were worth more than what they were traded for. Hendry never struck while the iron was hot by either getting those guys consistent playing time or by trading them while their value was still high. That's precisely what the minor league players are for...yet Hendry and Dusty seem to have a hard time understanding this.

Refresh my memory, did Jim Hendry make a cursory offer towards Brian Giles this offseason, or did he just completely blow the man off? Also, the Lee deal was heavily based on circumstances. Remember, Florida was originally going to trade him to Baltimore when the deal fell through at the last minute. Hendry decided to swoop in at that moment and made a trade. He should get credited for his timing, but I do have to wonder how lucky he got. I mean, cripes, the man didn't roster Andy Sisco because he wanted to send Sisco a message, only to have it blow up in his face. While Sisco is sucking wind this season, he was one of the most talented and promising pitchers in this system. He let him go for nothing. How about the great deals he got for Todd Wellemeyer, Bear Bay, Jason Dubois, Juan Cruz, Jermaine Van Buren, John Koronka, and Jon Leicester? Yech.

Very good. Quick bat. very fast base runner. We havent tested him in center yet. He glides after the ball in the outfield and makes it look effortless. Took a walk here in game two on a 3-1 borderline pitch instead of being over-aggressive with 1st and 2nd and no outs. *Sighs* Another gem in the Diamondbacks' system. The number of incredibly talented positional players that system has is simply unreal.