Outshined_One

The Cubs have an off day on Thursday anyways, so Bare might not miss much time (if any). Here's hoping he's back on Friday. :D

Aw, that stinks. :( Johnston showed pretty nice patience at the plate, although it seemed like his defense needed a bit of work. It sucks to see this setback, nevertheless. Hope he gets better soon!

Box Scores Daytona lost 11-4 Box Score CF S. Fuld 0/2, 2 BB, SB (6), HBP RF R. Harvey 0/4, BB, 2 RBI, K DH J. Fox 0/4, BB, R, 3 K 1B M. Craig 1/5 C A. Rick 0/1, BB, PB (3), HBP SS J. Simokaitis 0/5, 2 K, E (5, fielding) 2B N. Spears 3/4, 2 R, RBI, 2B (1), SB (4) SP G. Johnson 3 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3/3 K/BB, HR, 5-1 GO-FO Peoria won 6-4 Box Score SS K. Taylor 0/4, K LF/RF J. Valdez 3/3, BB, R, RBI, SB (4) 1B R. Norwood 1/4, RBI, 2B (8) LF A. Garcia 1/3, RBI PH/CF D. Gregg 0/1, K C J. Muyco 1/4, R, 2 RBI, HR (1), K SP M. Atkins 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 7/1 K/BB, 5-4 GO-FO RP E. Campusano 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Iowa and West Tenn with the day off. OVERALL: 1-1

The early results aren't all positive, but at the same time, there's still time for him to develop into an effective major league player. Then again, that list is rather depressing, all things considered.

I'd argue that the Suicide Squeeze is one of the most exciting plays in all of sports.

I agree with the first part of your post for the time being. I'll be worried if he's putting the same numbers up at the end of May. I would most definitely like to see Pierre improve upon his numbers thus far this season, but we only have a small sample size to judge him by this season. There should come a point where he will begin to improve...hopefully. However, considering Pierre started his career in Colorado, I'd think he would at least be used to this kind of weather early and late in the season. His three year splits suggest his two worst months are June (.265/.320/.342) and April (.291/.343/.369). His performance thus far has been worse than both. However, considering his IsoD is currently at .18 and his career IsoD is .50, I'd expect his numbers to improve in the coming weeks and months.

The Cubs have faced him before. He faced off against Kerry Wood last season and had a quality start. Link However, this will be his first ever start at Wrigley.

in june, juan pierre is going to be so fast that he'll beat out routine groundballs to second twice a game Why are you exaggerating? In 650 AB, the difference between a .280 hitter and a .300 hitter is about 13 hits. Just missing an infield single every couple of games b/c your legs are cold/cramped/tight makes a big difference for a guy like Pierre. The Cubs have played 4 games this year with a temperature below 50 degrees, only 1 below 40. That's over 20% of our games, which isn't a negligible figure. It is a figure that should be taken into account, but at the same time, this April (and winter overall) has been one of the warmest I can remember in the past few years. I mean, Sunny, Lake Mendota didn't fully freeze over this year. This is the first time it's ever happened in the time I've been up at Madison and a good number of people were making a big deal out of it. The weather has really not been that bad. Also, how many of those 5 games were played at Wrigley?

With MLB cracking down on throwing at batters, I'm curious as to whether or not these guys would be doing these same antics if they knew an earhole pitch was coming in the next AB. Think about how fun it would be to see what would happen if Zambrano charged the mound, to boot!

Note the triple K.

Daytona down 4-1 heading into the bottom of the third.

Lidge has never had good success against the Cubs. I can think of a few instances where he fell apart (The Jeff Gordon Game, Sammy's 10th inning walkoff) against them. His three year numbers against the Cubs aren't pretty, either.

I have to say, in a way, I find Gallagher's outing encouraging. Judging from his line and from what people were saying in this thread, it didn't sound like he had his best stuff and that he wasn't getting a lot of calls. Let's face it, when you allow 11 baserunners and only strike out one guy, it's not your best day. However, he minimized the damage, got a ton of ground balls, and walked away with the W. When a pitcher has a day like that, it's a good sign. Sometimes guys just pack it up and walk home. Other times, they bear down and do the best they can. Having that ability is critical for success, ya know?

Box Scores Iowa's game suspended, 1-1 in the top of the 7th Link West Tenn lost 3-2 Box Score CF C. Walker 2/5 2B E. Patterson 1/5, R, 2 RBI, HR (2), 2 K RF L. Montanez 2/4, BB, K, SB (2) 1B M. Hoffpauir0/3, BB, K LF R. Lewis 0/2, 2 K 3B S. Moore 1/3, BB C T. Richie 1/3, K, PB (1) SP J. Mateo 4 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2/1 K/BB, HR, 2-7 GO-FO Daytona won 14-7 Box Score CF S. Fuld 4/5, BB, R, 4 RBI, 2B (4), K, 2 SB (4) RF R. Harvey 0/4, 2 BB, 2 R, Assist (2B) DH N. Jackson 1/3, BB, 2 R, RBI, SB (6), HBP C J. Fox 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 2B (6), K, SB (3), E (2, throw) SS J. Simokaitis 0/4 SP M. Holliman 4 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 4 ER (1 inherited), 7/4 K/BB, HR, 2-3 GO-FO RP M. Phelps 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Peoria lost 4-1 Box Score CF D. Gregg 0/4, 2 K SS K. Reynolds 1/4, 3 K 1B R. Norwood 2/4, K SP J. Yepez 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 6-4 GO-FO OVERALL: 1-2

21-30 Josh Fields, RHP, Georgia ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP BK SFA SHA 2.12 2-2 17 0 0 0/3 7 29.2 23 9 7 5 36 3 1 0 107 .215 2 2 0 1 3 Aaron Brown, RHP, Houston ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP BK SFA SHA 6.61 1-3 20 3 0 0/1 1 31.1 35 28 23 18 35 3 0 1 128 .273 5 4 0 1 1 Taylor Harbin, 2B, Clemson AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD% .293 37-37 157 27 46 11 1 3 22 68 .433 1 1 13 6 .298 2 2 3-4 68 120 4 .979 Andrew Romine, SS, Arizona State AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD% .545 7-5 22 5 12 2 1 0 7 16 .727 0 0 5 0 .545 0 0 3-4 6 21 1 .964 Kenn Kasparek, RHP, Texas, (6'10 2004 41st round Cubs draftee) ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP BK SFA SHA 4.10 3-2 19 5 0 0/0 3 41.2 40 27 19 23 24 7 1 4 159 .252 3 2 0 3 2 Wynn Pelzer, RHP, South Carolina ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP BK SFA SHA 1.39 3-1 12 2 0 0/2 4 32.1 12 5 5 19 36 4 0 2 102 .118 1 4 0 0 2 Justin Baum, 1B/3B, Pacific AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD% .154 37-32 130 18 20 7 0 7 25 48 .369 13 4 47 2 .248 2 0 0-1 55 61 11 .913 Darwin Barney, SS, Oregon State AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD% .338 37-37 148 28 50 7 2 0 18 61 .412 20 5 8 5 .429 2 6 10-11 48 122 14 .924 Ed Easley, C, Mississippi State AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD% .335 40-40 161 39 54 13 0 2 25 73 .453 19 7 25 5 .426 1 2 1-1 186 40 8 .966 Michael McGuire, RHP, Delaware ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP BK SFA SHA 6.32 2-1 8 8 0 0/0 0 37.0 40 26 26 26 42 8 0 5 145 .276 1 7 1 1 3

Rammy's making Vargas sweat.

Nice deflection, Z. Ronny handled that quite well, too.

I'll admit to laughing when ESPN talked up Neifi's Gold Glove.

I had a flashback to Jeromy Burnitz at the plate when I saw Todd come up. This is not a good sign.

ESPN seems to enjoy torturing Cubs fans.

Juan's not on base, Dusty. Don't make Ronny bunt.

What happened to Jeremy Hermida, out of curiosity? Is he on the Marlins right now, injured, in the minors, what?

Anyone know what's going on with Zambrano? His stuff is there, but he's just not getting the job done.

What... Seriously, Z, what the heck is wrong with you?!

Cut down the walks, Z.