philosophizer75

Yeah that game wasn't so great to attend. I laughed my ass off when heyward just missed robbing Ramos' homer because he was pissed with himself and chucked his glove more than halfway to the infield from the wall.

Gonna be at this one. First time at nationals park.

Just read that piece from "the ringer" and.. Holy horsefeathers Edwin Jackson was still a cub less than a year ago. I had completely purged his presence from my memory.

Here comes richard

But I can't find the video link anywhere browsing from my phone. I'll post it when I'm back at my computer. Edit: found it - http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:15954522

Hendricks had an interview about the tracksuit thing today on espn and he was smiling the whole time. I know I read somewhere about how someone really enjoys seeing the rare Hendricks grin.

Ever since I started coming to this forum I'll admit that my opinion of several opposing players has been pretty much shaped by you guys. But Kolten Wong was a guy I know I hated all on my own. Screw that guy.

WHYYYYY is Clayton Richard used in pivotal moments? I don't get it. Why is Joe afraid to use Grimm and Warren and Strop.

This is inhuman That is one of the filthiest pitches I've ever seen.

https://gfycat.com/YearlyUntriedDiscus

I've been wondering the same thing. Just been mentally noting the fact that fowler isn't ripping doubles down each baseline every 3 at bats anymore, and the offense isn't scoring as much. Hard to imagine the first not having anything to do the second.

That's my bad on the game time, I'm east coast and I wasn't thinking.

Ugly one yesterday, but all it counts for is a W, so I'll take it. Today we've got Jason Hammel taking the hill for us, looking to make it 8 consecutive quality starts to kick off the year. Anyone else hardly recognize him with the beard? http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-insider/files/2014/07/hammel2.jpg W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO WHIP 5 0 1.77 7 7 0 40.2 33 8 16 36 1.20 His counterpart from the Brewers, some guy with a first name that makes you wonder if his parents didn't know that you can add a suffix to the end of a name, Junior Guerra. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/players/head_shot/448855.jpg Isn't that just the face of a guy who was excited to be claimed off waivers, was handed a jersey and hat for a photo shoot, then realized he got claimed by the Brewers? W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO WHIP 2 0 4.00 3 3 0 18.0 13 8 5 13 1.00 Let's go Cubs! Score a bunch of runs. Unlike my approach with every other type of sporting event, I find close games involving the Cubs to be less interesting than one-sided slugfests. 100-0 and my day will be made. I'LL ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTE!

I kept waiting for the next post to be an educated response, and it was every time, except it was you delving deeper and deeper ahaha

Well that might've been the worst cubs game ever that saw a first time game thread starter continue on to the next day. Nonetheless, tomorrow's will be up pronto.

I dunno about all of you, but I'm not too fond of this "lose to the bad teams" trend. Hows about a run differential game today? Doing his best to help the cause, ugly mug and all, this guy: http://i.imgur.com/54oO6QX.jpg His mound opponent, a dude who looks equal parts terrified and possessed: http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Milwaukee+Brewers+v+Los+Angeles+Dodgers+RbOu2fOVhdbl.jpg Admittedly, I did find a picture of Nelson that I thought was pretty cool as well: http://a.fssta.com/content/dam/fsdigital/RSN/Wisconsin/2014/08/05/PI-MLB-Jimmy-Nelson-Brewers-080514.vadapt.980.high.17.jpg But enough about those smelly Brewers, let's go Cubs! Do that thing where you score more runs than the other guys... A lot more runs.

It was pretty cool, I was sitting behind the plate a little off to one side. One section to my left was the scouting section, at least 3 guys for each team wearing cubs and orioles gear with their own radar guns and laptops and clipboards. I haven't ever really sat that close to any game where the players were getting paid, so that was a novelty to me.

Got to see Myrtle Beach win today and I did my amateur write-ups on some of the guys. Field Players -Gleyber Torres - SS - (2-4, double, 2 RBI's, 1 BB) -1st AB - Put a nice swing on a fastball away with a 1-1 count. Doubled to right-center. Showed good hustle to score on a single with two outs. -2nd AB - Went 0-2 quick swinging at decent curveballs, clutched up on the third straight curve and smacked a 2 RBI single to left center. -3rd AB - Down 1-2 early, fought off some good pitches, earned himself a walk. -4th AB - Grounded out to 3B. -5th AB- Emergency swing with 2 strikes at a curve he didn't seem to expect. Poked right at the SS for a quick-hop groundout. -Defensive Plays - Didn't handle a decent one hop throw from catcher on a steal attempt with runners at the corners, which allowed a run to come in. Made the turn on double plays pretty smoothly a couple of times. -Ian Happ - 2B - (2-5, double, 1 RBI, 3 K's) -1st AB - Got down early, struck out swinging on off-speed pitch. -2nd AB - Ripped a ball to center for a single. -3rd AB - Crushed one that went off the wall in left center, got called a ground rule double, not sure why. 1 RBI. -4th AB - Struck out swinging on a nice curveball. -5th AB- Struck out swinging at a low 90mph fastball. Battled though. -Defensive Plays - Had a chance to make the turn on a double play, lost his balance or something, terrible throw. Made a nice play on a high chopper up the middle. Made a slick sliding stop where he ranged from close to second all the way over behind the first baseman, throw was late. -General Impression - His arm seemed very weak at least 3 times, although he showed pretty good defensive range. At the plate he had a refined approach, made solid contact consistently. -Rashad Crawford - DH - (0-4, 1 BB) -1st AB - 1-2 count, defensive swing on outside pitch, flew out to RF. -2nd AB - Got down early, worked his way to a walk. -3rd AB - Grounded out to opposite field(3B), was a sac-fly opportunity, didn't get the job done. -4th AB - Good contact, right at the CF. -5th AB- Flew out to RF. -Defensive Plays - Was DH. -Jason Vosler - 3B - (2-5) -1st AB - Good contact, right at the CF. -2nd AB - Down early, nice poke on a low fastball to center for a single. -3rd AB - Worked count, chased low fastball and grounded out to 1B. -4th AB - Nice poke on a 88mph fastball to left for a single. -5th AB- Turned on a 92mph fastball but hit it right at RF. He was right on (almost early) the fastest pitch thrown the entire afternoon. -Defensive Plays - Decent throw in the 3rd inning. Took a one hopper right off the chest later, rushed the throw and pulled the 1B off the bag. It was ruled an error, but if he hadn't pulled the 1B off the bag it probably would've been ruled an IF hit. His arm seemed at least field-able. -General Impression - He is every inch of 6'2". He could probably bulk up a bit and add some muscle to enhance his power ability, but he doesn't seem to have the frame to get really huge. Pitchers -Jake Stinnett - SP - (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K) -Fastball - Didn't seem to be fooling the batters, but it had some run on it from time to time, may have been throwing two-seamers. -FB Gun #'s - -1st inning - 85 86 87 88 88 -5th inning - 85 86 86 85 86 88 -6th inning - 84 84 88 -Slider - Fooled some batters, he settled down at one point by throwing 3-4 in a row for strikes. seemed to be able to at least find the zone with it. -SL Gun #'s - -1st inning - 77 76 78 -5th inning - 76 74 77 -6th inning - 72 73 72 -Changeup - Kept it in the zone, didn't throw very many of them. -CU Gun #'s - -1st inning - 80 83 -5th inning - 81 -General Impression - Got pissed in the 1st after letting up a few hits, control went down and velocity went up. They scored the only 2 runs they got off him that inning. He settled down and got himself out of some trouble in the 2nd with a GIDP. He got better as the game went on, really settled into a grove after the 2nd. -James Farris - RP - (1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) -Fastball - Moves a bit, two-seamer maybe. -FB Gun #'s - 87 85 83 83 85 84 84 -Slurve - Threw it for strikes, moved well. -SLV Gun #'s - 80 79 81 82 -General Impression - Hides ball on delivery. Gave up solid contact and a run, but got his job done in the 9th. -Ryan McNeil - RP - (1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) -Fastball/Sinker - Some downward movement. Once his arm warmed up it wasn't clocked below 88mph. -FB Gun #'s - 86 85 87 86 88 89 90 88 89 88 88 88 89 88 88 89 89 88 89 -Curveball- Deceptive -SLV Gun #'s - 78 79 80 79 -General Impression - Came in with 1 out in the 7th and bases loaded. Got a GIDP to end the inning. He has a quick arm, and was effortlessly sitting in the upper 80's on his FB. He gave up and opposite field HR, but otherwise seemed really solid. Other Players Notes -Jeffrey Baez - RF - he surprised me with his speed considered he is pretty big, listed at 240. Stole a base and scored from second on a not-given single. -Charcer Burks - LF - ripped a triple off the left-center wall. Hustled on the play. Also hit a HR to left center. Made solid contact. -Cael Brockmeyer - C - absolutely demolished a pitch for a HR to left. Very unimpressive behind the dish. no good throws to second and let some balls past him.

Well, it looks like there's a chance of rain tonight, so I'm gonna forgo the game tonight and go to the one tomorrow. I'll get you guys the scoop on the players you asked for tomorrow.

Realized that the town my parents moved to has a team in the carolina league yesterday. So I get to go see the pelicans play tomorrow in Frederick, pretty excited to see some of the prospects in person for once. Anyone not named Gleyber Torres or Ian Happ I should be looking out for? I didn't really recognize any of the other names on the roster.

I like the whole "throw it back" notion. Despite it having no impact on the game, to me it's kinda like the fans are trying to pitch in their support and they're rejecting the opposing teams runs. It's meatballish, but I like it. Also I'm with cubbie swagger, the story is probably cooler than the ball. As long as you throw back the real ball. Throwing back a different ball is half-assing it.

I'm penguins fan (went to university of pittsburgh). They've looked really good for about two months, but the lightning scare me. They play really solid hockey and there's a chance they can get some significant pieces back during this series.

Also HECK YEAH GRANDPA STRENGTH FOREVER YOUNG

Someone mentioned mccutchen's declining defense somewhere in the past few weeks. I hadn't really taken note of it before this, but he has looked silly twice in the few games against the cubs this year. Both times he has done some weird jump to try and catch a ball