Transmogrified Tiger

Faurot is going to be absolutely rocking this Saturday night. Typically the Gold Rush doesn't go as well as Blackout, but there is going to be lots and lots of noise regardless.

The two 3-0 teams face off as well as the two 2-1 teams. Braylon Edwards has me off to a strong start.

Here comes Michigan State. A TD, a pick, and a FG tie them with Wisconsin at 34 with 12 mins to play.

Wow, the Big XII North strikes back. I was already terrified of Mizzou's trips to Boulder and Manhattan before they beat around the two best teams in the conference.

Indiana is laying the lumber to Iowa in Iowa City. 21-0 approaching halftime.

is that game on tv here? and im with you, i hope illinois wins. Big Ten Network, which I can see once I get off work. I'm limited to the ESPN scoreboard page right now, since this computer doesn't even have Flash to run gamecast.

Wow Aurelius Benn. 7-3 Illini

Here we go Illini/Rebels/B12, here we go

Yeah, Peoria was a prospect wasteland this year. Hernandez was the only reason to pay attention to them for most of the year.

:(

Murton, Marshall, Theriot after they trade Wilson?

Lou loved his work in last year's postseason though. It all depends on whether Lou thinks he's seen enough. He keeps putting him out there which tells you Lou thinks Monroe is ready to help. In my view, he's still the best option in CF against a LHP. That says far more about the lack of any other credible option than it does about him, of course. I don't care how bad he's been in his limited sample with the Cubs; Jacque Jones should never, ever start against a LHP. Ever. (And for those of you ready to interject Pie into the conversation: v. LHP in the majors - .111/.158/.111 v. LHP at Iowa - .190/.250/.286 He's not a credible option either) It's probably too late to consider DeRosa as the CF v. LHP, but I wouldn't mind that. Cedeno and Theriot could play 2B and SS. So who do you dump from the roster to get Monroe on there? Pie? Cedeno? Fontenot?

Well, that would be Lou's fault for using Hart incorrectly then. He's clearly shown he can be thrown into a close game. Ohman has shown the opposite. I too would love another LH pitcher, but you gotta take the best 25, and Ohman's not among them. it's limited duty, but Hart's OPSA for lefties is 0.071 Lefties touched him up pretty good at Tennessee and Iowa this year.

Ryan said it was because Brazil was good enough to get shots at close range, and that Scurry was one of the best in the world at reaction saves. He was obviously wrong.

Anyone see the quote from McClung after the game? "It's not the first guy I've hit, not the first walk. Why do you think Tampa traded me?" McClung said. "It happens sometimes with me. The ball just gets out of my hand and flies away."

I'm not going to turn this into semantics. No other catcher in baseball is even close when it comes to giving up SB, especially Kendall's performance as a Cub. He gets run on the most often, he throws out the fewest, and it's because everyone knows he simply doesn't have the arm to do it any more. To ignore the very tangible effect that will have over Soto, who's done everything you could possibly ask out of a catcher, is insanity. Bonus fun fact: Kendall's also in the bottom 5 in passed balls. Nice laydown. That isn't "semantics", but a gross exaggeration. Good grief, did you really think I meant that every single baserunner we allow with Kendall catching gets to second? I've reiterated the point several times now. He's the worst catcher in baseball at throwing out runners, teams know this, and they are running on him more than any other catcher in baseball because of it. This leads to a lot of people getting free trips to second base. A lot more than Soto, who's shown an ability to throw more than 1 out of every 11 baserunners out, and who's also pounded the crap out of the ball for the last 6 months. It's a very easy decision on who should be catching. Nope, I didn't believe it because it wasn't true. It was a gross exaggeration and those kind of statements don't help your arguments. it just makes you seem overly emotional and less rational. The idea that me using a hyperbolic statement to help illustrate(with statistics and comparisons to other players) the nature of just how awful Kendall is at throwing out baserunners makes me look overemotional and irrational is hilarious. You're making strawman arguments and when prodded to the point you don't have an argument other than "Lou made the decision and I trust him".

I'm not going to turn this into semantics. No other catcher in baseball is even close when it comes to giving up SB, especially Kendall's performance as a Cub. He gets run on the most often, he throws out the fewest, and it's because everyone knows he simply doesn't have the arm to do it any more. To ignore the very tangible effect that will have over Soto, who's done everything you could possibly ask out of a catcher, is insanity. Bonus fun fact: Kendall's also in the bottom 5 in passed balls. Nice laydown. That isn't "semantics", but a gross exaggeration. Good grief, did you really think I meant that every single baserunner we allow with Kendall catching gets to second? I've reiterated the point several times now. He's the worst catcher in baseball at throwing out runners, teams know this, and they are running on him more than any other catcher in baseball because of it. This leads to a lot of people getting free trips to second base. A lot more than Soto, who's shown an ability to throw more than 1 out of every 11 baserunners out, and who's also pounded the crap out of the ball for the last 6 months. It's a very easy decision on who should be catching.

As a Cub: Barrett gave up 32 steals, 7 CS, for a 17.9 CS% in 52 starts Kendall gave up 50 steals, 5 CS, for a 9.1 CS% in 47 starts

I'm not going to turn this into semantics. No other catcher in baseball is even close when it comes to giving up SB, especially Kendall's performance as a Cub. He gets run on the most often, he throws out the fewest, and it's because everyone knows he simply doesn't have the arm to do it any more. To ignore the very tangible effect that will have over Soto, who's done everything you could possibly ask out of a catcher, is insanity. Bonus fun fact: Kendall's also in the bottom 5 in passed balls.

For the millionth time, it's a matter of degrees. Barrett was below average in most defensive aspects and occasionally made some dumb decisions. He was also one of the best offensive catchers in baseball. Kendall is physically incapable of throwing anyone, anyone, out on the basepaths, and at his best he provides plus OBP with zero XBH. They are different situations. I actually think Kendall is a better "receiver" than Barrett. I also trust his leadership more, which is crucial in a catcher. He'd better have leadership coming out of his ears for it to be worth turning every walk and base hit into a double for our pitchers. Don't be ridiculous. That may be the worst exaggeration on this board all week. I will apologize if someone can produce the stat which backs this up. You don't make your case very well when you make silly statements like this. His CS% as a Cub is pretty easily the worst of any catcher who's gotten regular time(save Josh Bard, and he's catching several of the most notoriously "slow to the plate" SP in baseball). He's given up 50 steals in 47 starts. More than once a game teams are taking a free base off of him, and he throws out a pathetic < 10% of them. It's not an exaggeration to say that Kendall's presence compared to Soto is going to cost the team multiple bases, considering in his short stint Soto has been 3 times more effective throwing people out.

For the millionth time, it's a matter of degrees. Barrett was below average in most defensive aspects and occasionally made some dumb decisions. He was also one of the best offensive catchers in baseball. Kendall is physically incapable of throwing anyone, anyone, out on the basepaths, and at his best he provides plus OBP with zero XBH. They are different situations. I actually think Kendall is a better "receiver" than Barrett. I also trust his leadership more, which is crucial in a catcher. He'd better have leadership coming out of his ears for it to be worth turning every walk and base hit into a double for our pitchers.

Even if the experience tells you definitively that you are playing one of the weakest defensive catchers in the league? I'm not with you [-( This year Barrett did worse than Kendall and I didn't see too many people yell about that and Barrett may be worse defensively than Kendall too. the switch-a-roo so many have done on the need for defense out of catcher has been rather nauseating. the benefit of defense out of a catcher was one of the most intense debates on this board in May, June, and July. Hendry acquires a catcher who's not too handy with the glove and arm, and suddenly there is no debate. suddenly everyone seems to agree that we need good defense out of our catcher. For the millionth time, it's a matter of degrees. Barrett was below average in most defensive aspects and occasionally made some dumb decisions. He was also one of the best offensive catchers in baseball. Kendall is physically incapable of throwing anyone, anyone, out on the basepaths, and at his best he provides plus OBP with zero XBH. They are different situations.

Amazing. At a road game nonetheless.

Please please please send the Cubs to Kaufmann.

In order: Phillies D-Backs Padres Mets