David

Just had to point out that I feel that this is just very inaccurate, unless you have an extremely demanding definition of "a lot." Do you realize how bad the production out of CF and 1B was for the Cubs last year? Even average seasons out of Lee and Sori would be vast improvements over last year.

I still say there is NO way that the pitch to Khalil Greene was 89.

lmao... I knew when I saw davearm start posting here that that was gonna happen. Maybe I should change mine up. I feel like a new name anyway. Tim?

It never did. Another of those stupid deals where Hendry just got rid of someone to get rid of them.

I think betting on +/- 95 on the ERA+ scale is perfect. Marquis was signed to be a 5th starter. If he puts up an ERA+ in the mid-90s or better, he'll be doing that job effectively. FWIW, I'll take the over. This is a bit flawed. He was signed to a contract that pays him well over the average. He's not going to be the 5th starter. So I don't see the point in giving him the benefit of a sub average number to still be "doing his job". Contract has nothing to do with it. You don't line up your starting rotation from 1-5 based on salary. Marquis was most certainly signed to anchor the back of the rotation, behind Z, Lilly, Hill, and (ideally) Prior. Contract has everything to do with it. Do you think most of us would be nearly as pissed off about having Marquis here if we took a flier on him with a 1-3 million dollar contract? I don't. It was a terrible signing. Now some people want to say he'll be decent, some want to say he'll suck, and the people saying he'll be decent want to lower the standards of "suck?" Come on. Again, the contract has everything to do with it. Do you see people here starting threads about how bad Miller is and what a monumentally bad move it was to bring him in? I love it when people try to suggest that the contracts are irrelevant and that we shouldn't be worried about what the Cubs are spending on whom, as if they had unlimited resources and could just throw any amount of money at anyone. The Marquis signing is just another example of Hendry wasting resources on mediocre to bad talent.

Ugh. It was nice seeing that 91 MPH reading come up over and over on Comcast. Guess the radar was just fast. :cry: I got the impression from others that the swings he was getting were from good velo and movement on his FB. Yea, the game is on comcast again right now, and the swings he is getting really don't look like they're coming from a 87 mph fastball. He looks really freakin good, doesn't he?

This game is replaying right now on CSN, in case anyone missed it and wants to see Prior.

This game is being replayed on CSN right now for those who missed it and want to see Prior.

What a swing. I went from finally giving up on Prior in the first inning (and letting all the steroid talk in the game thread get to me) to having renewed optimism and encouragement for him.

I think goony was just being a comedian. ;) There's a lot of dislike for the whole W-L stat for pitchers on this forum. I am right there with them. Oh, that goony. He's a riot.

I think goony was just being a comedian. ;) There's a lot of dislike for the whole W-L stat for pitchers on this forum. I am right there with them.

You are in rare form today.

Do you think that saying came about because somebody got really startled and actually pooed themself? Or is it just a figure of speech? I LOLed.

That's what I meant about the gun. If they're clocking Maddux near 90 and Hill at 95, then Prior was probably sitting at 87-91. But whatever, velocity is less important to me at this point than keeping the ball down and hitting his spots. Oh yeah, Rich Hill is still awesome. Most of Maddux's readings seemed accurate though, and Hill's other pitches were around 91. Could've just been a couple outliers.

I feel the need to say it again for some reason. I'm really, really happy.

I'm happy.

They aren't the normal Prior curveballs, but I wouldn't say they're spinners. He actually threw a couple of nice curves that past inning. Haven't I heard that curveball's are much harder to throw in Arizona and the breaking stuff in the cactus league is never good? did I Imagine that? I've heard the same.

As great as the 93 mph readings are, his struggles with the offspeed pitches are VERY worrisome. :| True, but it seems like that's something he could be worked with/coached on, where as the velocity is just either going to be there or it isn't. It's really nice to see him in the mid 90's (albeit the low mid 90's). Obviously, still some things to work on, but so far, not so bad.

Does it matter? It would be nice to know if Prior's readings are actually 5-6 mph slow....

I like how the officer reports the Cardinals LCS ring as an ALCS ring.

Floyd, a left-handed hitter, has a career .281 average against right-handers, and .272 average against lefties. Murton, a right-handed hitter, has a .329 average against lefties and .289 against right-handers. that's pretty much all i need to know. .277 .369 .498 .867 .289 .351 .436 .787 I'd rather have the top set of numbers. But I wouldn't vote for a straight platoon. Floyd's been around long enough that he has seen a lot of pitchers multiple times. I'd rather him start against those pitchers that he's hit well. I'd start him against Livan Hernandez in a heartbeat, for example. I'd start Floyd against Tim Hudson but Murton against John Smoltz. Agree with this comment Platoon espically is certain situation because of his experience against certain pitchers. What? I LOLed

That was such a good game.

C Posada 1B Howard 2B Utley SS Rollins 3B ARam LF Dunn CF Soriano RF Dye DH Ortiz Come on, do you really expect to score any runs with this lineup? Wow. Terrible lineup. So in need of some table setters and a prototypical 8th hitter.

They're not saying the Cubs are moving backwards this year. They're saying they moved backward in the division in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

His velocity has increased every start up to this point. I could see him hitting the 90's a few more times than he did last time. I'm more concerned with his command.