CaliforniaRaisin

At least the Lakers lost. I'll be pissed when Rusch is back in the rotation and Hill is in Des Moines next week.

And I take happiness in knowing that the Heat won't make it to the Finals.

I didn't care for him on the Bulls, but I'll love him to death as long as he keeps killing the Lakers.

What pissed Skiles off so much?

TNT.

But a great finish by Duhon! Bulls down 29-19 after 1.

Sigh.

That's probably because he doesn't get a lot of ABs.

Corey has a higher OBP than Jacque or Pierre. And Corey has 1 walk this season.

Aardsma has good stuff.

Most pitchers' control gets worse as the pitch at higher levels, with better, more patient hitters at the higher level. This is especially so when they first reach a higher level. I think it's more a case of a guy who's still working his way back from injuries.

Lots of good pitchers looked like Guzman did in their debut (at times fantastic, at times out of control, but not in over his head). While I agree with you, I never felt Gooz was ready given how he was pitching at Iowa. He's still rusty from throwing so few innings the past few seasons and recovering from the injuries.

I think it's the latter. I don't want to see Nic rushed up like Guzman has been. He's still in rehab mode after barely playing the past 3 seasons.

Me neither. I'll be at the Padres-Dodgers game instead, with an ear to the NBA games. Go Hill!

For an established pro pitcher, those aren't big innings. But 2002 was his first pro season, and he went well beyond what he was used to. 2003 was only his 2nd season, and he was just 22. While pitching injuries are still a mystery, most people who have put much thought into the issue agree that pre 24 year old pitchers are at the greatest risk, and should be treated accordingly. That means not overexerting the youngest pitchers, both in individual games and for the season. Prior threw over 100 pitches in his first major league start. Not a real big deal, but he did it in 6 innings, which means he had some big pitch count innings. He then threw 124 in his 4th start of his career, absurd. He followed that up with 12 straight 100+ pitch outings, including 6 over 110 pitches, and one of 136 pitches (more absurdity). He had 3 more 100+ pitch outings before being shut down. That's a string of risky treatment of a 21 year old kid pitcher who had never before pitched against professional hitters. In 2003, at 22/23, with under 200 pro innings under his belt (most pitchers, even really good ones, get several hundred under their belt before they debut) his first outing was 100+. 3 of his next 4 were 110+. He then went on a string of 12 straight 100+ pitch outings, including 124, 123, 124, 119 and 127. Then, he went out and injured his shoulder in a game, BUT WENT BACK OUT TO PITCH ANYWAY. Following that game, in which he pitched 3 innings after the injury, he missed a month of the season, due to that injury. Some excused Dusty and the Cubs saying, "well, he said he was fine", to which the only reasonable response is "HE WAS 22 YEARS OLD WITH VERY LIMITED EXPERIENCE AND HE WAS TRYING TO IMPRESS HIS MANAGER AND TEAMMATES, OF COURSE HE SAID HE WAS FINE, THAT SHOULDN'T BE HIS CALL TO MAKE. YOU DON'T ASK A BOXER IF HE IS GOOD ENOUGH TO GO ON, HIS TRAINER/CORNERMAN MAKES THAT DECISION FOR HIM." So anyway, after this nearly month long abscense, they eased him back in with a nice little 79 pitch outing. Then they let him go 116, 118, 100, 116, 131, 129, 110, 124, 131 and 133 to finish off the season. Mind you, he turned 23 the day after the 129 pitch outing. In his first postseason experience, he goes 9 full innings throwing 133 pitches. In his 2nd outing, he went 7 innings, racking up 116 pitches (and the Cubs were blowing out Florida in a 12-3 win, the perfect opportunity to rest a starting pitcher). It came out later that during this stretch run, Prior was complaining of a little ankle issue, that many attributed to his later achilles problem. So, going into what would be his last playoff start of the year, his third start of the playoffs, Prior came in averaging 121.4 pitches per game for 12 games over the course of 2 months, COMING OFF INJURY. He threw 119 pitches in that fateful game, about 110 of which were brilliant. And some people have the audacity for calling him out for "blowing the game", even though, with any sense of perspective, somebody could look at the treatment of a 21, 22 and 23 year old kid seeing his first pro competition, and say no wonder he started to unravel at the end. The Cubs and Dusty Baker abused Prior so much that he racked up an incredible number of pitcher abuse points. He could ask out of games early because he would be seen as a coward in the macho man culture of baseball, where injuries are a sign of mental weakness and losing a game is due to not being tough enough to know how to win. Is it any wonder how, at 23, 24 and 25, Prior has come down with a string of strange ailments, and has, at times, not pitched as brilliantly as some would expect? The kid was killed, in a baseball sense, at an incredibly young age. The Cubs don't throw established veterans with no future out there that frequently that long and that recklessly. But they treat their kids that way. Brilliant! Great (and depressing) post, goony.

Probable Starters: Iowa: RHP Jae-Kuk Ryu (1-2, 3.72 ERA, 29 IP, 23/12) @ LHP Dana Eveland (2-0, 0.75 ERA) West Tenn: LHP Chris Shaver (1-1, 2.25 ERA, 16 IP, 15/6) vs. RHP Corey Thurman (1-2, 0.98 ERA) Daytona (game 1): RHP Sean Gallagher (2-0, 1.84 ERA, 29.1 IP, 29/8) vs. RHP Chris Malone (1-1, 3.05 ERA) Daytona (game 2): RHP Matt Weber (0-2, 9.17 ERA, 17.2 IP, 6/7) vs. RHP Adam Thomas (1-2, 0.55 ERA) Peoria: RHP Todd Blackford (1-0, 5.84 ERA, 24.2 IP, 11/8) vs. RHP Kristian Bell (2-0, 4.15 ERA)

You should see JR Mathes pitch. Say hi to EPatt and Nic Jackson for us (and Ron, of course)!

JR Mathes threw yesterday and the Jaxx don't have an off-day before then. With that being said, I'd think he'll be starting. Yeah, I have Mathes starting Sunday.

Nic Jackson 3/5 today with a double and two singles. It's now pouring in Jackson as they go to the 9th - the Jaxx lead 8-4. Iowa leads 3-1 in the 5th, thanks to an RBI single by Casey McGehee. In the middle of the 5th, Jerome Williams: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2/3

In the 4th inning, Iowa jumps up 2-1 on a Buck Coats RBI double and then he ended up scoring on a WP. Jerome Williams: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1/3, 60 pitches

Oh, apparently Marmol is done and Paul Schappert is in. Marmol was just hitting for himself. Jerome Williams: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0/3, 45 pitches. After 2 innings, it's still 1-0 Nashville.

Can he play RF and hit lefties? Yes and I'm not sure of his splits.

Nic Jackson lines a single to leadoff the bottom of the 4th. He's on fire right now. Jackson steals 2nd now. Montanez hits a check swing comebacker to Pratt. Pratt tried to get Nic Jackson advancing to third and threw wildly. Nic is safe at third, Montanez at first. The scorekeeper rules than an E-1. Scott Moore hits a sac fly, Jackson scores to make it 6-3 DJaxx. Luis Montanez steals second. Jose Reyes with a bloop single, runners at the corners with one out. A passed ball allows Montanez to score, Reyes to second, 7-3 DJaxx. Sprowl hits a double, Reyes scores. 8-3 Diamond Jaxx. Cates grounds out, 6-3. Sprowl advances to third. Two outs. Carlos Marmol pops out to end the inning (apparently his night isn't done). Andy Pratt watch: 37 pitches, 16 balls, 21 strikes, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 E (throwing).

5-3 Jaxx lead it after 4. Marmol's final line: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4/3, 90 pitches.

Jerome Williams having a rough first inning: BB SB BB Single to load the bases. Sac fly to make it 1-0 Nasvhille. BB to load the bases Flyout to RF. Flyout to CF. Williams: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0/3, 35 pitches. Nasvhille leads it 1-0 after 1.