Bull

I wish Harry was around to announce his name. "You know Steve, Kiko spelled backwards is Ohk-eek"

It's going to be longer than that. Pedro missed 2 months last year with a strained left hamstring. Vernon Wells missed a month. Stephen Drew and Brenden Ryan are on the DL now with it. I'd be shocked if Z avoids the DL. depends how bad its strained. If it was bad enough for Z to pull himself could be bad. But if its not bad he could be day to day. Do you stretch Guzman to 3 innings here in case he needs to spot start for Z?

add me to the list of folks who instantly thought about cindy sandberg when seeing the title of this thread.

bunted down 3b line and pulled up lame crossing 1st. He wanted to stay in at first, and did but then they pulled him. Z pulled himself out of the game. That's how you know it's bad. which is it? please keep us updated

I thought the OP was referring to Mel Allen! I didn't get the comparison.

this seems to be the most likely, who made it? :)

What does this even mean? The "expectations" for Soto right now are generaly somewhere around "please don't be awful." I'm obviously not as avid a reader or poster as you so I'll defer to your assessment of the local public opinion. The vibe that I got all through the offseason and in these first 20 games was that Soto would rebound and be the monster he was last year, even "progressing in his development". To me this implied even better numbers than last year were expected, while I assumed the league would figure him out, he'd adjust, they'd adjust, etc. making it a long and difficult season of learning a great deal for Mr. Soto. I've been otherwise occupied with schoolwork this past week or so. Perhaps I've missed a major shift at NSBB? Perhaps my sporadic and haphazard reading here has led me to not view the full body of work. Again I'll defer to you. You're the expert. Nobody here is claiming to be an exprt on anything. I simply don't recall a large push by a number of posters here thinking that Soto was a lock to repeat his rookie season or surpass it. There was the obvious hyperbole, but that was just that: obvious hyperbole. When it gone down to realistic predictions, most hoped/thought that Soto would produce at the worst average offensive production from the catcher's spot while giving the team excellent defense. So far he's not even sniffed either. From the "Bold Predictions" thread Geovany Soto contributes a nearly identical line to his 2008 season and is only outmatched by Brian McCann as the best catcher in baseball. Soto has a better year than last year Steel cage match, Soto vs. Wieters. The world ends because this much awesomeness can't be in one place at the same time. geovany soto is the third or fourth most productive catcher in the national league. Most garing is that in 6 pages only 4 people mentioned him at all, implying no significant change from last year. I said: severe sophomore slump for Geovanny Soto. As in, he is bottom half of nl catchers in OPS. The only response:thats simply not realistic In the "What if Soto goes on the DL" thread Soto going on the DL would immediately make the Cardinals the best NL Central team. I don't think I'm out of school in saying this community expected great things from Soto this year, with plenty of exceptions, I'm sure. We are all individuals.

What does this even mean? The "expectations" for Soto right now are generaly somewhere around "please don't be awful." I'm obviously not as avid a reader or poster as you so I'll defer to your assessment of the local public opinion. The vibe that I got all through the offseason and in these first 20 games was that Soto would rebound and be the monster he was last year, even "progressing in his development". To me this implied even better numbers than last year were expected, while I assumed the league would figure him out, he'd adjust, they'd adjust, etc. making it a long and difficult season of learning a great deal for Mr. Soto. I've been otherwise occupied with schoolwork this past week or so. Perhaps I've missed a major shift at NSBB? Perhaps my sporadic and haphazard reading here has led me to not view the full body of work. Again I'll defer to you. You're the expert.

I think Dempster is good, but no where near as good as last year. Soto will have a Sophomore slump all year, but not to this extent. I think he rebounds, but not nearly to the levels of expectation around here. Gregg will improve. Fukudome will continue to excel (though obviously not at this rate) Lee will rebound eclipsing last years numbers. Bradley will be just fine. I believe in "protection" (I know, not a popular belief here) to the extent that having all the pieces in place benefits everyone. Most hitters will do better in a good line-up than in a poor one. There are obviously exceptions.

Cubs.com has changed to Haren, too. MLB scooped on its own game?

I was honestly thinking that could be a possibility. It's very early for both the Cubs, Indians, and DeRosa, but right now his line is .195/.271/.338/.608 plus he is 34 years old. I'm a DeRosa fan, but he isn't the answer right now. It definitely early, but this makes me give Hendry the benefit of the doubt.

Time to dl somebody.

I think you mean unraveling.

dude, you are the king of non-sequitors TT's post is the correct answer. When Soto slumps, dude slumps. Wasn't his 4 k game against the Nats last year? at one point he had 8 straight strikeouts and yes it was against the Nats.

I predicted a huge sophomore slump for Geo. I hope I'm wrong, but I stand by that. The reason this isn't as much of a concern as Lee is twofold. 1. Lee is being paid big bucks and slotted into the 3 slot and 2) lee is playing an offensive position. Defense can save you at catcher, but I don't care how good you are at first, you have to hit. Bottom line, if Soto doesn't hit a ton this year, "meh, he's just the catcher, hat do you expect."

Also, gameday is suck.

Nah. Cueto is good.

Among Alex Gonzalez' comparisons on Baseball Reference: Alex Gonzalez

I don't like that the only reliever with options is Marmol. You have to be able to send down a reliever. What is puzzling is the timing.

Its hard to watch such a likable guy fade into suckdom

3rd base coach?

has anyone posted that Gregg is pitching through tightness per cubs.com?

He'll never keep it up. :D

fixed

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