Warren Brusstar

I wish that was the case, but if Pie was called up, what % of ABs do you think he would get between him, Jones, and Pagan in CF? I know, it's sad that we can't feel comfortable with him getting time even with crappy alternatives. Jones in CF against RHP is not a crappy alternative.

In all seriousness, until Jones cools off. Jones is hitting .357/.424/.464 in July. The Cubs aren't going to hand Pie the CF job back unless and until Jones cools off.

Regression to the mean.

Marmol for Salty. I'm in.

You mean like leaving Prior in for over 120+ pitches with a 12-3 lead in Game 2 of the NLCS?? Notwithstanding your failure to get the facts right, that's the best example of Dusty's "leave em in with a big lead" strategy killing us. What is wrong with my facts. OK it was a 12-2 lead. But he came on and faced 2 batters in the 8th before Baker finally pulled him. If he didn't have 120 pitches he had more than 115, Im 99% sure. 116 pitches. :wink:

You mean like leaving Prior in for over 120+ pitches with a 12-3 lead in Game 2 of the NLCS?? Notwithstanding your failure to get the facts right, that's the best example of Dusty's "leave em in with a big lead" strategy killing us.

Or the same feeling I get when I see Corey Hart, JJ Hardy, and Ryan Braun hit homer after homer. You're kidding right. Hart and Braun, in particular, are top-flight prospects who mashed throughout the minors. Braun hitting a home run for them is like A Ram hitting a home run for us.

What does our offensive production have anything to do with QS's? It doesn't. His point is that Z would still be pitching if it was 2-0 right now.

LOL. Of course it didn't

I was looking at BP's adjusted standings, and Arizona has been the luckiest team in baseball this year. They have something like a -30 run differential, and are several games over .500, good for 7 or 8 wins on pure luck. That may be true, but this board collectively overrates young players and three true outcome players and underrates old players. So a team like Arizona is treated as a power (despite their -30 run differential) while a team like the Dodgers (with its' sabrmetrically disinclined GM) is treated as a fluky nuisance.

Exactly. And he'll still face the top of their order in the 6th.

Again, why do people think Soriano hitting 5th is going to do much good? Because he can drive in more runs with people like Fontenot, Lee, and Ramirez hitting in front of him instead of the catcher, Izturis, Pagan, and the pitcher? True. He also won't get as many at bats.

Bastard!! Let's hope Jock sits this game out. I don't think Piniella has started Jock v. a LHP since April. He isn't Dusty. I wouldn't worry too much about that. Pagan in CF, Derosa in RF.

Wandy's thrown 16 consecutive scoreless innings coming into tomorrow. Nine innings of shutout baseball v. NYM, seven innings of shutout baseball v. COL. Ugh.

yeah, but I have the potential to shut the Giants out. Touche'

Lincecum is inconsistent. Cain has been pretty bad. Morris is decent, but should be familiar. Zito has been the worst of them all. Cain has a 3.53 ERA. That's not "pretty bad." Morris is at 3.55. I'm worried because Zito, Cain, and Lincecum all are capable of shutting us out. Not that I'm expecting it from any of them, but there's little doubt that they have the potential to do that.

This performance isn't helping him in that regard.

The Giants series has me worried. While their lineup is obviously terrible, we're going to see: Lincecum Cain Morris Zito

Five games in front of the Cardinals. I shouldn't worry about them given their pathetic run differential. But it's the Cardinals.

Truf, please tell me you think Soto can do better than Bowen? How can he not? Earlier in the thread the argument was being made that Soto was no better than Bowen. That's not exactly right. The argument was that Soto probably isn't much better than Bowen. Again, career minor league OPS: Soto .715 Bowen .715 Over a big sample, they're almost identical players. Cripes, did you see my argument from earlier in the thread? Bowen's two years older than Soto and Bowen spent every year from 1999 to 2006 spending at least part of his time in the minor leagues. He's spent significantly more time in the major leagues compared to Soto. They are NOT almost identical players. Bowen has 240 career at bats. That's hardly a substantial MLB track record. Also, I've learned from this board that young players should not be expected to hit well when they play only part time. (See Matt Murton) So I'm not sure why you've decided that Bowen can't hack it in the majors based on his 240 at bats over 4-5 years. Bowen hasnt shown any ability to hit ever at any level. Hes never had a "breakout" season even while in the minors. Soto has had a breakout season this year, and while I dont think he will carry that performance into the Majors, there is reason to believe he may have gotten over that hump, and could give a .270 average with a .330 or so OBP. Hell Id love that out of the catchers spot right now. Bowen had a .828 OPS as a 22 year old at AAA. So, no, he has shown the ability to hit at that level.

Truf, please tell me you think Soto can do better than Bowen? How can he not? Earlier in the thread the argument was being made that Soto was no better than Bowen. That's not exactly right. The argument was that Soto probably isn't much better than Bowen. Again, career minor league OPS: Soto .715 Bowen .715 Over a big sample, they're almost identical players. Cripes, did you see my argument from earlier in the thread? Bowen's two years older than Soto and Bowen spent every year from 1999 to 2006 spending at least part of his time in the minor leagues. He's spent significantly more time in the major leagues compared to Soto. They are NOT almost identical players. Bowen has 240 career at bats. That's hardly a substantial MLB track record. Also, I've learned from this board that young players should not be expected to hit well when they play only part time. (See Matt Murton) So I'm not sure why you've decided that Bowen can't hack it in the majors based on his 240 at bats over 4-5 years. And, in any event, I'd prefer they play Soto five times a week for the rest of the season. I just think the expectations are a bit too high right now for a guy who's had 250 at bats that look completely and totally like an aberration from his career performance. Might it be a sustainable jump? Of course.

Truf, please tell me you think Soto can do better than Bowen? How can he not? Earlier in the thread the argument was being made that Soto was no better than Bowen. That's not exactly right. The argument was that Soto probably isn't much better than Bowen. Again, career minor league OPS: Soto .715 Bowen .715 Over a big sample, they're almost identical players. Cripes, did you see my argument from earlier in the thread? Bowen's two years older than Soto and Bowen spent every year from 1999 to 2006 spending at least part of his time in the minor leagues. He's spent significantly more time in the major leagues compared to Soto. They are NOT almost identical players. Bowen has 240 career at bats. That's hardly a substantial MLB track record. Also, I've learned from this board that young players should not be expected to hit well when they play only part time. (See Matt Murton) So I'm not sure why you've decided that Bowen can't hack it in the majors based on his 240 at bats over 4-5 years.

Truf, please tell me you think Soto can do better than Bowen? How can he not? Earlier in the thread the argument was being made that Soto was no better than Bowen. That's not exactly right. The argument was that Soto probably isn't much better than Bowen. Again, career minor league OPS: Soto .715 Bowen .715 Over a big sample, they're almost identical players.

Truf, please tell me you think Soto can do better than Bowen? Keener, please tell me you think Jones can do better than Pie?

How could we possibly be winning with Jones, Bowen, and Izturis in the lineup? We're playing the Astros? At bottom, the drama queen act when the lineup came out looks a silly now. having a good game does not replace the fact that we're in dire need of an upgrade at SS, C, and CF. I agree as to SS and C. But that's not the point. The difference between Izturis' OBP v. RHP and Theriot's OBP v. RHP is one time on base every 9 full games (if they both played every day). That's not a big difference. Yet, every time Piniella starts Izturis, people act as if we may as well just forfeit the game. It's drama queenery at its finest.