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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 130563 |
| Visitors Out: 4368 |
| Total Visitors Out: 4369 |
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| Cubs at Padres open game thread |
| 2008-06-05 02:06:00 |
B-REF PREVIEW | GAMEDAY | WEATHER | ACB CHAT ROOM
Greg Maddux vs. Cubs hitters: .245/.271/.358 in 204 at-bats
Ted Lilly vs. Padres hitters: .264/.313/.473 in 91 at-bats
Time: 9:05, WGN
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| 9 straight |
| 2008-06-04 06:42:00 |
This is fun. Us Cubs fans aren’t so used to a lot of winning from our favorite team, but we’re being treated well this year. The Cubs remain the winningest team in baseball as they beat the Padres 9-6 for their 9th straight victory.
Marquis sucked, but got the win. Kevin Hart, just called up from Iowa to throw strikes, sucked and threw a lot of balls. Neal Cotts, called up recently to get guys out, gave up an RBI hit to the only guy he faced. Howry came in and got the Cubs out of the jam and Woody got the save.
Soriano hit a very long 3-run home run that turned out to be the difference. Let’s get 10 tomorrow against Maddux. Time for Lilly to start pitching a little better, isn’t it?
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| Kevin Hart re-called from Iowa |
| 2008-06-04 00:16:00 |
13 pitchers it is. Not sure who has been optioned to Iowa, but I’d guess it’s Micah Hoffpauir unless the Cubs are sticking with 12 pitchers in which case Wuertz may have an option remaining though I’m unsure about that. Mike Fontenot would have to be placed on waivers in order to be optioned and it’s unlikely a left-handed hitting 2B with decent on-base skills would go unclaimed.
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| Cubs win 8th straight |
| 2008-06-03 06:10:00 |
Too late for any kind of recap here. Wood threw 6 pitches to get the final 2 outs and the save. 4 of them were fastballs and all 4 were at 97 mph. Cubs won 7-6.
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| PERFECTION |
| 2008-06-01 22:20:00 |
The Cubs just completed a 4-game sweep of the Rockies by beating them 5-3 today. It was the 2nd sweep on the home stand that saw them go 7-0. On their previous visit home, they went 8-2.
Sean Gallagher got his 3rd win. He pitched well. Not great, but not bad either. He struck out a career high 8 and walked none though he did hit 2 batters, both of them were check swings as well. His stuff was moving really well today, which would explain the check swings. He allowed 3 runs in 5.2 innings (Wuertz allowed the 3rd and final run to score when he relieved Gallagher with a runner on 2nd and 2 outs).
The team is now 36-21 and heads west to play San Diego and Los Angeles. The Cubs will try to extend their 7-game winning streak tomorrow night.
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| Zambrano throwing more strikes |
| 2008-06-01 00:56:00 |
Len Kasper mentioned the other day that Carlos Zambrano was throwing more strikes, which I thought was rather common sense since he was walking fewer, but I wanted to take a look anyway. Sure enough, he’s throwing more strikes than he has in any full season (2001 not included here, 2002 not a full season).
2002: 58.8%
2003: 61.0%
2004: 62.1%
2005: 62.3%
2006: 59.9%
2007: 61.3%
2008: 62.7%
That’s it. Back to the regularly schedule programming.
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| Rockies at Cubs open game thread |
| 2008-05-31 17:04:00 |
B-REF PREVIEW | GAMEDAY | WEATHER | ACB CHAT ROOM
Glendon Rusch vs. Cubs hitters: .283/.311/.408 in 152 at-bats
Ryan Demster vs. Rockies hitters: .194/.260/.328 in 67 at-bats
Time: 12:05, CSN Chicago (probably only local), MLB.TV
74 and sunny, wind blowing from left field to right field at 17 mph.
Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa have hit Rusch well and surprisingly, Dempster has the 4th most at-bats against Rusch of any Cubs hitter (just 1-12). Dempster has had trouble with Helton, but other than that, he’s been very good against the Rockies hitters, though in only 67 at-bats.
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| Rich HIll started for Iowa today |
| 2008-05-31 05:52:00 |
It didn’t go well. 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
Safe to say Hill will have more chances in Iowa to figure it out because this won’t be acceptable in Lou’s eyes
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| Cubs have best record in all of baseball |
| 2008-05-30 04:43:00 |
The Cubs beat the Rockies 8-4 tonight and with the Rays loss, the Cubs take sole possession of best record in baseball--an honor that means it just feels good to have the best record in baseball. To be rooting for a team that is arguably the best in baseball. That’s not something us Cubs fans have gotten to feel for a very, very long time. I’ll take it.
Their win tonight was like so many other wins this season. After taking a 2-0 lead, marquis allowed a run in the 4th and then the Cubs got it right back. It was 3-1 as the 6th inning began and Marquis allowed back to back singles and then a walk with nobody out. He got a much needed strikeout and Lou brought in Neal Cotts. Cotts looked pretty good, but Taveras got a little bloop single just off the glove of Lee that tied it up. Wuertz came in a batter later and got out of the inning.
Wuertz remained in to pitch the 7th and allowed a run putting Colorado up 4-3. ...
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| Cubs recall Cotts, option Ascanio |
| 2008-05-29 22:15:00 |
Neal Cotts has been very good in AAA so far this season (2.00 ERA in 27 inning, 33 K) and since the Cubs only have one lefty in the bullpen, Cotts is getting another chance. Jose Ascanio was optioned to Iowa to make room for Cotts. The Cubs acquired Cotts prior to last season for David Aardsma and Carlos Vasquez. Cotts was pretty bad with the Cubs to begin the season and was sent down to Iowa and we havne’t seen him since. He put his best season together (dominating season) for the 2005 White Sox. Here are Cotts’ season stats at Iowa, courtesy of CCD:
2 w
0 l
19 games
27.0 ip
23 h
7 r
6 er
10 bb
33 k
6 hlds
3 svs
2.00 era
1.22 whip
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| Cubs win 2-1 in extras to complete the sweep |
| 2008-05-29 04:38:00 |
2 very well pitched games by Zambrano and Lowe. Zambrano lost his command in the 4th and gave up a couple singles with 2 outs, hit a batter and then walked in the only run he allowed in 8 innings. Lowe didn’t allow a run in 7 innings. The Cubs trailed 1-0 going to the bottom of the 9th, but Saito’s lack of control put 2 men on base, an infield single, and a sac fly by Soto tied it up. The Cubs won in the 10th as Soriano drove home Mike Fontenot from 2nd base.
Zambrano threw 131 pitches, only the 2nd time in his career he’s thrown 130 or more. On May 8, 2005, Zambrano threw a complete game and allowed only one run as the Cubs won 3-1. He threw 136 pitches in that start. I only bring this up because I was interested to see how he performed in following starts after throwing 130 pitches, but only once has he done so prior to tonight.
Anyway, over his next 8 starts he posted a 4.96 ERA, but he also had 3 starts where he...
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| Dodgers at Cubs open game thread |
| 2008-05-28 23:44:00 |
B-REF PREVIEW | GAMEDAY | WEATHER | ACB CHAT ROOM
Derek Lowe vs. Cubs hitters: .260/.294/.404 in 146 at-bats
Carlos Zambrano vs. Dodgers hitters: .181/.288/.246 in 138 at-bats
Time: 7:05 pm, WGN, ESPN2
High 50s, sunny, wind blowing in at about 8 mph.
Derrek Lee has hit Lowe really well in his 22 at-bats, but other than that, no Cubs player with more than 10 plate appearances has done very well against Lowe. It’s too bad Andruw Jones and Rafael Furcal are on the DL. They’re a combined 6-43 with 3 doubles, one home run (the only home run hit by any Dodger against Zambrano). No Dodger with 10 plate appearances or more has done anything with Zambrano.
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| Managers and overachieving or underachieving teams |
| 2008-05-28 16:59:00 |
One thing that has bothered me for several years is how much of an impact some people think a manager can have on his team. Those who argue that it is probably only a couple wins or losses are at least being rational about it. Those who argue it’s 10 or 15 or even more can only be making it up as they go along. The obvious answer to how much a manager truly affects his team is that we simply don’t know. We never have and we probably never will.
There are far too many things that would have to be accounted for to reach a conclusion that this manager is worth this many wins. What we do know is that the players get paid big bucks to help their team win games. I can’t recall the exact value of a win, but it’s around $5 million, maybe more, and increases each season. General managers probably don’t use the same formulas we have, but each of them are aware of what one additional win is worth because it’s t...
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| An unimpressive win |
| 2008-05-26 22:40:00 |
The Cubs broke their modest 2-game losing streak as they returned home where they have dominated teams all year. The Cubs got on top of the Dodgers early with a 2-run home run by Derrek Lee and then the offense went to sleep. Chad Billingsley had something to do with that, but they won today because of the Dodgers inability to drive in runners on base. Dempster threw the ball really well, but not as well as his final line. He was in trouble all day and pitched with a lot of stress in nearly every inning. Still, pitchers have to be able to win without their best stuff and Dempster threw 7 innings while allowing only a run.
Bob Howry pitched into and out of trouble in the 8th. Ramirez added a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th to increase the lead to 3-1. Wood had a pretty quick 9th.
What drew my attention today was the numerous managerial mistakes by both managers--Joe Torre and Lou Piniella. Here are two of the most respect...
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| Soriano’s defense |
| 2008-05-26 01:22:00 |
Fielding percentage: above average (perfect actually)
Range Factor: above average (3rd best)
Zone Rating: above average (3rd best)
Rate2: above average (125)
FRAA: above average (+6)
RZR: 9th out of 19 (.870)
OOZ: below average (12, injuries might have something to do with that)
Fielding Bible: 6th in throwing, 59 expected plays and 59 plays made, ranks 13th overall in LF plus/minus (+1)
Play in the the 9th inning today: Pathetic, worthless, comical, etc.
So, to recap, his fielding percentage is perfect, range factor and zone rating are 3rd best, his rate2 and FRAA are excellent, his RZR is average, OOZ slightly below average, but 6th in “arm”, made every expected play (does not include today) and ranks 13th overall in plus/minus plays made. These are 2008 stats. These represent Alfonso Soriano’s defensive skill more than Bob Brenly’s quip about throwing a dart at any old player in the C...
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| Should the Cubs put Soriano on the DL? |
| 2008-05-24 02:06:00 |
Soriano was given Wednesday night off in Houston in part because he was 0-8 in the first 2 games and also in part because his left calf was hurting. The right calf put him on the DL earlier this season. This is the 4th leg injury Alfonso Soriano has suffered over the past 13 months. That’s a lot of leg injuries for anybody, but especially someone who was once an excellent runner. Those days are likely over. Not just because of the leg injuries, but his age as well.
His baserunning abilities have declined each year since 2003 (based on Bill James’ plus/minus system). However, his baserunning abilities may be so bad now that he might be best off spending some time on the DL.
Soriano claims the legs are fine, but anybody who has watched tonight’s game knows that either that’s not true or he is so afraid of injuring his leg again that he just can’t make himself go 100%. That’s understandable. If ...
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| Bruce Miles wants us to give Jim Hendry credit |
| 2008-05-23 16:52:00 |
Bruce Miles is perhaps the best beat reporter who covers the Cubs. I think many of us around here would agree on that, but I have a problem with Miles telling me that Hendry deserves more credit than he’s been given. Here’s why: before providing us with a list of the supposedly great things Hendry has done for this organization, Miles states the following, “In baseball circles, Hendry is as respected as any GM in the game, and some even see him rising to the level of Oakland’s Billy Beane and Boston’s Theo Epstein, considered two of the best.”
If that’s true, and I have no reason to doubt it, why on earth does he deserve more credit? Isn’t being considered one of the best GMs among your peers enough credit? Too much credit, perhaps? I mean, for someone who is apparently considered among the best by his peers, he sure hasn’t done anything to deserve it. Hendry has put back to back winnin...
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| Zambrano does not have a stiff shoulder |
| 2008-05-22 03:58:00 |
It was mentioned early in today’s papers that Carlos Zambrano was being attended to by trainers for a stiff neck/shoulder. It was implied that his shoulder may be stiff, or sore. That’s not the case as Lou addressed this at the end of his pre-game press conference and brought it up on his own. Zambrano also denied any stiffness in his shoulder whatsoever.
The only other news is actually not news at all. Piniella said a published report that the Cubs are “keeping a close eye” on Carlos Zambrano’s shoulder is untrue.
At the end of his pre-game news conference, Piniella brought up the report on his own, even though he said he had not read it.
“I don’t where all this stuff came from, but I’ll tell you this—Larry Rothschild told me yesterday he had the best throw day he had all year,” Piniella said. “So, physically, there’s nothing wrong.”
So he’s not concerned about Zambrano̵...
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| Cubs at Astros open game thread |
| 2008-05-21 21:26:00 |
B-REF PREVIEW | GAMEDAY | WEATHER | ACB CHAT ROOM
Shawn Chacon vs. Cubs hitters: .329/.387/.634 in 82 at-bats
Sean Gallagher vs. Astros hitters: 1-3, K
Time: 7:05, CSN Chicago
Chacon hasn’t started against the Cubs since September 7, 2006. Chacon allowed 5 earned runs in 6 innings of work. Prior to that start against the Cubs, you have to go back to 2003 to find his 2nd most recent start against the Cubs. Chacon has been mostly used in the bullpen in recent years, if I recall correctly, and I will always remember him for recording 35 saves while posting an ERA above 7 while with the Rockies.
Aramis Ramirez has just crushed the ball against Chacon. He’s 10-17 with a walk, 4 doubles and 5 home runs. Half of his plate appearances have resulted in extra-base hits. Edmonds is 3-7, all singles, and other than that, Chacon has fared pretty well against the rest of the Cubs (Theriot is 2-3). Sean Gallagher ...
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| Zambrano has a stiff right shoulder |
| 2008-05-21 15:07:00 |
Carlos Zambrano has a stiff shoulder or neck, but is still scheduled to make his next start. The Cubs’ medical staff is keeping a close eye this week on pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who has had stiffness in the right shoulder/neck area since his start Saturday against Pittsburgh.
It’s not considered serious at this point and didn’t appear to have a significant effect on his performance in his no-decision Saturday.
Zambrano (6-1), who has minor discomfort when he turns his head to the left, threw a full bullpen session Tuesday and remains on track to make his next scheduled start Friday in Pittsburgh.
Zambrano has allowed more hits per 9 this year than any point in his career, but has also thrown fewer pitches per start in any full season (101). He’s allowing fewer home runs than recent years and also walking fewer hitters. He is striking out fewer as well. So some signs of injury are present, but that would be the case in almost any pitc...
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| My Diary: May 20 |
| 2008-05-20 14:20:00 |
Dear Diary,
What a few weeks! OMG, I’m totally having a hard (hee hee) time getting acclimated to my new team. So many new handsome faces…
Carlos Zambrano is such a cutie. I thought he’d be mad at me when I came (hee hee) here, but he’s been sweet.
The other hard thing (hee hee) about the move is that I’m having a hard (hee hee) time feeling out (hee hee) which of my new teammates are my kind of people. Here’s a picture of me trying to get Jason Marquis to look at my sweet ass (I’ve never seen an uncircumsized thing), but he wouldn’t bite :(
Anyway, back to all things sticks and balls
I love you,
Jimmy
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| Tuesday Night Orgy |
| 2008-05-20 04:38:00 |
Tomorrow night, Tuesday, ACB, LOHO, WV23, and Cubsf/x have all come together to host one massive chat room orgy for Tuesday’s game against the Astros. Clothes optional, but strongly discouraged. Anything goes.
We’ll be using the ACB Chat Room and I will, sometime tomorrow afternoon, configure it so nobody has to register since that would be a pain in the ass for many of the new chatters. If this works out well, maybe we’ll do it more frequently.
Note to ACB regulars: make us hicks proud.
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| Cubs complete 8-2 homestand |
| 2008-05-19 00:25:00 |
Jason Marquis pitched well enough to get through 6 innings today and the Cubs scored just enough to win their 8th game on this 10-game homestand. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, the Cubs finally got on the board in the 3rd inning on an Alfonso Soriano sac fly. They added another run to tie the game up. They scored once each in the 4th and 5th innings and their 4-2 lead was cut to 4-3 in the 6th. Howry, Marmol and Wood all threw one inning apiece as Wood saved his 10th game.
As the Cubs have done all season long, they took their walks today. 7 of them, all against Phil Dumatrait who walked 3 in the 3rd and 3 in the 4th. They didn’t hit the ball well today, but they did just enough on offense to get by.
On the homestand, the Cubs went 8-2 and scored 60 runs while allowing only 33.
The Cubs head to Houston to begin a 3-game series tomorrow evening. The Astros send Moehler, Sampson and Shawn Chacon to ...
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| Zambrano Pitch ID’s - And You Thought I Forgot? |
| 2008-05-17 20:04:00 |
Thanks to some great stuff from Matt Lentzner at the PFX Summit, I feel like I've nailed down El Toro's stuff. Using home games from 2008 (not today's) and the idea of arm slot = PFX "elipse axis", I dug out five pitches. I think we can quibble on some of the fuzzy borders, and the pitch names, but I think the splits are on target.
cfx#pfx_xpfx_zmphdegrpm
CU96.3-2.569.9247.5685.2
F4215-10.24.891.2244.61,480.7
FC221-4.28.491.0206.11,239.9
SI52-8.20.585.0190.61,019.5
SL884.63.682.1130.8730.8
cfx#B%CS%SS%F%X%HR%Sw%Whiff%B:CSISZ%corner%SwOOZ%TaISZ%
CU944.422.211.111.111.10.033.3333.332.033.330.0033.3366.67
F421530.224.24.717.723.30.045.5810.201.352.5614.8835.2935.42
FC22138.517.67.220.415.40.943.8916.492.241.6314.0326.3623.77
SI5240.45.813.511.528.80.053.8525.007.025.0015.3843.5911.11
SL8838.615.914.811.418.21.145.4532.502.445.4513.6427.0826.00
58535.718.88.017.119.80.545.4717.671.944.6214.1931.4828.78
Update: All pitches in PFX database, 2007-2008
cfx#pfx_xpfx_zmph...
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| Pirates at Cubs open game thread |
| 2008-05-17 17:00:00 |
B-REF PREVIEW | GAMEDAY | WEATHER | ACB CHAT ROOM
Zach Duke vs. Cubs hitters: .324/.380/.469 in 145 at-bats
Carlos Zambrano vs. Pirates hitters: .220/.325/.354 in 209 at-bats
Mostly sunny, mid to high 60s, 15 mph wind blowing in towards the 1st base line (according to weather.com, Al Yellon says the wind is blowing out so who knows?).
Every Cub with more than 8 at-bats against Duke has hit him very well except for Mark DeRosa who is 2-12. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Ronny Cedeno, Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Theriot have all beat up on him. Zambrano needs to stay away from Jason Bay who “owns” him and Xavier Nady has hit him hard as well. Odd that 2 right handers in one lineup have performed so well against Zambrano.
12:05 start time on CSN Chicago locally and blacked out elsewhere. MLB Audio has it though if you’re interested in listening to it or you an follow along on Gameday.
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| Gallagher’s velocity |
| 2008-05-17 01:38:01 |
The day after Gallagher’s first start I took a look at his average fastball velocity each inning. In that start, Gallagher threw slower each successive inning leading you to believe he was just giving it his all from the first pitch onward and he tired around the 5th inning, which was the inning he gave up 3 runs. Here’s the average FB velocity each inning:
1st: 93.5
2nd: 92.63
3rd: 92.60
4th: 92.1
5th: 91.7
Overall he averaged 92.5 mph.
Today’s start is a little different. The nerves of making the first major league start are out of the way and he can settle down and pitch.
He threw 54 fastballs (91 total pitches) today according to the Gameday XML file. The average velocity was 92.8 mph. Here’s how it broken down by inning:
1st: 93.2
2nd: 92.8
3rd: 93.2
4th: 93.0
5th: 92.1
6th: 92.3
As you can see, the greatest velocity was 93.2 mph (1st ...
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| Through 42 games |
| 2008-05-17 00:12:00 |
DJ asked in the comments of the previous thread when the last time the Cubs got off to a start as good this season (26-16). I had actually already done the research (what little there was) this morning in case they did win today.
The last time the Cubs got off to a 26-16 start or better was 1987. They were the exact same through 42 games as the 2008 Cubs. The 1985 and 1984 Cubs also got off to 26-16 starts.
The last time a Cubs team got off to a better start was in 1977 when the club opened 28-14. The 1969 Cubs also began the season 28-14.
Those are the only 5 Cubs teams who have gotten off to as good a start as the 2008 Cubs since 1945. Prior to 1945, the Cubs were much better at baseball, so there are quite a few years. 11 times the Cubs got off to at least a 26-16 start between 1900 and 1945.
The best start the Cubs have ever gotten off to through 42 games was the 1907 Cubs who began the season 33-9 on way to a 107-45 ...
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| Gallagher picks up first career win |
| 2008-05-16 21:50:00 |
Sean Gallagher has earned himself at least another start, and probably a couple more. He threw the ball really well and he threw it over the plate (60 of 91 pitches were strikes). The Pirates have a good offense and held them down to just 1 run in 6 innings of work. It is the 22-year old’s first career win. He’s had 2 starts and with the exception of the 5th inning in his first start, he’s thrown the ball exceptionally well. If Rich Hill can get straightened out, this rotation may not need fixing after all. Bob Howry pitched the 7th and 8th (allowed 3 in the 8th) and Woody got the save. The Cubs won 7-4.
Soriano, for the 3rd time in 4 games, hit a leadoff home run on the first pitch from Gorzellany. Soriano added a 3-run home run to put the Cubs up 4-0 6-0 in the 2nd inning. Geovany Soto added a solo home run and so did Mark DeRosa.
The Cubs improve to 26-16 and continue to score loads of runs. The...
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| Cubs take 3 of 4 from Padres |
| 2008-05-15 22:19:00 |
Greg Maddux may have pitched for the last time in Wrigley Field and it started out like you’d expect--4 pitches in the 1st inning. It got tougher after that, but he managed to keep the Cubs scoreless through 4 inning and then the Cubs put 4 on the board before Maddux departed to a standing ovation.
Ryan Dempster was outstanding. Lou gave him a chance for the complete game shutout, but a couple of hits and only one later, Lou went to Woody for the save and the Cubs won 4-0. The Cardinals lost as the Pirates scored 7 runs in the 8th and 9th innings and the Brewers got beat 7-2 by the Dodgers. The Giants are currently beating the Astros 7-3. No reason to scoreboard watch at this point. No reason to really pay attention when your team is in first place either, but I happened to look.
The Cubs have won 6 of their first 7 on this 10-game homestand. The Pirates come in for 3 this weekend beginning tomorrow afternoon. Sean...
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| Cubs beat Peavy, sign Edmonds |
| 2008-05-15 04:25:00 |
The Cubs have fared unusually well this season against the ace of team’s staffs and tonight was no different. Alfonso Soriano led off the game with a home run, his second consecutive leadoff homer. Soriano then drove in 2 with a single to LF in the 2nd and the Cubs had an early 3-0 lead. They added another run in the 4th and are now 20-1 when scoring 4 runs or more.
Lilly was really good for 4 innings and then ran into trouble in the 5th as he allowed 3 runs to score, but Geovany Soto hit a 2-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 6-3. Each team added a couple more and the final was 8-5.
The Cubs signed Jim Edmonds prior to the game and he was to take a physical this evening. If he passes it (he did pass it according to Jim Hendry), he’ll probably be in the lineup tomorrow as Greg Maddux tries to win his 351st game.
We’ve talked quite a bit around here about this and most of us agree that this doesn’t ...
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| Cubs interested in Edmonds |
| 2008-05-13 04:02:00 |
First of all, be sure to read Harry’s piece on the pitchf/x summit below this one. Good stuff.
It appears inevitable that the Cubs will sign Jim Edmonds on Wednesday (Edmonds reportedly told his agent to talk to no other team). Sullivan and Whittenmeyer have written pretty much the same thing this evening. Look, there’s not much to say about this. I think it was to be expected the moment Edmonds was released. Pie will be sent down to AAA and eventually traded away. Edmonds isn’t any good and certainly not as good as Felix Pie, even if Pie continues to hit as poorly as he has so far. It’s not worth any time looking into whether or not this is a good idea. It isn’t. It will cost the Cubs a win, maybe more depending on how long they actually keep him around.
There have been on and off again rumors for about a year about Felix Pie and Kahlil Greene so keep an eye out on a potential deal getting done qui...
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| State of F/X |
| 2008-05-12 23:40:00 |
The work many folks have been doing with PITCHf/x has been great. It’s getting better.
This weekend was the 1st Annual PITCHf/x Summit. We all hope we’ll have a 2nd one, too. So many topics were discussed, it will be difficult to put it all together, but I’m going to try.
The event kicked-off Saturday May 11 at the Westin on Market in San Francisco, just a half mile from AT&T Park. I arrived Friday and had the pleasure of attending the game with Greg Rybarczyk of Hit Tracker. While folks like me analyze, Greg innovates. We were both bemused by the amount of drunk late-teen/early-twenties in the left-field bleachers. No, we’re not grumpy old men, this was like nothing I’ve quite seen before, in terms of early drunkenness and fighting. I’ve been to the bleachers in Wrigley, the Blue Seats in Madison Square Garden, and many points between. Friday night was certainly new for me. As a mat...
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| Padres at Cubs open game thread |
| 2008-05-12 22:38:00 |
B-REF PREVIEW | GAMEDAY | WEATHER | ACB CHAT ROOM
Randy Wolf vs. Cubs hitters: .190/.239/.270 in 100 at-bats
Carlos Zambrano vs. Padres hitters: .085/.204/.128 in 47 at-bats
Mid 50s, wind blowing in at 8 mph from right center field. Game begins at 7:05 and is on CSN Chicago.
The Cubs haven’t done much with Wolf in their careers, but the Padres have done even less with Zambrano though it’s only 47 at-bats.
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| A strange and funny game |
| 2008-05-12 04:08:01 |
The Cubs came into the weekend series with the Diamondbacks having lost 9 of 13 games. They hadn’t won a series in a couple of weeks and when that happens, you’ll take a series win against any team, no matter how good or bad they may be. In this game, if you can sweep one of the worst teams in the game, you’ve done well. It’s not easy beating another team 3 times in 3 days. But that’s exactly what the Cubs did against the team who had the best record in baseball prior to getting beat today.
They won all 3 games while coming from behind. They trailed the Dbacks in the 5th in the opener and in the 7th inning on Saturday and Sunday. It’s hard enough sweeping a team in baseball. It’s even harder to sweep any team while trailing at least half-way through in each of the 3 games. It seems to be rather remarkable you could do so against the best team in baseball.
The Cubs came into the s...
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| Diamondbacks at Cubs open game thread |
| 2008-05-11 04:23:00 |
B-REF PREVIEW | GAMEDAY | WEATHER | ACB CHAT ROOM
Randy Johnson vs. Cubs hitters: .194/.276/.262 in 103 at-bats
Carlos Zambrano vs. Dbacks hitters: .257/.308/.343 in 35 at-bats
I’m writing this at 10:30 pm on Saturday night (won’t be around much, if at all, on Sunday) so the weather may change somewhat, but it’s going to rain. There’s no question about that. 100% chance of rain. Wind blowing in from RF at 25 mph with 40 mph gusts. I don’t think they’ll get in the game in today, and if they do, it would be a good idea to rest Soriano since no good can come out of him playing on a soaked field. I just hope the game doesn’t begin unless they’re relatively certain they have a large window. I’d hate to lose Zambrano for a start because you pretty much know it’s not going to get played. Might even be a good idea to have Gallagher make the start unless the Cubs are certain th...
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| Stat of the day |
| 2008-05-10 00:19:00 |
Reed Johnson, .260/.341/.298, .639 OPS
Ted Lilly, .272/.333/.364, .697 OPS
Prior to today’s game
Reed Johnson: -1.9 VORP (ranks 24th out of 25 Cubs players who have come to bat this season, only Soriano has been worse)
Ted Lilly: 1.2 VORP (offensive only)
Reed Johnson: -0.2 WARP
Felix Pie: 0.2 WARP
Can someone explain how this guy is still getting playing time, especially against right handers where he has hit .258/.301/.303, .604 OPS (not including today). Only 6 Cubs have more at-bats than Reed Johnson despite all of this. How is it that Felix Pie can lose his job by sucking, but having tremendous potential while Reed Johnson can suck, suck, and suck and still find his name in the lineup? I mean, you can even sit here with a straight face any more and say that Johnson has out-performed Pie because he hasn’t. Guess who is likely to find himself in the lineup tomorrow.
*hat tip to Colin for the rate stats and the ...
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| Thinking out loud |
| 2008-05-09 04:20:00 |
The Padres are now 11 games out and, barring a miraculous turnaround, have no realistic chance of being in contention. Jake Peavy has been their 3rd best OFFENSIVE player if we go by VORP. That’s how bad that team is.
We don’t have enough prospects to land Peavy and it would probably cost Felix Pie and Sean Gallagher, at least, just to get Kahlil Greene. The Padres do have one player who I’m sure they’d be more than willing to trade and would probably be willing to do so as early as 4 or 5 weeks from now. Greg Maddux is a free agent at the end of the season and based on numerous reports, it appears he’ll be retiring at the end of the season. The Padres would probably grant him an early trade if Maddux was interested.
It’s no secret now that the Cubs rotation is essentially Carlos Zambrano followed by 4 games you’d be wise to bet against the Cubs on. Maddux isn’t anywhere near the pitch...
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| Young vs. Old |
| 2008-05-08 02:57:00 |
There has been a lot of debate around here the past few days about the role of some of the younger players on the 25 man roster. The inspiration for this came from a few comments I saw today, for example-
agreed. love Gallagher’s’s numbers down in AAA, but he’s shown us less than nothing so far. maybe a few starts will get him turned around, but can we afford it at this point with STL looking playoff-caliber? marshall is hill/lilly redux. who else is out there? kevin hart again? where’s ryan o’malley when you need him? let F7 try it out? veal?
Now this isn’t an attempt to embarrass or attack a poster, but what is happening here I think is severe sample size misjudgement and a fundamental misunderstanding of how to judge a minor league track record in general.
What I aim to do is examine what role Gallagher is in and what role I feel he should be in and why. Also, to look at the veterans vs rookies/younger players POV in regards to the makeup of this team.
F...
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| Decision Time for Lou & Cubs |
| 2008-05-07 05:35:00 |
Coming off tonight’s 3-0 win over the Reds the Cubs sit 2 games back from the Cards at 19-14. With Scott Eyre ready to return any day now and Lou going public with his desire to carry 13 pitchers coupled with his threats to shake things up, somebody currently on the roster has to go. Lets take a look at the candidates and the +/- of sending them down.
1. Felix Pie- The most obvious candidate, Pie hasn’t hit well enough to lock his spot in CF down yet. Whether he could lock that spot down by hitting under .450 is up to debate but with Pie receiving sporadic play at best and with grizzled vet Reed Johnson around it seems like Pie will go down to AAA to work on bunting, stealing bases and under go cosmetic surgery to closer resemble Kenny Lofton.
+ There really is none. Pie has nothing left to prove at AAA other than he might be able to hit .500 + in a full AAA season. He might be able to rebuild some trade value but no matter what it wont be as high as before the season ...
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| Cubs at Reds open game thread |
| 2008-05-06 23:03:00 |
[UPDATE @ 5:45 PM] Aramis Ramirez is back in the lineup and batting 4th. Ronny Cedeno is playing 2nd base and batting 7th. Felix Pie is also in the lineup hitting 8th.
B-REF PREVIEW | GAMEDAY | WEATHER | ACB CHAT ROOM
Aaron Harang vs. Cubs hitters: .269/.312/.492 in 193 at-bats
Carlos Zambrano vs. Reds hitters: .268/.372/.471 in 291 at-bats
Call this the pitching match-up between 2 aces that pitch like number 4 and 5 starters against the opposing team. Carlos Zambrano needs to stay away from too many Reds hitters to list in this space. Derrek Lee has been a one-man wrecking crew against Aaron Harang. He’s hit 5 home runs off of him. In 3 of Harang’s last 5 starts against the Cubs he’s surrendered 5 earned runs (4 in another and 2 in the other). That’s a 5.59 ERA. In Zambrano’s last 5 starts against the Reds, he once surrendered 6 earned runs and another game with 5 earned runs allowed.&nbs...
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