Josh Vitters is getting dangerously close to be interesting again as he hit another HR last night. Vitters is about as locked in as you can get right now with a .405/.476/.757 line in his last 10 games. The HR came off Royals starter Jonathon Sanchez who is on rehab assignment.
Junior Lake went 2-4 and committed his 9th error of the year. How anyone can have that many errors in a month is beyond me. Nick Struck got 9 batters to strikeout din 6 IP and Kevin Rhoderick lowered his ERA to .83. Rhoderick should be the closer in the bigs and I'm not even kidding.
Rob Whitenack had a rough return to game action. His control wasn't there and 10 hits including a HR in 4.1 IP. He walked one and didn't strike anyone out. This was a bit surprising considering he had been very sharp in AZ but he is still less than a year removed from TJ so results aren't as important as getting his arm back up to strength.
PJ Francescon had his first poor start in high A giving up 5 ER in 6 IP. He struck out 5 and walked three. Szrzr was 1-3 with an RBI and Alcantara was 2-2 with a walk.
It was a long game in Peoria last night ending in the 14th. After Larry Suarez blew the save the bullpen rallied for 7 scoreless innings. Javier Baez was 0-5 with a BB, SB and 3 strikeouts. Anthony Giansanti was 2-6 and continues to play all over the field.
Glad we could be sponsored by the most cutting edge search engine in Pawnee, Indiana
@ Berselius:
They paid us a lot of money.
So MD- is this the worst Cubs team you’ve seen? I’ve been thinking about it and I would say no, the 2006 team was worse but only because of the TRANSFORMATION! of F7. Without him this team would be the worst Cub team I’ve ever seen.
Joe Mather is batting third. Joe Mather.
dylanj wrote:
The Hope Monster is alive and well.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17183
FYI:
http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7987276/chicago-cubs-work-potential-no-1-pick-carlos-correa
@ Berselius:
I just want to point out that Ryan Theriot was on the team when they went to the post-season. Just sayin’.
@ josh:
He was also on the team when the Cardinals won the World Series. You may have something there.
Sveum: “[Shawn Camp] is probably our MVP up to this point”
This sums up the 2012 Cubs on so many levels
@ Berselius:
I don’t know what’s funnier…….the fact he picked Camp or the fact he thinks this team actually has an MVP.
Sveum is just another manager IMO. I had hoped for this cutting edge guy but outside of the defensive shifts he might as well be Ned Yost
@ dylanj:
I’ve actually thought about this more than I should, but I’m not sure if it’s the worst team in my life, but I think it’s easily worse than the 2006 team in terms of talent level. The 2006 club had a very productive Michael Barrett behind the plate. They had Ramirez at 3rd base. At 1st was Lee, but he was injured early on in the season. Matt Murton was taking over in LF and we expected above league average numbers and I’m pretty sure he delivered. (dying laughing) came over as an above average CF and was close to or above average. Then there is Jack Jones in RF and there’s nothing to get excited about, but he wasn’t bad by any means. They also had Zambrano and a declining Greg Maddux.
Between Ramirez, Lee and Zambrano there was something to watch and be excited about even if you didn’t think they’d contend. FWIW, PECOTA did. They thought the ’06 Cubs would win 85 games and finish close behind the Cardinals at the top of the division. I wasn’t so optimistic as I was expecting less than nothing from Wood, Prior and Cedeno.
The teams I always go back to and haven’t really looked back past them are the 1999 and 2000 teams. Even as bad as those teams are (each team lost 40 out of 50 at one point in the season!), it was must watch baseball with Sammy Sosa hitting home runs as frequently as he was. Those teams also had Mark Grace and Henry Rodriguez. Jon Lieber was their best pitcher and at least in 1999 Kyle Farnsworth was throwing 300 mph fastballs as a starter.
In terms of interest this team pales in comparison to those teams even if it was Sammy and a bunch of replacement level players, but it wasn’t. In terms of talent? I don’t know. I’d probably take the 1999-2000 teams over this one. I know I would. In 2001 Sammy was the entire offense and they nearly reached the playoffs. That was possible in the other two years too.
I think this is probably the least amount of talent the Cubs have had since 1997: http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1997.shtml
The 2012 team is the least interesting Cubs team in my life. There’s not one damn player on the team that makes me want to watch. At least the shitty teams I remember from my childhood had Sandberg on them. Then Sosa. I hope the Cubs go out and sign Hamilton because I’ll watch. I don’t care if it’s a good idea or not.
F7, Castro & Garza are fun to watch. Campana is entertaining. All I remember is after Lee went down the 06 was unbearable. Dusty was running out Neifi, Womack, Nevin and I was crying.
it would be nice if Correa dropped to us at 6.
mb21 wrote:
This.
@ dylanj:
Waiting for the day when the Cubs can trot out a team so good that even Ron Washington could run it.
@ dylanj:
Castro is okay to watch. I think he’d be a really exciting guy in a good lineup. Spraying singles over the field so that the rest of the team can leave him on base is depressing.
mb21 wrote:
At some point the Cubs have to worry about attendance. Even if signing Hamilton probably won’t do much in terms of their post season hopes, it will probably bring people to Wrigley. I don’t know if attendance has been down too much but it does seem like it has. People have to be getting sick and tired of paying to see the shitfest the Cubs have been putting out there for the last couple of years.
There is just no way on God’s green earth that Josh Hamilton wouldn’t relapse in a major way in Chicago. Between the 104 years bullshit and the media poking him about his demons every time he goes 0 for 4, he’ll absolutely be slamming shots back at Tais ’til 4 before Memorial Day. As much as I’d love to see him in a Cubs uniform, there is just no way that works out. Then not only will we have managed to run another perfectly good ballplayer out of town, but we might actually kill the guy.
Attendance last year averaged 37,258. This year they are averaging 37,250.
They’re doing just fine in attendance. They will not have an attendance problem until the Season Ticket Holders bolt. otherwise it is 26,000 or so tickets sold per game without any tourists, walk-ups, corporate outings, etc.
@ Aisle424
I think new players to Chicago should be waived from talking to the media.
KG has an Insider article on clearing space for Anthony Rizzo. I don’t like paying for stuff though.
@ Mucker:
Then Paul Sullivan and crew will just make up stu…oh wait.
@ Aisle424:
Oh, good info. What about with $10 bleacher tickets?
@ mb21:
Should have had to watch the teams of the early 80′s. The 80 & 81 teams were pathetic. This team actually has a pretty good rotation and is about the only thing worth watching. I’ve also seen enough Mick Kelleher, Larry Biitner & Pete LaCock’s to last a lifetime.
@ Aisle424:
I was kind of thinking the millions of dollars might help. Maybe he’d do a 2-year deal for big money knowing he’ll be the bright shining star in Wrigley for a chance to pad his stats by bombing the baseball out onto Sheffield.
@ Mucker:
Isn’t that supposed to be Darwin Barney’s job? What are we paying that guy for!?
@ dylanj:
F7 has been so far. I enjoy Dempster. I also enjoy Castro, but I think it’s about time the Cubs offer him $100,000 for every walk he takes. It’s getting ridiculous. It won’t be long before his average is higher than his OBP. Never been too excited about Garza, but it has nothing to do with his talent. Just don’t care. I’m not going to tune into any game to watch any of them. I’m not going to sit down and say, you know, I just want to watch Castro play so I’m watching the Cubs. Not happening because he’s not good enough.
dusty ran some stupid lineups out there, but even after Lee’s injury they still had Barrett, Ramirez, Murton, Pierre and Jones on offense. They had Zambrano on the mound and we were getting to see Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol for the first time. As much as that season sucked I watched just about every game that was televised. There was a reason to watch and many times more than one reason. 5 of the every day offensive players had an OPS+ over 100. Cedeno, Walker and Pierre didn’t, but Pierre added value on the bases and defensively. Ramirez hit 38 home runs and slugged over .560. Barrett had a slugging over .500. Z allowed 6.8 hits per 9 innings. He alone was must watch baseball back then. Aside from Bryan Lahair this team is just boring to watch when they’re batting in my opinion. LaHair’s May is probably closer to what we get from him the rest of the season (.814 OPS).
@ Aisle424:
I just want the Cubs to go after the best players. Also, I need a reason to watch. (dying laughing)
@ pinetar:
That was when I became a fan and yeah, they sucked.
Honestly, I almost enjoy watching Tony Campana more than anyone else, save LaHair. He may not hit too much, but he usually makes it close on the bases and it’s fun watching him score from first on a single.
@ pinetar:
Or Mike Ivie, or the many incarnations of Steve Ontiveros. I’m glad they got Sandberg for Ivan deJesus, of course, but in those days deJesus was my favorite player. Now, with hindsight, I can’t say if its because he was really good, or because Pete LaCock made deJesus seem stellar. Maybe it was a sign of how truly crappy the early 80s teams really were (Guess I could look that up, but why spoil a foggy memory?)
This minor league update is brought to you courtesy of Alta Vista, the search engine that is perfect for Cubs fans. Just like the Cubs, we used to dominate. We were the number 1 search engine of the mid-1990s, which in internet years is like the early 1900s, when the Cubs were setting records for wins.
A feature Cubs fans will particularly enjoy is the ability to search in Alta Vista and have results posted through Yahoo. It’s just like when you check the score of the Cubs game and then click on the Rangers’ Game Day feed!!
Cubs and Alta Vista. Feed your nostalgia.
Here’s what Wikipedia says of Alta Vista:
But I read it like this, without even realizing it:
Wikipedia—->Transformed ?
That Joe Paterno is still speaking on the Unobstructed Views is creeping me out.
@ SkipVB:
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
@ dylanj:
That’s a cool article. My summary, “Wow, Colin Wyers must have some time on his hands!”
(Or maybe BP pays him a salary.)
@ mb21:
That team had the third worst offense in the NL, 4th worst in all of baseball, and IIRC Marmol and Marshall weren’t really that exciting prospects. I was a different kind of fan then though so I find it tough to compare. I think this is a better team and more interesting (especially if/when Rizzo and Jackson get called up), though the (lack of) skill levels are definitely more uniform. At least this team does one thing well (starting pitching). The 2006 team sucked all around as a whole.
Wait, I knew Joe Mather was playing, but wtf is he in centerfield?
Guys, I got this email from Mr. James W. McJunkin FBI. His reply-to address is fbi.cybercrime911@ovi.com. In the subject, he says “Contact us ASAP Kindly View the memo for more info”. The memo must be in the “McJunkin.rtf” file attached, because there’s nothing in the body of the message.
Do you think I should open the file? This sounds serious…
Even though this team is likely worse than 2011, I find them a lot more watchable. Maybe because Quade is gone and Sveum has cut down on the shenanigans that fuel Paul Sullivan and Yellon.
@ Suburban kid:
Open it.
@ Suburban kid:
Better check with Burt Macklin
@ jtsunami:
I thought Quade was hilarious. That’s the problem. Sveum is too serious. He’s all “The team is working on fundamentals.” He needs to be teaching them how to catch balls with their hats and have a little fun.
2011 was a soul crushing season for me. I doubt i watched more than a dozen games.
@ josh:
Josh is the same kid that in third grade told his friend, “Yeah, you should put the tack on Mrs. Thompson’s chair.”
That 1980 team sucked so much ass. This was the first game I ever attended at Wrigley:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN198005310.shtml
I don’t know how I’m not a Phillies fan after that.
Game stream if anyone is interested.
http://www.vipbox.tv/watch/54505/1/chicago-cubsvssan-diego-padres-live-stream-online.html
Just wait for the ads to timeout.
Yes, Gameday. I would imagine Nick Hundley is crushing 4 seam fastballs down the middle.
@ Aisle424:
Clearly you became a Cubs fan because you got to see a future Cy Young and league MVP start that day for the CUBS! Also a future heavy weight boxer pinch hit.
God, what a horrible line-up. Except Buckner, I guess, and maybe Dave Kingman (Rob Deer’s all time hero).
@ Berselius:
85-77, 1 game behind the division winning Cardinals is what that team was projected to do: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4917
That roster was expected to have Barrett, Lee, Ramirez, Zambrano, Wood, Prior and other contributors like Murton, Pierre and Jones. Dempster was returning from his best season as a reliever. There’s a reason that team was expected to be a contender. As I’ve said, I was much less optimistic because Prior and Wood couldn’t stay healthy and I wasn’t as high on Cedeno as the scouts were.
As for prospects they had Felix Pie around the corner (rated higher than Jackson or Rizzo by Baseball America). Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol were in the Cubs top 10 and not far from the big leagues. Cedeno was a top 100 prospect too.
If the measure of how good the team is by season’s end then we’ll have to wait. If it’s how good the teams were entering the season the 2006 team isn’t it. If it a measure of how bad the teams were to this point in the season it’s not them. If it’s about excitement I can’t speak for others. I just know that I’d much rather watch an in prime Derrek Lee, Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez than anything this team has to offer. Lee was coming off what should have been an MVP season. Zambrano was in his prime, as was Ramirez. Barrett had become one of the top hitting cartchers in baseball. Murton was a 1st round pick who was given the opening day job in LF. Murton, by the way, was drafted in 2003, reached the big leagues in 2005 and was the opening day starter in 2006. Jackson is behind his pace.
@ mb21:
@ Aisle424:
I was looking at Aisle’s first game line-up. Mike Vail batted 5th and this was in his most productive year, where he got into 114 games. (His WAR from 79 was better though.) Who does Vail compare with during 79 and 80? Reed Johnson, Dwight Smith, MATT MURTON….
/odd convergence
2006 vs 2012 Marcels one comment at a time.
Michael Barrett: .342
Geovany Soto: .329
Derrek Lee: .402
Bryan LaHair: .335
Todd Walker: .345
Darwin Barney: .303
Ronny Cedeno: .346
Starlin Castro: .345
If you adjust for the run environment Castro would be higher, but not by all that much.
Aramis Ramirez: .381
Ian Stewart: .313
Matt Murton: .371
Alfonso Soriano: .312
(dying laughing): .331
Marlon Byrd: .330
Jack Jones: .333
David DeJesus: .321
Year Player Proj wOBA
2006 Lee 0.402
2006 Ramirez 0.381
2006 Murton 0.371
2006 Cedeno 0.346
2006 Walker 0.345
2012 Castro 0.345
2006 Barrett 0.342
2012 LaHair 0.335
2006 Jones 0.333
2006 Pierre 0.331
2012 Byrd 0.33
2012 Soto 0.329
2012 DeJesus 0.321
2012 Stewart 0.313
2012 Soriano 0.312
2012 Barney 0.303
@ SkipVB:
@ Aisle424:
Alright, I’m really bored at work today…so I looked up Ivan de Jesus more on BR, but only because it was convenient from the link to Aisle’s first game. Career WAR of 9.5, but 7.5 of that with the Cubs.
Maybe de Jesus’s best contribution to the Cubs was that the Cubs always got the better end of trades that de Jesus was part of.
Albert never made it past AA. Buckner had his best years with the Cubs. Garman had an OK year with the Dodgers in ’78, tanked in ’79 and was done. Monday was injured and never really had a full season with the Dodgers. Cubs definitely got the best of this trade.
I assume no further commentary is needed on this one.
Steve Clevenger is swinging a hot bat.
@ mb21:
Guess you and I are chasing number windmils today…(dying laughing)
@ SkipVB:
BO-WA! BO-WA!
Who’s that guy who doesn’t know how to spell his first name?
Quentin is destroying the Cubs.
@ Rice Cube:
Not as hot as Carlos Quentin. Holy damn shit.
Just tuned in (Thanks for link, Cone). Has Dempster been laboring this much all day? Is he ok?
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Dempster has laid a brown egg. Just when they have an opportunity to get on a little roll your best pitcher implodes.
Dempster —> showers
@ josh:
Is the wind blowing out? That ball just kept going.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Everything has been up and lots of balls hit hard.
@ Rice Cube:
Blowing straight in at a pretty good clip.
@ josh:
I dunno. Lary Anderson?
@ pinetar:
Then I guess that ball should’ve gone further
Twins won today. Rays seem to be having trouble with the White Sox.
@ pinetar:
Good thing, or Hundley would have had a homer too.
@ pinetar:
Hmmm. Same thing with F7 yesterday, but he had much better command than it seems Dempster did today.
Really nice AB from Castro.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
2nd walk since April 13???
Also, really nice job by Brenly of breaking down that last pitch to Castro. He’s really good at that kind of stuff. Wish he did more of it.
Is Dunston Castro’s personal batting coach? Re: Walks
Denorfia = Skinny Dykstra
Did i just see Fonzie take a pitch low and away? WHAT!?
Walks to Castro AND Soriano? Come on, Cubs, you can’t waste that.
Up to Barney now…
Bass has lost the zone. Poor GBTS.
Where has all this plate discipline been? This is fun to watch.
Let’s do this.
Come the hell on, now, Barney!
Ugh. I just turned into my dad.
Barney better not swing til he takes a strike.
Padres are going full Cub this inning.
Clevenger has a really quick bat. He can let the ball get really deep into the zone.
Awwww…….
Hawk Harrelson bleeps himself:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-harrelson-erupts-after-quintana-ejection-20120530,0,33900.story
@ WenningtonsGorillaCock:
It’s to bad he didn’t blow a gasket. Not sure which one is worse, Hawk or Ed Farmer on the Sox radio side. They both make me want to gouge out my ears.
DERP
Here comes Marmol
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Using your (allegedly) best reliever against the heart of the order in a high-leverage situation? Egads.
Where did that one miss?
That one looked like it was right down the middle. Gameday agrees.
Perhaps I was remiss in my assessment of Marmol’s reputation.
@ Rice Cube:
False. Shut the fuck up, Donnie.
Was that Milt Pappas who sang the stretch?
@ Rice Cube:
It depends on who you ask.
I’m saying, ‘yes.’
Castro has the most infield knockdowns since 2011 (leads by 2). http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/24999/leaderboard-of-week-infield-knockdowns
Campana almost ripped the base out on that steal.
So you can overslide first? I guess you could. He would have been fine running, I think. I think your brain turns off in that situation.
That was a nice play by Barney
Nice double play. That’s fun to watch.
If this game goes extras, Bud Black is going to be kicking himself for taking Quentin out.
Darwinning!
Darwon!
No extras for you!
That wasn’t a cheap-shot either.
Those are always fun to watch. Never gets old.
(dying laughing)
I know the Cubs aren’t fun to watch, but this was a fun series (and not just because the Cubs swept).
@ ACT:
Lots of back and forth, lots of homeruns. Patient (!!) at bats. Fun baseball all around.
@ Rice Cube:
I’m sure Bud Black is relieved.
@ josh:
Not to mention, that nail-biting scene yesterday with the tying run on third and no outs. My heart skipped a beat when Camp gave up that hard-hit liner that Baker somehow caught.
Darwin Barney ———-> Best shape of his life
In other news, with 3 walks today, Joe Mauer’s OBP = SLG. And he’s actually having a pretty good year.
Jamie Moyer was DFA’d. Hardly surprising, but a little sad.
Rice Cube wrote:
Eh. Fuck him. (dying laughing)
I’ve moved on to James McDonald. Right-handed Johan.
Dunn went 0-5 with a golden sombrero, but is still having a good year.
Rumors are that Uncle Bud is none too pleased about Hawk’s 4-inning diatribe against the umpires.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-mcleod-rizzo-in-finishing-stages-in-iowa-20120530,0,2102614.story
I honestly don’t mind that ump throwing that Sox pitcher out. I couldn’t care less if an ump tosses a pitcher without warning for blatantly throwing at a guy who has done nothing to deserve it. If Wegner had warned both benches after A.J. got plunked, you know Hawk would be all OH WELL NOW WE CAN’T THROW INSIDE DAGGUMMIT, LET EM PLAY! MERCY!
Holy crap, Mariners.
@ ACT:
Wow. 15 runs through 2.1 with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Crazy.
@ mb21:
If they were playing against any team besides the Rangers, I’d say they have this one in the bag.
That’s 22 runs in the last 5 innings for the M’s.
Where is the reverse standings update? What am I paying for?
@ GBTS:
Your check bounced. You’ll be hearing from our accounting department.
A few good defensive plays, timely hitting, bullpen performances that didn’t make you want to smash grapefruits with a sledgehammer. Overall, decent baseball. These moments will be few this season.
Looks like the Rangers are making a comeback.
Gallardo has been a mess this year.
Well, the return of Matt Kemp didn’t last long.
@ ACT:
Injured again?
@ Rice Cube:
Re-aggravated his hammy. He was pulled for Tony Gwynn.
The AL East is weird; the standings are almost in reverse order of run differential: http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings
WTF Mariners?
(dying laughing) wut
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/31/umpire-tells-russell-martin-he-has-to-earn-the-privilege-to-throw-new-balls-back-to-the-pitcher/
@ Rice Cube:
Human element.
Holy Batman, just get with the computers doing the calls.
@ Rice Cube:
That’s just… weird.
Palm—————> Face? I’m not quite sure where it goes, it’s been so long
http://www.obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/daily-er-monthly-facepalm-5-31-12.html