Dave Sappelt hit his 2nd HR of the year and Anthony Rizzo knocked in 3 RBI's. Adrian Cardenas keeps killing the ball down there and Vitters is now sporting a sweet .635 OPS. But at least he has 5 walks vs 6 k's. Keep in mind he is still young for AAA. Casey Coleman had a good start but the bullpen shit the bed and Iowa lost 7-12.
Jae Hoon Ha went 3-4 with a SB. Nick Struck went 5 IP and gave up 1 ER. He now has a 2.45 ERA.
Michael Jensen
Oliver Zapata continues to hit very well going 2-4. He now has 13 hits in 28 AB's for the year. The big story was Michael Jensen had another great start. Jensen only allowed 2 base runners in 7 IP and struck out 6. It was reported that Jensen was throwing in the low 90's with a good curve. Its still early but Jensen has been one of the few bright spots in the minors this year.
I’m beginning to think Szczur is going to be a bust. In good news, BJax and Rizzo seem to be on track.
I feel like this is a stupid question, but where’s Javier Baez?
@ Andrew:
In EXST, getting tattoos, hitting HR and pissing off the Angels’ MiLB coaching staff. He’s hitting well, though, so the Cubs will probably promote him in the near future.
Hamilton now has 2 more homers than the Cubs.
@ Andrew:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120416&content_id=28827968&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc
@ ACT:
Campana is here to keep up with Hamilton
McNutt ——–> DL (blisters)
Aisle424 wrote:
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Campana already has as many home runs as Pujols.
@ Aisle424:
That’s one evil blister to keep popping up on poor Trey.
@ ACT:
Transformation!
I-Cubs up to bat soon.
Nutt blisters are the worst.
(dying laughing) at Stats Sunday
Cubs are 25th and 26th in team OBP and SLG
@ Suburban kid:
Was Wells transformed? He had like 7 spring innings and 10 or so Iowa innings.
@ Rice Cube:
14 Iowa innings, that is.
@ Rice Cube:
He wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire at Iowa, so I’m guessing transformation has not yet occurred.
Randy Wells is picking up where he left off in Des Moines.
Nice start to the game
Hey, he got out of it.
Campana is real fast
@ bubblesdachimp:
he moves like an ornithomimosaur
@ GW:
He makes a velociraptor look like a brachiosaur.
10 K, 2 BB in 43 PA for Soto. Going back to last season, Soto has not posted a less than 2:1 K:BB since April 2011. I’m beginning to wonder if CCD’s Rick Wilkins prediction wasn’t spot-on.
Sappelt’s homer last night was an inside the park HR. Gameday called it “a ground ball through the hole at 2nd base”.
88 mph fastball, letter high —> let’s see what happens
Lucky that was Stubbs and not Joey Votto he threw that to.
@ Rice Cube:
Geo asked for a high pitch. Wells didn’t get it up enough.
@ Rice Cube:
Oh wait…
What’s up with Wells’ velocity? I’m seeing all low-80′s, I remember him being able to work in the low-mid 90′s.
Cubs lose
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Did he have a bad case of mono sometime in the last three years?
@ Suburban kid:
If they can score one run they’ll wait to lose in extras (dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
Okay, NOW Cubs lose.
@ Suburban kid:
Apparently.
Wells is not that impressive
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
His fastballs have been high-80′s mostly. He had a couple low-90′s. Just like last year.
Wells is making Cueto work? Wow.
Nice AB by Wells.
I’m in no rush to see the end of the LaHair era
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
I doubt his success lasts, but I agree there’s no need to wish the end of it. Anything that gives Rizzo more time to get his swing in order is a good thing.
Brett Jackson’s having a rough day at the plate.
@ Rice Cube:
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
He hasn’t actually struck out yet
Wells is making Dusty’s sac bunt call look pretty fucking dumb.
@ Rice Cube:
That’s good news.
I think LaHair can provide league avg offense for a couple of seasons. Not sure if that’s really worth that much though
Speaking of K’s, Cespedes has 19 K, 7 BB in 51 PA and is somehow still OPS’ing .900. He’s “on pace” for 223 K and 82 BB. (dying laughing)
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
All or nothing!
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
Yeah, I think that’s reasonable. If/when Rizzo’s ready, he could make for a nice stop-gap/platoon partner in LF, too.
I guess Cueto is pretty good.
Cubs should just save everyone a lot of time and forfeit this game. If they can’t score a run in the first four innings, there really isn’t much point in playing the rest of them.
That sac bunt effectively killed that inning. I don’t get what is so fucking laudable about having a player in the lineup who can’t be trusted to swing the fucking bat with men on base. It makes managers give away outs in the stupidest and most dogmatic fashion, and it takes what would be exciting moments int he game and turns them into a theater for idiocy.
@ Suburban kid:
The 2-Run Slaughter Rule: Let It Happen to You
Astros have scored 10 runs today.
At least Cubs have some defense today.
Soto with back-to-back nice defensive plays
Not a strike.
Oh, he hung that one bad, LaHair should’ve parked that shit.
Cubs are probably leading in the league in the percentage of runs scored not via an RBI.
Still no K for B-Jax today.
WTF
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
1. Cubs did something stupid.
2. Umpire did something stupid.
3. Divided by zero.
4. ??????
5. Profit!
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Are you referring to the Mather/LaHair switch?
@ Suburban kid:
Yes. (1) Why the double switch if you’re beginning the inning with the pitching change? (2) why switch with LaHair and not Soriano?
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Yeah I was like WTF too (dying laughing)
What a festival of shittiness. First Sveum does something dopey, then the fucking team can’t figure out how to throw the ball. Idiocy from top-to-bottom this inning from the Cubs.
At least Rodrigo got an out (dying laughing)
Who was bounced off the team to accommodate Randy Wells?
@ Rice Cube:
Dempster was DL’d and Byrd was traded
@ Rice Cube:
Dempster ——–> DL
Oh yeah, he’s TOTALLY going to swing at that…jeez.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Oh that’s right, so Wells would take Byrd’s spot and then they’d have to drop someone else so Bowden isn’t exposed to waivers.
@ Rice Cube:
Yep. Wells probably goes back down after this start, Lopez to the rotation, Bowden takes Lopez’s spot in the ‘pen.
2 runs on no hits.
Let it happen to ME
Pinch-hit for Cueto, one hopes.
@ Rice Cube:
Nope. 100 pitches though, guess he’s about done and then the Cubs get to see Sean Marshall.
Ugh. This is some awful, awful singing.
Campana WALKS
So I guess Cueto just tried to kill Starlin.
Soriano is done. He fucking blows.
Aroldis Chapman is unfair.
Le sigh.
Why the hell did Sveum switch the best hitter out anyway. LaHair should have been up in that inning.
@ ACT:
Would you have tried Baker in that spot? I guess it wouldn’t have mattered though.
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
Indeed. That was so fucking dumb. Unless LaHair is hurt, Sveum needs to explain what hare-brained thought process led to that call.
I like how that called third strike was less strike-y than the slider that was called a ball a couple of pitches ago.
I wonder what Tampa Bay would want to give up for Soto. Probably not much (dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
Matt Moore and Evan Longoria, I hope.
Really, though, I’d take either one by himself. I’m not picky.
@ ACT:
I’d hope to get a pitcher from TB, and perhaps one with more upside than Davis. Do they have a guy names Torres in AAA?
At least we get to see Sean Marshall close out a victory for Dusty.
/2006′d
Marshall > Clevenger
He struck Clevenger out on a barrage of fastballs, and Stewart on curveballs.
It’s like, no matter what he throws to lefties, they won’t hit it.
I saw the box score had 2 errors and was pleasantly surprised Castro didn’t make 1 of them.
@ mb21:
They should have assigned a third error for Sveum’s asinine double switch.
Looks like he threw 1 slider to Clevenger (followed by 2 fastballs).
Here’s the pitch sequence to Stewart.
1 75 Curveball Ball
2 76 Curveball Called Strike
3 76 Curveball Swinging Strike
4 78 Curveball Ball
5 76 Curveball Called Strike
I wonder if there was something in the Reds’ advanced scouting report that said Stewart can’t hit a curve.
@ mb21:
Those were tough errors on Soto. He had to field some difficult bunts that Lopez gave up on early.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I read that in this thread and shook my head about as much as you guys did. Take your best hitter out of the lineup. Had LaHair just batted or something? Even if he had it’s still terrible.
@ mb21:
Brenly speculated (plausibly, imo) that it was because the Reds’ late-inning relievers were left-handed. So, he wanted to keep righty Mather in the game.
@ ACT:
Then again, Mather was later substituted for Clevenger, negating that.
@ ACT:
My guess is that Mather isn’t as good vs lefties as Lahair is, but I’m not sure.
@ ACT:
He needs to get some rum to Jobu.
@ ACT:
And the switch happened in the 5th inning, when Cueto was cruising. But at least we have further conformation that Bob Brenly is a stooge.
68 win Cubs: http://www.rlyw.net/index.php/RLYW/comments/how_have_the_first_two_weeks_of_the_2012_mlb_season_changed_team_proje
Lahair has that lingering back problem, will be interesting to hear what Sveum has to say about it though.
@ mb21:
So when can we expect the 20-game win streak? (dying laughing)
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20841939&c_id=mlb
Wait, they did a squeeze play with the bases loaded and no outs? Ron Washington is an idiot, even if the play worked.
It’s a real tribute to the Rangers’ playing ability that they keep winning year after year with Ron Washington calling the shots. Amazing.
@ ACT:
Imagine how good they’d be with Dale Sveum as manager.
@ ACT:
Yeah, that guy is the king of strange calls.
@ mb21:
Yeah, that double-switching out the best hitter strategy of his would be negated by the preponderance of good hitters in that lineup.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It’s sad because the players keep making him look like a genius by scoring 10 runs a game. People will even praise that squeeze play as “unconventional” thinking, since it drove the winning run in (never mind the the run expectancy in that situation was over 2).
Are we done with Soriano yet?
@ ACT:
Agreed.
@ josh:
Not me. With that said, I think he ought to be platooned, and I’m really worried by the utter lack of power from him.
Let me be the first moran to call for a Soriano/Clevenger platoon.
With Byrd gone now you kind of need to keep Soriano around for awhile. You don’t need to play him though.
Did D-Lee retire?
@ Suburban kid:
That’s not a bad idea. I don’t want to give on Soto yet. It’s ridiculously early for that.
@ Suburban kid:
I don’t know if he retired, but I don’t think there was much interest in him this offseason.
@ mb21:
I’d go for that. I think Soto can still have a good year. Soriano looks like crap at the plate.
Sori will get some homeruns, but it’ll be brutal when he’s not hitting out of the park.
@ mb21:
I was just trying to think who was left from the Dusty era. All I could come up with was Wood, Dempster and Marmol. I guess Soto might have had a cup of coffee in 2006, but I’m not sure.
In my video game, Anthony Rizzo is ROY, Ian Stewart is MVP and Randy Wells is Cy Young. (dying laughing)
MB who is your avatar? If my avatar is going to have sex with him for Mish, I should at least know his identity.
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
Just like Aramis at this point last year! And Pena!
Seriously, is it a ritual every year to flip out when a power hitter isn’t hitting home runs in April?
Back to Ron Washington’s squeeze play:
http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/texas-rangers/post/_/id/4881909/rapid-reaction-rangers-3-tigers-2-11
Well, that’s one word for it, I guess.
@ Suburban kid:
When did Mish say this? (dying laughing)
It’s Hector Salamanca from Breaking Bad: http://breakingbad.wikia.com/wiki/Hector_Salamanca
He’s played by Mark Margolis.
@ ACT:
I’m not concerned about his home runs. I’m just concerned that he kind of sucks. I expect the power will come just as it will for Soto.
@ mb21:
Fortunately, there’s only 2 more years left on his contract (after this one).
@ mb21:
Yeah, his fielding has been maybe even worse than last year, and he hasn’t made solid contact that I’ve seen. Pena was driving a lot of balls to the outfield, but the wind was killing them. Hell, I’d be happy if he had 2-3 doubles by now. It seems like every hit is a floater over the 2nd baseman’s head. Too early to call it, but he’s been on the downslide anyway, and I’m tired of watching him flail.
mb21 wrote:
A few weeks ago. (dying laughing)
—
Starlin Castro and triples:
http://baseballmusings.com/?p=82383
@ ACT:
I was calling for Sori to be let go before the season even started. I really have no desire to watch him. Nice guy and all that, but I’d rather see Joe mather oaf around than Soriano.
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/9455/with-lefties-looming-sveum-yanks-lahair
I guess I can see it. Maybe.
@ Rice Cube:
In other words, Brenly was right.
@ josh:
I am. I’m on the release him train
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
I think they let him keep at it this season. If he does well, they send a ton of money over to somebody to move him. If not, they were going to release him anyway. They might as well try.
Mish wrote:
The White Sox defeated the Mariners 4-0 on Saturday afternoon, and Philip Humber pitched his first perfect game of the season. That doesn’t sound like much, but one perfect game a month would give him 6 on the season. That season total would give him 6 for his career.
What a silly paragraph.
Soriano that is. If the Cubs release him when they call up Rizzo, they’ll have a chance to determine if Lahair can play a passable LF. They’ll also get to save $400,000 this year, because someone will sign him for the stretch run and hope he can pop a few dingers. They can also give PA’s to Sappelt and whoever the hell else plays OF in AAA. If no one was going to take him this offseason, I can understand hanging onto him to let his owed money reduce and see if he can keep hitting. However if he’s cooked, its better to cut bait and quit wasting everyone’s time. I do think he should be given until late July. If he looks like this at that point, bye.
The Cubs aren’t going to release Soriano. Absolutely won’t happen. End of story.
@ Rice Cube:
Yea I think we’re saying the same thing. I’m just going to stop hoping he can get ahold of one when he comes up with men on base. I’ll just expect him to flail away
@ mb21:
Texas, Cardinals, Dodgers: +8, +7, +8 wins. whoa, in 2 weeks?
@ ACT:
It’s more of a heartfelt wish than a sincere suggestion of business strategy. Realistically, I’d settle for seeing him with fewer at bats. If they did trade him in a ridiculously one-sided deal in July, I’d be fine with that.
@ Rice Cube:
So basically, Sveum allowed Dusty to goad him into sitting his best hitter. Figures that move would be the one thing Brenly would be right about.
@ ACT:
I wouldn’t be so absolute. I think it’s a long shot. A very long shot. But this FO has shown a willingness to eat cash. If Sori’s power outage runs through May, their hand could be forced.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I think the release is always in their back pocket, the question is how long they wait before they use it. I really do think that they let him play most of the season before shutting him down though, just to see if something happens. Might as well since they have little to lose; money’s already spent.
So now the Red Sox owe us two PTBNLs since the Byrd trade? Or do we each owe the other one?
@ ACT:
It’s not going to happen this early in the season. It probably won’t happen before they get a chance to see if some AL team needs a DH at the end of July. After that I wouldn’t be so sure though.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I agree, but I don’t even think it’s that much of a long shot. If ACT is saying they won’t release him before August then I agree. I think the odds of that are very slim. May as well keep him around to see if he can get hot at some point and maybe some AL team with DH need will be interested. After that I don’t think it’s a long shot at all. Actually, here’s all I think has to happen to pretty much ensure Soriano’s release by the end of August: Bryan LaHair has a good season at the plate. If he’s having a good year they’re not going to call up Rizzo, but they could move him to LF.
So is Michael Bowden going to be in uniform today?
@ bubblesdachimp:
I’d assume so, but I didn’t really know why he wasn’t yesterday. Usually when a player is traded prior to a game they’re available for the following day’s game. Every once in awhile when they are traded after a game they are not available the following day.
@ mb21:
I found yesterday to be bizarre that he wasnt in uniform
@ bubblesdachimp:
Same here. I thought he might have been one of the first used relievers. Weird.
@ mb21:
I assume he had to be on the active roster… You cant just have a player in limbo… Or maybe he wasnt on the active roster since the Cubs called up Wells..
one confused primate here
@ mb21:
Why wouldn’t they call up Rizzo if they moved LaHair to LF?
GBTS ——-> Published
@ GBTS:
Congrats. A blog post I assume?
@ GBTS:
I was thinkinf about this.. If he can playa passable left. The lineup of
Lahair
Jackson
Rizzo
Castro
Wellington
suddenly isnt so miserable
Bowden probably wasn’t activated yet because Wells was up and the roster was at 25. I think they have to send Maine or somebody down.
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
I’m unsure where Bowden is if he isn’t on the 25-man. I guess he is in trade limbo. Not sure how long he can stay there for though since he doesn’t have any options.
04/22/12 Chicago Cubs recalled RHP Randy Wells from Iowa Cubs.
04/21/12 Chicago Cubs placed RHP Ryan Dempster on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 18, 2012. Right quad strain.
Chicago Cubs traded CF Marlon Byrd to Boston Red Sox for Michael Bowden.
Chicago Cubs recalled CF Tony Campana from Iowa Cubs.
04/20/12 Chicago Cubs placed RHP Kerry Wood on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 14, 2012. Right shoulder fatigue.
Chicago Cubs recalled Scott Maine from Iowa Cubs.
@ bubblesdachimp:
He was on the active roster for the Red Sox so when the trade was completed he was on the active roster for the Cubs. I’m confused too. Maybe they give a team 24 hours or something after a trade to settle roster issues. I don’t know.
@ GBTS:
I realize I wasn’t very clear. I meant that if LaHair is having a good season and playing 1st base I don’t see them calling up Rizzo. If they were to move him to LF then they would call Rizzo up. I don’t think we see anything like that until August rolls around. Even then I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Cubs hold off a week or two to see if he gets hot in early August and they can then make a waiver trade. At that point it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Soriano released. This assumes he sucks, which he basically does at this point. He’s been worth 2 rWAR over the last 3 seasons and the projections, IIRC, don’t even think he’s a 1 WAR player this season.
@ WaLi:
I’m not exactly sure what the rules are, but there must be a trade limbo rule. That’s the only explanation. The Cubs can’t option Bowden to the minors. He was on the active roster when traded so is added to the active roster on the team he is traded to unless they make another transaction. It’s all very weird.
new thread up