It was a sloppy game for the Iowa Cubs as Vitters, Rizzo and Cardenas each committed an error. Brett Jackson went 1-5 with a triple and Nate Robertson continued his inspired campaign to be released within the first month.
Smokies
Rain Out
There's just no way to sugarcoat it- Hayden Simpson was awful tonight. His final line was 2.2 IP 6H 6 ER and 4 BB to no strikes and a HR allowed. He worked from behind all night with a fastball between 85-87 mph. We all know the mono case and the elbow injury from last year but the bottom line is this- if the kid isn't right (and I don't see how he can be considering he has lost 10 mph off his fastball in less than 2 years) then shut him down until he gets better. He isn't learning anything from getting destroyed and until he is throwing harder than a 40 year old middle reliever its not going to get much better. Now, I was surprised to see that the future Mrs. Hayden Simpson responded to one of my tweets to Daytona announcers concerning Hayden's weight loss and we struck up a chat. She seems like a very nice person and apparently Hayden is slowly gaining weight back and really trying to get back to where he was in college. And honestly, despite the snark that Simpson gets around here its not his fault that the Cubs drafted the guy so early and its not his fault they continue to send him out to the wolves. I had really hoped the Theo/Jed regime would handle him a little better but at this point there isn't much reason to hope we get much out of him until he gets healthy and thats not a sure thing to ever happen.
It was about a week ago that MD and I were praising Patrick Franceson and since then he has pretty much sucked. So blame us. However the Asian Sensation that is Yao Lin Wang picked up another win. Wang went 2 IP and allowed no runs, no hits and just a walk. He still has an ERA of 0. I would really like to see him start considering he did well in that role in Boise but maybe they just want to limit his IP for now. 20 yr old OF Oliver Zapata went 3-4 and currently sports an OPS of 1.992.
Thanks, assholes.
Congrats to dylan for getting this post sponsored by a company that doesn’t exist. That must have taken some real negotiating skills.
Simpson, eh?
@ Mish:
He’s one of the organ farms in sector 7-G
@ Berselius:
You’re welcome.
With Kerry Wood having shoulder problems, the Cubs should use some of that depth and move Matt Garza to the bullpen.
@ Mish:
You see, “mono” means “one.” And “nucleosis” means “nucleosis.”
mb21 wrote:
@ Berselius:
I thought it was amusing, in this day and age, to find a post about “children” and a tobacco company in the same sentence. That is what Philip Morris did right?
GBTS wrote:
iowa is the only team mildly exciting
Mobile Rice wrote:
@ Suburban kid:
Must have been a commercial you recently enjoyed.
Sweet baby DeJesus…those poor arms.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/18/you-might-want-to-steer-clear-of-these-two-pitching-prospects/
I feel like whichever coach let them do this should be slapped.
@ Rice Cube:
Didn’t Kerry Wood throw both halves of a double-header the day the Cubs signed him?
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Pitchers were grittier then. Now it can only apply to middle infielders or OFs with height below 5’9″
@ Berselius:
What about catchers with a sub-.700 OPS?
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
All catchers are gritty, no matter what their hitting stats are.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/18/doug-smith-does-not-like-bikini-clad-women-at-the-ballpark/
second commenter wins
@ Berselius:
(dying laughing)
@ Berselius:
BASEBALL IS PURE. STEROIDS CHEATING BOOBIES BARRY BONDS WHHHHAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGAARRRRBBBBLLLLL
I for one prefer baseball with steroids, boobies, and Barry Bonds. Especially if its boobies on Barry Bonds as a result of steroids.
Mish wrote:
DO NOT PUT ON KNOB AND BOLLOCKS.
@ Suburban kid:
I was under the impression that both boobies and steroids were performance-enhancing.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Boobies are only performance enhancing for those weirdos with a naked woman fetish
http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-has-nakedlady-fetish,498/
im still pissed about the Hayden Simpson thing. What the Cubs are doing is pretty fucked up imo. There is nothing left to be gained by running him out there everyday when something is wrong with him.
@ dylanj:
I don’t think there’s anything wrong. He had a fluky velocity spike, the Cubs overreacted to it and drafted him too high and then the mono hit him and brought him back to earth. I’ve also not been able to find one single shred of reliable proof of the elbow thing, and I’ve asked around. It’s only been on the blogs, so I’m still unsure that really happened. I think what we have to realize is that Hayden Simpson isn’t as good as the Cubs wanted us to believe. But unless you can find hard proof that Simpson is actually injured, then I don’t think you can make the claim he’s being mishandled. Moreover, if all that’s wrong with him is that he needs to regain strength, then running him out there and letting him build his arm back up is exactly what the Cubs ought to be doing with him.
how is it a fluke though? He sat at 92-94 and even hit 97 in the playoffs his senior year. And if your theory is that he was 85-87 every year before his senior year I would say thats pretty unlikely. The Cubs FO might be weird but nobody is going to draft a kid who throws 85 as a junior with the 16th pick. So to me its not a fluke. You don’t go from that to 85 mph in less than 2 years unless something is wrong with you. And if the weight is causing the loss then keep in in EXST and put him through Camp Colvin or something because you are going to destroy a guys confidence having him beat around like he has been the last 2 years.
@ dylanj:
The scouting reports I saw said exactly that, DJ. His velocity spike came his senior year, but has since returned to previous levels.
BA had Simpson at 191 on draft day, and projected him as a middle reliever, FWIW. The Cubs overreached. And now they’re getting burned for it.
Also, Bronson Arroyo had mono last year, and didn’t miss any time.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I never looked at Simpson’s teenage development, but couldn’t you get a growth spurt after your junior year that would help your velocity improve? Or a growth spurt after soph year and then take junior year to fill out naturally or in the gym, and then have better velocity senior year?
If we were talking about a velocity spike between age 21-22 it would make more sense that it was a fluke. From 16-17 it could be a fluke, or it could be development, couldn’t it?
where did you find anything like that MO? I have searched and not found anything
16. CHICAGO CUBS
HAYDEN SIMPSON, rhp, Southern Arkansas
SCOUTING PROFILE: With a fastball that topped at 96-97 mph early this season, Simpson put himself squarely on the map with baseball scouts in the Arkansas area. Most had the preconceived notion that the state’s four best 2010 prospects all resided at the University of Arkansas, by far the state’s highest-profile school. But suddenly Simpson was a player to be reckoned with—no matter that he pitched at a Division II school, and had the obvious prejudice of being a 6-foot righthander. As scouts began to bear down on Simpson, it was apparent that he had a lot more to offer than just a big fastball. His two best pitches were actually his slider and knee-buckling 12-to-6 curve. His circle changeup was also a solid fourth pitch. What’s more, he impressed scouts with his feeling for pitching and aggressive approach. With a heavy workload early in the season, Simpson’s velocity began to taper off to the low-90s, but it was back up again to 93-94 in his signature outing of his junior season, when he beat Florida Southern (the nation’s No. 1-ranked team at the start of the season) in NCAA D-II regional play, walking none and striking out 13. It would turn out to be his final outing, as Southern Arkansas lost out to Tampa in the regional final. On the season, Simpson went 13-1, 1.81 with 35 walks and 131 strikeouts in 99 innings. He was selected the D-II national pitcher of the year. Over his career at Southern Arkansas, he went 35-2, 2.39 with 323 strikeouts in 271 innings. That’s all pretty heady stuff for a pitcher who wasn’t actively recruited out of Arkansas’ Magnolia High, certainly not by the state’s marquee school. It was only at the behest of his neighbor, Southern Arkansas baseball coach Allen Gum, that he consider attending that school, and his career has been nothing but a success since.—ALLAN SIMPSON
So he was 90 + all year Senior year and
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2010/06/biggest-shocker-in-years-hayden-simpson-to-chicago-cubs/ if you read there someone commented who seems to know a bit about him had him at 88 in HS. So he wasn’t ever as low as he is now.
@ SkipVB:
By the way, I’m not arguing the over-reach. I think that is clear.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/17/football-writers-please-stop-trying-to-write-about-baseball/
Also linked from that article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406.html
@ dylanj:
It was around draft time. I can’t find anything besides the BA entry proclaiming him the biggest shock of draft day, and they have the senior year velocity numbers (92-94). But part of the shock on draft day, as I recall, was that the Cubs seemed to be drafting him based on a season’s worth of data.
@ dylanj:
Thanks, Skip. Isn’t he at 85-88 now?
@ SkipVB:
That’s all possible, and I don’t dismiss it.
@ dylanj:
Yikes. So mea culpa and a FacePalm for me. I thought we drafted him out of High School. You can disregard this comment–>@ SkipVB:
@ SkipVB:
I thought he was a high-school draftee too.
@ SkipVB:
Yeah, I just find nothing shocking about what’s going on with Simpson, just as I’m not shocked that Colvin didn’t pan out (although he’s hitting well out of the gate, he’s also sporting 1 BB in 21 AB, vs. 8 K, so….yeah probably not going to remain hot for long).
Calcaterra’s Twitter questions:
(dying laughing)
Fuck.
no from what I can piece together is he didnt play baseball much in HS but threw around 88. He was the neighbor of the college coach and by his senior year was 92-94 and touched 97. So he added velocity in college which makes sense. But now just 2 years later and he hasn’t topped 87 mph. That just doesn’t happen without an injury. It just doesn’t. There is no question the Cubs overreached but they are compounding that mistake with letting this guy get hammered when he isn’t healthy.
An article I just read and thought was amusing, particularly because of the situation and place names:
How do you get dead, frozen cows out of a Forest Service ranger cabin in the middle of the wilderness?
Sorry Mish, no wrenches or wenches mentioned in the article. It’s strictly G-rated.
@ Berselius:
No, 4-year DII guy.
@ dylanj:
If there’s no proof of injury, what else can they do? The mono thing seems to be bunk, and the elbow thing is wholly unsubstantiated. If you can’t find an injury, you just have to let the kid keep throwing and hope he can right the ship.
@ Rice Cube:
Shut you right up
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It’s entirely possible the kid isn’t letting on that he is injured which could be detrimental to his development (or lack thereof anyway) although I would think the Cubs would be more preemptive about something like this.
DJ, what can you tell me about Chilo Rachel, former Niner OG? The Bears just signed him.
Maybe. Either way I just feel bad for the kid at this point. at least his fiancee is a very good looking gal
@ Rice Cube:
If that’s what is going on, it’s certainly irresponsible, but now we’ve reached a level of speculation that won’t get us anywhere. I’d rather assume that under the new regime, the Cubs are being much more diligent about these things.
@ dylanj:
Yeah, I imagine this has been a pretty tough experience for him.
BAM! Raffi Torres —————> suspended indefinitely, pending hearing, NHL expected to suspend him at least 10 games upon said hearing. Fuck and yes.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It’s only fair.
@ Rice Cube:
This would be his 4th suspension for contact to the head this season. I think he’s gone for the playoffs, and possibly into next season.
Wow, the Red Sox got demolished by the Rangers last night. 6 HR, 18 runs
@ Berselius:
At home, no less. Ouch.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
But he still wasn’t given a minute of penalty time during the game. WTF. And he is a 4th liner, while Hossa might still be in the hospital.
http://www.jockular.com/14152/jose-canseco-wants-to-see-girls-picture-on-twitter-funny
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
dylanj wrote:
And has a million bucks or so in the bank.
@ Aisle424:
Oooh. Burn.
@ Suburban kid:
Hopefully he was smart enough to invest wisely, even at 0.25% interest in standard savings, that’s better than some of the stories you hear about athletes’ burn rates on their earnings.
@ SkipVB:
Hopefully he didn’t give his money to Lenny Dykstra to invest.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
just when I thought there was NO way the Bears line could get worse they went and did this. Rachal is beyond terrible as pass blocking. Decent with the run.
Saw this on Twitter: White Supremacist My Little Pony blogging.
http://mynationalistpony.tumblr.com/post/20732774864/you-mentioned-in-one-post-about-how-christianity-is
@ dylanj:
I think they’re just bringing him in for depth, but it sounds like he’s just like every OG they already have. Bleurgh.
@ Mish:
this whole paragraph is pretty amazing:
“Jesus should be laughed at for getting his just desserts. The Romans built the noblest civilisation on earth, but this just wasn’t good enough for Jesus because it wasn’t a communist utopia. He talked out of line and condemned the values of strength, honour and pride, and frankly, I’m glad that traitor met a miserable end.”
GBTS, I’m posting your Tupac/Jedi pic to Facebook, with due credit. Just sayin’.
Lineup v LHP Buehrle
RF Johnson
2B Barney
SS Castro
LF Soriano
1B Baker
3B Stewart
C Soto
CF Byrd
P Garza
@ EnricoPallazzo:
I’m going to check the site daily and make it my homepage. (dying laughing)
@ Mish:
I didn’t make it, I ripped it off the ‘book too.
Berselius wrote:
@ GBTS:
Fine, no credit then. My uploader is having issues anyways.
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Replace “Rome” with “America,” and “Jesus” with “Obama,” and you have a Rick Santorum speech.
http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-cubs/2012/4/18/2957982/javier-baez-chicago-cubs-whatever-the-fuck-i-want
new shit
http://www.obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/marlon-byrd-is-not-a-091-hitter-and-other-observations-about-slumps-and-trade-value.html
Regarding Hayden Simpson I agree with both DJ in that I think it’s terrible the Cubs are playing him in a level he’s clearly not qualified to pitch in. I have no idea how the Cubs got this idea that high a was a place for him considering his past. Makes zero sense to me. We’re talking about a guy who gave up 76 hits in 61.1 innings at Low A and 9 of those hits were home runs. He didn’t strike many out either. He was just terrible. I see no benefit in moving him up. You better be damn sure there’s some improvement there to make a bold move like that.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
For what it’s worth, MO, a velocity spike isn’t uncommon. You can read through the upcoming scouting reports for the draft this year and you’ll read something like this more than once and these guys will be picked early in the draft: he was at 86-88 his junior year, but jumped 92-93 his senior season and showed an advanced slider at times.
I agree with you that it was just a terrible pick. Even on the budget the Cubs were on it’s hard to imagine the Cubs not being able to find a better player than Simpson. There were just so many of them.
@ dylanj:
I don’t know if he’s healthy or not, but it’s just nuts that he’s in High A.
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
Yeah, if there’s no proof of injury he should keep pitching. I agree. I think where I disagree with you is where he should continue to pitch. I’m kind of hoping it’s in another organization, but if it’s the Cubs at least put him in a level he belongs.
@ Berselius:
At least Barney is in a good spot in the lineup for once.