Chris Volstad struck out 7 in 7, I would imagine if and when Dempster gets traded we will see Volstad return he's been so so down in AAA thus far. Brett Jackson struck out twice.
Trey McNutt is bad at sports right now. He needs to go the bullpen. Junior Lake was 2-5 and is batting .303.
Matt Szczur had a beastly night. He went 3-3 with 3 SB's and a pair of walks. He is currently sporting a 131 wRC+. The other day uber guru Kevin Goldstein mentioned that Szczur wasn't hitting well and I pointed out that he actually is. So last night I tweeted that it looks like Szczur has figured out the FSL. KG replied that Castro is a year younger than Szczur so don't get too excited. We then debated context and bit to which I argued that context matters but keep in mind this is only his 2nd year of full time baseball. The Cubs took a raw athlete and so far I'm very impressed. He has shown big time improvement in taking walks, hits for average, steals bases at a good rate and plays a good OF. You're not going to take a football player and send him to AA to learn how to play the game. So that's my rant for the day.
I watched this game on Milb.tv last night and finally got to look at Concepcion and Baez. Concepcion had a typical start getting rocked in the 1st and just generally being not good. That said, he does have a pretty nice curveball and seemed to focus on throwing the fastball which is not very good. Hitters square it up, he rarely can throw it past a guy. I could see a future as a loogy with the breaking pitch but unless he can get a decent change up or add some velocity I don't see much happening for the 7 million dollar man. Baez on the other hand looks great. He was 3-4 with a walk and stole 3 bases along the way. He worked the count twice to 2-0 and then both times took massive cuts. He went oppo with one of his hits, a double, and once he gets on the bases he wastes no time in stealing. Goldstein said he rates his speed as 50 which is average which made me think back to the average footed Starlin Castro and chuckle a bit. Other than that my only other observation is that Larry Suarez is fucking huge and not very good at pitching.
Ian Dickinson struck out 6 in 5 IP while allowing one earned run. Chadd Krist sounds like a dude who plays in Nickelback but despite his unfortunate name he hit very well in his Boise debut going 4-5 with a pair of doubles. Dong Yub Kim hit his 2nd HR of the year and made it count as it was a grand slam.
Jacob Rogers this year's 40th round pick went 4-4 with a pair of HR's. Rogers has hit the shit out of the ball so far but was a college senior and should probably move up pretty quick as he is too advanced for this level. Vogelbach hit a double and Trey Martin who AZ Phil raves about was 3-4 with a walk.
One of the great Sonic commercials:
Or is this sponsored by this Sonic?
@ jtsunami:
U,D,L,R, start+A at the same time.
Didn’t Whitenack pitch well yesterday? I thought he went 4 IP with 4 K and no BB. Second start in a row without a walk.
You need to work in more 90s pop culture and Indie music references if this website is ever going to take off, dj
Listening to the Pads game a little last night, and the announcers were REALLY excited about Cashner. I know Rizzo will be a decent player, but I couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of regret (or whatever it that emotion that fans feel about stuff they have no control over is called).
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/don-larsen-auction-off-56-perfect-game-uniform-215538161–spt.html
Nice cause for Don Larsen.
@ josh:
I think “regret” works. Or maybe “seller’s remorse”?
The Astros announcers were equally excited about Cashner.
@ Rice Cube:
This post from thecubreporter best summarized why i was happy to see the cashner trade.
http://www.thecubreporter.com/my-secret-cub-fan-reason-loving-anthony-rizzo-andrew-cashner-trade
Chet Masterson wrote:
This either reflects a missing URL or a brilliantly executed metaphor.
i mean guys who throw like Cashner are very hard to find. MB and I were beyond giddy as he went through the minors but I think a guy like Rizzo carries a lot less risk. I’m for the trade
there just aren’t a lot of guys who can throw 97 + and not break down. Verlander is the best one since Nolan Ryan imho.
@ Chet Masterson:
Ah yes, I agree with that. Cashner was throwing gas all the way into the 7th and I had the thought of his shoulder exploding in the back of my mind…the guy doesn’t like to dial it back at all.
@ dylanj:
There’s also that Roger Clemens guy.
dylanj wrote:
(dying laughing)
@ dylanj:
Me too. No doubt about that. The Padres kept the wrong 1B and I’m glad for that.
Berselius wrote:
I was going to say the same thing. RJ too. RJ was probably the best lefty ever and Clemens was probably the best righty ever. Both were power pitchers.
@ dylanj:
True. And contending with a team of hitters is, let’s face it, more fun than with the team that has awesome pitchers and never scores.
@ mb21:
RJ never really seemed to let up, either. That guy was awesome.
It’s too bad Pedro broke down so much because I think he might have been the best pitcher ever. His peak was easily the best ever though.
Johnson, there’s a first ballot HOF’er. I don’t know about Schilling. I think he deserves it, but wasn’t there some potential PED use at the end?
Pedro had an ERA of 1.74 in 2000 when the AL average was 4.91. He was more than 3 runs better than average. Unreal. If he was in his peak today he’d have an ERA of 0. (dying laughing)
@ josh:
Schilling is a first-ballot HOFer. Bloody sock, Red Sox winning the World Series. He helped the Dbacks win one. He has 76.9 rWAR, which puts him at about 100% chance of getting in.
I like Verlander more than Clemens. But that might be because I never like Roger Clemens.
@ mb21:
At least the best power pitchers. There’s Maddux and Pedro too. There’s been lots of great pitching in the past 20 years or so
@ Berselius:
What’s a vegan?
Pedro’s peak was just unreal. I agree with highest peak ever. Pitching like that right through the heart of the steroid era.
mb21 wrote:
I would definitely think so. He was too good to turn away. The championships wipe out about anything when it comes time for HOF votes — going on past experience. The guy was awesome. RJ’s career fWAR is over 100.
RJ deserves to get into the HOF because of this:
As good as Verlander has been, Clemens had 5 seasons in his career in which he was better than Verlander’s best season. He had another 8 seasons better than Verlander’s 2nd best season. Verlander is as close as it gets to Clemens these days, but there’s just no comparison between the two. Through age 28 Verlander had 26.6 rWAR. Clemens had 52.1.
I don’t have Play Index to verify, but for Schilling’s massive body of work, I remember reading he was one of the best pitchers since 1900 at not allowing unearned runs.
Clemens could have retired after 10 seasons and been a first ballot hall of famer. Verlander probably needs another 6 seasons as good as his best season in order to be there.
Verlander career (through is peak): 8.3 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 3.03 K/BB, 7.8 H/9
Clemens career (through age 44, 15 years after peak) 8.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 2.96 K/BB, 7.7 H/9
Clemens pitched through the offensive explosion in the late 90s and early 2000s too.
It’s really hard to imagine how good Roger Clemens was at pitching baseballs. We may not see another righty as good as him in our lives.
@ Mish:
I was going to check, but Play Index doesn’t have unearned runs.
@ mb21:
It’s amazing what steroids and PEDs can do for you.
/pedantic twat
1997 Clemens: 11.6 rWAR
1990 Clemens: 10.3
1987 Clemens: 9.1
1986 Clemens: 8.6
1992 Clemens: 8.4
2011 Verlander: 8.3
1998 Clemens: 7.8
1991 Clemens: 7.7
2005 Clemens: 7.6
1996 Clemens: 7.4
1988 Clemens: 6.8
1994 Clemens: 5.8
2001 Clemens: 5.4
1989 Clemens: 5.3
2009 Verlander: 5.2
2004 Clemens: 5.1
2000 Clemens: 4.3
2010 Verlander: 4.1
2007 Verlander: 3.9
2006 Verlander: 3.8
2003 Clemens: 3.8
2006 Clemens: 3.4
1985 Clemens: 2.6
1999 Clemens: 2.6
2002 Clemens: 2.4
1993 Clemens: 2.3
1984 Clemens: 1.7
1995 Clemens: 1.7
2008 Verlander: 1.5
2007 Clemens: 1.4
2005 Verlander: -.2
@ Rice Cube:
Of his 13 best seasons 12 of them were before there was even a hint of speculation. If people want to say Bonds was helped, I can live with that. I don’t care if he was. The stats are the stats and that’s all that matters, but Clemens best seasons were without steroids. The guy was just a horse. And a damn good one.
WaLi wrote:
Someone who only eats food that doesn’t cast a shadow
@ mb21:
I will go on record as saying that it would be very disappointing if neither Bonds nor Clemens went into the HOF within the next decade.
new shit: http://www.obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/prospects-who-might-be-called-up-soon-part-2.html