Was there a Cubs game yesterday?
The Cubs hit roughly 37 sac flies to beat the DBacks yesterday, and drag their spring trianing winning percentage to .500. Clearly I should place a big bet on the Cubs winning 81 games this year. Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless inning, and Jay Jackson had a meh start. Jeff Samardzija threw four scoreless innings in a minor league start.
Is there a Cubs game today?
The Cubs play the Brewers in what will be the last Cactus league game of the season. Travis Wood will start for the Cubs, as well as most if not all of the opening day lineup. The Brewers also have an exhibition game against the DBacks later tonight in whatever they're calling the BOB these days, so it will probably mostly be minor leaguers from them today. The game will be broadcast on WGN radio.
Expected lineup
RF DeJesus
2B Barney
SS Castro
1B Lahair*
LF Soriano
3B Stewart
CF Byrd
C Soto
P Wood
*LaHair has sat out a few games with a stiff back, and could miss this one too. I get the vibe that it's something he would play through in the regular season, but there's no point in playing through it in a meaningless ST game.
Marmol working on more than just locating his fastball
Carlos Marmol and the Cubs also seem to be aware of the drop in Marmol's fastball velocity last year. So he made a few changes to his grip, adding more movement and sink to it to make up for the drop in velocity. It would help explain his struggles in early spring, and he's had six consecutive scoreless outings. Clearly he'll post a 0.00 ERA. He'll lose the handle on it from time to time but this sounds like good news to me.
Extended news
Two big extensions were signed yesterday. Matt Cain signed a 5/112.5 deal with the Giants, and Reds star 1B Joey Votto signed a monster 10/225 deal. Seeing Votto around the NL central for the next decade is obviously going to have a bigger effect on the team, but the Cain deal could have ramifications for a possible extension of Matt Garza. John at Cubs Den has a piece up looking at how it might affect the Cubs negotiations.
Carrie Muskat makes a Romney-esque endorsement of the Cubs
In the beginning of an article about how the Cubs believe their hard work will pay off:
On paper, the 2012 Cubs may not scare many teams. New third baseman Ian Stewart hit zero home runs last season in the big leagues and is replacing someone who could be counted on for 20-plus dingers and 90-something RBIs. First baseman Bryan LaHair had nearly as many at-bats in Venezuela this winter as he has in the Majors. The bullpen may include a slender 22-year-old making the leap from Class A to the show.
Who's ready for some baseball! Yeah!
Baserunning fluff
Reed Johnson gets mega-pats on the back for scoring from third on a shallow flyout in yesterday's game. Sveum has emphasized aggressive baserunning this spring, but judging from what we've seen it hasn't paid off. I'm all for aggressive baserunning, but the Cubs to stress smarter aggressive baserunning, stuff like going from first to third more often, not just simply attempting more stolen bases or ill-advised sac-fly scoring attempts for the sake of aggressiveness. This team does not have good speed.
Ubaldo Jimenez suspended five games
The gutless pitcher was allegedly sending a message to his former team by throwing at their franchise player. It sounds like things got really nasty in that locker room before they traded him.
Forum highlight
Josh started a Blackhawks thread in the forum yesterday. Feel free to jump in and discuss your favorite team that was recently freed from the clutches of a miserly owner.
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OV Season Predictions contest
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MLBTR’d
It’s good to get back to talking about the important things, like the level of fear the Cubs induce around the league.
I don’t really even know that much about hockey. I listened to the playoff run when they won the Stanley Cup and their failed run last season.
Not that Ryan Flaherty is some all-world player, but it still makes no sense to me why he couldn’t be protected (with Koyie Hill on the 40 man no less). He would basically take the spot that Mather is going to take. Flaherty is a lefty and can play all the positions Mather can outside of CF.
@ jtsunami:
I really don’t get the way the Cubs handled Flaherty and are handling Marquez Smith. Both seem like useful MLB bench guys on paper.
@ sitrick2:
I’ve never really understood the utility of physical intimidation in baseball, and it’s especially baffling to me that baseball writers continue to return to that well.
there has to be something about Smith that we dont see on the stat line. Nobody in baseball wants the guy. Scouts must have determined that his skill set wont translate well to MLB pitching.
@ dylanj:
Yeah, there’s got to be something there that we don’t see.
For those that care about these things, Brian Urlacher just tweeted that the new Nike NFL jerseys will be unveiled in 90 minutes.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/03/dusty-baker-finally-makes-it-official-sean-marshall-is-the-reds-closer/
Proven closer in the making.
Buried in that is also a note that Aroldis Chapman is still going to be in the Bullpen? Didn’t they spend like $100M on that guy?
All teams have basically passed on Smith so while his stats are actually pretty nice (especially with his stellar defense), there must be something that’s holding him back. Flaherty? Can’t see it. As said above, not protecting him while Koyie Hill was protected was just dumb. They should have released Hill immediately. They had to know they weren’t keeping him so why even bother with keeping him on the roster?
@ josh:
I think they spent $35 million.
@ mb21:
Oh okay. Still, it seems like he has potential. I can’t figure out why they don’t let him get work in as a starter. He would be way more valuable there if he was successful than as setup man.
@ mb21:
Maybe they were trying to figure out what kinds of intangibles he had that all their spreadsheets were missing.
Alternatively they were hoping to send him as compensation (dying laughing)
I don’t want the Cubs to be aggressive on the bases. I want them to be smart.
@ mb21:
True. The broadcast guys were making a big deal about how the Cubs could pick up bases here and there with aggression, but if you off-set that by making four outs per game on stupid plays, you’re not really helping your team.
I liked in Moneyball where Billy Beane said “No stealing bases. No BUNTING!”
@ josh:
I think it’s only more valuable if he’s good enough. If he’s a bad starter he’s no more valuable than he is being a reliever. I haven’t watched him pitch much so I have no idea.
@ josh:
I think the Reds are really worried about Chapman’s control issues. Unlike the Cubs, the Reds recognize that pitchers with control issues ought to have their innings minimized.
josh wrote:
I’d be very happy if the Cubs did that this year. I’m sick of all this aggressive baserunning shit. It’s nothing more than trying to get an extra base at the cost of additional outs. It’s the exact same thing as sac bunting.
@ josh:
Billy Beane put the fear of God into Art Howe in that book. If there was a rare stolen base or bunt I think Art immediately attributed that to the player (dying laughing)
@ mb21:
THIS
The Cubs are a station-to-station team with no proven power hitter(s) in the lineup. Let It Happen to You.
josh wrote:
/SNL Skit
Reference: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-brad-pitt/1265876
Seahawks: Still have groin-grabbingly awful uni’s:
the grey one isn’t bad:
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
A real football player would have a much bigger penis.
I prefer a football uniform without all the whore’s glitter.
@ Aisle424:
Word about the Twitters is that most of the changes made are minor and that Nike even stripped down some of the uniforms.
This is supposedly the new Bears jersey. I’m underwhelmed.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/03/carlos-zambrano-has-21-walks-in-21-innings-this-spring/
*sad face*
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
When did Brian Urlacher turn black?
@ Aisle424:
Agreed:
@ Rice Cube:
When the Chicago media became critical of him.
Perhaps I’m not that observant but the “new” Bears uniform looks just like the old one.
http://www.avclub.com/chicago/articles/exclusive-premiere-serengeti-raps-about-bartman-in,71830/
@ Rice Cube:
With 21 innings pitches we know for sure his new transformed talent level is 9 walks per 9 innings.
http://www.bleachernation.com/2012/04/03/chicago-cubs-plan-for-the-2012-draft-be-less-wrong/
Coooool…
@ mb21:
I was more looking at his decreased velocity and other factors observed in his last couple seasons with the Cubs but I like the way you worked in the meme.
@ Rice Cube:
The numbers are the top of the shoulder now, instead of the side, and the stripes don’t go all the way around the armband.
@ Rice Cube:
It’s not a meme. It’s fact. (dying laughing)
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
I don’t really see the need to make the distinction. Really it’s just pitchers that aren’t as good should pitch less innings. Control issues are just a subset of that.
New footer image (scroll down)
@ Berselius:
Too true.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/dispatch_article/umpire-statistics/
Re: NFL uniforms
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
@ mb21:
It’s gonna happen!!!
I’ll let it happen to me.
@ Berselius:
Pretty much.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I think Nike should have gone all T-shirts this year as an homage to pee-wee football.
@ Berselius:
I don’t really know what the issues with Chapman are. If he has control issues, why not let him gain experience in the minors to work on that? I guess I don’t really care, since I’m not a Reds fan, but he seemed like an exciting pitcher that they shoved into the bullpen pretty quickly. I guess that’s probably indicative of problems more than anything. If they really liked what they were seeing, they’d have figured out a way to use him to their advantage.
@ mb21:
That’s cool. Hopefully umpires have access to these kinds of tools so they can self-improve. I’d be interested in seeing overal statistics on plays on the bases as well. If nothing else, you see what, if any, benefit there would be to using replay review.
The Cubs apparently fixed a flaw in DeJesus’s swing
http://www.bleachernation.com/2012/04/03/david-dejesus-may-now-be-ready-to-bounce-back/
Lahair scratched from today’s game
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/8904/barney-embrases-plum-spot-in-lineup
Just like the link says.
@ Berselius:
Best shape of his career?
What’s a plum spot?
@ jtsunami:
Apparently that’s what the #2 spot in the lineup is.
@ jtsunami:
When you get demoted from it, you are expected to handle it with a lot of aplom.
Urlacher sporting the new getup:
Those jerseys look snug.
Rice Cube wrote:
When he had 5 kids with 5 different women out of wedlock.
@ Rodrigo Ramirez:
We’ll have to ask current recordholders Larry Bird and Steve Garvey about that.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
Good call. And hopefully most of you know I was only kidding.
@ Rodrigo Ramirez:
(dying laughing), I’m sure most of the regulars did.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I wish I still had ambition. I’d take first year with the “Get a Job” level of ambition at this point, that way my dropoff isn’t so drastic. Hell, to be honest, I’d be fine with just the pizza.
sczczur starting at daytona
@ GW:
Is that a promotion or a demotion?
@ josh:
He was already at Daytona to end last season so I think it’s more of a stay-put thing.
Okay. So just looking at their Minor league page, it looks like Daytona is between Peoria and Tennessee? You know, I never paid much attention. I honestly thought there were only three levels.
http://holycoleslaw.tumblr.com/post/20409511883
@ josh:
There’s low-A and high-A, then I think before you get to Peoria you go through a couple rookie leagues. AA and AAA don’t have sub-levels, at least I don’t think so.
@ Rice Cube:
Rookie League: AZL Cubs
Short-season A ball (also considered rookie league): Boise Hawks
Low A: Peoria Chiefs
High A: Daytona Cubs
AA: Tennessee Smokies
AAA: Iowa Cubs
There’s also the two DSL Cubs teams and one VSL team. Those are for kids under 18 who can’t yet come to the US. I think the VSL team is shared with the Twins.
http://deadspin.com/5897905?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
*cough* Soriano *cough*
Also, facepalm
@ Berselius:
That sucks, but I’m saving my outrage for the next player caught for taking steroids. (dying laughing)
@ mb21:
That’s a lot of teams. Something about this makes me not envy baseball players. On the other hand, over the last 10 years, I’ve gotten paid roughly $20 to do what I love, so it’s all relative.
Cubs close to a deal for Wrigley renovation
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/11691313-418/emanuel-city-in-final-stages-of-deal-for-wrigley-field-renovation.html
h/t ccd
Because I believe life is too short to drink bad beer, this “triple filtering” business Budweiser has decided to tout, is a bunch of bullshit. Filtering a lager is just removing solids from the fermented wort. If anything, it has a detrimental effect on the flavor, and no effect on the ABV, which means all Budweiser did to “Platinum” is up the amount of rice they adjunct the wort with, thereby upping the ABV without upping the flavor profile.
Well, now I have another reason to hate the Astros.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I always assumed they just used triple-filtered water, or some other such bullshit. It’s just like the Lucky Strike “It’s Toasted” campaign. It’s like the Cubs started a marketing campaign saying “Come see our team, we have second basemen!”
@ Berselius:
One of the best things that has happened to Ricketts was for Daley to abdicate the throne.
Apparently Zonk just said on the pre-game show that there’s a good chance LaHair will be unable to play in the opener.
@ Berselius:
Exactly.
Hiring Julian Green to run this thing was smart, too. That’s how shit gets done in Chicago. You get a guy and that gets your thing done.
@ Berselius:
(dying laughing) B if I were you I’d tweet links like that to that Sullivan guy constantly.
Sox Closer Andrew Bailey ———> probably out for the year
Dear Larry Lucchino,
Suck it.
No Love,
Karma
@ GBTS:
Watching Crawford implode is punishment enough. Beyond anything I ever expected.
(dying laughing), Blake DeWitt might go from DFA to opening day starter in less than 2 months
@ Berselius:
Your Opening Day 1B and cleanup hitter: Jeff Baker! CUBBBBBBBIIIIIIEZZZZZ WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Watching Lucchino steer that org into the dirt is going to be enjoyable on so many levels. Lucchino, the raw red rectum of all humankind, suffers, Bill Simmons suffers, and the legion of racist Massholes suffer. I don’t see a downside here.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
At least this might mean that Soto won’t be batting 8th on opening day (dying laughing)
@ Berselius:
Reason to Watch Opening Day: The fat catcher will be allowed to bat 3 spots below where he should be batting, instead of the customary 4 spots too low.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
He can’t bunt like Barney, though. He’s got no plum spots. Shit, I’m confusing my metaphors again.
josh wrote:
Cubs have plenty of lemons though
@ josh:
Giving him Barney’s plum spot would be dum.
@ Berselius:
With all those lemons, they should make gatorade.
Good news: Fontenot is available. We make him 3rd, move Castro over to first, Barney to Right, DeJesus to Short, Byrd to 2nd, Sori to CF, call up BJax to pitch.
No downside.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Yeah, but why so low? Oh right, because he can’t run the bases, and this year we’re going to be a team from 30 years ago. Slap bunts and steals for the win!
@ josh:
GRINDBUNTRUNHUSTLEGRITHEARTITTUDE
Old Hoss Radbourn must love the Cubs taking it back to 1879.
Why the hell couldn’t the Cubs have hired a modern manager?
5,000 foot HR for Castro
LaHair busts his ass and makes an opening day roster- only to sit with a sore back from riding on the bus.
Fate hates some people
According to Gameday, the Cubs haven’t even batted yet.
also the Smokies play their first game tonight. I noticed that Iowa, Tenn and Boise are all on the list of MILB teams this year. so for 40 bucks you can watch out three best affiliates play. Boise should be really fun to watch this year
@ dylanj:
I wonder if the busting his ass and swinging hard and that kind of thing didn’t contribute as well. He was told in the off-season that he would be the guy. He might have pushed himself, feeling that pressure of the AAAA label.
@ Berselius:
Catchers bat 8th. 2nd basemen bat 2nd. Just how it’s been. How it is.
josh wrote:
(dying laughing)
@ josh:
They’ll do that when they have a modern ballpark. So a hundred years from now. I’m excited.
@ mb21:
That’s a 90th percentile projection.
Mather in for DeJesus already? I hope that’s just because DeJesus has to catch a plane and not because he broke something.
@ mb21:
The Cubs should get with the times and install some 80′s style Astroturf to take advantage of their speed
@ Berselius:
Fixing the team with skience.
@ Berselius:
Oooh…I wonder if it’s like 5-yard-line close or “Red Sox and Cubs negotiations” close.
Seems like T. Wood is still giving up lots of hard hit balls.
Can someone help me out, here? Is Jeff Samardzija the Cubs’ #3 starter? Is this true?
@ AndCounting:
The guy threw like 20 awesome innings in spring training. So of course he’s the number 3 starter. Surprising he wasn’t the opening day starter with his spring.
FWIW, he’s only the 3rd starter because they’re holding Maholm back. F7 was the last to join the rotation so he’s the 5th starter if that matters. It’s totally unfair and shit because of that awesome spring. He should have been the first starter named. After one start!
@ mb21:
Okay. I guess the injustice of him not being officially crowned the Ace of the Staff will be something that drives him all season long. Haters gonna hate.
and because the scouts and FO like what they see with his stuff and velocity. Its not just a good spring.
@ dylanj:
And let’s not forget the pictures he has of Theo and Sveum in (independently?) compromising positions. Sometimes, what drives a guy causes him to hire a private investigator…
@ AndCounting:
I figure by midseason we’ll be talking about the NL starting pitcher for the all-star team and run away favorite for Cy Young.
I like the cubs.com headline about Wood being ready to go after a distraction-less spring. That’s because the media didn’t even notice he hadn’t been pitching. That and the team sucks so nobody cares.
He has been brihyent.
Bud Ceiling.
Reh a articuh about it today.
Wain-wight
Another year of Zonk!
@ dylanj:
They liked those same things in his supposedly “good” relief innings last season, which ignores the fact that his peripherals remained generally the same. All they’re doing with F7 is giving him one last shot to come good.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
That’s my opinion, too. They have a couple of months to waste, and they’re letting Jeff put his money where his mouth is. Every damn year he comes out and says he’s really a starter. Time to prove it, Jeff.
Who’s pitching right now? I think Gameday broke again.
@ josh:
Exactly. I just wish people would stop trying to gerrymander the data set to make this move seem like something other than what it is.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Not only that but you could take a list of 10 or 20 players who have shown they changed (like a Jose Bautista) and I’m confident that few teams actually saw that type of change in a small sample. Maybe the Blue Jays entered the 2010 season thinking something seemed different about Bautista. Maybe they were even a little optimistic, but I don’t remember reading anything about how he had become an entirely different player beforehand. Players change. They become better and worse when we don’t expect it, but I don’t believe teams are very accurate at predicting which have and have not.
I’d say the simple fact we hear so much about different motions, batting stances, grips and some tweaks here or there that teams aren’t all that much better at spotting change in talent over a small sample than your average observer. I could well be wrong here. I could be totally wrong, but I don’t much care what the Cubs have seen or think they’ve seen. So far this spring we’ve heard about something new and improved from just about every player. Soriano will be good again. Barney is going to become really good. DeJesus is fixed. Marmol is fixed too. And you know what? Most of it’s bullshit.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It’s a hail mary and I think the new CBA is partly why this decision was made. The Cubs have a 27 year old who throws hard with little mileage on his arm. There’s some reason to think that his career peak could be later because of that (if he became any good). The Cubs suck. They’re going to suck for the foreseeable future. The farm system will only be gradually improved as opposed to the quick rebuild we were all hoping for.
Maybe you get luckier than shit. F7 works out. So does Jackson and Rizzo. McNutt turns it around. Then you have a decent core that can help you win 85 games.
Nate Robertson sighting?
@ mb21:
@ mb21:
I couldn’t agree more. And that’s a reason for putting him in there that I can accept. I just hate the post hoc sophistries springing up around him.
mb21 wrote:
all we really have to consider is the guy who was a throw in, signed for one year cheap or picked up off the waiver wire. Every once in awhile one of those guys will have a really good season. Every time people think this guy has changed and he gets more money than he probably should. Almost every time the player returns to what he did before the “breakout” year. Most of the time when that happens it’s over a much larger sample and most importantly, it’s against MLB talent (not spring training talent). Even after a 300 to 500 plate appearances or the equivalent in innings pitched I don’t think teams are very good at spotting which players have actually changed and which ones haven’t.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I’m not sure I like the decision any better even if that’s why did it because the better pitcher is not, you know, in the rotation. Trade a couple people and I might even like the decision, but as it is, I still don’t like it. I think it’s more like a hail mary by a team with a 5 point lead and 2 seconds remaining on the clock. They could sit on the ball and win for sure, but instead they’re throwing into the defenders who have a chance to pick it and return to win the game. (dying laughing)
The Cubs went all-minor league a couple innings ago. Jeimer Candelario is in. So is Baez.
@ Rice Cube:
0-fer. All BUSTS.
@ mb21:
So you’re basically saying that Ken O’Keefe was secretly hired as VP of rotation decisions?
@ mb21:
I recognize Wells is better, but at least he’s going to be getting starts and will be at AAA where he can work on a few things. You give F7 one last shot, if it works out, you have both he and Wells in the event of trade or injury; if it fails, you ship F7 to the bullpen and bring Wells back. Just don’t pretend you picked the better pitcher.
Berselius wrote:
new shit: http://www.obstructedview.net/projections/rlyws-annual-projections-blowout.html
I guess TCR was wrong about the optional waivers with Wells. That or he was claimed by some other team 4 days ago and has been pitching for them without a peep from the Chi media.