Geovany Soto has a tear in the meniscus in his left knee and will or already has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery. He'll be out at least 3 weeks. Blake Lalli was called up to fill his spot on the roster. The Cubs entered the season having a great deal of depth behind the plate. Soto was to be the starting catcher while Steve Clevenger made the big league team as a back-up out of spring training. Welington Castillo later replaced the injured Clevenger and now Lalli is replacing Soto, but not as the starter. Clevenger says he'll be returning in about a week so we could assume that he'll either immediately replace Lalli or will do so after a short rehab assignment. Castillo will get an opportunity to show he deserves more playing time with Soto and Clevenger out.
Chris Volstad was optioned to AAA after clearing optional waivers today. Lalli replaced him on the roster, but with Soto heading to the DL the Cubs will have to call up someone to replace Volstad. Travis Wood is expected to be called up in time for Volstad's next scheduled start. If Wood fares OK in the rotation the job will presumably be his to keep with Volstad waiting in AAA.
Blake Parker was called up yesterday and made his big league debut last night. Scott Maine was sent back to Iowa.
Kerry Wood is going to retire sometime in the next few days. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jeff Beliveau called up to replace Wood. This would give the Cubs two lefties. It's also possible they make room for Manny Corpas.
UPDATE: Wood talks about his retirement below.
If benches weren’t already warned, Beckham would be getting a pitch squarely in the ribcage his next time up
@ Berselius:
Bring Wood into to do it.
@ Berselius:
I would give Smardge a standing ovation right here in my office if he turned and plunked that fucking umpire.
Wow, I just saw Humber’s throw at Lahair. How is he still in the game? That had a fucking “TO: BRYAN” sticker on it.
Wasn’t there a play a few years ago where a dude lifted the runner’s leg off the bag and got the call?
mb21 wrote:
Probably urban legend, but I seem to recall from ’98 where some large percentage of the batters Wood hit that year had asked the umpire to check the ball. Problem now would be that I’m not sure he could hit a batter if he tried…
LaHair looked like he’d never seen a curveball in that AB.
@ GBTS:
Yeah, it was obvious. Like MB said, they usually let the first one go. The good thing is that it was at his body, not his head.
If he’d thrown at LaHair’s head, he would have been ejected on the spot and probably fined/suspended.
@ uncle dave:
It’s only cheating if you get caught or you’re Barry Bonds.
@ josh:
As Bob pointed out, it was a pretty high pitch
Another good F7 start.
@ josh:
Was it though? I mean, he ducked under it. If a pitch is coming at my back I’m not going to duck.
I think Humber can go complete game here (dying laughing)
@ GBTS:
It looked like it would have hit him high in the ribs, or even missed him, it was behind him for sure.
Listach must have gotten a lecture about being TOO aggressive. That’s the second late stop in as many games.
Oooh…scoring opportunity.
SAMARDZIJA!
No pinch-hit eh…well, fuck your DH.
Samardzija doing it all today
@ Rice Cube:
The rare clutch pitcher RBI hit is disproportionately happy-inducing.
Did that sentence really happen?
Does Hawk honestly not know how hard it would be to hit someone in the face with a slider?
Just tuned in. I’m pretty peeved at Dale for not pinch-hitting for Samardzija, even if it “worked” (one whole run!)
What the shit? I guess they’re going to run F7 out there for about 135 pitches to honor Wood.
@ GBTS:
I don’t think Hawk knows anything evident by the shit he says on a daily basis.
Fuck.
Castillo should have tackled Beckham before he crossed the plate to prevent the run
@ Mucker:
It’s a bit like listening to an angry 13-year-old talk. Albeit a grizzled 13-year-old.
Man, I miss the 08 Cubs.
Gameday seems to show F7 getting squeezed.
34
Good thing Comcast went to commercial. Didn’t want to hear his ovation.
This is why they let Samardzija hit for himself. So he could stay in and face 3 goddamned batters.
face———————–>palm
All right Kerry. K the fucking side and let’s get him a win.
Good start.
@ ACT:
Yeah, that was pointless. Know your god damn pitchers a little.
Aw god damn it! Getting all teary.
A much better way to go out
Very nicely done, Kid K.
God, Wikipedia is fast.
@ ACT:
I know. I made it.
What Lalli is currently in the ball park? But that contradicts something Steve Stone said. So that can’t be right.
Well, there goes Soto’s trade value. Svuem really should platoon Soto and Clevanger when Soto returns. He’s playing badly by odd year standards and this is an even year.
Should’ve traded him while we had the chance. Same with Marmol.
Now a chance for a gritty win.
Reed Johnson’s strikezone has its own area code.
In unrelated news, Marlon “Will Soar” Byrd is hitting .282 since joining the Red Sox.
Reed Johnson is pants.
@ Pezcore:
Oh, the lament…
I saw the replay of Wood’s K and send off. That was nice.
While it’s nice to see Kid K retire as a Cub, was it really “4.5 Million Dollars” nice? Wasn’t there a better way to appropiate that money?
I thought it was a bad idea to re-sign him. Same feeling I had about holding onto Marmol,resigning Reed Johnson, or offering DeWitt Arb. The new office was, at the least, willing to cut bait with A-Ram.
Something about the tradition of this club has us holding onto the heroes of yesteryear far too long.
@ Pezcore:
Meh, there was nothing to buy. It was going to be a shit year no matter what.
@ Pezcore:
1. Wood signed for 4.5 million? I thought it was a lot less than that.
B. If you retire, you don’t get paid.
No vision issues for Konerko. Laceration about left eye.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
That proves it was intentional, daggummit!
@ Suburban kid:
Nice of him to retire then. It was 3 Million with an option, sorry…
Article Here
This year is lost. Alfonso loved playing Second for the Rangers and the Yankees. He even threatened to leave the Natinals over a position switch. I know he was a sucky 2nd baseman, but Soriano is atrotious in Left Field. With Barney playing consistent, mediocre baseball, why not shift Adolfo to 2nd full-time or part time and put Rizzo/Vitters at first?
This would put LaHair in left. At 29, LaHair is unlikely to be part of the long-term plans. Left Field is a more valuble position than 1st. If LaHair is competent in Left Field, this increases his trade value at the same time.
At the least, it might just entice another team to take him off our hands.
I assume Wood had a press conference. Any video for it?
@ mb21:
He just finished the PC.
@ mb21:
I think it’s happening right now, if the twitters are to be believed
@ Berselius:
I listened to it on the radio. Missed the first few seconds. He was giving memories etc. I don’t think he officially said he was retiring, unless he did it right away, but he wasn’t dodging the questions either.
@ josh:
I hope he does retire. That 3 Million could buy us a replacement-level Cuban Teenager or the signing bonus for an overhyped high school pitcher. Dillion Maples was only ~2 Million to sign.
Memories are worth a thousand words, but 3 Million isn’t chump change, and Wood is giving up 1 ER per inning pitched.
Do players intentionally bunk it on the Cubs? Caroline Zambrano has an ERA under 2 for the Miami Marlins. Well, at the least the recent sucess of Byrd and Big Z drives up Sori’s trading value.
Not playing in Chicago seems to revitalize the careers of old guys.
I only watched the first couple minutes of Stone talking about Wood’s career, but I agree with him. Especially when he said for ever game 5 (2003 NLCS) there was a game 7. He had tremendous potential and whether it was his poor control or the injuries he never realized that potential. It was always there and it was a damn shame when it became clear he wouldn’t, but I’ll remember Wood as having some of the best stuff I’ve ever seen, but I’m also going to remember him for getting so little out of that tremendous stuff. It wasn’t just injuries. They certainly didn’t help, but he had very poor control that held him back early on even when he was healthy. But when he was on, he was as good a pitcher as you’ll ever see.
@ Pezcore:
That’s been a theory going back a long time, that putting on the Cubs uniform makes you shitty.
@ mb21:
Yep, the radio guy said something similar. Fair assessment. Not a HOF’er, but a good guy, and a Cub.
@ Pezcore:
Byrd still has a 57 wRC+ with the Red Sox. Decent average, but terrible OBP and SLG.
@ Pezcore:
It’s tough to pitch with a knife in your back
Just saw the replay of Beckham pushing DeJesus off the bag…….what’s even more appalling is that Stone said it was just as much DeJesus’ fault for sliding hard into the bag. He made it sound like it was his own momentum that took him off the bag………………WTF? (dying laughing)
@ Pezcore:
There’s zero evidence that players play better after leaving the Cubs. Look at Fukudome, for Christ’s sake.
Apparently this blog is an expert on Jeff Samardzija now. We got 35+ google hits off his name today.
Anyway, on the number-retiring thing, as KG pointed out, even Mark Grace is far more deserving of having his number retired than Wood is. This is ridiculous.
The Hawk, much as I loved the guy, didn’t really deserve to have his number retired in a Cub uniform, either (that is, he had his best years on the Expos). Strictly speaking, Maddux was also a stretch, but he had the same number as Fergie, so what the hell (also, the Cubs might claim some credit for drafting/developing the sure-fire HOFer.)
Anyway, enough negativity. Kerry had a good career with some great memories. I’ll miss him.
@ ACT:
Given how much better Fukudome bats in the first two months of the season, .249/.300 is a mild improvement over his expected output.
This season, both Marlon Byrd and Carlos Zambrano showed immediate improvement in new environs. Mind you, A-Ram and Fukudome have sucked this year, but I think those guys are in the twilight of their careers. A-Ram is notorious for his slow starts.
As long as it makes the festering sore of Soriano’s contract disappear I’m all for it.
Yeah, as big a Maddux as I am, I didn’t think he deserved to have his number retired at Wrigley. It should have been Fergie. I won’t deny that I thought it was pretty cool he was honored, but it was definitely a stretch. No way Dawson should have had his number retired. That was crazy. It would be the same thing with Wood.
@ Pezcore:
FWIW, i think you could find just as many players who came to the Cubs and then performed better.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=21544585&c_id=chc
I updated the post with Wood’s press conference embedded.
@ Pezcore:
First of all, I don’t really buy the idea that Fuk always starts fast and fades. 3 straight great April starts (followed by a terrible one) don’t prove anything, and his second-best month over his career is August (.805 OPS). Secondly, Marlon Byrd’s numbers had to improve. There’s absolutely nowhere to go but up from where he was. The only ex-Cub doing somewhat better than expected is Z, and I’m not hanging my hopes on 1 cherry-picked example.
@ mb21:
Carlos Silva! Matt Garza!
@ mb21:
Huh. I just looked up Cubs retired numbers, and Dawson isn’t among them. I could have sworn it was. Never mind. http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/history/retired_numbers.jsp
@ ACT:
I was thinking Gary Gaetti, but that’s been a long time. Ryan Dempster. Glendon Rusch easily had the best years of his career in a Cubs uniform. There are quite a few examples. There are quite a few examples of players who improved after being traded, but I think that’s bound to happen. Players are often traded after subpar seasons and we generally think those guys will improve anyway. There was little doubt Zambrano would be better than last year though I don’t think he’ll remain this good. Same with Byrd. When players are playing well they don’t typically get traded.
@ ACT:
Weird. I thought it was too. Didn’t they have a ceremony for him or something?
Greg Maddux had some good years with the Cubs. Very good years. They were nothing compared to his years with the Braves though. He’s the first person I think of when people talk about guys being better after they leave the Cubs. But yea, that could just be sour grapes.
@ mb21:
I think they had a “Congrats on the Hall” type ceremony.
I’ll more or less agree on Wood. Although I am sad to see him go all in all. I think he was done this year. I didn’t want them to sign him. (I was that guy in my comic, not the superfan).
I’m definitely sad to see Wood go. He was a Cub for a long time. I don’t know that it’s the end of an era as some have said. I never really felt like there was a Kerry Wood era in Chicago. Had he been healthier I might have felt that way, but he just missed too much time for me to feel like there was some kind of an era. Then again, people can define an era in any way they want I guess. I just didn’t look at it that way.
josh wrote:
Except for 1992, which was awesome and got him a CYA.
Wow, I was just looking at Maddux’s b-ref page, and found the he is fourth all-time in games started. That’s, like, really good, especially considering the 5-man rotation and the strike. He’s also 8th in pitcher WAR (25th overall).
He’s tenth all time in strikeouts! I never would have guessed.
@ ACT:
Maddux was really good and consistent for a very long time. Longetivity and consistency equals lots of compiled stats.
1992 he was worth 7.2 fWAR, and he was better than that for the next 6 years, all with the Braves. Maybe Atlanta’s stadium suited his pitching style better.
Could part of the problem (assuming there is a measurable problem) be Wrigley itself? I guess not, or the Red Sox would never have won.
I think it’s hilarious that Craig Biggio got hit in Kerry’s 20K game. That guy was an HBP machine.
Is Verlander pitching a no-hitter?
@ Rice Cube:
Indeed.
Live look-in at mlb.com!
broken in the 9th
I tuned in just in time to see it end.
@ josh:
Not an ace.
@ ACT:
BUST
@ ACT:
Yeah, he sucks.
Is it just me or did Kerry strongly imply that he wants to be a pitching coach?
Verlander now has 40 hits allowed in 67 1/3 innings.
Z went 7 innings allowing 2 runs, despite a 5/2 BB/K ratio.
@ ACT:
Yeah, but how many wins does he have?
/truefan
@ josh:
2 more than Cliff Lee and Ryan Dempster combined.
@ ACT:
Only 2? I give him a C+.
@ josh:
Oops, I thought you were referring to Z. Verlander has 5.
During the game they played this video of pitchers saying how afraid of Ryan Howard they are. I guess there’s something to his power, but one guy said “He hits for power AND average!”
Well, that one year he did. Like 5 years ago.
I like the Angels radio color announcer, with his light Ricky Ricardo accent.
I also like the way the Blue Jays announcer pronounces “Junel” “Zew-nel” which is actually how a lot of Latino people pronounce the name (according to my friend from Costa Rica).
http://aeryssports.com/a-league-of-her-own/on-life-love-and-baseball/
One more for the road…
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=21544807&c_id=mlb
Think the Cubs would make a pass at Josh Hamilton? I know he’s old and the drug history and all that. Chicago might not be a good fit considering the problems Bradley had transitioning. Still, I wouldn’t mind see him hit homeruns in Wrigley.
@ josh:
Maybe by “average” they mean “on-base average.”
I love how the Cubs are getting far more from their $500,000 first baseman than the Phils are getting from their $20,000,000 first baseman.
@ ACT:
Just wait till the Phils’ $20MM first baseman actually starts playing.
@ ACT:
If LaHair pulls a Bautista and stays pretty good for 2-3 more years, that would be all right with me.
Speaking of, Bautista had a .233 BABIP the year he hit 54 homeruns. It was like he decided he was going to hit it out or not bother.
@ josh:
I hope not.
There are much better options. Chicago is stacked in the outfield. Tony Campana, David DeJesus, and Brian LaHair are quality major-league options. Brett Jackson, Matt Scrapple, and Dave Sappelt are in the minors. They will (eventually/probably/maybe) be joined by Jorge Soler.
The Cubs need pitching in a bad way. An upgrade at Catcher, such as Miguel Montero or Mike Napoli, would be a better allocation of funds. We need a 30-year Old Left-Fielder like the Yankees need another expensive first baseman. I think Left Field and Center Field are the only two positions the Cubs actually have young talent at.
So, no, I don’t think we want Hamilton.
I think if you were going to spend on a big free agent and were willing to sacrifice a draft pick to do it, you go after Cole Hamels or Zack Greinke.
@ Rice Cube:
2006 Ryan Howard: .659 SLG
2011 Ryan Howard: .488 SLG
Ryan’s SLG has decreased every year except 2009.
2006 Ryan Howard: .425 OBP
2011 Ryan Howard: .346 OBP
Ryan’s OBP has decreased every year except 2009.
He’s cooked.
@ Pezcore:
My sarcasm never works well on the internet (dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
Agree, but I’m not sure who’ll still be availible come December. Plus, we stinks, so it’ll only cost us a second-round pick. They can’t take a high first rounder.
If Montero is still on the board I would go for it. Catchers are relativley cheap for the WAR added and Montero is only 28. The rest of that class, outside of a few key names, looks really weak and really old.
I think the top 10 picks are protected so the Cubs might be safe there. Unless guys like Montero or Kelly Johnson are offered that one-year/$12MM contract in arbitration the Cubs won’t lose a pick for signing those guys. I can see a good build happening this coming offseason.
@ Rice Cube:
Well, Sarcastic as you are, LaHair probably will contribute more to the Cubs than 3/4 a season of hobbled Ryan Howard.
Ryan Howard on the DL is probably more beneficial to his team than the 240 Million Dollar Man, Albert Poonhoes. He’s causing disruption in the clubhouse while playing like absolute shit for 12 Million this year and 30 Million in 2021 when he’ll be 41.
@ Pezcore:
FWIW, the OBP and SLG for the whole league has dropped every year, as well. His decline hasn’t been as steep as it looks from the raw numbers.
@ Pezcore:
When you use “stacked” in the same sentence as “Campana” and “DeJesus” I tend to be skeptical.
More of a fun times type sign then a serious contention. But, yeah, the price tag would probably be too steep. I don’t think dropping money on Napoli is all that better of an option, considering they’re the same age. Next years is just as shit as this year, so the beer-swilling goon in me wouldn’t mind at least seeing someone smack the ball out onto waveland now and then.
Steve Rosenbloom ————> twat
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/chi-wood-quits-but-cubs-way-stays-unfortunately-20120518,0,796405.column
@ Smokestack Lightning:
Sky ——————————-————> blue
The Cubs will announce a new position for Wood in the organization sometime today. Probably some sort of special assistant or something
ACT wrote:
Wood was never known as a strikeout pitcher, but he totaled a lot of them early in his career. People tend to remember the later years when he wasn’t much of a strikeout pitcher, but he was early on. He was never a 10 K/9 guy, but always among the league leaders early in his career.
@ mb21:
(Assuming you’re talking about Maddux, not Wood) I wouldn’t say Maddux was a big strikeout pitcher (even early in his career), but his strikeout rates were decent, and that, combined with his ability to go deep into games and never miss a start, led to high strikeout totals.
He also had the benefits of pitching in the NL and in an era when strikeout rates were higher than any point in the past (though not quite as high as they are now).
The reason I’m so surprised at Maddux being in the top 10 in strikeouts: he isn’t even in the top 200 in strikeouts per 9 IP.
@ ACT:
(dying laughing) yes I was talking about Maddux.
Maddux is an example of how K/BB ratio is more important than K rate. I’d rather use K-BB%, but K/BB ratio is close enough. Maddux had a better K/BB ratio than Roger Clemens. Not nearly as good as Pedro, but Pedro was the most talented pitcher I’ve ever seen.
Maddux is 20th all-time in K/BB ratio among pitchers with 1000 or more innings.
Doug Glanville wrote a piece about Kerry Wood:
http://espn.go.com/chicago/story/_/id/7947806/kerry-wood-talent-inspired-awe-other-players-mlb
I love how Woodie’s last K was with his curve. His curve was a devastating weapon in his early years, but he used it less often later in his career. I never really paid any attention to pitch type until I saw Kerry pitch (“oh, that’s what a curveball looks like!”).
@ Rice Cube:
I don’t know if this is more true of “over-nasty” pitchers than others. Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, and Randy Johnson were also unhittable, but all had long careers (in terms of innings pitched).
Z now leads the NL in rWAR for pitchers. He also has a K/BB of less than 2.
@ ACT:
One thing to keep in mind is the pitchers who get injured before reaching the big leagues. At the big league level I don’t think there’s anything to these power pitchers or “over-nasty” as Glanville calls them with regards to injury rate, but there might be something to it at the minor league level. I really don’t know. What I do know is that every year dozens of pitchers are drafted with 98 mph fastballs. These are the guys who are going to dominate and few of them ever reach the big leagues. I don’t know if their success rate is lower than others, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was lower.
new shit