There's really only a couple reasons to pay attention to the Iowa Cubs and Mike Olt was 0-4. He's had a forgettable 2013 season, but it has been discussed here and elsewhere. MW mentioned in the comments that Christian Villanueva might have passed Olt among Cubs prospects and I wouldn't argue with anyone who said that. I'd still give the edge to Olt because he's at AAA, even though he's not performing too well.
Olt turns 25 at the end of the month so he's not exactly a young prospect any more. There's still potential and that's what the Cubs acquired him for. They also knew he was a reclamation project when they did and so far it's not worked out. The sample size is small and that can change in a hurry, but early results don't look too promising.
The Smokies took a lot of walks today, which is always nice to see. Matt Szczur was 1-4 with a walk. Arismendy Alcantara didn’t have an official at-bat. He walked 3 times and laid down a sac bunt. Rafael Lopez was 0-2 with 2 walks.
Javier Baez just keeps hitting. He was 2-4 with 2 doubles. Christian Villanueva was 2-3 with 2 doubles and a walk.
Dae-Eun Rhee threw 6.1 innings and allowed 7 hits and 2 runs. He walked 2 and struckout 2. Tony Zych and Frank Batista each allowed a hit.
Clearwater 1 @ Daytona 5 Game 1
Zeke DeVoss was 1-2 with a couple of walks. Dan Vogelbach played DH again and was 1-3 with a walk while Kris Bryant connected on his second home run in as many days. Bryant was 1-3 in this one and struckout once.
Ben Wells walked 2 and struckout no one in 5.1 innings. I'm not sure any Cubs prospect has fallen as much as Ben Wells has this season despite a solid ERA. The guy just can't strike anybody out and I'm not sure it matters how many groundballs you give up. Frank Del Valle finished this one without allowing a run.
Clearwater 2 @ Daytona 0 Game 2
Anthony Giansanti and Yaniel Cabezas each had a hit. They were the only two hits the Daytona Cubs had in Game 2.
Kris Bryant was 0-3 with 3 strikeouts and Dan Vogelbach was 0-3 with a strikeout.
Kyler Burke threw 4 innings and allowed 5 hits and a walk. He gave up a run and struckout 3. Lendy Fucking Castillo threw the final 3 and wasn’t half bad.
Guiseppe Papaccio was 1-4 with a strikeout and Jeimer Candelario was 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Candelario’s hit was his 9th home run. Reggie Golden was 1-3 with a 3-run home run in the 4th inning. He also walked. The Chiefs only had one other hit — a Marco Hernandez single. Hernandez was 1-4.
Starling Peralta threw 4.1 innings, struckout 4 and walked 3. He gave up 4 hits and 4 runs, 3 of them earned. Sheldon McDonald put zeroes on the board in 1.2 innings. Michael Hamann threw 1.1 innings and gave up a hit and a run. He walked 3 and struck a batter out.
Jim Pugilese threw 6 innings and gave up only 2 hits and a run. He only walked 1 and struckout 5. Zack Godley struckout 4 in 2 innings and Scott Frazier struck a batter out in the 9th.
David Bote was 1-2 with a home run and 2 walks. Kevin Encarnacion was 2-4 with a triple and a home run. He also walked once. Danny Lockhart was 2-5 with a double. So was Rony Rodriguez. Cael Brockmeyer was 3-4 with a double.
Comments
“Arismendy Alcantara didn’t have an official at-bat. He walked 3 times and laid down a sac bunt.”
He also did this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8vfv06s8k0
sitrickQuote Reply
@ sitrick:
I wish players would try this more often.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Someone stole home a few days ago on a pro team. Details are hazy in my mind.
Tony Campana should be stealing home everytime he gets to third. That should be his specialty.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
Every time he gets to 1st.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ josh:
jonathan villar?
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?content_id=29269433&c_id=mlb&topic_id=vtp_top_50
joshQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
There’s no good reason he should ever be at first for more than one pitch.
joshQuote Reply
Sorry, forgot the Cubs blurb in this one.
dmick89Quote Reply
I’ll add it here.
DeJesus and Ronald McDonald’s Farm each had a hit. Nobody walked and nobody else had a hit. They scored no runs. Castro had been benched for suckitis and only got a pinch hit appearance in. Chris Rusin was pretty good. Carlos Villanueva wasn’t mentally prepared to move back to the bullpen. Michael Bowden — his name is Michael, right? — pitched a scoreless 9th.
dmick89Quote Reply
Apparently Jesse Sanchez said that Kris Bryant should be the Cubs 3B next year. He won’t be and I have no idea why you’d say that other than wishful thinking, but whatever.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
What if rainbows shoot out of his ass. Then they’d have no choice, right? You’re always thinking negatively.
joshQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
Not if Dioner Navarro is on second base.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ josh:
I’m thinking positively. I’m really hoping Valbuena, Vitters and Ransom are killed in a horrible elevator accident at the Cincinnati Hilton, and that Bryant is mid-2000s Aramis Ramirez times a billion.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
it was jesse rogers. i haven’t read him too much lately, but i know he comes from a sports radio background, so I assume this is just one of his “hot sports takes.” in particular, this:
is completely unsubstantiated.
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/19187/bryant-should-be-cubs-starting-3b-in-2014
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
that article was written in a pure ‘shock jock’ formula. i hope the guy was writing it just to get attention, because if he really thinks a few good weeks in boise earns a player a trip to the show…well that’s scary stupid. i remember hearing jesse rogers on sports talk years ago, and he never struck me as a very intelligent sports fan or reporter (and i use that term very loosely)
none of this is meant as a knock on bryant. i want to see bryant (and any other cubs prospect) succeed as much as any other fan, but there is a laundry list of reasons that he will not be rushed to the big leagues. you would think a reporter for the four letter could figure that out…
wpbcQuote Reply
The Cubs have a glaring hole in left field. I think theo should seriously consider Eloy Jimenez for the job. (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
write an article on that. see how many web hits you get. that appears to be the game…
the more things change the more they stay the same fellas
wpbcQuote Reply
wpbc wrote:
ditto
GWQuote Reply
@ wpbc:
I like page hits, but I don’t like looking like any more of an idiot than I already am. I guess some people don’t mind.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I liked your take on the cubs screwing up the international signing period yesterday. i think you are right on.
it just doesn’t make sense that a team is gonna finish in the bottom 4 or 5 and not be able to sign any big dollar international prospects and that was the ‘loophole’ all along. lmfao. no way. the truth is theo and jed miscalculated. shit happens it’s not the end of the world, but there is no way one 16 year old signee is worth fucking your ability to sign a top talent next year. it makes no sense.
wpbcQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
I don’t think you are an idiot at all. Look at what you’ve created with this blog…..the 23rd best Chicago Cubs, flat-iron cookware, tv dramas, good beer and restaurant reviews blog I’ve ever been to. An idiot couldn’t do that.
MuckerQuote Reply
wpbc wrote:
Just because the front office got smarter doesn’t mean the media has to.
sitrickQuote Reply
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/15/mlbs-proposed-expanded-replay-to-include-a-challenge-system-this-is-idiotic/
ughhhhh….
why won’t these leagues just put an ump in the booth? seems like a good way to phase old umps off the field. it’s mind boggling to me that we have to watch these idiots trot over to the sidelines and stare at monitors.
GWQuote Reply
(dying laughing). Rajai with a little league homerun: http://wapc.mlb.com/cutfour/2013/08/14/57026626/a-rajai-davis-single–two-red-sox-errors–tonights-most-surprising-run
joshQuote Reply
@ GW:
Robots. Keep a three-man crew for review/debate purposes, and so’s not to piss off the Union, but they all watch from the sidelines on a monitor, confirming calls and debating rules (and calling balks, the most IMPORTANT rule in baseball.)
joshQuote Reply
@ GW:
i long for the good ole days when a bud selig mistake only impacted the 8500 fans attening a game at county stadium.
wpbcQuote Reply
@ josh:
you are scaring rick telander. he is afraid of the robots
wpbcQuote Reply
@ sitrick:
so sully has left the beat. you would think that would be addition by subtraction right? but what the cubs beat has added is rogers from the 4-letter and a guy for the tribune, who earlier this week wrote that the cubs were swept in a doubleheader in 1924 by the red sox. (dying laughing).
wpbcQuote Reply
@ wpbc:
I had to look that one up. That’s some good insanity.
joshQuote Reply
With today’s technology, they should easily be able to provide an instant replay application that wouldn’t deter the game for any amount of time. Anything from as simple as an umpire that watches from a booth with a highly advanced DVR type system or as complex as sensors on the lines, bases and homeplate kind of like Wimbeldon. I think all home plate umps should have glasses that have a 3D image of homeplate and each individual batter’s strike zone uploaded into them so they know exactly what is a strike and a ball to each batter. Every other industry in the world has adopted technology, it’s time for baseball to follow suit. Besides, I really want to see these technological advances become self aware and take over the world, a la Terminator.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ josh:
somebody at the sun times actually approved that article be published…(dying laughing)
i guess it’s just another example of the state of old world media.
wpbcQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
right on. there is no need for challenges. these managers don’t need any more things to fuck up…
wpbcQuote Reply
Mucker wrote:
Completely agree, and I don’t even think you have to go so far as uploading player strike zones. Put dials on the side of glasses, and let the umps tweak it for each batter.
GWQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
First they change the outcome of the world series. Then they conquer Russia. It’s the perfect plan.
joshQuote Reply
wpbc wrote:
Mucker wrote:
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
new aside:
http://obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/arodys-vizcaino-may-pitch-in-the-arizona-fall-league.html
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
Yeah, that would work. But there would still be that fine line where a batter and ump don’t agree with the strikezone. With my way though, there would be no arguments at all. All batters and umps would approve the strikezone before games. Managers would input the starting lineups into a system and then upload to the glasses. Any changes during the game, the glasses update wirelessly. It’s brilliant.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
i’m not dogmatic about the strike zone like others are. in today’s game there are pretty clearly different zones for lefties and differences between 3-0 and 0-2 zones; everyone knows it. the problem with eliminating the latter is that we are already at something like 26-27% of plate appearances ending in a strikeout or walk, and I really do not want to see that continue to rise. what bothers me is catcher framing. not a fan of that part of the game.
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
I don’t like it because it takes the game away from the players and puts it on the umps. A strike is a strike and a ball is a ball. There shouldn’t be any deviation from that regardless of count or situation. To me, there shouldn’t be any argument whatsoever as to the validity of a called pitch. I think they have the ability to correct that. That beind said, it would probably be very expensive and I’m sure the league or owners don’t want to foot the bill.
MuckerQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
yeah, i disagree. ultimately the aesthetics of the game matter, and going from 21% of PA ending in a walk or strikeout to 27% is a big deal. if that bumps up to 33% or more, then baseball is suddenly a whole lot less interesting to me.
i know it’s en vogue to shred the unwritten rule book, but i think that’s naive, frankly. every system of rules is going to have an enumerated version and effective version. sometimes it will be silly and sometimes it will be a legitimate improvement.
GWQuote Reply
Good to see you around, ccd.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
every now and again i can break away from my job of monitoring o’s hangout for brian roberts to the cubs trade rumors and pop over. it’s slow over there today, i think roch might be on summer holiday.
wpbcQuote Reply
@ GW:
It would probably spike at first, but if batters can learn the unwritten rulebook strikezone, why can’t they learn the real strikezone?
joshQuote Reply
@ GW:
Institute it in the minors first for a few years, maybe. Phase it in. If batting drops off and players can’t learn it, then drop it.
Really, I just want the game to move a little faster. 90% of the game shouldn’t be crotch touching and farting around.
joshQuote Reply
Use a pitching machine, then fence in the outfield except for like 4 holes. Those are worth 2 runs, everything that hits the fence is in play.
Oh I don’t know. I get annoyed with baseball sometimes, like when the Cubs are terrible, which is often.
joshQuote Reply
I’m surprised mlb’s review process isn’t done in the commissioner’s office with final rulings on the disputed play coming months after it after occurred. Seriously.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ GW:
I don’t mind the strike zone called as it is. I think overall the HP umpire does a pretty good job.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
In a way…it sort of is, because it took them six years to expand past home run calls. Baseball does things so slow. I fully expect the A’s to be stuck in Oakland until the 22nd Century and for Tampa Bay’s tin can to fall down before they’re allowed to move (slightly unrelated).
Rice CubeQuote Reply
GW wrote:
Maybe it’s the sources I read, but I think people who complain about the silly unwritten rules are talking about a different thing. A fielder yelling he’d got it to fool a baserunner? There’s some unwritten rule that you don’t that. I say fuck that. There’s an unwritten rule you don’t run across the field and step on the mound. Yeah, seems like a waste of energy to do anything other than run across the field in as straight a line as possible when you can. Stealing a base when you have a big lead is a no-no. I agree with Tommy Lasorda here. You can complain about that as long as you stop trying to score runs. As long as the other team is trying to put runs on the board, play the game. The fans paid to watch both teams play at 100%.
I know when I bitch about unwritten rules that these are the types of things I’m talking about. It’s usually bullshit players and coaches come up with.
I actually think the MLB rulebook is relatively clear despite what Tango suggests. I think you have to stretch numerous things to find that many instances in which the rules are difficult to comprehend. I’m perfectly OK with giving the umpires some leeway. No matter how much I’ve complained about them in the past, they do a good job and 99% of the time it’s good enough.
I used to want a fully automated game, but I realized that was neither feasible or something that would be as entertaining several years ago. Balls and strikes is just one of those things I think we’re better off living with as it’s done now. I can even accept some wrong calls at the bases, but I don’t think there should ever be a mistake on a force out. No matter the viewing angle, there will always be question as to whether a fielder missed a tag or applied it. You can’t get 100% of non-force plays right. You can’t realistically get 100% of force plays right either, but you can come close.
dmick89Quote Reply
I don’t mean it wouldn’t be as entertaining because wrong calls are part of the game or some such shit. A wrong call is a wrong call and it doesn’t make the game better. What I’m trying to say is that it’s unavoidable if we want to have a game as recognizable as today’s. Not to mention, time of game is probably a bigger beef with me than wrong calls at this point.
So what baseball is doing with this expanded replay will only irritate me more.
dmick89Quote Reply
Wow. Sori had 4 more hits today. He’s a lock for Player of the Week.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Am I the only man who hasn’t fantasized about having handcuffs on? According to every male in every tv show, movie and book, this is every man’s fantasy. Really?
dmick89Quote Reply
I think an automated strike zone would slow down the game. It’s not like the umps spend time thinking about each pitch. The outcome is there right away. And most umps do fine. I can just imagine the last guy out of the pen getting squeezed by the computer in an 11-2 game, and batters being more willing than ever to take walks in those spots. That would just be death, and I’d like to see umps move the game along in spots like that.
I think the only effective way to speed up games without drastically changing the pitcher/batter balance is to reduce time between pitches. A good fast worker who doesn’t walk batters can push games closer to the two hour mark (Maddux, Jon Lieber). Toss in some walks and mixed effectiveness, and the game is still way faster (Zambrano, Buehrle). Is there anyone who didn’t love watching a Zambrano or Buehrle game in part due to the pace? Also, NL rules have led to faster games on average, so hopefully that’s a consideration for all of MLB.
I hate the idea of limiting pickoff attempts. It necessarily creates an imbalance on the last attempt that drastically changes the pitcher/batter/runner interface. Imagine the pitcher gets three throws. Wouldn’t the runner try as hard as possible to draw them all and risk incurring whatever penalty there is? When the pitcher runs out of pickoff attempts, does the runner just go to 2nd base? It’s a terrible idea to worry about that part of the game.
Better to stop letting Papelbon and every member of the Red Sox and Yankees a full 30 seconds in between pitches. How about a max of 15-18 seconds after the pitcher has the ball, and a 10-12 reset after time is called or a play on the bases.
JQuote Reply
Anyone seen this?
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2013/aug/13/freed-matrix-3d-replay-technology-video
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
Patented Hot Streaks are fun.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
The macro has been disabled. The plugin was causing a series of errors on the server. It was updated a couple days ago so I’ll keep an eye an out for an additional update.
dmick89Quote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/minor-leagues/jot-cubs-minor-league-recap-8-15-13.html
dmick89Quote Reply