OSS: Kyle Hendricks threw a Maddux in my heart Three up Kyle Hendricks had his best start of the season, going the distance with seven strikeouts, no walks and six baserunners. He probably should have got the Maddux, but some miscommunication between Heyward and Zobrist in the ninth turned a lazy pop fly into a leadoff double for the Phils. …
Searching for Javier Baez Comps
The Cubs promoted 20-year old Javier Baez to AA Tennessee this past weekend after a scorching half-season or so in Daytona. Baez's power output in the Florida State League was pretty incredible, as he hit 17 homers in a very pitcher-friendly league despite his young age. Last season, he hit 16 homers in 80 games spread between Peoria (in the …
Walking someone when it doesn't matter (as much)
For each pitcher from 1993-2011 with at least 5,000 Batters Faced, I've added up the average growth in run expectancy per NIBB. The average increase in RE for an NIBB over that period was .323 runs, which jives with Tango's findings here. There were 175 pitchers in the sample, with a standard deviation of .013. The pitcher who gave up …
Reality Check
As Cubs fans we’re used to not getting good news. If some player leaves a game early we’re trained to think it’s a career ending surgery that will lead to Aaron Miles or Neifi Perez taking over full time. If the team is leading we think it’s only a matter of time before they’ll be losing. If they get a …
Some Thoughts On Ryan Dempster
Ryan Dempster‘s April was just horrible. In his first start he allowed 6 runs and then in two others he allowed 7 runs. Dempster took over the role that Carlos Zambrano had for several years in which he was the opening day starter and had a bad April. In 31 April innings he allowed 42 hits, walked 16, hit 1 …
Bruce Levine’s 5 most likely to be traded, yo
Happy Breaking Bad Day … bitch! After xoomwaffle posted this link to Levine’s article earlier today I started writing something and then lost interest about a half sentence in. That’s been happening a lot lately. I started writing something yesterday and lost interest about 3 paragraphs in. A few days ago I began writing something where I was comparing Starlin …
Zambrano willing to waive no-trade clause
It’s not too surprising to hear that Cubs players are going to be more than willing to get out of Chicago, but Carlos Zambrano had been insistent in the past in his desire to stay with the Cubs. Not so anymore. “If they come to me and want to trade me, obviously it’s because they don’t want me here anymore,” …
The 3rd Annual How Good Has Carlos Zambrano Been In His Career Post
I had thought about doing this again this year, but held off for some reason. After listening to Wrigley Talk Friday this morning I thought I’d finally do it. WTF talks about Carlos Zambrano for awhile to begin the podcast and like Julie, Tim and Adam, I’m as confused as they are. I really do not know why Carlos Zambrano …
Probably something about nothing
Prior to tomorrow's game we'll be posting the final NL Central interview. I had planned to post it this evening, but I thought I'd throw something else together. Anyone who has read much of anything of mine over the years knows that I'm not one of those people who goes nuts over pitch counts. That doesn't mean I don't pay …