Anything interesting happen over the weekend? Eh. Dempster was knocked around in a minor league game yesterday, but who knows if he was working on something. I missed yesterday's game, but apparently Joe Mather had a Johnsonian/Fuldian incredible catch in CF. Is there a Cubs game today? It's going on right now, apparently. The Cubs are playing the Padres. Len …
Projecting the 2012 Cubs – Randy Wells
Somehow Jeff Samardzija has more upside than Randy Wells, despite the fact that Wells posted back to back 3 WAR seasons in 2009-2010 before last year's injury rattled season. Wells hit the DL the same day as Andrew Cashner last April, and when he came back in June he clearly wasn't the same pitcher. The Cubs had great need of …
Cherry Picking
In the final 14 appearances one season, he threw 74 innings, allowed only 50 hits and posted a sparkling ERA under 2. After the season fans were excited about what this pitcher could do the following year. Ignored in those 74 innings was 1) he walked a lot of guys, 2) was considerably lucky in that his BABIP and HR/FB …
Daily Facepalm 3.23.12 – Too many DUIs edition
Practice game recap The Cubs pounded the rangers 11-4. Soriano, Mather, Jackson, and Ian Stewart all homered. Matt Garza threw 81 pitches in five innings, but could have gone deeper had Darwin Barney not committed two errors in the fourth inning. Marcos Mateo left the game with an injury and there's no word on how serious it could be. They …
OV’s Projected Playing Time for the 2012 Cubs
On Saturday I published this year's playing time survey and more than 50 of you took the time to fill it out. Thanks for taking the time. I'm going to go ahead and publish the results here. I didn't make any adjustments to the batters because you guys pretty much nailed it as far as position and team totals go. …
Daily Facepalm 3.19.12 – Weekend of Samardzija
Playing Time Projections Please take a few moments to fill out the 2012 Cubs playing time projections. It's as simple as possible. Weekend practice game roundup Geovany Soto homered, doubled, and walked in Saturday's game, so it looks like he's feeling better from his groin injury. Steve Clevenger, Adrian Cardenas, and Joe Mather also homered this weekend. Tony Campana broke …
Projecting the 2012 Cubs: Jeff Samardzija
Since Jeff Samardzija is now a "near-lock" to make the rotation, per Dale Sveum. Let's take a look at his projections for 2012. Just about everyone projected him as a reliever, though a few of them had him making 1-3 starts. It's enough that I'm not going to worry about trying to split all of those numbers out. Here's his …
Jeff Samardzija close to locking down spot in rotation
Dale Sveum says Jeff Samardzija is close to locking down a spot in the rotation. “Obviously, that lock’s getting a little closer and closer to being finalized,” Dale Sveum said Sunday, one day after Samardzija’s four innings against the Rangers. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits. He has not walked a batter over six innings this spring. …
Position Battles: Back-up Catcher
The Cubs roster is mostly set with a few exceptions. Welington Castillo and Steve Clevenger are battling it out for the back-up catcher spot. There's been this invented competition for the rotation, which I think is mostly nonsense. You've got Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm who are guaranteed spots in the rotation. Certainly deserving of a spot is …
Daily Facepalm 3.13.12
Practice game wrapup The Cubs knocked the eminently hittable Bronson Arroyo around in the first inning, capped off by an approximately 900 ft Alfonso Soriano HR (HR distance estimated by the sound it made coming off the bat and Len's reaction). Paul Maholm performed about as expected in his Cubs debut, giving up a homer to Reds outfielder Todd Frazier …