TCR Friday Notes

The site is broken.

The Cubs are broken.

I'm swamped.

The Friday beatdown lineup, yep, Soto batting 8th.

LF Colvin, SS Castro, 1B Lee, 3B Ramy, CF Byrd, RF Fukudome, 2B DeWitt, C Soto, P Gorzelanny

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Soto is obvioulsy a base clogger, only fit to bat ahead of a pitcher.

It takes a true managerial genius to bat his worst two hitters 3 and 4 while simultaneously grouping the lineup to have 4 consecutive RH hitters followed by 4 out of 5 lefties.

Can anyone figure out why our one run game record is so poor?

I was going to comment on this before I saw Rob G.'s post. I am absolutely baffled by this lineup...even notwithstanding the handedness question, why would you have Soto batting BELOW Fukudome and DeWitt? I'd much rather have Soto up than Fukudome and DeWitt after the middle of the order. Lou must seriously have checked out...maybe at this point he's just throwing out whatever lineups happen to amuse him, just to pass the time until he gets to ride off into the sunset.

Or maybe the Cubs told him to lose for the draft slot.

Do you really think that Ramirez is one of the two worst hitters in the lineup? Really?

Since coming of the DL in late June, he has a slash line of: .302/.338/.627.

Yes, he has lousy overall numbers, but there is no way that he is one of the Cubs worst two hitters right now.

Ramirez's last seven games 3/18, and he's wincing on his follow through again.

and didn't he just take off a few days for his thumb again?

Lou checked out on the season about the same time I did apparently.

I admit to not watch a Cubs game in the past week, so haven't seen that. And if that is true, they should just sit him down for the rest of the year so he can get healthy.

Lou is old school where you bat your lowest OBP first and your highest OBP 8th.

"Chicago Cubs right-handed pitcher Carlos Silva will have a cardiac catheterization on Monday to determine if he needs a cardiac ablation, the team announced Friday."


It's not as bad as it sounds and is a fairly common procedure. DeRosa had a catheter ablation a couple of spring trainings ago when he was with the Cubs.

Colvin's splits by spot in the lineup:

.259/.326/.593 leading off.

Check out his splits hitting 5th and 6th.

Nice DP pivot by DeWitt.

Those sample sizes are completely meaningless.

But 149 is completely informative?

Basically you guys are arguing over the meaning of "right now."

There is no other place, I'd rather be.


btw, they lipsynch'd their shows...

No... but Ramirez's recent hitting (since coming off the DL), combined with his career numbers, are fairly informative.

I don't pretend that his sample size coming of the DL is a great sample. But I do think that his career is very indicative of the type of hitter he is, and his recent hitting has looked like he is back to the way that we all know he can hit.

i got no issue with aram hitting where he is now...

...but the 3 months he got to stink up a prime RBI slot still alludes me.


But yes, that was quite annoying watching our cleanup hitter hit .150 for half a season. Also annoying was Soto predictably going 1-2 with a walk in the 8th spot last night. Over his last 30 games (dating to June 26th) Soto has a line of: .327 / .401 / .519 - an OPS of 1.018!!

And he is hitting 8th? Because let's make sure that he doesn't come up with anyone on base, that he can be walked easily because he hits in front of the pitcher, and he will probably get one less at-bat during the game than the rest of the lineup. Sound strategy all around. Christ.


Starting to wonder how you got into Wisconsin. How does .401 + .519 = .1.018?

Looks to me like it adds up to .920.

Should be .327 / .395 / .624 for 1.018.

I accidentally typed in .410 and .519, which are his August numbers.

And man, you are right, if Wisconsin knew I mistyped a few things in hurried comments on a sports blog, I would have never been admitted to grad school...

Maybe WISCGRAD is a painter, or other fine artist. Or maybe a philosophy grad student?

No need for math much there ;)

Meaningless? Meaningless? We don't need no stinkin' meaningless!

Lou in the dugout today. Looks like a cigar store indian.

if soto was smart he'd go 0/4 with a couple Ks in order to move up to a RBI slot in the lineup.

Unfortunately, Lee was planning the same thing.

15 games under .500


I like it. Embarrass the fuck out of this team and Rickets and Hendry and Wendell Kim.

Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet:

Not So Hot
• Tony Thomas, 2b, Cubs: Though his prospect stock had fallen from when the Cubs made him a third-round pick in 2007, Thomas has had a mostly positive year as he repeats Double-A. His .276/.351/.477 line in 304 at-bats was undermined by a miserable month of May, when he hit .153/.268/.186 in 59 at-bats. Thomas has hit over .300 in every other month. That is, until this week. The 24-year-old went just 2-for-20 with one RBI and nine strikeouts, good for a .100/.100/.100 line.

• Ideally, you'd like to see a 2008 supplemental first-rounder out of the Southeastern Conference playing in Double-A by now. The Cubs sent 2B/3B Ryan Flaherty to Double-A Tennessee to start the season, but they demoted him to high Class A Daytona after he struggled in April. If you are going to be demoted, the least you can do is hit, and Flaherty is doing a good job of that. Flarherty hit .345/.387/.862 this week (10-for-29) with five home runs, more than doubling his homer total for the season.

From the Chat:
Patrick (Fort Wayne, IN): Ben, Robinson Chirinos is having an outstanding year in AA. Since he took to catching last year, he has becoming a late blooming prospect for the Cubs. Do you think he will play ML baseball? If so, does he have the ability to start?

Ben Badler: I don't see him as a starter, but I do see him as a major leaguer at some point, probably as a reserve. I thought someone would Rule 5 him last year.

Ryno's I-Cubs have another big offensive night beating Tacoma 11-6. Brad Snyder 3-3 with his 18th HR, Marquez Smith two HR's (one inside the park), LaHair and Hoffpauir also with HR's.
Tenn Smokies ahead in the 6th, 4-1 with a rain delay, Rafael Dolis 6 IP, 1 run
Daytona won 3-2, Trey McNutt 3-0, 6 IP, no runs, no walks, 7 K's and two hit offense from LeMahieu, Flaherty and three hits from Rebel Ridling.
Peoria Chiefs beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 3-1, Hak-Ju Lee had another hit (,285), Ja-Hoon Ha two hits including a 3 run HR (296), 3 rbi and a 9 game hit streak

Nice updates, Cubster & QuietMan.

Good to see some of the kids know how to win. I hope this carries over to the big league club in the next few years. Perhaps the only real enjoyment I have had out of this season has been watching Castro and Colvin doing well and hustling no matter how dead the rest of the team looks.

A couple of tidbits from Bruce Miles' Blog:

Lou says it’s just a day off (Friday) for Soriano, so I wouldn’t read any “showcasing” into it for Fukudome. As I’ve been saying, the scenario with him looks to be an off-season deal. I’ve been asked a lot of Fukudome going back to Japan. Yes, it’s something the Cubs will explore.

I’d also expect them to look at a left-handed hitting first baseman to replace Derrek Lee.

while reading the miles blog comment concerning grabow, i read too quickly and learned that grabow may "possibly rejoin the cubs on the next homicide". thought 2010 was already dead...

Ya know, I like the 7th inning stretch guest conductors. Sometimes they're a mess, but on the balance, I prefer it to another half inning of Len and Bob marking how bad the Cubs are.

well that was a buzz kill...way to go cubs.

Don't fret crunch...we're marching toward a higher draft choice

Nice eye Marlon.

Why doesn't Soto hit for Hill? (or Colvin) I mean, Hill is basically an automatic out at this point. He is hitting .098 since June 11th, 4 for 41.

I realize back-up catchers are not expected to be great hitters, but you can pick up almost anyone to hit that poorly. I'd have to expect that this season is pretty much it for Hill.

because only the only manager stupid enough not to do so is the cubs manager...dusty f'n baker.

i hope we hire lou pinella next.

i don't know what's up with people saying managers are overpaid and overrated. lou wouldn't make these kind of mistakes.

ever see him kick dirt? that's the kind of guy that could bring order to the clubhouse...a real shitkicker who doesn't take any crap.

"i don't know what's up with people saying managers are overpaid and overrated."

By "people" I assume you mean you every day, multiple times a day.

yes, every single day...every chance i get.

surely not just 1-3 times a month.

that's surely not the case.

it's definitely every single day and it's just to piss you off.

but back to the's time to get rid of dusty and pay a real manager who will get off his ass and run this team. we need lou pinella. if you don't agree you can kiss my ass. i'm sick of these do-nothing cubs managers that run this team into the ground. we need a real leader and lou don't take crap.

Lou got old, it turns out all the day games are a problem cause it conflicts with his afternoon siesta...and with poor quality nap time, he's Now it seems he's asleep during night games too.

You are right, 1-3 times a month is surely not the case: today, 8/5, 7/30 (twice), 7/27, 7/22 (twice), 7/21 (twice)... That's as far back as I am going to go and those are just the obvious ones I caught glancing through.

It doesn't piss me off, but it does annoy me, because I know this is your opinion already. I don't take the time to post a comment like that with the hopes of hearing your stance yet again. And it turns out that Soto was injured today and who the manager was had no bearing on Hill hitting for himself there. But it was nice of you to force the manager issue into the conversation again.

some of your examples are me talking about managers, not dragging lou through the dirt...and they're not even me bringing it up.

i'm not going to avoid a manager conversation because i said something a few years ago. it's not like i'm even implicating lou on some of these comments i've made.

ps- how did you live through 2 years of 200+ post dusty micromanage posts if this bothers you?

Soto was unavailable due to some tendonitis in his shoulder. They're hoping he can PH tomorrow and start on Monday.

TN Smokies winning 9-0 thru 6 innings, Chris Carpenter 6 shutout innings with eight K's. Two hit nights from Campana (.333), Brett Jackson (282), Canzler (.298), Chiniros (.320), Thomas (.281) and the pitcher.

Daytona's down 3-2 but DJ LeMahieu has 2 hits and has his ba over .300

Iowa, Peoria and Boise scores are early but Brett Wallach is pitching for Peoria with a scoreless 1st.

Time to dump Hill and see what Chiniros can do. Anyone seen him play catcher sometime this season?

I-Cubs win 7-3, sweep the Raniers

multi-hit games from Fuld, Barney, Snyder and Camp.


Pirates fired two coaches, bench coach (and former Cub) Gary Varsho, and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan. Sounds like it was manager John Russell's idea.

Dodgers released Garret Anderson (no suprise), and replaced him with Jay Gibbons (big surprise).

Without a doubt, Varsho and Kerrigan were what was holding back Pittsburgh. Look out for the Pirates the rest of the year...Of course, even with Varsho and Kerrigan, the Pirates already had the Cubs' number.

ah, a new moment in Cubbery...courtesy of Jodeee, Jody Davis...Boise forfeits game!

Hawkins Gebbers followed with a drive into the left field corner, however Boise leftfielder Ryan Cuneo slipped and fell on the wet warning track, allowing Rivers to score from first, making it 2-0.

Boise skipper Jody Davis walked out and met with home plate umpire, Matt Mullins, and after a lengthy discussion, pulled his nine position players off the diamond.

After a delay of over 20 minutes, Mullins started play - with Gebbers back at second base and Evan Sharpley, the next scheduled batter at the plate, but the Hawks did not return to the field. Following the mandated five-minute grace period stated by the MLB Rule Book, the game was ruled a forfeit.

From the sun-times...nada stealing at bats from Brad Snyder?

Tyler Colvin, hitting only .118 (2-for-17) on the homestand, had Saturday off, and Kosuke Fukudome replaced him in the leadoff spot and right field. Fukudome made his second consecutive start and went 1-for-2 with three walks and a run scored.

''Sometimes the best thing to do is back off a few days,'' Piniella said of Colvin.

Piniella plans to play Xavier Nady today and give Colvin another day off.

Travis no-no?

Koyie Hill says NO.

This team can't even get being no hit bad right

- X. Nady to third on wild pitch
- K. Hill struck out swinging
- C. Zambrano hit for J. Russell

i am getting so sick of this shit.

zambrano? ...again with runners in scoring position trailing?

hey, at least this time we're not down by 1 run.

...and is it too much to ask d.lee to actually run to 1st anymore?'s not like he's a cripple, getting over a leg injury, or 300lbs.

Dlee needs to put a stamp on his forehead.

Most of my heroes don't appear with no stamp.

Chuck D'd

Who did you think should have been batting there?

On postgame wgn radio they mentioned that Lou will miss the SF series because his mother is ill. Will DLee be next with a 3 day pass?

I suggest the next Cubs GM have a medical degree. That way we won't keep a manager once he has died from asystole.

with that lead in...I saw this great animated video of the interaction between an orthopod and an anesthesiologist, trying to get his patient into the OR. The patient just might be the current Cubs team or it's manager.

"There is a fracture, I need to fix it..."

Great video! I busted a gut.

"Any other co-morbidities?"

"She is asystole.... There will be minimal blood loss."

Maybe I just had too much to drink tonight.

But seriously, it reminds me of the one about the GP, the internal medicine specialist and the general surgeon who went duck hunting....

Lou Piniella will fly home after the game to tend to his mother, who was hospitalized. He hopes to rejoin the team during the road trip. Alan Trammell will run the team in San Francisco.

Well, with the most unstable player in MLB starting for the first time in 6 weeks, it's best to get out of town.

Milton Bradley will arm wrestle Z for that title.

Lou just needs to stay away.

Ted Lilly got his 2nd win for the Dodgers. 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 6 K, 0 BB, 2 HR (both solo).

Losing pitcher for the Nats, Jason Marquis.

Iowa beat Portland 9-6, Hoffpauir 4-4. HR's from Hoffpauir and Camp

Smokies ahead 7-3 over Huntsville, Brett Jackson (.291) 2-3, 2 runs and a HR. Guyer (.317) 3-4 also with a HR

Daytona must have had the day off or got rained out

Peoria won 4-0 on 6.2 shutout innings from Ryan Searle including 8 K's and 1 BB.

Time to release Nady, call up Hoffpauir and let Lee tell stories about how he used to be good while twiddling his thumbs on the bench.

Wait. Are you recommending Hoffpauir full-time at 1B?

Why not? What's he going to do, hit .250 with little power?

What difference does it make if they play Hoffpauir or Lee.

Neither Lee or Hoffpauir are in the team's long term plans.

Is Hoffpauir so bad that the team can not conceivably contend with him playing first base?

Reds and Brewers swap Chris Dickerson and Jim Edmonds.

I don't believe I said that, but my point remains the same. IMO, neither Hoffpauir or Lee are in the Cubs long term plans.

But which one of them is in their short term plans? Or do you think they should go into 2011 with no one playing first whatsoever?

Soto, Colvin or Soriano are acceptable in house options.

What about Neifi Perez?

Cubs Korean scout recommends Hee Seop Choi for 2011, he's finally over that concussion.

One helluva headache worth of suckitude. Of course Hendry can unload him to whatever team signs DLee next year.

Nobody currently in the organization plays First in 2011.

That may come to fruition, but it makes even less sense than Mr Richardson's suggetions.

Why not call up Hoffpauir, give him 200 PA's and see what happens? There's no good FA to sign. The only thing that makes a little bit of sense on the FA market is to sign Beltre and push Ramirez to first, but Beltre is going to cost too much coming off his big year, and it doesn't address our lineup balance issues - nor give us a long term solution.

If the season is so lost to give Hoff 200 pa's might as well move Colvin or Sori over there.

I just don't think 30 year old minor leaguer is the answer.

So, Fukudome is the answer, becaue that's what happens if Soriano or Colvin move to first, or is Koyie Hill the answer, because that's what happens if we move Soto to first.

Given those three guys, I'll take my chances with the one who gets paid the least and has the best track record, and oh by the way, he's actually a first basemen.

why wouldn't a minor league outfielder with more promise then hoff be moved up to replace colvin or sori in outfield?

not sure why we need to see more of hoffpauer.

i'm not expecting much from cubs in 2011, imo.

Dunn,Berkman or Victor Martinez would be excellent 2011 first base candidates.

Carlos Pena works as a passable option C/D

Too expensive. Bring back Julio Zuleta.

There's a certain level of insanity required to look at a team that's weighed down by overpriced under productive veterans and think "Hey, let's bring in an over-priced under productive veteran to fix the problem!"

So the alternative is to tank next year?

I would buy that line of thinking if we had ANY hitting prospects in the minors that could hit enough to play first base.

Unfortunately we don't....

"So the alternative is to tank next year?"

Yep that's the plan.

True, but unless you plan on signing Pujols or maybe Votto or Fielder during this off-season, how do you fix the team by signing a FA first basemen?


In order of importance

Signing Dunn or Berkman and putting them at cleanup would be a HUGE boost to this offense. Dunn would be the preferred choice.

Martinez could play 1st 100-120 games. Back up Soto for 30-40 games at Catcher. Then instead of rostering a pud like Koyie Hill. You could give that roster spot to a Hoffpauir-type of first base slugger. Hoff could be a PH ace and get 40-50 First base starts in that scenario.


looks like a potent lineup.

So that lineup with Lee is bad, but you put Dunn in there and it's suddenly potent? The Cubs are 16.5 games out of first. Dunn doesn't make them a contender, not even considering the defensive hit you take playing him over Lee. Then take into consideration paying him prohibits you from getting FA's that can impact other areas of the club.

What is a more pressing need than an impact hitter?

A jumbotron.


its going tobe starting pitching if z doesn't get back to form

1-2 bullpen arms and a starter.

Sounds about right.

Personally I've got a bad bad Adam LaRoche/Casey Kotchman feeling on top of that.

Getting rid of bad contracts.

This club is 21st in baseball in runs scored. There are no first base prospects anywhere on the horizon.

We are 21st in runs allowed. However we DO have a bevy of young arms in the system.

Therefore chances are better than average that the pitching will improve just by kids gaining experience.

No hope for the offense to improve without outside help.

Very good, especially where you ignored that part that even with Lee the Cubs are leading the majors in unearned runs allowed.

A new stadium in Boise?

That is a potent lineup?

Sure, if they all stay healthy, the veterans do not regress at all, and the second year players and DeWitt blossom into stars.

But just as likely Castro struggles a bit in his second year, DeWitt remains a .264 hitter (hitting second), Ramirez loses a month or two to injury, Colvin's average drops even more from the .253 he is at now and he is benched, and Soriano slips a bit in his 35-year season and misses a bit of time as well to injury.

If you showed that lineup to a non-Cub fan they would not use the word "potent" to describe it.

I thought I liked Dunn, until somebody, Navigator, I think, pointed out that his RBI track his home runs a little too closely.

I've seen this movie before (and it's one that gives you a headache because it's so damned long). In 2008, Soriano had 29 home runs and 75 RBI. Dunn has 30 and 77. (Soriano could blame it on leading off.) Dunn has 138 strikeouts and is headed to 180-185. He's hitting .218 with RISP.

Do you think Soriano is an impact player?

I think Soriano is a good player. I thought the contract was excessive at the time he signed. I thought JD Drew was a better value at the time.

Dunn to me is and had always been much more valuable. The on base ability, and the fact he sees so many pitches tip the scales in his favor.

With a healthy Ramirez batting behind Dunn. That 40% on base will really come in handy.

Ignoring the fact that Dunn isn't a .400 OBP guy and his glove will cost the Cubs 10 runs over a real first basemen.

I don't think Dunn is a realistic addition based on what his contract demands are, along with his poor defensive play at 1b. Several websites in the last month have reported Dunn wants 4 years/$60 million. The Nats supposedly won't go beyond 2 years, and less than $15 mil per year.

I can't see Ricketts paying him anything like $11-12 mil per year, assuming Dunn would take a 1 or 2 year deal.

The other side is the defense. I've watched the guys on MLB Network say that NL teams don't want to commit to Dunn for a long term deal because he's such a bad fielder.

I couldn't see an NL team giving Dunn more than 3/30 this winter. That means he's likely headed to the AL.

If we are giving playing time to younger players to figure who is in the plans, why not arrange things so that Snyder can play? He seems to have more of a future than either Hoffpauir or LaHair at this point. So play Colvin at 1B and see what his defense looks like there, even if he doesn't make sense as a 1B starter--we already know he can play outfield defense. And play Snyder in RF or even in CF on occasion. It seems like 1B for the Cubs next year is more likely to be Colvin, Soto, or somebody from outside the current organization than it is to be Hoffpauir (or LaHair).

Hell of a run this team is making. We've caught KC and are only 0.5 games back from Cleveland now!

Jody Davis gets 6 games...

BOISE, Idaho - The Northwest League has suspended Boise Hawks manager, Jody Davis, for six games, and levied an undisclosed fine, for his actions in Saturday night’s forfeit loss to the Everett Aquasox

...and not surprisingly he gets thrown under the bus by the Boise Pres/GM:

Boise Hawks president and general manager, Todd Rahr, echoed Richmond's sentiments. "Although Jody's actions were in his best interests for the players, we do not believe in, nor condone, the tactics in which were used that led to the forfeiture of the contest."

add this to the list of why minor league bus rides are tough...

The first-year Hawks manager pulled the team from the field in the bottom of the first inning after outfielder Ryan Cuneo slipped on a wet warning track on an RBI double by Hawkins Gebbers, giving Everett a 2-0 lead - feeling the surface was unplayable. After a 23-minute delay, home plate umpire, Matt Mullins, resumed play - without Boise in the field. Following the mandated five-minute grace period in the Major League Baseball rule book, Mullins asked the Hawks skipper to take the field a final time, when he declined, the game was ruled a forfeit.

It would be awesome if Jody Davis managed the parent club while he's got time on his hands.

It's pretty interesting that Eric Thomas, Everett's pitcher, picked up his first minor league win in that game by pitching a 1 inning no hitter.

I think Lou should follow Jody and forfeit every game for the remaining of the year and spare us from watching this crap.

IS it still FRIDAY?

This has been a season of Mondays.

The SunTimes' Toni Ginnetti just spelled Derrek Lee "Derrick" in his latest column.

So far nobody's noticed. In fact, everybody commenting is spelling it "Derrick."

It's not "his" latest column. Toni Ginetti is a woman. Derreck or Derrick or Derek or Derick, he still sucks.

Toni is a woman, correct?

That is some delicious ironhe.

I looked for a pic. Failed
Just found this one:

The reason for your confusion is becoming aparent.

That's her.

lol... you use Bing.

Oh, I tried Google but it kept giving me pictures of Tim Robbins in his jockey shorts tied to a bed.

check it out

Wow... lol

Everyone knows "Derrick" is the white spelling. Pfft.

The name of the game is hit the ball, catch the ball, and get the fuckin' job done. Right now, we have more losses than we have wins. The fuckin' changes that have happened in the Cub organization are multi-fold!!! All right, they don't show because we're 5 and 14.

Rip them cocksuckers!


lee f'n elia


I believe it was country csuckers.

all time great

“ I'll tell you one fuckin' thing - I hope we get fuckin' hotter than shit just to stuff it up them three thousand fuckin' people that show up every fuckin' day. Because if they're the real Chicago fuckin' fans, they can kiss my fuckin' ass, right Downtown, and print it! They're really, really behind you around here. My fuckin' ass! What..what the fuck am I supposed to do? Go out there and get butt-fucked by those cocksuckers all fuckin' night. Fuck that shit. And be quiet about it? For the fuckin' nickel/dime people that show up? The motherfuckers don't even work! That's why they're out at the fuckin' game! They ought to get a fuckin' job and find out what it's like to go out and earn a fuckin' living. Eighty-five percent of the fuckin' world is working. The other fifteen come out here. A fuckin' playground for the cocksuckers. Rip them motherfuckers! Rip those country cocksuckers, like the fuckin' players! We've got guys bustin' their fuckin' asses and them fuckin' people boo...and that's the Cubs? My fuckin' ass! They talk about the great fuckin' support that the players get around here, I haven't seen it this fuckin' year! [1] ”

Wow. Where did you find a transcription of that?


Ryan Theriot continues his winning RISP ways (NOT):

"It started in the bottom of the 10th when pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard drew a leadoff walk from Sean Burnett. Scott Podsednik, unable to get a sacrifice bunt down, them poked a single to right, sending Belliard to third.

The Nationals brought right-fielder Michael Morse in as an extra infielder against Ryan Theriot. And with the infield in, Theriot bounced out right to Morse playing near second base."

Dodgers win anyway, 3-2 in 10. No thanks to The Scrappy One.

don wakamatsu axed from mariners.

Why? Because of underperformance, detachedness, and clubhouse anxiety? Pffft.

Good thing we don't have that.

maybe we can talk Seattle into doing the Lou Piniella final trip around the majors tour. lou got to say g'bye to the NL, now it's time to say g'bye to the AL.

And I like the Jody Davis forfeit approach to the rest of this season!


For a team that has a history of choking...I'd think the term for the cubs would be a gaggle of young arms.

One of these three items are fake:

DLee out due to ailing grandpa.

John Grabow still out cause his dog pee'd on his sanity socks.

Carlos Silva underwent cardiac ablation (similar to DeRosa's procedure) and was released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

christ...not to make light of lou's 2nd trip in the past few weeks, but does this team take a couple hours off during daytime practice to watch soap operas and eat bon-bons?

at least we wont have to watch dlee lightly jog on a smack to SS/3rd as if he's coming off leg surgery or working injury tonight. joe maddon would bench his ass if he kept doing that...then again that's one of his main rules of play on the field...not like maddon asks for a lot even though he has his lockerroom littered with quotes/slogans printed up on signs.

Per muskat...

cubs call up marcos mateo from iowa and send mitch atkins back to minors

CarrieMuskat: #Cubs lineup vs #Giants RF Colvin, SS Castro, 1B Nady, 3B Ramy, CF Byrd, LF Sori, 2B DeWitt, C Soto, P Z. No D-Lee. His grandfather is ill

Compared to Joey Votto's mock (or not?) dislike of the Cubs, Brandon Phillips wants you to know he REALLY hates the Cardinals:

"Phillips fouled a ball off his shin Saturday in Chicago and missed Sunday’s game. But he was in Monday’s linekup and said, “I’d play against these guys with one leg. We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them, they’re little bitches, all of ‘em. I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear - I hate the Cardinals.”"

wow, my thoughts on larussa exactly.

hearing a player go off and call a whole team out, though...haha.

Wow... I agree with that wholeheartedly, still, it makes me a little sad to hear a pro ball player playing around in the gutter like that. *shrug

Memo to Alan:

From Lou:

Just remember, First baseman bats third, Catcher bats 8th.
Z is your most useful PH except when he's starting. He can bat from either side.
Everything else will take care of itself.

Z limited to 80-ish pitches tonight according to len/bob.

2 gatorade machine destruction limit tonight

he's throwing a lot of 88-89mph stuff and arm slot all over the place

that outing by Z was worse than the score far...he also threw 96 pitches (though he did hold his velocity consistently to the end).

Let's all look on the bright side: the cubs suck.

Z still in the game and hits for himself with another runner in scoring position. If his pitch count really is up to 96 I would think he's not coming out to start the 7th. I see Russell and someone else are warming.

he got a worked out....he had a perfect storm going for him as far as the opportunity...both dlee/soto unavailable giving the bench a lot of nothing, fonte/fuku are lefties, lefty on the mound, tie game mid-way...

woo cubs lead.

Jesus F. Christ. Nice defense.

Wow, I go away for 3/4 of a season and look what happens!


everyone could use a throwing clinic or 2...

i would ask why im watching this game, but overall it's not too bad. it's amazing to me Z only gave up 2 runs...i could have quit watching an hour ago.

"i gotta tell you, i'm as excited about bonds's 600th homer as i am about arod's." - bob b. commenting on a video of bonds' 600th.

Bonds hit 600?

I dont have any idea who plays first next year but it is damn sure time to find out if we
have any in house options playing Lee is not doing 2011 any good he should play in only half
the games.

Agreed. If H-Man isn't playing 1B next year, at least give him a chance to showcase himself for someone else. Or whoever else is down there, give them a shot to prove himself. Lee sure isn't staying, isn't running and isn't willing to wave his no-trade. Enjoy some bench.


tossaway marcos mateo up to try to show someone something (we got him for buck coats in 07 according to len/bob).

great bb/k ration this year, though.

no idea wtf this dude is capable of...

he seems to throw a lot of fastballs...a lot. decent movement on it, but i dunno if he'll fool everyone with it. it's not anything special even if it's 92-94mph.

high 80s slider...

threw 3 sliders (4th of the inning) to the 3rd batter...2 Ks.

k.hill is calling a good inning and mateo's throwing it where he wants it.

Without Koyie Hill behind the plate does Mateo throw high 80's?

that joke never gets old to me.

My favorite part was when he mentioned Hill standing up to catch high fastballs before they were even thrown. I don't know if Barrett invented doing that, but he was certainly the first Cubs catcher to do so, and the first I saw in MLB.

The thing is, Lee said the reason he waived his no-trade was because he's having a terrible year. Well, now he's just a lame-duck whose taking AB's from someone who could use the experience and/or chance to prove himself. If he were hustling, I might give him a pass, but this is ridiculous. It's Dunn-worthy apathy.

I don't think Lee's taking ab's away from someone who is trying to prove themselves. They have no 1b prospects to speak of and all their OF prospects are basically at least a year away.

I would have liked to see us get something for Lee, but he's not blocking someone from a roster spot.

He's not blocking any great prospect, but he's certainly blocking. This team is in no way being helped by Lee's presence and he isn't a part of the future plans. There is, therefore, no reason to play him. I'd like to see the spot used for incentive, reward, experience, whatever. I do like Lee, but right now, he adds absolutely nothing to the team.

Given who is playing first when Lee isn't in the line up, it appears that he is blocking Nady.

The one thing he does add is the ability of the Cubs to show their loyalty. I would agree that this seems stupid, but appearantly free agents see this as valuable.

Fair enough. Though Nady is tradeable...well, maybe. The loyalty thing is valid, maybe that helps. At the same time, though, they're proving that they don't make players earn playing time.


...good game so far from an entertainment pov

2nd game in a row castro decides he covers a 300' range and keeps an OF'r from making an out by trying to make it himself.

bases loaded, 0 out, rookie pitcher in his debut...yeah.

predictable ending...cubs now 82 games under .500 and 120 games out of 1st

Soto to DL. Wellington Castillo comes up from Iowa.

D.Lee placed on bereavement leave. Micah Hoffpauir replaces him on roster.

Hoffpauir to stay until at least Thursday. Let's hope Nady stays in SF.

If there's no demand for Nady, release him. I can understand the organizational "responsibility" to Lee to let him hang around until the end of the year, but if not for that, I'd release him too.

Let's see if Castillo can hit. I am casting my vote as a "no", but will be happy to be proven incorrect.

I don't think Hoffpauir got much of a shot last year. It's a thankless job backing up Derrek Lee, who wants to play every inning, and it's tough being a rookie outfielder when you're not an outfielder.

Hoffpauir is a slick first baseman. There aren't a lot of spots in baseball for a guy who can only play first but it happens that the Cubs have an opening.

Hoffpauir got 22 starts in April-May last year. At the end of May his line was .281/.333/.479, with 4 homers and 16 RBI. Then he basically stopped playing, starting 14 games over the next three months. That is when his numbers suffered.

In September he got 13 starts and hit .259/.359/.444 with 2 HRs and 10 RBI.

At Iowa, he's an RBI machine. It took him a couple months this season to get his stroke back but since June 1 his line is .329/.385/.644/1.030. He has 87 RBI, third in the league behind guys with 30-50 more at bats. Hoffpauir always drives in runs, even early this season when he wasn't hitting.

I thought Hoffpauir looked terrible last year, swinging at everything. But I don't think you can judge him on a rookie season spent mostly pinch-hitting. It's a difficult role for a slugger.

I'd like to see LaHair get a shot. He can play corner Outfield and be a cheap bench option next year.

At least he can compete for the job.

"To me, there's one guy," [Ozzie] Smith told the Quad City Times. "[Sandberg] has paid his dues. He has been a stand-up citizen. He is a Hall of Famer. I don't know exactly what it is they are looking for, but I think it should be a no-brainer."

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