Las Vegas 51s 1 @ Iowa Cubs 2 (Game 1, 7 innings)
Quiet game. Logan Watkins got a start at 2B and went 1-3 with a CS (his 8th of the year). Brian Bogusevic was scheduled to be called up for 15 seconds yesterday after the Borbon collision, but he seems to be fine. He went 1-3 with a solo shot. Brett Jackson 2: Des Moines Nights (did I use this one yet?) went 0-3 with a strikeout. Dave Sappelt had a 1-3 day with a strikeout. His average is up to .233 now. Brad Nelson had the other objectively good game, going 1-2 with a double and a walk. Ian Stewart drew a start and went 1-3. His meteoric rise in avg continues (.148).
Brooks Raley only threw 45 pitches in this game and was mildly effective. I'm really curious if he's injured or not, because this was a double header and he was on pace to easily just pitch the whole game himself. He had 3 innings of 1 run ball, on a solo shot. He walked 2 and K'ed 4. Esmailin Caridad had 3 solid innings in relief, and Rafael Dolis picked up the win in the 7th, with 3 strikeouts and a walk.
Las Vegas 51s 5 @ Iowa Cubs 6 (Game 2, 7 innings)
The Cubs sent out the B-team in this one. The only prospect was Josh Vitters, who went 0-3 with a strikeout.
Barret Loux had a curious start; he allowed a single hit in 5.1 innings, but a combination of errors on Vitters and Yokids resulted in 4 runs allowed (2 earned). He also walked 3 so it wasn't all rosy. Zach Putnam helpfully blew the save and picked up the win; he had 0.2 innings of 3 hit, 1 run ball. Blake Parker continues to perform well this year, collecting his 6th save.
Tennessee Smokies 4 @ Chattanooga Lookouts 5 (11 innings)
Ugly day for the bats in Chattanooga today. The Smokies had 17 strikeouts. Matt Szczur had 4 of them (1-6, 2B), Arismendy Alcantara had 3 and his 15th error (1-5), as did Rafael Lopez (0-4, BB). Rubi Silva had no strikeouts and went 2-5 with a triple and 2 RBI. Christian Villanueva continues to warm up; he went 1-4 with a walk and double. Ronald Torreyes did not play until coming in as a pinch-hitter. He scored an RBI.
| Tennessee Smokies | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |||
| Matt Loosen | 4.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7.99 | |||
| A.J. Morris | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.82 | |||
| Tony Zych | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 | |||
| Zach Rosscup | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.37 | |||
| Trey McNutt | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.82 | |||
| Frank Batista (L, 1-2) | 2.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.25 | |||
| Totals | 10.2 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3.56 |
|||
Instead of talking about all of the pitchers, here they are in their glory. Notice how Matt Loosen allowed 3 runs in 4 innings to get his ERA lowered to 7.99.
The game ended on a wild pitch by Batista combined with a throwing error by backup C Jair Fernandez. The Smokies had Rubi Silva on 3rd with one out in the top of the ninth, but Villanueva and Lopez both struck out.
Daytona Cubs 7 @ Jupiter Hammerheads 2 (10 innings)
What if I told you that only one person on the Cubs drew a walk today? Where would Javier Baez be on your list of "most likely to be that person?" I'd say he's around 9th, but here we are. Baez went 2-4 with a walk and a strikeout. Jorge Soler went 2-5 with 2 RBIs. Both Chad Noble and Chadd Krist went 2-4, and Ben Carhart had 3 hits including a double.
P.J. Francescon had a good start. He lasted 6 innings and the only run he allowed was a solo blast in the 6th. Austin Reed pitched 2 innings and allowed a run, and Frank of the Valley collected his first win of the season with 2 innings of no-run work.
Harrinson Bermudez collected the win. He pitched 2 innings, struck out none, allowed no hits, and walked 4.
Comments
Baez’s last 10 games: .409/.561/.970, 41 PAs, 3 BBs, only 6 Ks. Maybe reason to hope he’s coming out of it?
sitrick2Quote Reply
Apparently Venezuela is the only place that knows baseball is a nine inning game (dying laughing).
BerseliusQuote Reply
Theo clarified Ian Stewart’s comments about Vitters being the ‘3b of the future’. He says he explained to Stewart that if he’s in AAA, the guy who’s an actual prospect is going to get ABs ahead of him.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Brett suggests that maybe the reason Camp has been so awful is that he’s 37 and had a career high 80 appearances last year. Though you think that would have affected him more last September than now.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Don Mattingly’s taking shots at the front office now…his days are numbered.
BerseliusQuote Reply
In NL central injury news:
Jaime Garcia ——> shoulder surgery
Kyle Lohse ——–> elbow soreness (should only miss one start)
BerseliusQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
I would think the 37 is of more consequence than the 80 appearances. Shrug.
sitrick2Quote Reply
Hate to bring up the bullpen usage issue from last night again, but if you know going into the game that your starter is limited to 85 pitches (and is not Greg Maddux), wouldn’t it make sense to assume you’d need a multi-inning appearance from someone and plan on using the guy who just got kicked out of the rotation in that role? They pair starters and relievers that way in the minors all the time. Burning three guys in the sixth when you knew this was coming just comes off as dumb.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Michael Crabtree ——–> torn achilles, may be done for the year
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
Arguing who comes out of the bullpen first for the Cubs is kind of semantics. Villanueva is no guarantee either. Maybe Dale wanted to use Rondon in a relative low pressure situation and then turn it over to Villanueva for the 7th/8th with Russell/Camp/Fuji available to help out then.
But then Rondon went and got in trouble and Russell walks the guy he is supposed to get with a bunch of righties coming up so with the game on the line now, you almost have to get a righty in there. So who is it? Marmol with the bases loaded? That would have been a fun night on Twitter.
I don’t know his reasoning at the time, but we are reasoning that Villanueva was the better choice, but based on what? Largely, in most cases, I think it is based on that we know what happened and that isn’t fair. As far as what Dale’s options actually are, the choice to go with Rondon is not nearly as stupid as people are making it out to be. The rest of the inning was trying to clean up the mess Rondon made and I’m not sure there were many good choices there either.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Yeah, I guess I was working under the assumption that not using Villanueva in that situation meant that he wouldn’t be used in a multi-inning role later on, which isn’t set in stone. It’s more the case that I’m generally frustrated with the lack of creativity we’re seeing generally in the usage of bullpens (and specifically, from Sveum) than anything, and maybe you’re right that he could have gone righty-lefty in the sixth and then plugged in Villanueva to face the battery of righties that followed.
If he winds up using Villanueva like a two-pitch, one-inning guy from here on out, though, I’ll still insist that he’s not maximizing what little he has to work with in his pen. But he does deserve the benefit of the doubt until it happens, I guess.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Don’t you have to bring in Gregg with the bases loaded in that situation? I don’t get what’s so great about being the closer. Sometimes the 9th is the most exciting time, sometimes it’s boring as shit. Wouldn’t you rather be the guy who came in when the team was on the ropes and shut the other side down, killed their rally and let them know they had wasted their chance? You were a guaranteed lid closing, barnburner? Fuck being the closer. The best guy in the staff should be itching to be in the game when it matters the most. He shouldn’t want to be the closer.
He should want to be the Iceman.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
True, but there are financial reasons to wanting to rack up saves. That’s pretty much the only way you get big money as a RP, especially now that Ed Wade is no longer running a team.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ josh:
We need a sportswriter to make up an iceman shutdown stat first.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
For now, yes, but if the idea caught on (and, yes, it would need a simple stat, most likely, to help get people to swallow it), then the iceman would quickly become the next hot commodity.
Really, my point was that there is a certain amount of selling involved. Give this position a cool name, hide the statistical support behind it and build up some a narrative. Baseball is as much about creating drama in the fans as anything.
joshQuote Reply
Camp ————> DL (sprained toe)
Dolis ———> Cubs
BerseliusQuote Reply
I think if you made a Major League style movie where an coach was a rebel and used an iceman and some of the other strategies, but you gave them cool names and showed how it would work in a game situation, you’d see a spike in interest.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
A comic may spike interest.
WaLiQuote Reply
josh wrote:
I can’t say it has a cool name, but isn’t this basically a hold? Here’s the Wiki def:
A hold (abbreviated HLD, H or HD) is awarded to a relief pitcher who meets the following three conditions:
1. Enters the game in a save situation; that is, when all of the following three conditions apply:
(a) He appears in relief (i.e., is not the starting pitcher); and
(b) He is not the winning pitcher; and
(c) He qualifies under one of the following conditions:
(i) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and maintains that lead for at least one inning
(ii) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat, or on deck
(iii) He pitches effectively for at least three innings.
2. Records at least one out
3. Leaves the game before it has ended without his team having relinquished the lead at any point and does not record a save.
Note that since the hold is not an official Major League Baseball statistic, the definition above can vary. One noticeable difference is that while STATS, Inc. requires the pitcher to record at least one out for a hold, SportsTicker does not have this requirement. This can result in discrepancies in hold totals between different sources.
WenningtonsGorillaCockQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
(dying laughing)
WenningtonsGorillaCockQuote Reply
@ WenningtonsGorillaCock:
Early reports on the news said that he had treatment for it on Sunday and it didn’t take. Now we’re hearing the FO had no idea he was hurt when they DFA’d Bowden.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Samardzija learned from the bunting tournament
WaLiQuote Reply
This team blows
NateQuote Reply
Based loaded no outs –> no runs
Me –> not surprised
WaLiQuote Reply
Cub’d
BerseliusQuote Reply
Jose Bautista had a nice day. 4-4 with 2 HR, including a game-tying HR in the bottom of the ninth and a game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 10th. He even stole a base. WPA = 1.045
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Shark’s got his good stuff tonight.
BerseliusQuote Reply
It seems like this team is just eye-bleedingly bad, but when you take a closer look they’re somehow about a .500 team in pythagorean terms while playing in arguably the toughest division in baseball. I’m not sure what to make of that (or what to make of the NL Central being arguably the toughest division in baseball, for that matter). And all of this with only four hitters OPS+’ing over 100, including two guys who are more than offset by the mountain of fail on the other side of their platoons, a massive underperformance by Castro so far, and an utterly craptacular bullpen. Are the starting pitchers actually that good, or am I missing something?
Is it possible that contention is closer than it seems? Cue the hope monster.
uncle daveQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
Cubs pitchers have been fairing pretty well. They have 4 starters with ERA’s under 4.00 and 2 in the low 2.00’s. Bullpen has kinda stunk, but Gregg and Russell have been doing very well. Cubs hitters haven’t faired that badly, either, mostly due to Valbuena and Ransom overperforming. Castillo has been pretty good for a catcher, Castro not bad for a shortstop. Also Cubs pitchers have been helping out at the plate a bit.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
I guess if we’re relying on the path to contention to flow through Cody Ransom, I can give up that hope right now.
uncle daveQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
When I think about the team, I think “this team isn’t all that bad”.
Then I watch the team.
WaLiQuote Reply
WaLi wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuWQfMGjZF4
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ WaLi:
I kind of get the opposite feeling. I see the lineup or watch them play, assume that they’re one of the worst three or four teams in baseball, and ask my co-worker ” これらの人は、彼らが、悪くはないですね ?” but it’s somehow not working out that way on paper. I kind of wish they were worse, ’cause as long as they’re neither in contention nor fun to watch they might as well be jostling for a good draft pick. As it stands, they’ll be lucky to crack the top ten next June.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Apparently Houston beat reporters indicating that HOU will pass on Appel if Boras gives them the impression he’s gonna play hardball over $$. I can’t imagine that not happening, so maybe it looks like Appel——-> Cubs. Also, Almora is 2-2 so far with 2 2B. At least someone is hitting.
Recalcitrant Blogger NateQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
Nah, don’t worry. Once they trade DeJesus, Garza, and Feldman, they’ll be worse. Plus, Gregg ain’t gonna keep this up, so the bullpen is going to continue blowing games.
Recalcitrant Blogger NateQuote Reply
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
This is a year.
BerseliusQuote Reply
O9R alert, I guess.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Cliff Lee > Marlins batters
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
sitrick2 wrote:
i figured it was more because he’s terrible than either of those other two things
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
But he was Sveum’s MVP last year!
WaLiQuote Reply
verlander —-> the will to get a win
(came back out after 100 pitches and > 1 hour rain delay to finish the 5th)
GWQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
I think it’s awesome that your coworker is and/or speaks Japanese.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ WenningtonsGorillaCock:
Hold is good. Hold just needs someone to market it.
joshQuote Reply
New comic: http://obstructedview.net/comics/the-iceman-cometh.html
joshQuote Reply