I watched the HR derby (well, the first round of it) yesterday. It's so much better on mute.
Jupiter Hammerheads 8 @ Daytona Cubs 4
What is the sound of no fans watching? It's really hard to get interested about this team these days now that Baez and Soler are gone. Zeke DeVoss had a nice one, with a home run and a double. I wonder if people will start to build his stock now that he's arguably the best positional prospect on the team. Wes Darvill had a triple and a walk. Both Elliot Soto and Dustin Geiger were 1-4 with a walk. Taiwan Easterling went 2-4 with a pair of RBI to push his average back over .200.
Zach Cates struggled in 5 innings of work. He only struck out 2 (the same amount he walked), and he allowed 4 runs (3 earned). Chang-Yong Lim also allowed a run in an inning, and did Larry Suarez. Remember when people were excited about Larry Suarez? That's what can happen regarding IFA signings. Jeffrey Lorick allowed 2 runs in his inning, but only 1 was earned. Frank of the Valley was scoreless in the 9th.
Kane County Cougars 7 @ West Michigan Whitecaps 4
Great day for our Cougs. Gioskar Amaya was 3-5 with 2 runs and walk, also stealing a base and committing an error. He's on fire in July: over 45 AB, he's .378/.462/.578. It's nice to see that return. Albert Almora went 2-5 with a walk and a run scored. Dan Vogelbach had a trio of singles and a walk; his average sits at .282. Jeimer Candelario was only 1-6 but he did hit a double and drive in 2. Carlos Escobar was 2-3 with a double and 2 walks. Willson Contreras was a double and home run shy of the cycle, going 3-5 and driving in 2. He also had an error.
Felix Pena drew the start but lasted only one inning. He allowed 2 runs, 1 earned. Lendy Castillo came in relief and didn't shit all over everything, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks over 4 innings. Nathan Dorris collected the win with 7 outs of no-run ball, and Michael Hamann went 1.2 innings, allowing nothing for the save.
Boise Hawks 7 @ Hillsboro Hops 4
I can't get over how cool the Hops logo is. Unfortunately for them, their team is garbage. Yasiel Balaguert yo-yo'd his way back onto the Boise roster and went 1-4. He was then caught stealing. Daniel Lockhart and David Bote each had doubles and an RBI, but Lockhart added a single. Jose Dore was 2-4 with a double and a home run; he drove in 3. Justin Marra was 1-4 but the one hit was also a home run. Carlos Penalver was 2-4 with a double.
Duane Underwood was really hittable in his start, but only allowed 1 of his 10 baserunners to score in 5 innings. Dillon Maples was demoted to Boise to work on mechanics, and he walked 3 batters to lead off the 6th before exiting. He's cooked. To his credit, Hoffner inherited Maples' runners and allowed NONE of them to score. He went 3 merciless innings where he struck out 2 and allowed no hits or walks. He deserves some credit. Seriously, I want to buy Corbin Hoffner a beer, so I should find a way to make that happen. My main man Carlos Martinez-Pumarino answered the call I put out yesterday, but it was a wrong number. 1 inning, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 HR alowed. The damage was a 3-run blast. I rushed him, so you can put this one right on me.
Josh Vitters was 1-3 with a double. He was pinch-hit for in the 9th, the needed someone else to strike out, so Jesse Hodges bravely answered the call.
Pitching-wise, Erick Leal was torched for 6 runs in 3 innings. It was his first poor outing all year.
Comments
Secret confession: I love the All-Star game. Or at least, I find it highly entertaining. I know there are plenty of things “wrong” with it that need to get “fixed” (thanks every sportswriter anywhere), but I still enjoy it. I get to see some of the best talent in all of baseball, all crammed into one lineup. Getting to see Matt Harvey up against the AL’s best for 2 innings is going to be quite the treat. I think as far as all-star games go, MLB takes the cake.
EdwinQuote Reply
@ Edwin:
I usually tune in as well. I enjoy hockey’s all-star game more although that’s mainly because of the skills competition. But baseball’s isn’t bad either.
WaLiQuote Reply
Edwin wrote:
RynoQuote Reply
@ Edwin:
As far as entertainment goes, no doubt that it’s the best all-star game. I hate that it determines home field advantage in the WS though.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
True. I think the All-Star game should be a celebration of some of the best/most popular players in baseball. It doesn’t need to be competative. If anything, making the All-Star game into a decisive competition totally misses the point of why they have the All-Star game in the first place. I don’t know why the All-Star game ending in a tie was such a big deal anyways, but I guess that’s baseball for you.
This is a game where apparently the most seroius issue is that the numbers players generate today might not be able to be accurately compared to numbers generated by past players, because today’s players are taking performanc enhancing substances. Plus, bacne. Gross.
EdwinQuote Reply
Somebody dropped Francisco Liriano in my keeper league and I want to pick him up, but I’m not sure who I should drop. I doubt I can pull a trade to clear space before the waiver period is over. We use standard pitching categories and it’s an auction league where we add $5 to the cost if you want to keep a guy for the next year. $200 budget and 23 roster spots.
I currently have:
Matt Garza – $1
Jeff Samardzija – $8
Cole Hamels – $14
Chris Archer – $0
Anibal Sanchez – $5
Patrick Corbin – $0
Tony Cingrani – $0
Liriano brings a cost of $0 with him as well. I also have Profar sitting on my bench with a $6 price, so It would be $11 to keep him. He’s the only position player I could dump.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I would probably cut Archer. He’s looked good the last 3, but it was astros/twins/astros or something like that. He and Cingrani have control issues, but Cingrani has shown he can dominate. Anibal’s career could very well end tomorrow, with his shoulder issues and his past injuries, but I don’t think there’s any way to cut him for this year until that happens.
GWQuote Reply
profar would be a distant second to archer.
GWQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I’d probably drop Cingani. I don’t think he’s going to remain in the rotation long-term, and if he does, he’s probably a 4-5
NateQuote Reply
It was more than that. It was having guys get only one at bat or one inning on the mound, having a 67 man roster and taking forever to finish the game. To me having the entire lineup turn over during a game makes it a mockery of a game — it’s simply not a “team” if (most of) the same guys don’t play the whole game.
I’d like it a lot more if they cut down on the pomp and circumstance, made sure it was a normal length game and broadcast, had smaller rosters and less changes to the lineup — all of which would make it more like a real baseball game.
But I guess there’s also the issue of some players choosing not to participate…that kind of sucks the legitimacy out of it too.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
I’d almost prefer they just have an exhibition game between the best AL team and NL team if anything.
MishQuote Reply
@ Mish:
Seems kinda redundant with the World Series.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
Good points. Maybe if they just stuck to a 25 man roster of available players for both sides, that would work.
EdwinQuote Reply
@ GW:
Yeah, if Sanchez was still hurting, I’d probably cut him for Liriano. Maybe I should anyway. Better keeper value if I’m going to be rolling the “if he stays healthy” dice. I also have Alex Cobb stashed on my DL for $4 so I’m pretty good on cheap, quality pitching for next year even after I cut Hamels in the offseason.
The only reason I bring up Profar is that it’s harder to visualize him as a value next year at $11. Considering I also have Matt Carpenter with 2B eligibility with a keeper value of $9, I don’t really need him.
Aisle424Quote Reply
With regard to season ticket waiting list churn, I found out they kicked me off the list when I didn’t bother to view seats.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/7/16/4528318/mlb-trade-rumors-matt-garza-cubs-exceptionally-high-rangers
This is the first I’ve heard that the Cubs might do a sign-and-trade with Garza. Why would they do that?
GBTSQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I second GW, I’d cut Archer.
GBTSQuote Reply
Also, I’m irrationally wanting to hold onto Chris Archer because it pissed off a guy in my league I called out for making the worst trade in the history of trades. He was pissed because someone else picked Archer up and dropped him on the same day, so he thought Archer should have gone on waivers instead of being available for me to pick up as a FA later that day.
So I offered to trade him Archer for Chris Sale, Mike Trout, and Shin-Soo Choo.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ GBTS:
More years of a fixed salary, maybe? Like Dmick said, you’re trading contracts, not players. Maybe if the Cubs sign Garza to a decent extention other teams view it as a better contract to trade for than a contract that ends in a couple months.
If the Cubs sign Garza to an extention, are they then able to take on any of that money in a trade?
EdwinQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
I wonder how often the best teams at the ASB are the ones that make it to the World Series, tho.
MishQuote Reply
GBTS wrote:
It eliminates a variable in quantifying value if you wanted to keep Garza around for longer than a few months. Instead of theorizing what it would cost to keep Garza beyond this year, you’d know. That way you can decide if the prospect haul for this year is worth it when you know you won’t lose him to FA without compensation.
I don’t think it would change the math that much at all, but it would add some certainty to the decision-making.
That’s all I can figure.
Aisle424Quote Reply
New shit
http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/series-preview-american-league-107-94-at-national-league-94-107.html
BerseliusQuote Reply
Edwin wrote:
RynoQuote Reply