Chili Davis is gone. It appears that like offensive coordinators for the Bears or Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, nobody can last more than a year in this position. The Cubs fired John Mallee because Chili Davis was an “all-star coordinator,” and then fired him because he led the Cubs from the all-star talent level to the dumpster in …
OV Daily Facepalm
Aroldis Chapman hit in face by line drive There was a scary moment in last night's Reds game, as Aroldis Chapman was hit in the face by a line drive. Trainers from both teams rushed to the mound immediately (and his father too from the stands), and he was taken off the field in a stretcher. Reports say he never …
OV Daily Facepalm
Lots of HRs, lots of walks Baez and Olt both hit bombs off of Randy Wolf (video here and here), a not uncommon occurance for Randy Wolf. Olt later hit another bomb against against a Mariners reliever. Likely fifth starter James McDonald issued five walks in 2 2/3 innings in his start last night. First round of cuts The first round of …
OV Daily Facepalm
WBBM favorite to land Cubs radio broadcasts, WGN radio's slow march to doom continues WGN exercised an out clause in their deal last year in an attempt to renegotiate, since they're supposedly losing a ton of money on Cubs broadcasts. According to the Trib's Ed Sherman, WBBM is now viewed as the front-runner. It feels odd seeing the Tribune reporting on …
OV “Daily” Facepalm 03-05-2014
Castellanos on waivers Alex Castellanos was just put on waivers for the second time this year. I wrote about it the first time, concluding: I'm not saying that Castellanos could ever start for the Cubs (though I'm not sure he's not better than Sweeney), but he makes so much sense as the RH side of the CF/RF platoon, someone who could …
C'mon, What's Ol' Gil Gotta Do to Get a Bunch of Overpaid Players on the Cubs?
The Patience Plan that the Cubs are executing was first met with wide appeal when Theo and Jed first arrived on the scene about a year ago. They came in and stated quite clearly that they would be building from within, re-stocking the largely barren farm system they inherited from Jim Hendry, and any free agent signings in the near …
Daily Facepalm 4.11.12
1000 word recap of Paul Maholm's Cubs debut last night Other comments on last night's game You'd think that conditions like last night's (freezing, wind howling in) would be conducive to pitching, But when you can't locate multiple pitches, you're going to get hammered. Maholm walked two and hit two batters in the first inning, as well as a double, …
Daily Facepalm 3.21.12
Practice Game(s) Recap Dempster went six innings against the Rangers, allowing 2 runs on four hits and 2 walks and striking out three. Marmol had a scoreless 2/3 of the inning before leaving the game with some sort of hand injury. It was chalked up to cramps but he's getting an MRI anyway. The Cubs scored two runs on either …
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. …
Daily Facepalm 3.14.12
Practice Game recap Chris Volstad pitched three strong inninngs yesterday, extending his spring training scoreless streak to six innings. As with Samardzija and the other starter candidates, small sample size abounds, but I think he's got a good shot making the rotation. Tom Ricketts seemed to think so too during his brief time in the booth with Len and Mick. …