Tag: Homer Simpson

The Children Are the Future- Cubs Minor League Update Sponsored by Phillip Morris

Iowa

It was a sloppy game for the Iowa Cubs as Vitters, Rizzo and Cardenas each committed an error. Brett Jackson went 1-5 with a triple and Nate Robertson continued his inspired campaign to be released within the first month.

Smokies

Rain Out

Daytona

There's just no way to sugarcoat it- Hayden Simpson was awful tonight. His final line was 2.2 IP 6H 6 ER and 4 BB to no strikes and a HR allowed. He worked from behind all night with a fastball between 85-87 mph. We all know the mono case and the elbow injury from last year but the bottom line is this- if the kid isn't right (and I don't see how he can be considering he has lost 10 mph off his fastball in less than 2 years) then shut him down until he gets better. He isn't learning anything from getting destroyed and until he is throwing harder than a 40 year old middle reliever its not going to get much better. Now, I was surprised to see that the future Mrs. Hayden Simpson responded to one of my tweets to Daytona announcers concerning Hayden's weight loss and we struck up a chat. She seems like a very nice person and apparently Hayden is slowly gaining weight back and really trying to get back to where he was in college. And honestly, despite the snark that Simpson gets around here its not his fault that the Cubs drafted the guy so early and its not his fault they continue to send him out to the wolves. I had really hoped the Theo/Jed regime would handle him a little better but at this point there isn't much reason to hope we get much out of him until he gets healthy and thats not a sure thing to ever happen. 

Peoria

It was about a week ago that MD and I were praising Patrick Franceson and since then he has pretty much sucked. So blame us. However the Asian Sensation that is Yao Lin Wang picked up another win. Wang went 2 IP and allowed no runs, no hits and just a walk. He still has an ERA of 0. I would really like to see him start considering he did well in that role in Boise but maybe they just want to limit his IP for now. 20 yr old OF Oliver Zapata went 3-4 and currently sports an OPS of 1.992. 

Daily Facepalm 3.23.12 – Too many DUIs edition

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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 were looking at his elbow though, so it's probably not good.

Is there a Cubs game today?

Indeed. Jeff Samardzija gets the start against the Rockies today at 3pm. Len and Mick have the call on Gameday. From what I've gathered from the interwebs, Keith Law should be there to see Samardzija pitch today.

Today in horrifying news

This news about former number one pick Matt Bush is horrible. He was driving drunk and hit a 72-year old man on a motorcycle and fled the scene. When the police later apprehended him he blew a .180. According to the local NBC affiliate, Bush's SUV ran over the victim's head, and he only survived because he was wearing a helmet. (Side point – everytime I see someone on a motorcycle not wearing a helmet or in shorts, I just want to Force-push them over for being fucking idiots).

Not to be outdone, Sox of various colors reliever Bobby Jenks was also arrested for a DUI hit-and-run last night.

I know it's not baseball's job to tell these guys what to do when they're not actively doing baseball job related things, but Jesus.

Opening Day starter to be announced today

I suspect that whoever it is, his name will rhyme with Brian Hempster.

Keith Law on various Cubs prospects

Keith Law has seen a Cubs game or two in the past week, and chatted about Cubs prospects. The highlights

  • Vogelbach has lost 20-25 pounds, and looked overmatched, with a slow bat and poor recognition of off-speed pitches. I don't know who he was facing though, he's young enough that he's going to be way down in the system so I'm not too concerned yet. Everyone knows he still has a long way to go
  • Klaw loves Jeimer Candelario. He doesn't have great bat speed but his swing is "simple" and has a good feel for hitting
  • Klaw thinks the current CBA changes wrt international players will be in place as long as Selig and Reinsdorf are around. I don't think they're going anywhere even after they've departed this plane.
  • Hayden Simpson couldn't even hit 90 on the gun earlier this week. Klaw thinks he's donezo, and that his velocity spike that led to the Cubs drafting him was a fluke.
  • Klaw on Samardzija: "Have heard it's been an unbelievable transformation – like the light bulb just went on. It's just spring, but I've seen him in past springs where I wouldn't have given him a snowball's chance of big league value, so there's at least something different there."
  • He lists Baez (who he's very high on), Candelario, Dunston Jr., and Cuban OF Yasiel Balaguer as players to be excited about in the low minors. He thinks Baez ends up as a 3B, though he won't rule out SS

40-man roster update

Andy Sonnanstine was outrighted to AAA yesterday, so the Cubs have two roster spots open. They'll probably go to DeWitt and Mather.

Is there Wrigley Talk Friday today?

Oh, indeed. If could be at either 1 or 2 pm today. Those crafty WTFers like to keep us on our toes.

Today is Wire Quote Day

Cool Lester Smooth says to leave your favorites in the comments.