Caught the ESPN game last night. You'll be shocked to learn the Yankees were on. Joba was pitching against the Tigers in Comerica. He absolutely looks like a starting pitcher out there. He was changing speeds, moving the ball around, and working quickly.
The Yankees' pen was a different story. After Chamberlain left the game, they almost coughed up an 8-1 lead in a pitchers' park on a cold April night in Michigan. Even Mariano Rivera threw a long ball. Albabedajo was terrible in relief for New York. For Detroit, Joel Zumaya looked really good. He gave them two innings of zeroes.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
What's Wrong with Carlos?
Carlos Marmol was bad yesterday in Phoenix. Really bad. Either he is pitching with pain, or he has lost the feel for how to locate the strike zone. Of course, for the Cubs this is a bad thing. With Kevin Gregg bad yesterday, the bullpen looks a little short.
Thursday's beatdown by the Dbacks was definitely a team effort. The pitching and the hitting were both awful. It is difficult to really break it down and point out where the Cubs were lacking.
Now the Cubs are 10-10, looking way up at the Cardinals. This morning the Daily Herald (newspapers, remember those?) asked if the Cubs were overconfident coming out of spring training. As a fan, I took it for granted that we would be the class of the division again. It may still happen but it is time to put that complacency away.
Here come the Marlins for a 3-game series. Tonight there is a 7:05 night game, if it's not rained out, which looks like a real possibility from my window. The Marlins are reeling after a great start.
Thursday's beatdown by the Dbacks was definitely a team effort. The pitching and the hitting were both awful. It is difficult to really break it down and point out where the Cubs were lacking.
Now the Cubs are 10-10, looking way up at the Cardinals. This morning the Daily Herald (newspapers, remember those?) asked if the Cubs were overconfident coming out of spring training. As a fan, I took it for granted that we would be the class of the division again. It may still happen but it is time to put that complacency away.
Here come the Marlins for a 3-game series. Tonight there is a 7:05 night game, if it's not rained out, which looks like a real possibility from my window. The Marlins are reeling after a great start.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Taking a look at the Cubs' pen
Bullpen set up:
CLOSER: Kevin Gregg
SETUP: Carlos Marmol
SHORT RELIEF: Aaron Heilman
MIDDLE: Jeff Samarzdija
MIDDLE: Neal Cotts
MIDDLE: Luis Vizcaino
LONG RELIEF: David Patton
When I was first introduced to baseball, teams had 10-man pitching staffs. There were 4-man rotations and 6-man bullpens. Generally now there are 12-man staffs. Above you see the seven Cub relievers.
I think most of us agree that Carlos Marmol is the best pitcher on that list. So why isn't he the closer? Two reasons. 1) hate to give up the option of bringing in Marmol at any time whatsoever; and 2) Marmol tends to be at his worst at the very most important times.
As a short reliever or set up combo, Marmol and Heilman is rock-solid. It will be a great bullpen if two other things go well: 1) Gregg holds up as closer and 2) Marmol doesn't let this bother him. My problem is that I wouldn't bet on either. Gregg is not a dominating closer and if Marmol isn't a little upset by this situation, I don't know what to say. The best case scenario is that he gets angry at Piniella and turns it into determination to demolish opposing hitters. I know that's what Lou is looking for. But will we see that, or will we see Marmol let it get to him and unravel mentally?
CLOSER: Kevin Gregg
SETUP: Carlos Marmol
SHORT RELIEF: Aaron Heilman
MIDDLE: Jeff Samarzdija
MIDDLE: Neal Cotts
MIDDLE: Luis Vizcaino
LONG RELIEF: David Patton
When I was first introduced to baseball, teams had 10-man pitching staffs. There were 4-man rotations and 6-man bullpens. Generally now there are 12-man staffs. Above you see the seven Cub relievers.
I think most of us agree that Carlos Marmol is the best pitcher on that list. So why isn't he the closer? Two reasons. 1) hate to give up the option of bringing in Marmol at any time whatsoever; and 2) Marmol tends to be at his worst at the very most important times.
As a short reliever or set up combo, Marmol and Heilman is rock-solid. It will be a great bullpen if two other things go well: 1) Gregg holds up as closer and 2) Marmol doesn't let this bother him. My problem is that I wouldn't bet on either. Gregg is not a dominating closer and if Marmol isn't a little upset by this situation, I don't know what to say. The best case scenario is that he gets angry at Piniella and turns it into determination to demolish opposing hitters. I know that's what Lou is looking for. But will we see that, or will we see Marmol let it get to him and unravel mentally?
Cubs get one in St. Louis...
... but lose Ramirez and Lee, even if only for one day. Soriano was beaned. It's always tough in St. Louis.
I'm back to blogging the Cubs, after a necessary absence in which I tended to some urgent business.
What's new in Cub land? It hasn't been a great start, but while I wasn't here to update you all regularly, Kosuke Fukudome really turned around his hitting. He leads the team in most categories. Could it be that this is the real Fukudome? Maybe last season he just got tired. Soriano is also rolling. Ramirez has been OK. I like that we are surviving though we haven't been getting anything from Derrek Lee or Milton Bradley. Those two will be there when Soriano hits his slump.
Turning to pitching, we haven't seen too much from Ryan Dempster, or Big Z. That will change as the summer rolls on, hopefully. Ted Lilly has been good, and Harden has been near to his potential as well.
I'm not going to let a label like "fourth place" bother me at this point. I am not happy to see the Cardinals in first though.
Tonight begins the West Coast trip; Diamondbacks in Phoenix. Tonight is Lilly versus Haren. Early in the season like this the balls fly out of the open room of Bank One Ballpark.
I'm back to blogging the Cubs, after a necessary absence in which I tended to some urgent business.
What's new in Cub land? It hasn't been a great start, but while I wasn't here to update you all regularly, Kosuke Fukudome really turned around his hitting. He leads the team in most categories. Could it be that this is the real Fukudome? Maybe last season he just got tired. Soriano is also rolling. Ramirez has been OK. I like that we are surviving though we haven't been getting anything from Derrek Lee or Milton Bradley. Those two will be there when Soriano hits his slump.
Turning to pitching, we haven't seen too much from Ryan Dempster, or Big Z. That will change as the summer rolls on, hopefully. Ted Lilly has been good, and Harden has been near to his potential as well.
I'm not going to let a label like "fourth place" bother me at this point. I am not happy to see the Cardinals in first though.
Tonight begins the West Coast trip; Diamondbacks in Phoenix. Tonight is Lilly versus Haren. Early in the season like this the balls fly out of the open room of Bank One Ballpark.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Dempster Has Taste
I'm thinking that Aramis Ramirez dared him to wear it should he bail Demp out with a walk-off homer (which he did - Go Cubbies!).
Ed also contributes various rantings to his own blog , VirtualCheeseBlogger
Monday, April 13, 2009
Wrigley Field - LIVE CAM!
Wrigley Field Live Cam - courtesy of Cubworld.com
reload this page to see the latest image, or click on the image
or the link at the top to go to the Cubworld site which refreshes automatically.
reload this page to see the latest image, or click on the imageor the link at the top to go to the Cubworld site which refreshes automatically.
Reed Freakin Johnson!
Sunday Night, Reed Johnson stole a grand slam away from Prince Fielder.
Lou Piniella, are you paying attention? Don't leave him out of the playoffs this time!
Watch the video on cubs.com (courtesy of ESPN).
Lou Piniella, are you paying attention? Don't leave him out of the playoffs this time!
Watch the video on cubs.com (courtesy of ESPN).
Monday, April 6, 2009
One Down, 161 to go.
I don't know why the song "99 bottles of beer on the wall" is going thru my head, except in my head, there's 162 bottles and one of them is empty.
Go Cubs!
(the song below has swear words in it. if you're uncomfortable with a small amount of cursing at the beginning, then you should NOT play it.)
99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall -
Ed also contributes various rantings to his own blog , VirtualCheeseBlogger
Saturday, April 4, 2009
MLB Fan Value Corner
MLB has launched a section of their baseball juggernaut of team websites called "MLB Fan Value Corner".
I'd call it the "We're stuck with all those crappy, often rainy (and in the Cubs' case SNOWY) friggin April Games and we want you to feel like we really care about bilking you out of your last dollar selling you lower than half-price tickets that you probably wouldn't want to buy anyway since you just spent your last paycheck paying off the interest on your high definition tv which gets the games just fine! Corner" .
But then, I'm probably not so good at marketing.
Anyway, if somehow you didn't manage to get some decent tickets this year (i might have extras - call me) and still want to catch a game in probably less than perfect weather conditions, or are a college student not concerned about possibly having your view partially obstructed by a support beam or skybox , you might be able to get an affordable ticket to our beloved national pasttime.
Enjoy!
Ed also contributes various rantings to his own blog , VirtualCheeseBlogger
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