Back to the drawing board, Lou?
photo via pouletnoir.files.wordpress.com
Yesterday Lou said that Jeff Samardzija might have a shot at making the bullpen as one of the middle-inning guys. But after he gave up five hits (all for extra bases, including a three-run homer to Bill Hall) and five runs in the Cubs' 9-6 loss to the Brewers, maybe Lou should reconsider and just send him back to Iowa to start every fifth day.
That's probably too harsh a judgment -- any pitcher can have a bad outing. But it looked like Jeff just wasn't ready to pitch today. It was a bad day all around for Cub pitchers named Jeff -- Jeff Stevens, who is almost certainly tagged for Iowa, also got hit hard; his one inning resulted in three Brewer runs, capped by a homer by Corey Hart. And to be fair to the Shark, had Milton Bradley been able to play today (seriously: how often are we going to have to say that this year? That's what I was worried about), maybe some of those extra-base hits would have been caught instead of having Micah Hoffpauir wave at them as they flew by.
I think it's been proven. Micah Hoffpauir is not an outfielder, no matter how many times Lou tries to slam that square peg into the round hole. He'd be better served by being dealt to the AL where he could DH.
Are you getting spring training game fatigue? I love baseball, but let's play some games that mean something already! Maybe I'll feel differently a week from now when I'm actually at these games and the lineups more resemble the one that will take the field on April 6 at Houston. Two of those players had decent days today: Alfonso Soriano had two hits and Aramis Ramirez hit his second homer of the spring. The Cubs didn't get much offense going until the eighth inning, by which time they were hitting off Sam Narron, who has spent six years in the minors, only one of them (combined; two half-seasons) above Double-A.
Narron's from an interesting baseball family; his father, a man charmingly nicknamed "Rooster" Narron, played several years in the Mets' minor leagues in the 1960's and 1970's. You've certainly heard of his cousin Jerry Narron, a backup catcher for several years who was also a manager for the Rangers and Reds. Jerry's brother John is the guy who got Josh Hamilton to the Reds by agreeing to look after him. And, Sam the Brewer minor leaguer is named after his grandfather, who also played in the major leagues in the 1940's and then coached for the Pirates.
Anyway, several Cubs who won't make the major league roster cuffed not-so-young Sam Narron (he'll be 28 in July) around pretty good, capped by a three-run homer by Welington Castillo, which only served to make the score look respectable. And I just spent a fair amount of this post discussing a Brewers minor leaguer. Do we need real baseball or what?
Tomorrow, Carlos Zambrano will go against the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch. I looked through the Dodgers website to see who was going for them, and I can't figure it out. LA's pitching staff is in disarray, even now. Hiroki Kuroda pitched today in one of their split-squad contests, and Jason Schmidt started the other one, but Joe Torre says Schmidt won't make their rotation. (Incidentally, how glad are you that the Cubs didn't sign him?) That article says that Shawn Estes, of all people, is still in the running, and yesterday Jeff Weaver (bottom-scraping, are we?), Eric Milton (below-bottom-scraping, are we?) and Hong-Chih Kuo all got hit hard by the Rockies. The only ones left are Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley or Randy Wolf, so I'm guessing tomorrow's starter will be one of those guys.
Cripes. I think I have to clean off my keyboard after typing all those names. No audio or video tomorrow, it'll be a Gameday afternoon.
0 recs | 138 comments
Meh. It seems as if no one wants to be the #5 guy. And yes, Mr. Hoffpauir is not very good in the field. Hard to get excited for these games when there’s so many of them left.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
no one?
I think Marshall has made a good satetment
Chanman25 - March 16, 2009
Agreed.
I think it’s Marshall’s both from his performance and the fact that the competition has, well, sucked.
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
Heilman hasn't exactly sucked
. . . or did I miss an awful outing over the weekend?
madcow256 - March 17, 2009
Heilman's the exception, true.
But I think Marshall has outpitched him.
Al Yellon - March 17, 2009
Do you think
Some of the players are tired of all the spring training games? Playing 3-4 innings a game that don’t mean anything has to be hard to get up for after 20 games or so. I understand that certain players are still trying to make their way onto the club, but it feels like this spring training is taking forever.
WindisBlowingOut! - March 16, 2009
There
might be more intensity from the players once the games start to matter.
WindisBlowingOut! - March 16, 2009
This extra long ST seems to be taking a toll on Milton Bradley.
santoswoodenlegs - March 16, 2009
Good thing the month is more than half over.
By my calculations, and Bradley’s statistics of 2 flu-like symptom excuses in 20 spring training games, Bradley is likely to use this excuse 1.73 times more in the month of March.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
Excuses?
Is there some reason to doubt that Bradley was actually sick?
Old Style & Ivy - March 17, 2009
i was in and out today
shark- terrible
stevens- worse
marmol- good enuff
any other pitching info?
tim815 - March 16, 2009
one more
fox- pls retire
cowsarecool220 - March 16, 2009
I think he will.
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
TWHS
daver - March 17, 2009
I will be at Camelback Ranch
tomorrow (oops! Dodgertown West) and I will try to get some Internet access to report….
San Diego Smooth Jazz Man - March 16, 2009
we'll look forward to it!
I’m not a Gameday kinda gal… so your reporting will be most appreciated
Emelie - March 16, 2009
The dog days of Spring training
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
the only time a person...
…who missed the daily action would ask, “how did stevens look?”
tim815 - March 16, 2009
More shark gif fun...
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
How long did it take you to find this .gif?
Were you giddy like a school boy stealin his dad’s pornos? I know you’ve been waiting days, if not weeks, for the proper time to post this.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
"Lighten up, Francis."
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
Oh, I LOLed.
I just know you’ve been storing this in your Cubs-hating desktop folder.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
No...
… I know how much you long for me to post here so I simply wanted to appease you.
Actually, I didn’t search for them until I saw Al’s blog and humorous shark image. I simply followed the light-hearted nature of that with animated shark illustrations.
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
What can I say? I love Sox fans that peruse Cubs’ blogs.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
I hope you guys are laughing.
… because this is funny.
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
I really laughed
when Crawdad spent time searching my 6k+ comments for “Crawdad”. I think I’m going to randomly write “Crawdad” in my posts now just to screw with him.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
I understand that you're unswervingly opposed to...
… fans of one team perusing and posting on another teams blog:
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
Yes. And of my 6300 comments on SBN, 6200 of them are at my favorite team’s blog, BCB. Of your 1671 comments, 1661 of them are on BCB, as a White Sox fan. I literally have gotten dumber communicating here. This is stupid. Have a good night, ol chap. Can we at least agree upon the man in your avatar?
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
Stupid is as stupid does...
… and you done started this.
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
Started what?
All he asked was "have you been saving this .gif? and then he laughed.
How does that = starting a whiny “i say i’m a white sox fan but i spend all my time trolling cub blogs!” thread. Seriously. If you have something baseball-y to add thats great. But if you don’t, whats the point?
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
YAWN then, "basebal-y" like this...
How about you following this advice:
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
yawn is right
i don’t get you at all.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Do you understand this...
… follow your own advice.
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
Of not being a jerk on somoene elses blog?
followed to a t.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
That's my point...
… “dtpollitt” was being just that when he pounced on my gif with this gem of assholiness:
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
I was making a joke. This is a Cubs’ blog and you’ve clearly identified as not being a Cubs fan but in fact a White Sox fan. I wasn’t calling names or swearing, I was joshing around. Clearly you have a hard time joking or dropping a comment past the “Okay this is getting awkward” point. That point was probably reached when you started searching comments, or taking screen shots of my profile, etc. That’s just flat out fucking weird, dude. I’m sorry I said anything.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
Sarcasm...
Jokes and sarcasm can easily be missed in written comments.
As far as searching comments, etc. it’s interesting you take offense at that because people do that kind of stuff often here to me. However when I follow course people act like I invaded their home.
Hey, you criticized me for posting here, on another teams blog. You don’t find that ironic when you’ve posted on 6 other teams blogs, including your teams division rival? It seems to me that you don’t like that mainly because it exposed your words as BS.
DrCrawdad - March 17, 2009
DrC, what is your purpose?
You and Ronnie Woo Woo have a lot in common….you both aggravate the woo out of me
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
On porpoise
Following Al’s lead I post a clearly humorous GIF and get the attacks begin. Then post this and still the attacks:
Remind me, is it Cub fans or Sox fans who have “a chip on their shoulders?”
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
Your purpose is to be on a porpoise?
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
you just made Crawdad's night...
….and answered your own question.
ballhawk - March 16, 2009
From a "ballhawk"
I love the knocks from a guy who stands for hours on the street hoping to knock kids over for $2 baseball.
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
well, let's see...
I can’t speak for all ballhawks, but I certainly don’t hope to knock kids over. And it’s not a $2 baseball. It’s $12.99 at SportsAuthority.
Is that the best you got?
ballhawk - March 16, 2009
Shhhh....he's sneaking up on Flipper
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
+1
I almost spit out my delicious Keystone Light at that comment.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
Oh, at $12.99 a ball...
… I’m gonna grab my glove and join the other adults waiting for hours to catch one of those valuable spherical commodities.
DrCrawdad - March 17, 2009
excellent!
June 16-18. Hope to see you out there. Paulie & Thome put on a pretty good show in BP. Not as good as Big Hurt and El Caballo mind you, but still pretty good.
Wear your BCB shirt so I’ll be able to find you… ;-)
ballhawk - March 17, 2009
Thank you!
For a light-hearted end to this.
Considering the day, I’ll end with this glad tiding:
DrCrawdad - March 17, 2009
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
Well it's great
you were able to find the a good thing written you and share it w/ us.
Madison Cub Fan - March 16, 2009
I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul
Chanman25 - March 16, 2009
Huh?
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
eh, kind of a take on billy madison when you said "I literally have gotten dumber communicating here:
Chanman25 - March 16, 2009
LSA! LSA!
[Visual Aid, no thanks needed]
EJThunder - March 16, 2009
KNIBB HIGH FOOTBALL RULES!
Chanman25 - March 16, 2009
EJThunder - March 16, 2009
Oh man...I gotta save that one.
daver - March 17, 2009
You have to keep Hoffpauir
The man can hit. No, he is not a true outfielder, but neither was Keith Moreland. Neither was Darryl Ward. Having Hoffpauir backing up Lee and providing power off the bench is much better for the Cubs than any player they might get for him in trade.
Ross - March 16, 2009
Keith Moreland and Daryle Ward...
… are Gold Glove outfielders compared to Micah Hoffpauir.
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
Ian Snell vs. Felix Hernandez in PR vs. VEN
Should be a good game. On ESPN now.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
Lets see
No Shark, No Gaudin, No Stevens, No Ascanio, No Patten, No Adkins, and Guzman getting hit hard, not many options left is there.
Grockcubs - March 16, 2009
Wow....
The picture caption’s a little harsh, don’t you think?
Haha
EJThunder - March 16, 2009
It was supposed to be a bit of humor.
Man, do we need real baseball.
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
YES, more humor!
And more of it.
Does anyone really doubt that the Cubs are the best team in the NL Central? Come on, laugh at this one a bit! There are apparently 993 more meaningless ST games this year. Time to laugh and have some fun ’cos no one will care about this game once the regular season gets started.
Time for more humorous animated shark gifs!
DrCrawdad - March 16, 2009
Not too long
With all due respect Al, I think you still need the extra spring training to get you ready for the real season. Talking about Hoffpauir’s “defense” is pointless. At most, he’s a replacement OFer and everyone knows it. They’re not trying to do anything but get him a semi-comfort zone out there. There is no reason to deal him to the AL. If you’re going to carry an awful Daryle Ward for an entire season, there is plenty of room for Hoffpauir’s bat in 2009.
As for Bradley, it’s spring. No reason to worry about him missing time. We already know he’ll miss time in 2009, no reason to keep harping on it. The guy can rake and will produce when he’s in the lineup. That’s it, end of story.
Now, I’m kidding about you needing extra spring, but relax…it’s a loooongggg season ahead. No reason to fret about anything other than long-term, substantiated injuries right now.
krummy12 - March 16, 2009
Agreed.
If Bradley and Miles’s injuries are the worst we see (knock on WOOD [no pun intended]) then we are in pretty good shape.
A far cry from prior springs.
EJThunder - March 16, 2009
Whoops, ignore the employee's name there in the last sentence. Yiiiiikes.
EJThunder - March 16, 2009
Wow, you got BOTH Prior and Wood into that post.
Not sure whether that’s worth positive or negative BCB points.
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
+1 for Wood, -1 for Prior.
EJThunder - March 16, 2009
Is that on the Phil Rogers scale?
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
HA!
cowsarecool220 - March 16, 2009
+0
EJThunder - March 16, 2009
I'd rather see Bradley miss time in meaningless games
….than later….so, not to worry here.
San Diego Smooth Jazz Man - March 16, 2009
You answered your own
question:
“Maybe I’ll feel differently a week from now when I’m actually at these games…”
The E-Man - March 16, 2009
That's why I wrote that.
I’m really getting excited to actually BE at a baseball game.
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
The Dodgers website finally has a pitcher listed for tomorrow.
It’ll be Randy Wolf.
Al Yellon - March 16, 2009
Where or where will Torre bat him tomorrow?
2nd again?
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
I though at one time
in just the very recent future, that Dodgers depth at Start Pitching was one of the deepest in the Majors. What happened?
DTJchris - March 16, 2009
Anybody watching the WBC tonight?
Electric atmosphere at Dolphin Stadium!
Venezuela 1 Puerto Rico 0
Puerto Rico threatening bottom 5th, 2 outs, runners at the corners, pitching change
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
Yeah. Great game.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
Replay HR?
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
Yup.
I have to admit, the environment and raw emotion that comes out at these WBC games are great. USA just doesn’t give a shit as much as other countries. I’m sure this is because we have so many other sports and the regular season, but for some of these teams, countries, players, and fans, this is it. I lvoe the passion.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
The pictures are from the game Saturday
I took several pictures of fans holding Venezuelan flags. The fans were enthusiastic and passionate, even when booing Magglio Ordonez.
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
I think a huge part of this
is a) we have our own heros on our teams. I mean a Yankee fan cares about what Jeter does in Oct/Nov not march. and b) the double elimination thing is fine for soccer but its weird if you’re used to “one and done” like most American sports fans are.
Just IMHO.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Venezuela has a professional baseball league as does Puerto Rico
There are many Leones jerseys in the stands.
Leones del Caracas – Venezuela
Leones de Ponce – Puerto Rico
My opinion: Americans are selfish, spoiled and arrogant. Money is king. Pride is secondary.
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
Wow
Um Okay then I guess.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
* sigh *
Flach, how many times do we have to go over this?
Repeat after me – PITCHING is king!!!!
ballhawk - March 16, 2009
PITCHING is king. PITCHING is king. PITCHING is king.
I’m getting it. Thanks for snapping me back into reality. :)~
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
Completly OT
but the series finale for “Kyle XY” sucked. HORRIBLE!
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
JC ROMERO
in for PR. This is a great game.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
Can't believe Abreu beat him to the bag
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Chances pasta diver makes the play Cora just did?
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Dolphin Stadium will erupt if Delgado connects here
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
So you live in Miami?
And went to one of the games over the weekend? First WBC? You shoulda posted a FanShot about your exprience. I would have loved that.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
I live in Jupiter, FL, just north of West Palm Beach
an hour away from Dolphin Stadium.
Yes, I went to the afternoon game (Venezuela vs Netherlands) but not the night game (USA vs Puerto Rico). I got my tickets long before the pairings were decided.
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
And....I just realized your pic is EAs boobies. Amazing.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
wow - BCB's first 3D avatar. Impressive....
ballhawk - March 16, 2009
Yes, they are
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
She's like an angel.
Sent from above for Micah, BCB, and ESPN viewers to enjoy.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
I'm proud to say she's a Florida Gator, my alma mater
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
doesn't look like she "earned" those beads though...
ballhawk - March 16, 2009
If so
where’s the picture of that?!
DTJchris - March 16, 2009
hopefully it remains somewhere else
please?
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Blasphemer!
DTJchris - March 16, 2009
Dancing for beads
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
In a sense you could say that she paid good money for them.
ol Pete - March 17, 2009
And you know this how?
Al Yellon - March 17, 2009
Is it in question?
ol Pete - March 17, 2009
Why can you change pitchers in mid at bat?
thats weird. unless the other guy is hurt, thats weird.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Wow 9 LOB for PR
5 of them in scoring position. Rough night.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Hank White getting loose!
ballhawk - March 16, 2009
I miss Hank.
F***ing PAUL BAKO!! I want my Hank back.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
So did Hank decide to hang 'em up
or did the club just not offer him a deal or what?
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Lou wanted a left handed backup catcher
imagine that.
DTJchris - March 16, 2009
More info
He is signed with the Padres to be a backup.
DTJchris - March 16, 2009
It's a back-up catcher!!
He doesn’t bat that much anyway! And catchers suck at batting! It makes so little sense to me. This is why I completey disagree with nearly all of Jim/Lou’s moves this off-season. I haven’t had a bitter taste in my mouth for quite a long time come spring training, but I just flat out do not like the moves we have made.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
Yeah
its hard to see how we got any better.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
I agree about the left handed catcher
Soto is too good of a catcher so its not like a crappy left handed is going to take AB’s away. I don’t see any point in bringing in a crappy left handed backup catcher in the late innings if they replace the pitcher with a righty. I don’t see the Lou saying, “hmm… we are facing a righty today, so let’s leave Soto out of the lineup”. If so, I think that is a very bad managerial stance to take with an offensive weapon like Soto.
The backup catcher is important for defensive purposes only, has nothing to do with batting (any offense they may provide is merely a bonus IMHO). I wouldn’t go so far as to say I don’t agree with all the off season moves, but in regards to letting go of Hank White, I definitely agree that was a stupid decision.
DTJchris - March 16, 2009
All I rememeber...
…that is post-October, we had many discussions about leaders on this team. To me, Henry Blanco was a leader on that team. I don’t see Paul Bako or Koyie Hill anything close to being leaders. Oh, and Blanco is a great back-up catcher, probably the best in the league.
dtpollitt - March 16, 2009
not to mention the occasional fill-in at 1B giving us some flexibility
ballhawk - March 16, 2009
Molina may play for the enemy
but man does he have a cannon. Always impressed.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Venezuela is heading to LA
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
This means my beloved Soto is coming back to camp, right?
Is PR eliminated?
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
Not eliminated yet
PR plays USA tomorrow, loser goes home
flachimesa - March 16, 2009
thats what i get for half listening to suttcliffe
he mumbled something about them being elimated. thats why i asked.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
So that means either Soto or Lilly comes back to camp.
Lilly’s starting tonight (Wednesday).
Al Yellon - March 17, 2009
Did you read the article on Soto in the New York Times?
I thought it was a great article
Madison Cub Fan - March 16, 2009
it was a good one
i’m ready for real baseball!!
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 16, 2009
There's a FanShot link of the article.
Search the FanShot list, you should be able to find it.
Al Yellon - March 17, 2009
This is the beginning of the end for Cuba baseball
ESPN just showed their pitchers doing the towel drill in the bullpen. An utter and complete collapse of their pitching staff is forthcoming… ;-)
ballhawk - March 16, 2009
Or they could defect
and sign with the Cubs.
Up late watching the game I see. I love baseball, anytime , anywhere ( except Cardinals Vs Mets).
Doggie Stalker - March 16, 2009
yep - espn360.com is a wonderful thing
got rid of cable a long time ago, but thankfully espn has really beefed up its online streaming capabilities. So all the WBC games they show on ESPN and ESPN2 are online as well.
ballhawk - March 17, 2009
I got my cable
Computer not good enough or big enough for me to watch games on. Interesting game so far
Doggie Stalker - March 17, 2009
Cub middle relief looms as a big problem
We had better hope that Aaron Heilman is up to the task of being an effective workhorse and that Luis Vizcaino can still get the job done. Because right now our bullpen shapes up to be this team’s major achilles heel. Keep in mind that Ted Lilly is a classic 6 inning starter, Rich Harden doesn’t often go beyond 5 innings and Sean Marshall has lacked stamina in the past.
I think we are looking at a situation where Lou Piniella employs a revolving door in that bullpen and that a lot of middle relievers shall come and go this season. Fortunately there appears to be some depth of bullpen type arms in the minors. I wonder if we might see Jeff Cashner sooner rather than later.
BLou - March 17, 2009
Too many Jeff's on this team.
It’s Andrew Cashner, of course.
Al Yellon - March 17, 2009
I'm not too worried about it - yet
You could say the middle relief situation is as unsettled as last year’s – no one thought Cotts was worth a darn, or that Wuertz would spend time in Iowa.
The Cubs started last season with a bullpen of Hart (sent to Iowa at the end of April), Eyre (banished to the doghouse and replaced by Cotts), Wuertz (sent to Iowa), Howry (Prodigy’s Firestarter), Wood (injury concerns), Marmol and Pignatiello (threw in two games in April and went to Iowa). And we can’t forget Jon Lieber and Sean Marshall, either. Marshall & Marmol may have been the two ‘givens’ heading into the 2008 season.
Point being – there’s been some bullpen uncertainty, and a bit of a revolving door in middle relief, and the Cubs have done an effective job covering it up. I’ll trust Lou on this one.
Bill Potter - March 17, 2009
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