I'll freely admit I didn't see the last half of this game -- the West Coast starts wind up ending far too late for someone whose work schedule starts at 4 am -- but three former Cub farmhands were primarily responsible for the Cubs' 7-6 loss to the White Sox in Las Vegas late last night.
Michael Restovich, who Jim Hendry signed in 2006 to provide a potential platoon partner for Jacque Jones (and then Dusty Baker refused to play him), homered off Angel Guzman in the 8th inning to tie the game. Then, Ben Broussard and Josh Kroeger, who were teammates at Iowa in the Cubs' organization last year, teamed up in the ninth for the winning run, Broussard driving in Kroeger, who had singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch by David Patton.
During the part of the game that I did see, Jeff Samardzija gave up three runs in three innings, issuing no walks. That's good, but the two batters he hit isn't. The Shark seemed up in the zone throughout, and the Sox got 14 hits off Cubs pitching, five of them for extra bases. John van Benschoten, a one-time first-round pick of the Pirates who has never been able to stick in the majors, was responsible for six of those hits and allowed four of the Cubs runs. At 28 and with a 9.20 career major league ERA in 90 innings, I might gently suggest that van Benschoten try another line of work.
Good things from Cubs players: Ryan Theriot had three hits and Mike Fontenot (a triple) and Aramis Ramirez had two each. That's about it -- Cubs pitching wasn't that great, except for the scoreless innings thrown by Chad Fox and J. R. Mathes, neither of whom has much of a chance of making the 25-man roster.
Len & Bob spent quite a bit of time on the air with a PR flack touting the virtues of spending vacation time and money in Las Vegas, which gave me the impression that hotel bookings in Vegas are way down and they're getting a little desperate in these tough economic times. The attendance of 11,459 was pretty good on a cool night. We'll see if the day game attendance today is as good. I'll have a game preview/thread up at 1 pm CST.
0 recs | 38 comments
the riot can just hit
drodd - March 5, 2009
He actually hit a double last night.
He had only 19 all last year, after having 30 the year before. If he could get his XBH level up to 2007 levels while keeping his BA over .300, he’d actually be a useful hitter.
Al Yellon - March 5, 2009
Plus, he's spraying the ball to all fields right now
If he’s able to turn on some more pitches, he may find some more extra base hits.
Bill Potter - March 5, 2009
Exactly.
Al Yellon - March 5, 2009
Credit where credit is due...
…I did see him turn on a ball and send it down the left field line last night. I agree with Al – if he can turn his singles power into doubles power, he’d probably get a lot more guff from people.
daver - March 5, 2009
I'd be easier on him if
he’d learn how to run the bases (I don’t mean just the steals).
Shanghai Badger - March 5, 2009
That would definitely help, too.
daver - March 5, 2009
I can get over the singles power
and the occassional stupid baserunning error if we can get rid of the need to double clutch every throw to 1B to turn what should be a routine grounder into an exhibition of DLee’s gold glove skills.
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 5, 2009
That's a priming mechanism
Otherwise, he can’t throw that far.
Shanghai Badger - March 5, 2009
Ryan Theriot can flat out hit
His defense is average, but his critics need to realize his value as a hitter. He is a sparkplug. No question about it.
BLou - March 5, 2009
Guzman is not making a strong case for himself...
He gave up 3 runs the other day and a HR today. His ERA is at 12 so far in spring. For a guy fighting for a spot in a crowded bullpen, he’s not showing himself well.
For some, he still has the luster of being a former top pitching prospect, and he had the decent start to the 2007 season before cramps and then a major arm injury derailed him (again). He’s yet to show he’s really back from yet another major arm injury.
SouthernCub - March 5, 2009
I'd agree
Hopefully, he’ll find himself and bounce back. For all we know, the Cubs are asking him to work on secondary pitches or specific locations, and that’s what is causing some of his problems. I think he can be a solid bullpen arm if he gets it together.
Plus, the Cubs have another month of games to play – it’s plenty of time for Guzman, but he does need a confidence-building appearance or two.
Bill Potter - March 5, 2009
Guzman is shaping up to be playing for another organization by the time April 1st rolls around
BLou - March 5, 2009
It's still early, but...
.. he’ll have to pitch better to make the team.
Al Yellon - March 5, 2009
agree
He looked awful.
wccubfan - March 5, 2009
I've heard similar things about Las Vegas' economy
4 and 5-star hotels on the strip can be booked for under $100/night currently. I was out there Super Bowl weekend for work, and it wasn’t nearly as packed as I thought it would be.
Bill Potter - March 5, 2009
I concur
guys here at work are getting ~$30-40 a night deals at the nice hotels on the strip. These are weekday rates, but still pretty low. My sis in law works at a casino, I should call her and see how things are at her place. That’s another nice thing about living out here, I’m only 5 hrs away from a free room in Vegas ;)
I’ve read that even though it makes sense to put a MLB team in Vegas, the gambling aspect still causes MLB to be a bit gun shy.
BigJohnAZ - March 5, 2009
The little part I did catch last night....
..felt like a Vegas.com infomercial.
Nice little two out single by Taguchi. Does he accept a spot at Iowa, ya think? I didn’t realize the guy turns 40 this summer.
carmen_fanzone - March 5, 2009
I think he does accept a spot at Iowa.
Might be a good insurance policy.
Al Yellon - March 5, 2009
Good insurance policy for sure.
Also, has 2 World Series rings…
PurpleLineToWrigley - March 5, 2009
That’s where I remember Michael Restovich from! I had the game on last night and could not place my finger on how or why I knew the guy. I totally remember Jimbo signing him and Dusty not playing him at all. Thanks for the memory jog.
dtpollitt - March 5, 2009
The Cubs and WGN have a tourism deal with the City of Las Vegas
According to Bruce Levine’s blog:
cowsarecool220 - March 5, 2009
Van Benschoten
You do realize that Van Benschoten was highly regarded as a hitter when Pittsburgh drafted him to pitch. I will presume that soon enough Van Benschoten may follow the leads of Rick Ankiel and Adam Loewen and switch over to hitting in order to salvage whatever may be left of his baseball career. He may not need to switch lines of work quite yet.
krummy12 - March 5, 2009
He should have done that four years ago.
I got his age wrong. He’ll be 29 next month. Maybe he’s the next Micah Hoffpauir.
Al Yellon - March 5, 2009
He set the MAC records for RBI, hits, walks and total bases in a season while at Kent State.
So there is some talent there; I don’t know what the shoulder surgeries have done to his power, though.
Bill Potter - March 5, 2009
Tough
You’re pretty tough on the guy Al. He’s had arm injuries and while I’m not usually defending guys without major league ability but I’m not sure a random Pirate farm hand should draw particular interest.
krummy12 - March 5, 2009
He's hardly a "random Pirate farmhand".
He was once a #1 draft pick. Maybe injuries have hurt him, but he’s been pretty bad throughout his professional career.
Al Yellon - March 5, 2009
Come on Al
He’s a random farm hand in the White Sox organization now, I don’t think anyone would dispute that. And even so, that’s not the point. No matter whether he was a first round pick or a 50th round pick, the point was that you were a little hard on a guy that hasn’t had much success at the major league level, mostly due to arm injuries.
krummy12 - March 5, 2009
My question, then, is...
… why is he in a major league spring training camp?
Al Yellon - March 5, 2009
On another note
It should be noted that Soriano was particular brutal in LF last night. Shying away from balls, failing to come in and call off Theriot on a ball that dropped. He was not good last night in the field for certain. Nothing new though.
krummy12 - March 5, 2009
I thought Kroger sounded familiar last night
Broussard not so much. I still remember when I went to an Iowa Cubs game a few years back and Restovich put one into the drink behind the ball park. It bounced but if any of you have been there, that’s a long way even if it was hell of a bounce.
TkGoUWGB - March 5, 2009
Gotta love spring training
Love to see all these happy Cub fans enjoying the return of baseball.Seems we are always finding something or someone we dont like on the team.As for Theriot I have to agree he does not get the credit he needs with the bat.A 300 avg. with almost 180 hits and only 85 runs.Yeah it would be nice for some extra bases,but maybe we need someone hitting behind him to move him up on the bases.As for Soriano everyone needs to understand we signed him to hit not to play outfield.God knows he cant field to save his life.But i take it the Cubs must be enjoying that idea,now we are gonna put Milton Bradley out there also.I sure hope Fuckudome or Johnson whoever is in center can cover a ton of ground.
Telling it how it is - March 5, 2009
I hope that was an unintentional typo
By the way, what’s with your user name in the sig line? Isn’t that redundant? Or at least repetitive?
Shanghai Badger
Shanghai Badger - March 5, 2009
I'd hope it was unintentional
And your sig as your username is going to get irritating if you hand around a lot.
And put spaces between your sentences, otherwise you turn into a teal deer (tl;dr).
halfblindcubbiegirl - March 5, 2009
was a typo
sorry bout that.I love Fukudome as much as the next. Just a typo..
Telling it how it is - March 6, 2009
Televised?
Was this game televised? I was home sick yesterday, and I’ll be ticked off if I was watching the Mariners play Australia when I could have been watching the Cubs. LOL
Any idea when the next televised game is? Link would be just fine. Thanks as always!
Dave
Dave in the basement - March 5, 2009
Today's game is televised at 3:05 CST.
Al Yellon - March 5, 2009
Thanks very much! :)
Dave in the basement - March 5, 2009
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