No D-Lee vs. Sox
D-Lee's wife gave birth to a baby today, so he won't be here. Jake Fox plays first and bats fifth in a lineup that features Fukudome-Theriot as 1-2. Both teams:
Sox
Pods, CF
Beckham, 3B
AJ, C
Konerko, 1B
Quentin, LF
Getz, 2B
Ramirez, SS
Wise, RF
Torres, P
Cubs
Fukudome, CF
Theriot, SS
Ramirez, 3B
Bradley, RF
Fox, 1B
Soriano, LF
Baker, 2B
Hill, C
Dempster, P
Lou indicated that he may go with Fukudome and Theriot as his 1-2 for a while, but you know how that goes with Lou.
Bob Brenly was on the Score radio in Chicago this morning, talking about Milton Bradley. The Score sent over this transcript of BB:
“The bottom line is, just get the job done. He can point fingers and assign blame wherever he wants and laugh in the face of critics that he can swing the bat from the left side and he can stay healthy, but do it all year long, don’t just do it for a month of the season and proclaim yourself the guy we were looking for. I think Milton Bradley is a much better offensive player than we’ve seen this year, I just think he’s allowed too many distractions to get between his ears, I think he incorrectly blames everybody else for making him the lightning rod. Well if you don’t want to be the lightning rod, then don’t stand on the roof in a thunderstorm with a 1 iron in your hand …. Don’t call it upon yourself, and I think with some of his comments, he’s done that.”
Be that as it may. Some will agree. Others won't.
Bradley's hitting line is .266/.395/.421. The OBP is nice, but I'm sure the Cubs were looking for more slugging. Bradley can be tough to deal with at times, but I can look past that, just as I did last year with my pal Jimmy (Ballgame) Edmonds, who helped the Cubs in a big way. I'd rather not see some of it from Milton, though. Milton has gone out of his way at times to be antagonistic toward media members for no good reason, even when they've given him nothing more than a "How are you?" If there is a next year with him and the Cubs, maybe he'll be better adjusted.
In the minors, Jeff Samardzija got lit up to the tune of 10 hits and 6 runs in 2.2 innings for Iowa. Cubs people tell me his fastball was real good but that his other pitches weren't working. We'll see how some mechanical adjustments work in the near and long term.
No. 1 pick Brett Jackson is off the DL at Peoria. He hit his seventh homer last night and scored 2 runs.
At Boise, lefty Chris Rusin worked 5 scoreless innings, giving up 4 hits and getting a no-decision against Spokane.
Enjoy.
Bruce,
What do you expect the Cubs to do concerning Harden and what would you do if you were in charge? I would NOT go with Marshall or Gorzelanny. I would either bring back Harden, or try to sign Randy Wolf. I might take a flyer on a Smoltz, Penny, or Pedro (depending upon how they look the rest of the year) if their respective teams do not keep them around. The way I look at the team, Lilly and Wells are our two best(most consistent) starters.
I am very frustrated with both Zambrano and Dempster. I understand Carlos is Carlos and Dempster has had family issues. I expect Dempster to be better next year(his BAA and OPS allowed numbers are considerably higher than the past few years). I don't know what the BABIP is, but I would guess it is high this year, where it was unusually low last year. Hopefully, he will be luckier next year, but he seems to give up a big hit every time he really needs an out. Zambrano is going to have a career low in number of starts and innings pitched(maybe thats a good thing, I don't know). He also has come way up this year in BAA and ground balls continue to drop. Not a good sign. The only thing going up on him is his ERA and his waist size. I am not saying that he is not a better than average major league pitcher, but he is no better than a #3 on a good team. Lou needs to stop giving him a pass as the #1 starter. Lilly is our best and its not even close between him and Zambrano.
to be honest i don't see Gorzelanny doing anything. Marshall seems to be better in the Pen more of a 4-5 inning guy and always has that one bad inning as a starter.........as for Colvin, no one outside the Cubs liked this kid when he was drafted, how many years now in the minors?........of the 3 i just don't see Gorzelanny as a big leaguer anymore...........don't get me wrong i'd love to see all 3 be major parts of this team in 2010.......with the same people running this team next year i don't expect much....they could put a better line up there now with what they have but didn't B-4 and won't now.....LOL, maybe i'm just one mad Cub fan....
I don't know who is ready to come up and contribute in any way other than possibly Tyler Colvin, and I don't think they want to start the major league service time clock on a guy who probably needs at least one more year in the minors. If they have a guy who might possibly make the team next year, that is who they should bring up.
As for the older guys, I don't see any reason for them not to bring Bobby Scales back up.
Enough off Soriano.
Hendry just made the statement on SportsNite that Bradley has had a good 2nd half and hopes for another 2 1/2 good years here........like Jhawk said, another 2-3 years of this stuff..........
How depressing is it to cover this team this season? I mean don't they offend your baseball sensibilities? Don't you get disgusted when Hendry and Lou won't admit that their team is finished? I heard Hendry on the Danny Mac show earlier saying he's still holding out hope in these final 29 games. This is a BRUTAL team that is NOT capable of going on a hot streak this month no matter how weak the remaining schedule is. Hendry should of worked out deals with the Giants and Twins on Harden and Heilman.
It really doesn't matter to me if they "admit" or not admit they're finished. Very, very few managers or GMs of teams mathematically in a race are going to say their team is finished. Actually, the bad baseball is harder to watch than that. Good or bad, there are still stories to write.
I also feel he should be looking at some kids in September to see where they may fit 1-2-3 years down the road.......it makes no sense to me to bring up the same old 2nd stringers who have no future here..........fans want to see hope, fresh young talent, not guys like A. Miles, etc.........remember Willie Mays with the Met's late in his career? he would fall running for regular fly balls, like our LF'er did today........he looks older every time out....
listening to the radio a fan said it's not Lou's/players fault.....it's the FANS fault....... you know the stay away thing........won't happen........
What should really be concerning is that Lou stated that there aren't many kids to look at or on the cusp of the majors. I think Bruce mentioned that most of the Cub prospects are at the double a and single a level so it sounds like there isn't anyone who is ready to make and start for a major league team just yet. That means we are stuck with what we are seeing right now. This team was built to win now and in 07 and 08. The window has slammed shut. At least if they had won in the last couple of years this would be easier to take. If you like what you have seen this season your in luck because we've got more to follow in the next couple of years. Hockey season can't get here fast enough.
with you
how can you rest a gold glove (Lee) and play that bad field, bad knee, and no hit guy in LF? and i'm being NICE...........
Lee's wife had a baby this morning, and he was not here.
my mistake
with all them extra recalls, why didn't you use a pinch runner for Fox?.....
I would rather watch Double-A guys that you know would hustle if they got the chance to play in the big leagues. This crap is painful to watch.
and Lou
This team still sucks.....
Why is Soriano even on the field? The man flat out sucks and shouldn't be out there. He can't field without his stupid hop and cost this team 2 runs in the field because he has to circle around every ball. Not even counting his 2 horrible ks with guys in scoring position. It's only going to get worse the next few years.
I would rather bathe in hydrocholoric acid then watch this putrid team. What a joke.
Lou
I really wish the Cubs would tell him he's done for the season. He obviously needs to have something done to his knees - or at least needs an extended rest - because he can't walk without limping and it's hurting him in the OF and the batter's box. I know the Cubs are "only" 5 or 6 games out of the WC, but with 4 teams in front of them there is no chance to win it. Shut him down and tell him to do whatever it takes to be ready to play next year.
I still have faith he can help the team next year, but he has to be healthy.
shut Soriano down, I agree. He's only hurting the team and his personal stats by playing hurt. The team W-L record doesn't matter at this point, and placing Soriano on the DL would open up LF for the kids to play. It would be easier for the Cubs to DL him now and then sell other teams on him this winter that the dropoff was due to his knee injury. I know many think his contract completely eliminates trading him, but it's all about the money. Can Hendry trade an $18M Lexus for a $9M Ford?
You have expanded rosters, so anybody from the 40-man can be on the major-league roster.
Why with no outs and a runner at 2nd is Soriano exempt from bunting? The guy is hitting .240!!!!!!
is the only guy Lou is not afraid to order around/bunt.........
for the year........what has he hit since 8/1/09?
Any updates on Reed? Is he still projecting as a Type B FA and do you think the Cubs will offer arbitration?
I enjoy watching him play, but I think he can be replaced by Fuld or another guy in the system.
The Cubs haven't even talked about it yet. They like him, but they've made no determinations yet.
A few days ago there was a quote from Lou referring to the fact that he was hoping to see some of the younger kids called up but he was told that they "weren't quite ready yet". Do you know who he might have been talking about?
I'm sure he was referring to guys who aren't even on the 40-man yet. I don't think he's that versed in the system and that he was just saying general stuff in a pregame media session.