Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
What a conundrum!
“We’re working our way through all of the details and we don’t know the answer yet,” (Brewers’ Assistant GM Gord) Ash said. “Major League Baseball has regulations related to workers’ comp and there are procedures and protocols that have to be respected. We’re working our way through those so I can’t give you much insight other than that.”
I don’t why but this song popped into my head when I read about this. Just replace “Maria” with “Ben Sheets”.
The downside of having Boras as an agent? Or just a side effect?
His locker has been cleared out… nameplate been taken down. Joe who?
"He’s not going be here for a little while," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I don’t expect him to be back soon, at least playing. He’s not going to miss [time] playing and all of a sudden come here and play. That’s not fair for him, that’s not fair for the ballclub."
Dang, I bet Mariotti would have had something poignant to write about it.
It’s one of situations where even though it IS his free agent season, you still don’t want things to end this way.
US Olympic baseball players are dropping like flies. Three days after Jayson Nix, a Rockies prospect was hit in the head by a bunted ball that was thrown high and inside, Team USA suffered another injury.
USA’s Matt LaPorta was taken to the hospital after been hit in the head by the Chinese pitcher. This came after LaPorta bowled over Chinese catcher Wang Wei forcing Wang out of the game with an injured shoulder.
Chen Kun, the reliever that hit LaPorta, and Chinese pitching coach Steve Ontiveros were both ejected.
"We do not throw to hit people," (Chinese field manager Jim) Lefebvre said. "We do not teach that in China or in the U.S."
Maybe it’s not "taught". Jim, but it happens.
US did manage to win 9-1 over China. They are 3-2 in the Olympics and are still in medal contention.
I had hoped the All-Star break would have done the Cubs some good. More than a couple Cub fans had commented to me on how “tired” the Cubs had looked before the break. In particular, Carlos Marmol who almost didn’t look like he didn’t want to be out there pitching.
Fast forward to after the break. It looks like the Cubs still need to learn how to win on the road. As of this writing, they’ve lost two at Minute Maid Park. As good as the Cubs’ overall record is (57-40), their 20-28 away record is abysmal. Without taking the time to compare, I’m sure their +.329 home/away differential is the highest in the league.
Like I’ve been telling anyone who would listen, even if they do make playoffs with such a record, let’s face it; Roughly half (more now after the All-Star Game loss) will be on the road. The Cubs will need to learn to become road warriors.
Other Notes from Wrigley:
Friday’s 2-1 wasted effort of Ted Lilly’s fine seven inning performance makes the Cubs dead even (15-15) in one-run games. Among NL Central teams, only Houston has a losing record in that category (yes, baseball fans, that includes Pittsburgh).
Also, it looks like we got Chad Gaudin just in time. Not only is Jon Lieber headed to the disabled list with a sore right foot but now there’s talk of putting Kerry Wood to the DL, too. Wood’s got’s a blister on his right index finger. So sayeth Skipper Lou:
“We’ll miss a week [that way], it might not be a week. We’ve got a fresh pitching staff, why for three or four days take that chance? If we had a real tired pitching staff or we had some injuries, it’s a different story. Right now, the decision’s been made to ride it out a little bit longer. And if we have to [DL him] we will.”
Wood hasn’t pitched since mid-July so the move would be retroactive.
Finally, an article from yesterday’ Chicago Trib on a firm who has made a “firm offer” for Wrigley Field.
After successive starts at AAA Iowa where he obviously lacked control and confidence, the Cubs’ Rich Hill was sent all the way to Mesa in the Rookie League to work on the fundamentals and maybe get his head together.
Please tell me if I’m saying the obvious here but I have to wonder if Hill is just done. In his first start at Mesa yesterday, he didn’t even get past the first inning. Pitching 1/3 of an inning, he gave up five runs, three earned including 3 walks.
The Cubs organization is considering giving Hill a break altogether to see that might work. I don’t see what other option they have.
hehe… The Cubs Brickyard have heard some other “news” about his future plans.
One word… Ouch.
Carlos Zambrano says he wants to be healthy so he can pitch in this year’s All-Star game. The reason is simple: He wants the National League to win so his Cubs will gain home field advantage.
“I’m ready,” he said Thursday. “I want to pitch in the all-star game. I want to be there. I want to help the National League, so we can be in the World Series and get homefield advantage. With a little help from me, (Arizona’s Brandon) Webb and (Cincinnati’s Edinson) Volquez, and the rest of the hitters and pitchers, we can finally win one.”
I like his optimism… and his motivation.
Z is likely to come off the 15-day DL on July 4th, just in time for the midseason classic. He’ll begin throwing from a bullpen mound Sunday.
“I need a three-day vacation from Tampa-St. Petersburg.”
– Lou Piniella after getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays
Man, I thought Lou was making the right decision by not bringing in Neal Cotts tonight. I guess I was wrong…
I don’t know what else could have gone wrong with the Cubs in series against the Rays. Ok, I’m not pushing the panic button just yet but this isn’t the kind of series we needed going into the Sox weekend.
The Cubs became the last team in the majors to lose three in a row when the bullpen just couldn’t get the job done once again. This time, we had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of 7th. Then the Rays exploded for 7 runs ensuring a Rays sweep. Marmol and Eyre bore the brunt of the Rays’ attack giving up all seven runs.
That’s bad enough. Now we play the waiting game with Zambrano undergoing tests on Friday. He’s already scheduled to rest on Tuesday. A likely candidate to take Z’s spot in the rotation is Sean Marshall.
Were that not enough, both Jim Edmonds (plantar fascitis) and Reed Johnson (back spasms) sat out Thursday’s game as well.
Shall we add some more? Kevin Hart, pitching his first game for the Iowa Cubs, was hit in the head with a line drive and suffered a Grade 1 concussion. Welcome to Iowa, Kevin.
But I’m not I’m panicking yet. We’re still 17 over .500 and we get to play the Sox at home this weekend. Time to make up for those three games with a sweep!
Every year, I bemoan the number of injuries in baseball, thinking they must be more than the year before. Once again, I find myself thinking the same thing. Atlanta alone has 12 players on the DL.
Not to minimize the pain and stress that injuries cause the actual players. They do. But Right now, my APBA team is suffering with DL-itis.
At this moment with a little creativity, I could make a full starting infield of starting players who are on my APBA team and are also on the MLB disabled list.
and finally,
Here’s hoping I have plenty of draft picks next year.
Jeff Keppinger fractured his patella in Tuesday’s game against the Marlins. He is expected to be out several weeks. Keppinger was hitting .324 at the time of his injury and seemed to have taken the starting SS job away from injured Alex Gonzalez. Jeff is a guy that has had to show he belonged, even though he hit wherever he went. After hitting .383, .365, & .389 in three seasons at Georgia, he went on to post a career minor league batting average of .320 in six long seasons. Now it’s a given he can indeed hit as exhibited by his .313 major league average in 565 at bats.
But this story isn’t about the long road Keppinger took to the majors. It’s about his replacements, temporary as they may be. Rice’s former SS Paul Janish was called up from Louisville to take Jeff’s spot on the roster. While Janish batted .345 in his last year with the Owls, it’s been his glove that’s gotten him his shot at the big leagues.
Reds skipper decided to go with Jerry Hairston, Jr. at SS in Wednesday night’s game against Florida. Hairston would be the offensive half of SS by committee, with Janish being the fielder in the equation. Kind of a Jerry Janish or a Paul Hairston, Jr., if you will. Anyway Hairston lived up to his part of the bargain, going three for four, with a double, triple, walk, stolen base, two runs scored, and an RBI. So with a six run lead it was time for Janish to take over.
Funny how the ball finds you. The first two batters for the Marlins hit grounders to Paul. The first grounder was routine. But the second was a hard hit grounder to Janish’s right, Paul doing his best Mark Belanger imitation, went to the ball, skidded on his right knee, got up, and threw a strike to first. It must’ve seemed surreal to Janish who the night before was pulled from the Louisville game in the 8th inning and told to drive to Cincinnati. As luck would have it, his mom was coming to Louisville to see her son play, she happily rerouted her trip to the Queen City. The announcers were focused on the young shortstop, making his big league debut, looking for a smile as he exited the field. But this kid had worked too hard to get here and wanted to show he belonged.
A little more about the game… Bronson Arroyo looked like his old masterful self as he had everything going on as he led 6-0 when he left the game after six innings of work, lowering his inflated ERA to 6.08, turning the ball over to Mike Lincoln. Coco Cordero, the Reds closer, had worked the previous two nights and was looking forward to a night off. But it wasn’t to be, as Francisco answered the call with the bases loaded in the 9th, a run in, and nobody out. After letting up a two run single to make the score 6-3, Cody Ross stung his old team with a three run game tying bomb.
Would there be anyway Dusty could reinsert his offensive shortstop for his defensive one? Nope it’d be Janish’s job for the rest of the night. Paul almost did himself proud in his first big league at bat as he sent the Marlins outfielder to the wall to track down his deep drive. But things really got interesting in his second time to the dish. The bases were loaded with two outs, game tied, in the bottom of the 10th. Tough lefty reliever Renyel Pinto was on the hill for Florida. Pinto was sporting an ERA of right around 0.50, having only allowed one run in his last 24 innings. Janish just flicked the ball over the first baseman’s head, just inside the rightfield line, for a game winning base knock.
I don’t know what the Reds were doing in the ensuing celebration as they almost killed Paul. They were patting him on the back & jumping on him. In fact one Cincinnati player kicked Janish in the face. Throughout the rest of the scene on the field, the youngster could be seen wiping his nose, checking for blood. Funny thing is, he didn’t seem to mind.