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The last thing that this organization (and myself) needs is a Felix Pie or Corey Patterson flashback. The kid is raking down in Double A ball but that is, as I just said, Double A ball. There is a lot of hope and pressure riding on this kids shoulders. In my opinion I feel as if this move is too early. I would have preferred it if Castro saw some pitching at the Triple A level before being called up. The reason being that Ramirez and Lee are not going to continue their current slumps. They have each proven every year to be solid middle of the line up hitters and once they start hitting I believe this Cubs offense will really take off. It's too late now. The worst thing the Cubs can do to this young player is hurt his confidence by benching him or sending him back down if he struggles at the plate. Now doing either of those two things wouldn't necessarily spell disaster for Castro but I wouldn't rule it out either considering how things have gone in the past with top prospects. Posted in: BULLPEN HELP! This bullpen is a sad excuse for a major league squad. If one pitcher doesn't blow it, another one is sure to. No words can express how much I HATE this team. Posted in: I have a certain beef with a particular White Sox broadcaster that I would like to dive into in this post. I turned on an encore presentation of yesterday's Cubs victory at around 3 in the morning because I had missed all but the 9th inning during its regular broadcast. Unfortunately I was forced to listen to the White Sox broadcast. The only reason I continued to watch is because I knew the Cubs would win and I wanted to hear the disappointment in the broadcasters voices. I have never been able to stand long time White Sox broadcaster Ken Harrelson mainly because of his retarded sayings such as "You can put it on the booooaarrddd, YEESSS!" and "He gone!". Personally I wish the guy would be more of a Ron Santo and shut the hell up most of the broadcast and only speak when something good happens for your team. But during yesterday's game in which the Cubs came back from a 5 to 1 deficit I had a particular issue with him. During the eigth inning Micah batted lead off and reached 1st on an error by some player I don't care to know. Soriano them came up to bat and I believe went down 0-2 in the count. The next pitch was on the outside corner and appeared to be a strike but was not called. Ken Harrelson proceeded to complain about this "missed call" by the home plate umpire which I can understand. On the very next pitch Soriano singled to left and the Cubs proceeded to score 4 runs in the inning and tie the game. Now what gets me is that Harrelson moaned the whole inning about how it would have ended with the Milton Bradley strike out had that strike 3 been called on Soriano. I personally hate "what if" scenarios because you don't know how one little change in events could change the lay out of the rest of the future. A Soriano strike out may change Theriot, Bradleys, or even Linebrink's approach to the next at-bats. Harrelson's complaining doesn't end there, however. He continued to complain about this "missed call" every half inning until the game was eventually ended with a walk off single by Soriano (I love irony). Even after the game the sad broadcaster was complaining. Teams have to deal with "missed calls" on strikes multiple times every game. The fact of the matter is that home plate umpire's strike zones are not always the same as what the standard strike zone should be. An umpire may see a pitch as a ball when it may be a strike. You deal with it. Not complain about it all game. The thing that I loved most about this game is that Steve Stone was sitting in the booth with Harrelson the whole time not saying a word. It seemed as if he was contemplating some way of getting Harrelson to shut the hell up about the non-call because it didn't even matter anymore. You play on. I'm more glad than ever that I don't have to listen to that fool announce my Cubbie's games. Posted in: Just one quick question. Why is Fox, the recent stud called up from Triple-A Iowa, not starting. Sure, the Cubs have been scoring some runs as of late. But with the numbers that Fox put up in Iowa (reference previous post by Dan below) how could you not start this guy. So far all he has gotten is some pinch-hitting opportunities. If there is anything in baseball that can kill some momentum at the plate it is not getting regular starts. This guy can be a stud in the majors but he hasn't gotten the chance yet. It doesn't make sense to me. Bobby Scales has started more games as of late and doesn't have any where near the plate prowess that Fox has. Granted, Scales gives Piniella some flexibility on the infield position wise but why not give Fontenot or Scales a day off here and there and let Fox show what he can do. Or even give Soriano a day off because let's face it he hasn't been hitting lately. I'm not sure if Fox can play the outfield but I'm sure the infield can be moved around to make room for Fox. Posted in: My hatred for the Cubs is the same as it was before. I only have one thing to say about the managing of this game. You have lost 7 straight games and your offense has finally come through for you, scoring 7 runs. You have a 1 run lead and it is vital to have good pitching the rest of the way. Why in the WORLD would ANYONE consider putting Neil Cotts in the game in this situation? The guy hasn't pitched on the level of average all season and has done nothing but walk batters and find other ways to lose. I don't care that there are 3 straight left handed batters coming to the plate. I'll take my chances with one of the half way quality right handers in the pen over Neil Cotts any day of the week. Completely unacceptable. Some of the worst managing I have seen this season. And the losing streak reaches 8. Posted in: This is an in-game post at the moment and my feelings may change by the end of the game tonight but right now I would like to make this statement. I really hate the Cubs right now. Stay tuned for further feeling updates. Posted in: Dan you have pretty much summed up my complaint about the bullpen and Lou. I have one other complaint, however. This advice goes out to a certain Geovany Soto. Take your head, and pull it out of your ass! This guy hasn't been able to make solid contact with a breaking pitch all year. It's come to the point where that is all these guys are pitching to him. He absolutely KILLED a potential rally with a bases loaded ground out in the 7th. He saw three pitches I believe, all of which were breaking balls. I mean, if you are struggling to hit a certain pitch, aren't you as a hitter supposed to be smart enough to know that that is the pitch you will be thrown? It brings me back to his 4 or 5 strike out game last year before the all-star break. The dude struck out on nothing but breaking balls. It's obvious that he was going to be thrown this pitch all game. How do you not adjust to that? Micah gets off the hook in this inning because they guy who was pitching to him had some nasty stuff and has a crazy average against lefties this year. Hard to fault him for striking out considering he was the only reason we had the two runs to begin with (good call Bob Brenley). Not sure if any of you were able to watch the local telecast but Bob called the Micah home run right before the pitch. It was....Zen like. Now to Heilman. The one and only player on the Cubs roster who sounds like he belongs with the Nazi regime. And to tell you the truth, I am more than willing to send this guy clear across the Atlantic to Germany where he can cough up lead after lead to kids who don't even play baseball in their backyards. How difficult is it to throw strikes? You have been taught this since little league. Even I can throw strikes to my little brother in the backyard and I haven't played baseball for real since I was 10. I am way more okay with you giving up the two-run homer to Braun the day before because that wasn't gift wrapped as shiney as your walks-a-million display you had tonight. The only problem I have with the Braun home run last night is what happened before that at-bat. A WALK! I'm suprised Lou hasn't strangled each and every member of that bull pen. Even Marmol has had control issues. The only upside with him is that his stuff is so ridiculously good that he can strike out 3 batters on 9 pitches if he gets into such a jam with walks. It's beyond me why this team is even above .500 because they haven't played worth a damn all year so far. The only people on this roster I tolerate right now are Fukudome, Theriot (although he is slowly walking to the other side lately), Lilly, and Seah Marshall. I would have put Ramirez on here but he has been hurt so often I don't think he deserves to be included. Lee hasn't batted worth anything AND he has been hurt. And Soriono will never be on my good least because he is over paid and swings for the fences every pitch. The guy strikes out more than I would at a bar full of desperate middle aged women looking for a young chap to swing it with. At least Bradley showed signs of improvement the last two days. This team disgusts me right now but you know what, I didn't really expect much more out of them to tell you the truth. After last years playoffs I have no faith in this team at all. One final message: Dempster, way to live up to your contract. Why don't you use some of that money to buy yourself a personal pitching coach who can maybe teach you how to throw like a man. I'm trying to think of something witty to say but I'm too blinded by rage. I'll just leave this post with this comment. Question: How do pirates like their toast? Answer: Chaaaarrrrrd Posted in: Alright so I think it is time for my first post. This has been bugging me for quite some time now. Does Derrek Lee not realize that EVERYONE knows how to pitch to him nowadays. Let me walk you through a typical plate appearance for Mr. Lee. Fastball away (outside corner). Count 0-1. Fastball away (outside corner). Count 0-2. The third pitch either consists of another fastball away which Lee fouls off, ball inside, or a breaking pitch off the plate away which Lee promptly swings and misses on. The only time you can count on Lee to make contact 100% is when there is at least one runner on 1st with 1 out. In this scenario the ball will be hit on the ground softly and a double play will ensue, killing any scoring chance. Does the Cubs batting coach not realize that pitchers are CONSTANTLY throwing to Lee away? I do understand the reasoning behind the pitching strategy. If you will all recall the 2005 season in which Mr. Lee hit 46 home runs. His best season by a good sized margin. If you take a look at each of his homers the vast majority of them were hit on pitches on the inner half of the plate. He jumps all over those pitches, still does to this day. The only problem is that the only time he will ever get a pitch like that again is on a mistake. Big league pitchers and scouts have realized that if you attack Lee away constantly he can't do anything with it. The problem with that is he SHOULD be able to do something with those pitches. Those pitches away are perfect for shooting the ball to the opposite field. He is a teammate of Ryan TheRIOT correct? I still don't think I have seen anyone better at consistantly shooting the ball to right field as well as Theriot. Here is a suggestion. The next time you all sit down at your local T.G.I Friday's morning another loss because of a nonexistant offense, someone throw a biscuit, a fork, spoon, chicken wing, or even little mike fontenot at D. Lee and scream terrible things. Things that I can't utter on this blog. Stop taking two straight fastballs on the outside of the plate and digging yourself into an 0-2 count. Make the adjustment. Every pitcher has. Counteradjust!! The wrist injury only accounts for lack of power. The back injury accounts for lack of power and perhaps getting on top of the ball quite a bit nowadays. But it does NOT account for the fact that you are not doing anything to improve your offense. Posted in: | ||