 | ||
mrschroeder08 partyvancaptain pee_callus25 Tags 2010 Preview 5 Million Dollar Black Hole AAAA Aaron Heilman Aaron Miles Alfonso Soriano Andres Blanco Angel Guzman Aramis Ramirez Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves B.J. Ryan Baltimore Orioles Bob Brenly Bobby Scales Bonehead Booing Boston Red Sox Brett Jackson Bullpen Canadian Concoction Captain Kneejerk Cardinals Carlos Marmol Carlos Silva Carlos Zambrano Chad Fox Chad Tracy Chicago Cubs Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Indians Cold War Colorado Rockies Contracts Cubs-Cardinals Rivalry Cubs sale Cubs Curtis Granderson Daniel Herrera David Patton Derrek Lee Designated Hitter Detroit Tigers Disabled list Dominance ERA+ ERROR Esmailin Caridad ESPN Sucks Eternal frustration Eternal Optimism Farewell Farney Florida Marlins Free Agency Future Gatorade Geovanny Soto Geovany Soto Gerald Perry Grades Houston Astros I-Cubs Injuries Jake Fox Jason Marquis Jason Waddell Jeff Gray Jeff Samardzija Jim Hendry Jim Wolf Joey Gathright John Grabow Jose Ascanio Kansas City Royals Kerry Wood Kevin Gregg Kevin Hart Kevin Millar Koyie Hill LaTroy Hawkins Legendary Lineup Los Angeles Angels Los Angeles Dodgers Lou Piniella Luis Vizcaino Man Crush Mark DeRosa Marlon Byrd Micah Hoffpauir Middle Infield Midwestern Bias Milton Bradley Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins Minor Leagues MLB 2K9 Neal Cotts New York Mets New York Yankees Oakland Athletics October Offseason Opening Day OPS+ Payroll Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates Playoffs Randy Wells Rant Rich Harden Ryan Dempster Ryan Freel Ryan Theriot Sam Fuld Sam Zell Sammy Sosa San Diego Padres San Francisco Giants Sandy Alderson Sean Marshall Seattle Mariners St. Louis Cardinals Steroids Strikeouts Suckiness Tampa Bay Rays TBS Texas Rangers Tom Gorzelanny Tom Ricketts Toronto Blue Jays Trade Tribune Company Tyler Colvin Von Joshua Waivers Walks Washington Nationals WTF Xavier Nady RSS Feed Well, that was about as bad as you can start off a season. The Captain Kneejerk in me wants to go off, but I will stay pretty calm and reserve me venom for two particular places. First, my awards. The first ever Julio Zuleta Player of the Game award goes to Marlon Byrd. I was thinking about James Russell and Sean Marshall, who pitched the only good innings of this one, but Marlon gave us a taste of what he can do. Not only homering, but making a statement, literally, as he came back to the dugout. Obligatory opening day joke: he is on pace for 162 home runs. The first ever "Hang Your Head" award goes to, and this is a surprise perhaps, Jeff Samardzija. Why? Zambrano blew, too. Don't get me wrong. But his trouble started with a couple of bad luck, bloop hits. A couple inches, and he may have pitched a solid game. Samardzija, however, showed he has no business in the big leagues. At this point, you worry. He has been up for parts of three seasons, and has shown zero improvement. We know Carlos Zambrano will get better, but Samardzija has just trended downward since an impressive debut month. Obligatory "he's a football player" joke: I hear the Bears are looking for a receiver. Finally, I officially put Jim Wolf right alongside Angel Hernandez in the "Umpires Need DFA's too" club. Pat Hughes called him out in the radio broadcast after the blown call on the McLouth trap. His responsibility in that play is to get as good of an angle on that so he can help make the right call. Instead he inexplicably runs down the left field line, gets a terrible angle, and also misses a blatant call. Did you know this isn't the first time that clown blew a call against the Cubs in Atlanta? Nope. He was the one who ejected Ted Lilly in that 2007 Sunday Night game. No warnings, no indications. Why did he do it? Because he "knew" Lilly had intent. This assbag also has a conflict of interests as his brother is Randy, the Brewers pitcher. I am not saying he intentionally ran from that ball, and it is pretty obvious he did not. I plead more incompetence on that one. But still, this dude should not be umpiring games that even indirectly affect his brother. Anyways, it is one game, so no panic button here. The Cubs blew away the Diamondbacks in a similar fashion in 2005. We all saw how that worked out for the Cubs. But man, oh man, they better straighten the ship up fast, or this blog will get ugly. Posted in: Opening Day, Marlon Byrd, Jeff Samardzija, Jim Wolf The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Jeff Samardzija is about to be called up after 3 appearances in Iowa. The man who is on the way out? None other than Luis Vizcaino. Turns out those Scott Eyre comparisons were pretty accurate. But to be honest I'm not a big fan of this move. Here is why: Luis Vizcaino, while he wasn't put in too many games, really did nothing wrong. As I noted earlier, he was the only member of the Cubs bullpen not to give up walks. Most of his work was done in low-stress, blow out situations, but I think he did well enough to at least warrant a look in some important situations. Y'know instead of another Neal Cotts or Aaron Heilman walk or another Kevin Gregg home run given up. If you weren't going to use him in a meaningful sitation, why bring him back from Arizona? And if Lou gets so angry with his bullpen for walking people, why do you rid yourself of a guy who wasn't throwing them? The last thing is, Samardzija is obviously going to the bullpen. But I thought we were grooming him to be a starter? That was a very quick project. I don't know what changed between now and then, but I guess he isn't being groomed to be a starter anymore. I'm not a Vizcaino fan. I'm not even sure he should have made it on this squad. I am just wondering why he was brought up, only to be taken out this early in the year. Especially when he didn't underperform (and a majority of the bullpen already has). Ah, well, I give it two weeks before I'm eating these words. Posted in: Luis Vizcaino, Jeff Samardzija, Farewell | ||