Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
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| SP | Tm Lincecum | SP | Ryan Dempster |
| 10-2, 2.66, 126 K, 46 BB, 121.2 IP | 10-3, 3.13 ERA, 98 K, 47 BB, 118 IP | ||
| LF | *Fred Lewis | SS | Ryan Theriot |
| 3B | Jose Castillo | 2B | *Mike Fontenot |
| 2B | #Ray Durham | 1B | Derrek Lee |
| C | Bengie Molina | 3B | Aramis Ramirez |
| CF | Aaron Rowand | RF | Mark DeRosa |
| RF | *John Bowker | CF | *Jim Edmonds |
| 1B | Rich Aurilia | LF | Reed Johnson |
| SS | #Omar Vizquel | C | Henry Blanco |
| P | Tim Lincecum | P | Ryan Dempster |
A great pitching matchup between two All-Stars to end the pre-ASG schedule for 2008.
Lincecum has been everything the Giants hoped he would be; Dempster has been more than the Cubs could ever have hoped. Dempster remains undefeated this season at Wrigley (10-0, 2.58); Lincecum was undefeated on the road until losing to the Mets at Shea this past Tuesday. He's still a none-too-shabby 7-1, 2.23 away from AT&T Park.
Giants have dropped six in a row. Cubs (57-37) are on track to have the franchise's best record at the All-Star break since 1969, when the club went 61-37.
Regarding Sunday's lineup, Henry Blanco gets his first start and sees his first game action in two weeks. Mike Fontenot starts for the fourth consecutive game at second base and has now gone 15-for-46 (.326) with a .436 OBP and .761 slugging percentage in his last 16 games.
Otherwise...
The blister than kept Kerry Wood out of the action Saturday and left Carlos Marmol out on the mound to allow the Giants to erase a five-run, ninth-inning deficit for the first time in 23 years will also keep Wood out of any action in the All-Star Game.
Update: Carlos Marmol, who has a 9.37 ERA in 20 appearances since June 1st, has been named to replace Wood on the NL All-Star roster for Tuesday night's game. Reader Brian points out that the selection is based on Marmol's having been the pitcher with the next highest vote total.
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#1 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
HENRY!
#2 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
I'm hearing at another board (non cub themed) that Marmol was selected to replace Wood.
Me no likey.
#4 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
Confirmed on cubs.com: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=2...
It's because he was the next highest on the player's ballot.
I don't think he'll play though, with Lou on the bench having said that he'll get a break over the All-Star Break.
We can only hope.
#3 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
Len and Bob confirm
#5 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
Also a win today would be a new highwater mark at 21 games over. No easy task against lincecum.
#6 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
Maybe the powers-that-be can schedule Marmol to throw a few innings down in the Dominican League this week as well before heading to Houston for Friday's game?
Guess if Lou tried to pass Kevin Hart off as Marmol the league might get suspicious.
#7 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
Not much you can do about this one, just outpitched by Lincecum. Dempster wasn't great but did ok. Another series won. I'll take it.
Now Carlos Marmol on the All Star team? Thats ridiculous. I'd hate to see him actually have to pitch and most of baseball ask 'this guy is an all star?' I mean we already have Fuku who will probably look silly in his at bat.
#15 Re: Lincecum
I guess that's why they call him The Freak.
#8 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
cant help but wonder if fuku starts and doesn't make that derosa play...
#9 Scott Eyre pitching for Peoria (A) today
West Michigan Bottom 1st
Justin Henry singles on a line drive to left fielder Brandon Guyer.
Kody Kaiser doubles (15) on a line drive to left fielder Brandon Guyer. Justin Henry to 3rd.
Joseph Tucker grounds out, shortstop Nate Samson to first baseman Rebel Ridling. Justin Henry scores. Kody Kaiser to 3rd.
Alex Avila out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Brandon Guyer. Kody Kaiser scores.
Ron Bourquin strikes out swinging.
2 H , 2 ER, 1 K
West Michigan Bottom 2nd
Cory Middleton strikes out swinging.
Hayden Parrott singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jonathan Wyatt.
Keith Stein singles on a line drive to center fielder Jonathan Wyatt. Hayden Parrott to 2nd.
Pitcher Change: Robert Hernandez replaces Scott Eyre.
2 H, 0 R, 1 K
#10 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
I hate the way we lost this game. Not that we can say that Dero's play cost us the game but if stays in front of it, it's likely we win.
#11 THERIOT at the break
Thanks to Lou Piniella making him his everyday shortstop over the dead bodies of the Cubs organization, at this moment Ryan Theriot leads all MLB (qualified) shortstops in both batting average (.320) and OBP (.394).
Not bad!
#12 Re: THERIOT at the break
Not good either
When you consider his slugging, defense and baserunning. But for Ryan Theriot, its been better than anyone could have expected
#14 Re: THERIOT at the break
Actually it is good.
His job on the offense is not to hit for power. It's to get on base and score, and he's done that a lot. His defense is not exceptional but it has been adequate. His base running started off badly but he has actually settled down and run more efficiently the past 2 months.
#40 Re: THERIOT at the break
I guess you have to be a longtime Cubs fan to appreciate him, but by historic standards 'Riot is an OBP machine.
Cubs SS, BA, OBP
Banks .274 .330
DeJesus .261 .330
Dunston .267 .295
Kessinger .255 .315
Theriot .291 .359
#13 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
i am glad to see marmol made it by a rule
not by managers choice , hopefully he sits.
i guess the cubs have alot to say about
national league winning.
#16 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
Does anybody know what the rotation is going to look like after the break?
#17 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
lilly ,zambrano, dempster, harden,marquis
as of now
#18 Sheets V. Lee
is the starting pitching match-up for the All-star game.
#21 Re: Sheets V. Lee
Lincecum got screwed.
Here is a link to a table that shows the ranking of the top NL Starting Pitchers, using their rankings in VORP, ERA+, and Win Shares. Lincecum is first in VORP, 2nd in ERA+, and 1st in Win Shares. That he is first in win shares while playing on the Giants should be a big enough sign.
By these rankings, Sheets has been the 5th best starter in the league. Also, by these rankings, Hamels and Peavy got screwed, and Dempster got lucky, in the results of the all-star selections.
#28 Re: Sheets V. Lee
Everyone knows that in choosing All-star Starting Pitchers you go by these 3 categories:
1) Wins
2) ERA
3) Profile photo (the goofier the better)
#29 Re: Sheets V. Lee
Lincecume started Sunday, he wasn't in contention for the starting spot. Someone posted it earlier but there were only 3 guys Hurdle was considering starting that could go 2-3 innings, I think Sheets, Z and someone else.
#31 Re: Sheets V. Lee
True... didn't think about Lincecum starting yesterday.
Sheets isn't a bad option by any means.
Completely random... but who would have thought that Kyle Lohse would be one of the better pitchers in the NL?
#19 Chat during derby this year?
I seem to recall an entertaining PChat during last year's derby. Are we on for a repeat?
#20 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
Theriot could hit 25 HR's at the break and people would bitch he strikes out to much.
#22 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
For the life of me, I don't know why. Of every Cub regular (let's set the bar at 150 AB's this season), Theriot has struck out the least (33 times). In fact, Fukudome has struck out TWICE AS MUCH as Theriot. And Theriot's has 20 more AB's.
I suppose you're just trying to start an argument for the sake being this blog's public Theriot defender.
The argument I'd make is that his BABIP may not stay at .350 all year. He's got a pretty good LD%, but that might still be hard to maintain. His OBP has always been pretty tightly connected to his BA. If he keeps hitting, he'll be fine. If he goes through another second half swoon like 2007, he won't.
#54 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
"His OBP has always been pretty tightly connected to his BA"
and that is his main "problem".
theriot has a "good eye"...but he pretty much just uses to find something he wants to hit, not to get on base by any means necessary.
he's gonna try to put the ball in play yet he's got bottom-basement power...
if he finds more dirt and grass than gloves...he should be fine. he's got so little room for error or bad luck hitting like that, though.
that said...his bat control is amazing. it's pretty much all he's got besides his complementing slightly-above-average speed as far as hit plate performance goes.
#58 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
And his batting average is too tightly connected to the number of hits he gets per at bat... What OBP is not connected to BA when it constitutes the majority of it?
The difference between Theriot's BA and OBP is 74 points. Other than the Pujols and Dunns of the world who walk at outrageous rates, this is right in line with pretty much all of the top OBP guys in the NL. Derrek Lee's difference is 66, Utley is 80, Holliday 84, Hanley Ramirez 80, McCann 75, Nady 56, Reyes 65, Hudson 57, Rowand 68, etc, etc.
He has a good eye and uses it to find good pitches to hit. Does it really matter if he gets on base more with hits than walks compared to others? I mean he gets on base right? 7th best OBP in the NL last time I checked. So you want him to walk more and maintain his BA? So basically it sounds like you want our shortstop to be Chipper, Pujols, Berkman, Holliday, Burrell, or Giles since these are the only guys getting on base at a better clip right now. I'd love to have those guys in the lineup too, but last time I checked none can play short, few can run at all, and all cost a ton of money.
#59 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
Does it really matter if he gets on base more with hits than walks compared to others? I mean he gets on base right?
____________
I think the point is that his BABIP is very high. If his hits stop falling in then his OBP will go down, but that's true of anyone. The difference between Theriot's hits that keep his BA up and the folks you listed is that they smash doubles into the gap, homers out of the park, and don't rely on singles falling in to maintain their BA. Theriot gets those hits, too, but his are dispersed between singles that sneak through the infield or bloop into shallow right (speaking in generalities here)
#60 Re: Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)
I just don't think we can sit here and say there is no way that he can't maintain his current pace. People said this last week when his BA dipped to .306 and now it's back up to .320. And DeRosa maintained a .343 BABIP for all of last year. The major league leader last year was Chone Figgins at .399, he had 24 doubles, 6 triples, and 3 homeruns last year. He reaches more than Theriot does on infield and bunt hits, but he is a singles hitter who maintained an astronomically high BABIP for a season. And I don't think doubles and homeruns are easier to hit than singles anyway.
Now I am guessing Theriot's BABIP will drop over the rest of the summer, as will his BA and OBP. I doubt he will end up at .320 to end the year. But I think he will hit .300 with a .360 OBP, play good defense and add some speed to the lineup, all for very little money. And I am happy with that.
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