Cubs MLB Roster

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40-Man Roster Info

40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full) 

28 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, and twelve players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors. 

Last updated 3-26-2024
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 15
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Jose Cuas
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Caleb Kilian
Mark Leiter Jr
* Luke Little
Julian Merryweather
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

INFIELDERS: 7
* Michael Busch 
Nico Hoerner
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
Christopher Morel
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

OUTFIELDERS: 4
* Cody Bellinger 
Alexander Canario
# Ian Happ
Seiya Suzuki
* Mike Tauchman 

OPTIONED: 12 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Keegan Thompson, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 
Hayden Wesneski, P 

 



 

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Game 94 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (4 of 4)

Game Chat Matt Morris vs. Ted Lilly Lineups:
Winn CF Soriano LF
Aurilia 1B Theriot SS
Durham 2B Ward 1B
Bonds LF Ramirez 3B
Molina C Floyd RF
Feliz 3B Fontenot 2B
Frandsen RF Jones CF
Vizquel SS Kendall C
Morris P Lilly P
AZ PHIL UPDATE FROM FITCH PARK: Making his third rehab appearance in the last week (he threw an inning on Saturday and another on Tuesday), Kerry Wood made the start for the AZL Cubs versus the AZL Royals this morning at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa. Wood worked just one inning (seven pitches), and his fast ball topped out at 95 MPH. LINE: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K 7 pitches (7 strikes, no balls) 1 /0 GB/FB LOG: Top of the 1st inning Hilton Richardson batting Pitch 1: Strike One - swinging (fastball) Pitch 2: Strike Two - called (fastball) Pitch 3: Strike Three - called (curve) One out Lifete Jose batting Pitch 1: 6-3 ground out to SS. Two outs Fernando Cruz batting Pitch 1: Grounder to right of second-baseman, AZL Cubs 2B Elvis Lara made a nice diving stop, but his throw to 1st was too late. David Wood batting Pitch 1: Strike One - called (curve) Pitch 2: Chopper up 1st base line, K. Wood bobbles ball (E-1) and so his throw to 1st was late, but runner who was on first (F. Cruz) was thrown out trying to advance to 3rd on the play 3-5. Three outs

Comments

Rich Aurilia hitting second, you say? I think Bochy just throws the 7 guys who aren't named Bonds in his size 8 hat and then just draws them at random.

He's nowhere near what he was, but I still get uneasy with Mattmo on the mound against us.

DeRosa sits. Kendall downgraded to the #8 spot....

Efiing Jacque Jones.....please hit a little so the Cubs can trade your sorry ass Jacque!!!! Hey...he is hitting .222 over his last 10 games!!! Whoo-HOO!!!!!!!!! A gift single yesterday.....great.... He effing sucks. Period....end o' story....lol.

Our old nemesis Morris... What the hell is up with this lineup (he says half-heartedly)??? Ward AND Floyd fielding??? More bitching, people!

No DeRosa? Why is Soriano batting leadoff with Lee out? Way to go Lou, sit the catcher with 5 RBIs in one game. OK, I think that's enough bitching for about 7-8 runs.

According to Lou's pregame, Izturis was in the lineup originally, but now...Not so much. That is a shame.

guys do get days off in baseball, no really, it happens all the time. rather amusing to hear people complain about DeRosa sitting though. You would have expected that early in the year? But yeah, keep up the complaining, get us at least 6 runs. :)

in the pregame on Comcast, they said Lou wants to keep Fox up here a while. He won't be the roster move when Dempster is activated...so if Cedeno's getting his bus ticket back to the bigs, he might find a longer line to cue up in.

on the blog that shall not be named, there is a diary reporting that the brewers/reds are very close to a deal sending Dunn to milwaukee. anyone else hear this?

Wow, dave. I would have thought that the Brewers had enough bad fielders...

I see a rumor on Northside Baseball Forums... Dunn for Weeks, Wise and Gwynn We could do better than that...

Has anyone seen AZ Phil and Superman in the same place, same time? AZ Phil is everywhere.

I agree, Chad. I think their fielding is already very suspect, and he would add another part of the field they'd be praying nobody hits the ball to...

Ted Lilly, go ahead an "Renteria" Bonds the first time up. Does Dunn pitch?

Kendall is a HBP machine! career #213, 2nd only to Biggio in active players (7th all time)

Interesting stat for the 1st inning: Lilly 1,2,3 - 21 pitches Morris faces 1-9, w/ 23 pitches.

Interesting stat for the second inning: I FUCKING HATE BARRY BONDS. Now if we could convince ESPN that there was more to MLB than the Yankees, Red Sox, and Barroids, we'd be ready to rock.

Daryle Ward hurt...wow...the most unathletic player in the league....have another sandwich Ward!!!!

Has there ever been a sadder looking injury to a professional athlete than fat ass Ward's today? Christ, I think Cecil Fielder could have gotten to that pop up. And I mean the 2007 version of Cecil Fielder.

.....aaaaaand then Bengine Molina gets hit in the head with a fastball by his own pitcher...

Christ Cliffy down in a heap after legging out a ground ball....I hope that Jake Fox is ready to play... At least Floyd could stay in the game..

how come Wood only got credited with 1 ground ball, when the recap said he threw 3?

Ramirez lines a double to left to score Soriano! (who had singled to lead off and moved to third on grounders by theriot and derosa) Pagan hits a double to score for Ramirez! (Pagan in for Floyd)

CWTP: Thanks, man for this groovy link. I have noticed quite a variance of performance between MLB, Yahoo Sports, Cubs.com, etc. I have not used CBSsportsline for a game feed. Cool. Blessings on you (and Fontenot).

Injury report on Ward? Serious? Details on the play? Yeah he's a "Big Guy" (being nice), but a professional hitter, imo. Actually, as I've said before, the 2007 Randall Simon - with no more sausages to kick around this year!

Ward calf strain, they said he's day-to-day. Ronny in Cedar Rapids today helping open a hospital and giving a speech about life as a double-amputee.

Thanks...I was trying hard to figure out why Cedeno would be involved with amputees.

Maybe Lou told him to get some hits and he'll be traded. That's all the motivation Jack needs.

Ohman in to face Bonds with guys on 1st and 2nd, 2 out...Cub fans everywhere place hands over eyes...

OKay, so now Marmol is up first this inning! Can't take him out, so he hast to hit for himself! Need some more runs!!!

What's the record? Shoot me for not knowing...I just don't care that much, but I don't want him breaking it at Wrigley.

Jace-- Lou pulled a double-switch, K. Hill in and hitting 9th, Marmol hitting 8th.

755 is the record... He's not going to break the record at Wrigley... They're going to stop pitvhing to him!!! RIGHT???

Note to Lou: Bonds can hit lefties. Particularly lefties who aren't very good.

Lou had better hope this game doesn't go into extras.. is there even anyone else on the bench?

good pont Q. since Fox can catch, he really is valuable to a manager who wants the flexibility to double switch with his two main catchers.

JJ is 4-4, now that's enhancing your trade value! Slugger Jake the Rake...

JJ is red hot right now...do the Cubs really want to trade him...? we'll see what Hendy does.

At the risk of having people call for my head, if JJ continues to hit I really dont have a problem with him playing in center. Our centerfielders have struggled this year and the damage caused by his spastic throws is minimized when done from centerfield.

woohoo

Will Ohman has simply got to go. Fer crying out loud, are you telling me Clay Rapada wouldn't be at least as effective as a pure LOOGY--and likely, much better? Ohman nearly cost the Cubs the game today, and he has pooped his pants a half-dozen times this year. Enough already.

Eric - while I agree that Ohman is a little shakier than I would like, I am not sure that anyone should have been pitching to Bonds today. That was clearly a regrettable decision. That desicison is what almost cost the Cubs the game.

Perhaps Lou remembered Bengie Molina making them pay for the decision to pitch around Bonds earlier in the game...

Ohman has been doing just fine against lefties. Bonds though is someone special who hits everyone, great or not.

I don't care, sheffield! You don't pitch to a guy who has 752 HR's when he has already burned you once in the game. Leave it up to the lightweight with 9 HR's behind him to burn you...

tough week for Ohman but damn it's Barry Bonds, not like he was having a bad day before that. and Bonds meant nothing there, it would be worse to walk him and get the tying run up. It was the right move.

I agree, Rob. And Bonds has been slowed by injuries and hadn't had a hit before today in forever--so there's no reason to assume he's got the energy to jack another one. If you'll notice, this second one only landed in the basket and not on Waveland. (I meant that half-jokingly)

*Sheffield

Potential Future Pen from the 6th inning on: Wood, Dempster, Marmol, Howry..........Which brings back memories of LouPa's Bad Boy Bullpen. This Bud's for you Cubbies...

I agree with Rob. Never put the tie or go ahead runners on, or up to the plate if you can help it. In all reality. All the cubs are doing is fixing their previously anemic record in 1 run games.

you walk Bonds intentionally and you guarantee the tying run is going to come up. You go after him and there's about a 12% shot (His HR/AB ratio this year and close to his career mark) he goes yard and stills brings up the tying run. It goes up to about 29% I guess that he just gets a hit and the tying run still gets up. I'll still take those odds. Ohman did get him out the other day and something like 0 for 5 going into the game.

OKay, I guess I see your point, guys... It was going to be twitchy regardless of how they dealt with it...

got it R.G. it won't happen again - even if a certain someone ever makes it back. we'll call him Glass.

haha cubfanbudman.... from the Trib blog Piniella also announced that he was abandoning his plan to use Alfonso Soriano in the No. 5 hole against left-handers. Soriano will return top the leadoff spot on a full-time basis, after going two games without a hit in the 5-hole. Soriano was OK with the decision.

Didn't Ohman strike Bonds out in his pinch hitting role in yesterday's game? Lou likes to go with the hot hand, no reason to doubt his decision to pitch to Bonds in that situation. And speaking of Lou's fondness for going with players that are performing well, I sure hope he keeps Marmol and Howry in their present roles, and doesn't put Dempster into the closer role again. Remember Lou, keep going with the hot hand...

Hell of a matchup in that Phillies-Padres game tonight -- Hamels vs. Young. I guess I'll pull for Philly, but they're nipping at our heels in the WC race too.

BTW, if Ward and Floyd have to go on the DL, what moves do they make for the short - term? Call up Murton or Pie again?

Didn’t Ohman strike Bonds out in his pinch hitting role in yesterday’s game? No... Bonds hit a ball pretty hard, but right at Soriano.

I hope you're right, Rob - but Floyd is an injury waiting to happen these days, and Ward...well, you know. Not exactly in prime physical condition, you could say.

"[Hendry] told [Izturis] in the clubhouse, 'I want you to go out there and help beat some of those National League Central teams that we're trying to stay on top of and catch.'" Paraphrase: "Don't forget that you're going from a winning team to a shitty team. If you win over there, it won't really mean anything to you, but it'll help us out at least." Dick.

I think Ward is going on the DL for sure, because if they both cant play for the weekend you can not really play with a 2 man bench. My guess would be a Buck Coats call up since he is a jack of all trades with the glove.

Not sure you bring Pie up while they're showcasing Jones. (Not sure you don't.) Could bring up Kroeger or Coats. Piniella used Coats a lot in ST and seemed to like him all right. Coats has put up numbers this year and had three outfield assists in a game two nights ago. Bring up Pie at ten minutes before midnight on July 31st or whenever it is you get someone to agree to pay one-quarter of Jones's salary for the rest of his contract (or best offer!).

Coats is on the 40-man, guess they could move Blanco to the 60-day (not sure how long he's been out) or Guzman (no idea how his rehab is going)

JACE: "...a little shakier than I would like..." Are you KIDDING?! A little shakier?? C'Mon JACE! He is a LOOGY that can't get lefties out! WTF good is he? He has terrible control problems. Last year. This year. You can't count on the guy AT ALL. A WHIP of 1.44 for a guy who is 'supposed" to pitch to one or two batters. and a 1-4 record! HE FUCKING SUCKS ASS! I hate him and was pissed at Hendry for signing him. Take Eyre and Oh-NO-Man and wrap them in cement and drop them in the Chicago River!

Mark my words - IF this team is lucky enough to get into the playoffs, Eyre and Oh-No-Man! will perform just like Guthrie and Veres did for Dust-bag.

E-man, In any other MLB park, that 2nd Bonds HR is a f-8. It was a solid pitch. Shit happens. He is a solid guy v. LHP. He should really be a 1st LOOGY out of the pen though.

Ohman vs lefties this year 212/305/327 2006: 158/277/257 2005: 173/269/321 not sure what you're referring to Jace? I'm saying Coats would be the logical call-up if there's a DL move since he's on the 40-man.

No, Rob. I'm asking why you think that guy from the Altoona Curve might be the guy the Cubs get...

well actually Murton would be the logical call-up, he would have been today too. and I was kidding about the Guzman kid, just looks like another slick glove, no stick infielder, exactly what you'd expect for Izturis.

I'm with E-Man on this one. Right now, we don't have a viable left-handed option out of the pen. Ohman has no control. When he faced Bonds a couple days ago, he threw only one pitch in the strike zone and got lucky that the liner Bonds scorched went right at Soriano. He then promptly walked the following batter on four pitches. The only reason his ERA isn't inflated is because the runs he gave up recently have gone to Marmol and Weurtz. At this point it isn't even worth playing the matchups. Lifting Weurtz, who had just struck out two, for Ohman today felt a bit like Montgomery Burns lifting Darryl Strawberry for Homer Simpson, only it didn't work out for Lou (perhaps I exaggerate a little).

Wuertz also let the first 2 batters reach.... As I said, Bonds 0 for 5 to that point vs Ohman and it's BARRY BONDS!!!! bad week for Ohman, been good the last month before that.

Jason Delaney OF (Altoona Curve) Looks pretty good… .323/.451/1.036 which would be exactly why we won't be getting him... Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen aren't too bad either, guessing they'll be staying in their system. :)

No, but he does kinda look like Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket. Might just be the haircut.

CHRIS CARPENTER update... more updates expected today Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter will undergo additional elbow surgery that will end his season and potentially cause him to miss a significant portion of the 2008 season, club and industry sources told the Post-Dispatch Thursday The Cards had penciled Carpenter into the rotation for the upcoming seven game stand against the Cubs and Brewers...nix that... http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/504…

Looking at the rest of the Cubs' schedule: Team (H,A) ARI (3,3), COL (0,4), SF (0,3), LAD (4,0) STL (4,7), CIN (6,6), HOU (3,6), MIL (3,0), PIT (3,3) PHI (4,0), NYM (4,0), FLA (0,3) We're done with SD, WAS, ATL. So, against the leaders: MIL, LAD, NYM: 11 games. Against WC contenders (above .500): SD, ATL, AZ, CO: 10 games Against WC pretenders (within 10 games): PHI, FLA, STL:18 games Against the dregs: PIT, CIN, HOU, SF, WAS: 30 games That's 48 games against the bottom 8 vs. 22 against the top 7.

"Dick." Yeah, Hendry's a total tool for giving Izzy a huge contract and letting him basically play himself out of the starting lineup. How dare he? Someone ask Izzy how much he hates the contract he's guaranteed - the Hendry hate is out of control sometimes. Ballplayers respect the cash and the opportunity to play - he got that in spades.

I predict that Pittsburgh will trade Jack Wilson to Boston. Possibly for David Murphy.

He is a LOOGY that can’t get lefties out! WTF good is he? Since when can Ohman not get lefties out? Don't make stuff up. Rob G already posted the numbers. Ohman has done a good job getting lefties out, especially recently. You can't really fault the guy for giving up a bomb to the one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. I guess Ted Lilly sucks, because he gave up a home run to Bonds also.

Actually, I don't have a problem with Hendry. I just think that was a dick thing to say to someone you just traded.

Since Ohman is the topic de jour, may as well throw in this free nugget provided by BP today: Top 5 Luckiest NL Relievers, by Bequeathed Runs Prevented Player, Team, Beq Runs Prevented Will Ohman, CHN, 8.5 Michael Wuertz, CHN, 4.2 Trever Miller, HOU, 4.2 Cla Meredith, SDN, 3.9 Chris Spurling, MIL, 3.6 Wuertz's lucky # certain to go down after today ... fwiw: I'm still in the "anyone but Eyre" camp whenever there's a lead or a chance of getting back in the game ...

OH-Man - Yeah the splits Rob showed were pretty good. He currently ranks # 84 in MLB (incl. starters), behind Steve Kline, Ray King, LaTroy Hawkins. Excellent company there. 28 hits in 27 IP. 28 K to 12 BB. Very good here on K to BB. Considering he works one or two batters, with a 4.33 ERA, and 10 holds in 40 games! (40) his success rate in protecting a lead is 25%, right? So - the splits you show are misleading, imo. Like CHAD when he says, "I see what I see...", all I know is on the occasions I tune in or watch him live - he STINKS. I have ZERO confidence in he or Eyre. Were he not left-handed, he'd be working at Starbucks.

DAVE: No Lilly doesn't suck for giving up a HR to Bonds. BUT Oh-MAN! has almost as many losses as Lilly, and Lilly has pitched 98 more innings. Ohman SUCKS.

He currently ranks # 84 in MLB (incl. starters), behind Steve Kline, Ray King, LaTroy Hawkins. Excellent company there. Ranks #84 in what? 10 holds in 40 games! (40) his success rate in protecting a lead is 25%, right? No... not at all. That would assume that he was only in games that the Cubs were leading. And the holds stats is a bit more complicated than that. From ESPN:
A Hold is credited any time a relief pitcher enters a game in a Save Situation (see definition below), records at least one out, and leaves the game never having relinquished the lead.
So you are assuming that Ohman only comes in in a save situation, which is just silly. That splits that Rob posted are not misleading at all. You said he can't get lefties out, and that is flat out wrong.

BUT Oh-MAN! has almost as many losses as Lilly, and Lilly has pitched 98 more innings. You can't really compare wins/losses between starters and relievers. Two very different situations.

Here's a scary thought from espn.com's story about W's outing today. Trainer Brett Fischer, who has worked with [W] for two years, said he would have bet his house a month ago that the pitcher would have to undergo surgery. In fact, Fischer said he had talked to the Cubs about the operation and asked for four more days of therapy. Suddenly, the pain disappeared. Fischer said he has no idea why. "I've been doing this 25 years and I've never seen a shoulder turn that fast," he said. "To me it was a miracle. This guy's shoulder really turned around in four days."

Ohman, against lefties: 52 at-bats (59 plate appearances) 11 hits (.212 BAA) 7 walks (.309 OBP allowed) 17 k's Only a .327 slugging % allowed. Those are pretty good numbers.

"You can’t really compare wins/losses between starters and relievers. Two very different situations." Hmmm. Well, maybe he should not be left in to pitch against the righties after he has (luckily) succeded. This is probably another reason that expands his sucktitude.

You'll see DAVE - When Oh-Man! loses a game for the Cubs - in a KEY situation - during a game the team really needs - I'm gonna show you your Stats - and watch you say "He Sucks!"

Well, maybe he should not be left in to pitch against the righties after he has (luckily) succeded. You are correct that Ohman shouldn't be facing righties, at least in important situations. But I am thoroughly confused about how a pitcher can get so lucky for three straight years against lefties.

I’m gonna show you your Stats - and watch you say “He Sucks!” Look... Ohman isn't an all-star, but when used correctly (as a loogy) he has done a good job. And he will also not be perfect. No pitcher is. Today he got beat by Barry Bonds; everyone gets beat by Barry Bonds. But he has more than done his job this year as a loogy. Lou just has to realize that he should only be used as a loogy.

"I predict that Pittsburgh will trade Jack Wilson to Boston. Possibly for David Murphy." Carmen, I doubt Theo would trade Murphy for Wilson, especially with Lugo starting to hit.

Was Wood able to throw anything other than fastballs today, AZ Phil? I would guess a curve is possible, but sliders most likely out of the question forever at this point.

Stone was saying his splitter was good down in Az from the reports he was getting.

AZ Phil's reports says a couple of curves and the news reports says he did as well and they "were really good".

DAVE: Well, we have seen Lou kind of "stay at the table too long" with both Eyre and Oh-Man, and get greedy. One time was a couple weeks ago with perhaps the Braves (?) when Eyre got the 2nd and 3rd outs in his first inning back after not being used for a while - due to the trust factor. Lou marches him out the next inning and he gets torched - we lose eventually. This is sort of what I do in golf - after I go OVER the water on my second shot on a par five, on the back side I try the same thing instead of lagging, and always screw up. Why not take the success and move on? On Tuesday night, he gets Bonds on a hard-hit ball - Nice - then walks Rodriguez (a .222 hitter, and a righty, Lou leaves him in) and then Roberts (that's his game) - a .239 hitter - not nice. This night's "Loogy Rule" did not pan out.

Carlos- Stone is on the radio here all the time and he prefaces everything about Wood saying "he still has a tear in the back of his shoulder." Could be wrong.

The writing is definitely on the wall for Matt “no-tool” Murton. I love when having the ability to hit over .300 consistently, with an OBP at .360+, with decent power (15-20 hr) and decent speed equates with "no-tool."

Ugh, delete my previous message, Rob. Here I go again: He has a small tear/strain in his triceps, which is located --as Jacos said--, on the back of his shoulder, but it's not considered a shoulder injury per se. This injury is more common in football and soccer players.

If Wood is throwing 95 mph heat how can that slight tear be that significant? Or is it vulnerable to constant re-injury? I don't want to look at it through rose-colored glasses per se - I know he'll never be close to the pitcher he was in '03 (or really before that), but he might be able to contribute to the pen on occasion, as many upthread have mentioned, no?

Rob G. — July 19, 2007 @ 4:43 pm Coats is on the 40-man, guess they could move Blanco to the 60-day (not sure how long he’s been out) or Guzman (no idea how his rehab is going) ================== ROB G: Angel Guzman has been shut down again at the Fitch Park Infirmary. More elbow/forearm soreness. So if anybody needs to go on the 60, Guzman is the guy. He was placed on the DL effective to May 2nd (48 days ago), and I doubt that he will be ready to be reactivated from the DL in 12 days, even if he were to start throwing again today. And I agree that Cedeno and either Buck Coats or Scott Moore will get recalled if both Floyd and Ward go on the DL, but only Cedeno if it's just Ward or Floyd (but not both).

With Ohman, you can't focus on the raw numbers, because he rarely starts an inning. Look at how he's done with inherited runners, and his true suck begins to emerge. I'm with E-man; Ohman stinks and I wouldn't lose any sleep at all were he jettisoned. Clay Rapada would be an acceptable alternative, at least he throws strikes. Or for gawd's sake, what does Carmen Pignatiello need to do to get a shot? Now someone will note that the just-traded Jerry Blevins might have been a solution, and he might have been down the road, but he was still too far away to help this year. He was just promoted to AA earlier this year for the first time, and he had never put up these kind of numbers before. But still, for Jason Kendall's rotting corpse?

Carlos... KW did have an MRI-Arthrogram at one point last year that showed a partial thickness rotator cuff tear. He opted to treat it nonsurgically over this past offseason and apparently that hasn't been on his problem list this year. From spring training 2007: He hurt his rib cage in the infamous hot tub injury, then he hurt his triceps (which you alluded to above) then he developed severe biceps tendonitis which lead to him being shut down towards the end of spring training as well as April/May before resuming throwing in June. So he probably does have some pathology in his rotator cuff but it's not been surgical (yet). Apparently when he had his shoulder arthroscopy by Dr Kremchek out of Cincy, they identified a labral tear that was repaired but no rotator cuff tear was seen at that surgery from August 2005. The MRI/Arthrogram was in 2006 when he wasn't able to go past 80 pitches without getting shoulder soreness, I think that was about June.

iowaCub: The triceps injury Wood has only affects his mechanics, not the power that results from his motion. Last we heard, Wood's labrum, rotator cuff and bursa were "crisp" and "clean."

Good things come in threes: I think we can officially add Angel Guzman to the Wood and Prior fraternity at this point--without the 110 combined big league wins, of course. Too bad, the Gooz did look awfully electric way back when.

Ooh, I see. Thanks, dr. Hecht. I completely forgot about that report. I was mostly talking about Kerry's 2007 injury list, but you're right -- a tear was discovered late in 2006.

And on Murton, come on--why do some insist on beating this dead horse? Murton is a Judy hitter that has no defensive skills and apparently is from the Michael Barrett School of Brain Surgery when it comes to baseball smarts. Lou recognized a problem quickly, and sent him to grab some pine. Then Murton shows his Barrett IQ and, with all of 500 big league PAs to his credit, spouts off about his lack of PT in the player meeting in May. DUMB MOVE, KID. He is prime trade bait. And to Dave above--where is this terrific 15-20 HR "potential", I guess I missed his sub-400 SLG this year? The guy is a Judy, plain and simple. Look, Boston isn't dumb. They moved Murton because they saw his flaws. They're pretty darn good at evaluating talent, I'd say. Off the top of my head, the only mistake they've made the last five years is with Hanley Ramirez, who I'm sure they'd love to have back. Can't win 'em all.

"the only mistake they’ve made the last five years is with Hanley Ramirez" Mistake? Well, they did get former World Series MVP and Cy Young candidate Josh Beckett in the deal. Win/win.

Q1: Is it just me or has this organization been more upfront with injuries this season? Q2: Why does everyone get so flushed over the idea of KW joining the pen? Assuming he's fully healthy, hasn't he always been a power pitcher who took a couple of innings to start firing on all cylinders? Won't that mean that he's throwing his best stuff 20 minutes after the game is over?

With Ohman, you can’t focus on the raw numbers, because he rarely starts an inning. Look at how he’s done with inherited runners, and his true suck begins to emerge. Not quite. When you look at his splits against lefties, he looks quite good. In turn, when used appropriately, he will be effective.

Why does everyone get so flushed over the idea of KW joining the pen? Assuming he’s fully healthy, hasn’t he always been a power pitcher who took a couple of innings to start firing on all cylinders? Did you watch him in the pen last year? He was flat out dominating.

Well lets see. Considering he hit 13 home runs last year in just 455 at-bats, in a season of full-time play that would equate to 15-20 home runs. It isn't too difficult to compute. And sure... go ahead and point out his sub-.400 slugging in limited playing time. And I will point out that after the ASG last year he had a .522 SLG, and had the highest OPS of any NL left fielder in the second half last year. But no... he doesn't have any tools. And is there a source that talks of Murton being the one "spouting off" about playing time?

Angel Guzman has been shut down again at the Fitch Park Infirmary. More elbow/forearm soreness. So if anybody needs to go on the 60, Guzman is the guy. ----- AZ Phil (and Rob): The Angel Guzman injury and diagnosis has from the initial reports confused me. The said it was medial (inside, opposed to lateral or outside) ligament injury but not the ulnar collateral ligament (ie. Tommy John ligament). I found that an odd diagnosis or at least unusual. I've commented on this before but it would be more probably he had a tendonitis of the flexor-pronator group of muscles that attach on the medial elbow, or he had an ulnar collateral injury (or both). The only other diagnosis on that side of the elbow is ulnar nerve entrapment (cubital tunnel syndrome, which is what Eric Gagne had) but nowhere have I seen that as a consideration for Guzman. If Angel Guzman is being shut down now, I am assuming he's not responded to an adequate trial of rest and anti-inflammatory medication for flexor/pronator tendonitis and would not be surprised to hear him getting second opinions about Ulnar collateral/Tommy John surgery. The Chris Carpenter news is interesting for those following baseball elbow injuries. He's supposedly been dealing with arthritis of the elbow joint and the arthroscopic surgery was supposed to remove spurs and loose chips. It had nothing to do with his ulnar collateral ligament and at that point no reports discussed his UCL as a problem for him. I'm sure he had pre surgical MRI's so any pathology in the UCL on that MRI vs what the current opinions now see on new MRI images that are leading to recommendation for him to get Tommy John surgery would be interesting. I'm just saying...of course he could have injured the UCL since the surgery.

Mister Whipple — July 19, 2007 @ 8:24 pm Why does everyone get so flushed over the idea of KW joining the pen? Assuming he’s fully healthy, hasn’t he always been a power pitcher who took a couple of innings to start firing on all cylinders? Won’t that mean that he’s throwing his best stuff 20 minutes after the game is over? ========================= MR WHIPPLE: I thought that, too, but in each of his three outings at Mesa, he has (so far) been at full-velocity and has been throwing strikes right away with the first pitch. He also seems VERY focused (not exactly "Mad Hungarian" focused, but close, like a Man on a Mission). And today was the first day he was able to throw his breaking bvall for strikes. If he can keep doing that, he can certainly help the Cubs. Of course, I have no idea how he feels. Maybe his shoulder is hurting, I have no idea. But he looks to be throwing free+easy and he has (so far) been throwing strikes with mid-90's velocity, which you usually don't see when a pitcher is throwing in pain.

CUBSTER: Ref Angel Guzman... From what I have overheard, I believe any surgery would be a repositioning of a nerve somewhere at or near the elbow. In other words, it's supposedly a nerve problem, not a ligament thing. Does that sound right?

Plus Carpenter just re-upped with the Cards for 5 yr extension last off season at about $15M per (if I remember correctly). This is the risk of long term guaranteed pitcher contracts. For a team like the Cardinals who have gotten old quickly (Edmonds) and had a rotation from last yr that is scattered or in flames, but still having Carpenter and Mulder makes them the winner of the 2007 "Waiting for W/P" trophy. UPS is shipping that sucker from Chicago to StL as we speak.

Did ST register to spout off more stuff about Murton that has no basis in fact? Sure seems like it, because facts show Murton can hit and does so every time he gets the chance.

Ha... LaTroy Hawkins gets another loss today. And yea Johann - I am thinking someone changed his name.

Doctor Hecht: I also wondered what he hell was up with Carpenter's treatment when I first heard he was going to go under the knife. First, back in April, he was diagnosed with an impingement related to his history of developing bone chips in his elbow. The Cardinals tried to have him rehab the injury with the help of lubricants that apparently relieve the soreness and swelling when the arm is in motion to no avail -- then, he had a second MRI which showed them a lot of swelling in the joint but no word whatsoever about a potential UCL tear. Carpenter then underwent surgery to remove said bone chips from his elbow. I have never performed a surgery (nor I ever will -- I think) but when you cut open a joint, don't you get to see the state of the whole thing, regardless of the swelling? If a wear-and-tear injury like an UCL sprain/tear is already developing, whoever performed the surgery on Carpenter should've been able to tell the team what was going on. Sure, team doctors aren't "perfect" by any means, but the team should've made the decision to repair Carpenter's UCL ages ago, and that might've bought them an extra month or two of their ace in 2008. This is a very strange case. I seriously doubt Carpenter's elbow just popped during one of his rehab outings -- there's no way the Cardinals could've missed all that previous damage to his UCL during his bone chips treatment.

Dave- silent towel the straw st.. ts... you see , you see!!!! "Carpenter and Mulder makes them the winner of the 2007 “Waiting for W/P” trophy" They can put it next to their WS rings.

In other words, it’s supposedly a nerve problem, not a ligament thing. Does that sound right? ------ If that's what you are hearing, it's the surgery Eric Gagne had. I had suspicions of this because the original diagnosis didn't make sense. The ulnar nerve passes behind the bony prominence at the inside of the elbow called the medial epicondyle. Most people know of this from when they whack the inside of their elbow and get electric shock like symptoms, and it's commonly called "the crazy bone". The ulnar nerve gets compressed from swelling in this area as it gets tugged on from repetitive elbow bending/flexion. It leads to tingling or numbness in the little and outside of the ring finger, and when more severe significant weakness in the hand can develop since the ulnar nerve provides motor function to many important intrinsic small muscles in the hand. Usually in pitchers it's just medial elbow pain in the area of the nerve. The surgery has some significant variations in technique but it's common to "transpose" the nerve, which means dissecting it and mobilizing it, moving it to a more anterior location. This supposedly puts less tension on it in flexion. There are other surgical approaches as well including removing some bone (the medial epicondyle)where the nerve lies behind but not moving the nerve. The flexor/pronator muscle attachments can be adversely affected by either technique so it's not a very desirable situation for a pitcher. I believe Will Ohman had this diagnosis with transpositon surgery. Ohman had two surgeries and missed the 2002-3 seasons although I don't know specifics on why he needed two surgeries. http://tinyurl.com/ywqbpr (Ohman link references his elbow surgery history)

but when you cut open a joint, don’t you get to see the state of the whole thing, regardless of the swelling? If a wear-and-tear injury like an UCL sprain/tear is already developing, whoever performed the surgery on Carpenter should’ve been able to tell the team what was going on. ------ Carlos: Sorry, but your paragraph above isn't correct as in surgery it's were you are and what anatomy is being viewed particularly in this era of small incisions for surgery. It's been a long time since elbow surgery involved filleting open everything to look at all possible structures. Carpenter had an arthroscopic surgery. Scoping the elbow looks at the inside of the joint only. It is done with small incisions called portals, just large enough to put the scope in the joint and other portals to use instruments like probes and shavers but the portal incisions are not large enough to see any anatomic structures. The scope is attached to a fiberoptic camera so what is done with a scope is viewed on a TV monitor. More or less like one does during a video game. The Ulnar Collateral is a structure outside the joint capsule and isn't seen with a scope. That is a diagnosis made by exam and MRI mostly, so apparently they didn't feel CC had significant UCL damage at that point. The Tommy John procedure is an open dissection of the inside of the elbow and explores the ligament in open surgical fashion with the surgeon directly looking and touching at the tissues and the graft ligament is harvested from the forearm (palmaris longus tendon is a common graft source).

AZ PHIL: Is Michah Hoffpauir (spelling) injured? The games I watched on TV from ST led me to believe that he could hit and hit with power while also being a potential BU for DLee had Hendry not signed Ward. With Ward's injury being a potential long term, or perhaps season ending variety (latest ESPN Chi rumor is its not lookin' good), would he not have been the next guy in-line? I mean deRosa plays anything but Pitcher and Catcher, however, it would be great to keep him as super sup for A-Ram, RF, and 2nd. If Cliff and Ward are BOTH on the DL - what then, I ask? As discussed during the last Floyd injury, no way Cliff makes his performance markers this year.

also Bruce Levine on AM 1000 was reporting that his sources are saying the Daryle Ward calf injury is more serious that originally thought and might be a long DL stint or even season ending. I think that may be premature/speculative for a calf injury but if he has a severe calf muscle tear (gastrocnemius and soleus muscles) then it might take 6 weeks or more for full recovery. So it's possible BL's correct here. I doubt it's an achilles tendon tear as that diagnosis can be made without an MRI most of the time. The achilles is the tendon that forms from the gastroc/soleus muscles. Cliff Floyd had a chronic tendonitis of the achilles, which is a different situation than an acute tear of tendon or muscle strain (tear of muscle). So far I've heard Floyd has a sore neck from the collision. I guess we'll get more info on him tomorrow.

That would really suck if Ward is lost for significant time. I know many around here hated the signing, and bashed Hendry early on in the season, Ward has more than fulfilled the role that he was brought here for. He is a professional hitter, and has had, and hopefully will continue to have, a significant impact on the Cubs.

If Dempster returns tomorrow, then do we send down Gallagher or Petrick? My guess is Gallagher so that he can become a starter again.

I thought that the corresponding move to Fox coming up was Izturis leaving. Cubs.com has Gallagher still here.

The tone of The Straw also sounded familiar to me. Johann, Dave, and Jacos, you aren't the only ones who came to the conclusion that The Straw was Silent Towel. Here's to hoping Rob can nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand again. I like this board just fine without angry, immature 40 year olds trolling for a fight. AZ Phil. That's great news that he's attacking the plate right away. I still won't get my hopes up because his biggest issue has been durability, not power and control. If he can get up to the bigs I'll allow myself a little hope. Carey Woods may still have some game in him yet. Wait for it...Chad, I keed! I keed!

Hmmm... that may be true. I think I heard that Gallagher was going down before the trade was announced, so my guess Gallagher is the guy who gets sent down.

Jake Fox took Izturis spot on the roster. Gallagher/Petrick are on the bubble for Dempster's return.

From the Trib:
The Cubs will call up Ryan Dempster from his rehab stint Friday and are expected to send right-hander Sean Gallagher down to Iowa, where he will join the rotation. …

Ooh yeah, my bad. I've had arthoscopic surgery done on my knee and I should've realised that bone chips weren't a significant enough problem to merit cutting the elbow open. Thanks for the information. Dr.

Regardless of whether Murton is perceived to be a legit major league player, he remains a career .294/.363/.441 hitter. Not bad for a guy's first 714 major league AB's. He's not talentless at the plate. However, it seems that he will be the next example of a young Cub who at one point showed some promise, yet is not traded until his trade value is at an all time low. Why does Hendry let this happen again and again? Hendry had to know a month ago that Murton was going to be buried in the minors for the rest of 2007. Nothing really happened between then and now that would merit Fox leapfrogging Murton, so that had to be the plan all along, or at least it had to be a strong possibility. Therefore, the time to move Murton was BEFORE he was sent to Iowa. Perhaps Hendry tried to trade him, who knows. But now it's too late. Murton is perceived by MLB as damaged goods.

"Did you watch him in the pen last year? He was flat out dominating" Dave and Chad agree. It had to happen once. Also Mr. Whip, don't make me find you and whip your butt!

Re: The Straw/Silent Towel connection -- Yeah, I was thinking that the "Matt Murton. That ship has passed. Sweet Lou waved goodbye from the dock" comment had that same kind of unfortunately mean-spirited attitude I came to expect from our Quiet Laundry compatriot. When I think about highly talented athletes whose combination of skills don't quite get them all the way there, I feel a lot of compassion for these guys who are about 95% (or more) of the way there who don't quite make it the rest of the way. I went to a Gary RailCats game last year on July 4 (Independent League team) last year. (Very exciting game -- had a straight steal of home late in the game and ended with a 3-run walk off homer.) The program had player profiles -- listed a couple of 1st round draft picks plus a few others from the top 5 rounds. It was a bittersweet feeling thinking about how some of these careers started with such great promise and now were down to their last shot at catching on again with a major league organization. Evidently, ST/TS has no comparable feelings for the supremely talented human beings he rips with such glee. AZ Phil -- to borrow Eric's question at #199, "what does Carmen Pignatiello need to do to get a shot?" What is your opinion?

Therefore, the time to move Murton was BEFORE he was sent to Iowa. Not sure I agree. Murton was really struggling in the bigs when he was only getting sporadic play. He has gone down to AAA and, while struggling for the first week or two, has gone down and started to rake. He has a great line: .311/.392/.538, with 18 extra base hits in 119 at-bats. So it would seem that Murton has gone down and started to hit again (in regular playing time, which is important) which I would think would raise his trade value. But if I recall, Hendry has said very recently that Murton is not available.

Re Ward II - I as well would really miss the guy. Hendry did the right thing and signed him for $1MM. He's done nothing but hit. GW hit against the Nats... But - out of shape, and didn't play much. Can contribute to injuries!

silent towel's stubborn view of murton has nothing to do with his reality anyway. silent bases the whole thing on "facts" that arent facts from him projecting the organization (lou/etc) not wanting him around to soriano will never leave LF for RF. no use argueing against it...its his "facts" and he'll defend that universe. its messed up when you gotta use your made up facts to support your new "facts"...but that's how its been.

Hamels vs. Young tonight What a pitchers' duel! Two two-hitters through 7.

Having no Ward really does not make a difference in the long run. He's played well, but at the end of the day he's a bench player and bench players have a minimal impact overall.

Well - a PH who hits cold offf the bench for average is not as "run of the mill" as you are making it out to be. In his prime (not the end of the line version) a player such as Lenny Harris was very valuable. It is another valuable piece to the overall puzzle.

Obviously there is some value to it, but it's probably less than a win, maybe even half a win. Bench players just dont do enough to make a difference.

Daryl Ward already has 2 win shares (2/3 of a win), so it is safe to assume that he would obtain at least one more win share to be worth at least a win.

DAVE: Well, in a really tight pennant race - that could certainly make a pretty big difference.

yuck pure win shares....his wsab is 1 right now and hes playing waaaaaaay over his head.

sorry about that, he's tried to sneak through as The Straw before and I guess he found a new IP address. As per usual, don't feed the animals, they tend to come back looking for more.

If Ward is as hurt as Levine saying, it wouldnt surprise me to see Mark Sweeney or Ryan Klesko on this roster before the deadline seeing how Sabean is probably going to hold the only deadline firesale. The question is what are they worth? My guess is the will want postional prospects. Brian Dopiriak or Scott Moore sounds about right for one of those guys.

Rob G. -- Thanks for the Straw Towel update. Funny how quickly several ppl here spotted him just from his writing style -- & in spite of his disguise. Makes me think of arguments over Shakespeare's authorship or biblical texts. Personalities -- even in prose -- can be as distinctive as fingerprints and handwriting. Uh, go Cubs!! (wtf?!)

"“Did you watch him in the pen last year? He was flat out dominating” Dave and Chad agree. It had to happen once." And of course, when Dave and Chad agree, they're both wrong. Wood didn't pitch out of the pen last year, nor was he dominating. He pitched out of the pen in '05.

Sorry Mr. Exact Words. I was agreeing with the fact that he was dominant out of the pen. ANd I'm sure Dave would agree. He played in how many games last year? 4! END OF STORY

The player to be named later, whom Chicago management has six months to choose from a list of 5-10 names, will not come off the Pirates' major-league roster. In all likelihood, it will be one of their many relief prospects, given the Cubs' wish to add pitching. from the same article....

The problem with trading for a reliever, and I think it will be a problem all along (at least this year) is this: So many teams are desperate for bullpen help they'll be willing to give up a lot more than the Cub's will be willing to give up. Basically, the market for relievers has driven the price up. The White Sox need bullpen arms in a bad way. By the way, and this is really off topic, but it really kills me how the Sox are freaking out over their bullpen pretending like it's something new. Their bullpen has always been pretty bad, it was the starting staff that carried them through '05 and kept them fresh. Seriously, in '05 how many times did the bullpen come into play? When you trade away your starters (McCarthy, Garcia, Hernandez) you're just asking for problems. Kenny Williams is dense.

And of course, when Dave and Chad agree, they’re both wrong. Wood didn’t pitch out of the pen last year, nor was he dominating. He pitched out of the pen in ‘05. Thanks smart ass. You know what we meant. BTW... Wood, in the bullpen in '05, had some pretty decent numbers: 2.25 ERA, .75 WHIP, .100 BAA, 17 k, 5 walks, 12 innings He gave up 3 ER, which were given up in two of his 11 appearances.

More on the '05 White Sox bullpen: 4th in MLB in ERA 3rd in MLB in BAA 5th in MLB in losses 4th in MLB in Save % Those are pretty damn good numbers.

Where were they in IP, dave? If I recall, they were rarely brought into a game early and very fresh. Also they had who? Damaso Marte, I think, Jenks, Cotts, Pollite... With Cotts & Pollite having good years that's a pretty good bunch.

Where were they in IP, dave? 29th of 30 in innings pitched. But I fail to see how that makes your point of the bullpen always being bad. With Cotts & Pollite having good years that’s a pretty good bunch. That is my point. They were very good that year. Sure... they weren't needed as much as other bullpens, but they still got the job done at a high rate.

If bullpens don't have to pitch much they are going to be better - the 06 and '07 versions of the Cubs bullpen should give you ample evidence of that.

Hermanson also had a great year for those Sox till he went down. And yes, the SP allowed Ozzie to use them in pure-matchup situations, which is the idea behind a bullpen (in theory) anyways. Didn't the pen pitch just one inning in the ALCS? Sucks about Ward, and the timing couldn't be worse.

Extremely interesting Lou quote about Jake Fox (Daily Herald): “I wasn’t expecting him,” Piniella said. “We had talked about it. I knew he was going to be here eventually, but I wasn’t positive. I wasn’t expecting him this morning.” So it was Hendry's call, huh? I also heard Lou say on the WGN pre-game yesterday that he had originally made the lineup card with Izturis, so apparently this one was all Hendry.

I know from this thread that both Ohman's and Marte's numbers look pretty good. Yet I cannot stand to watch either of them pitch. Maybe this is one of the last vestiges of uninformed Cub fandom manifesting itself in me, sorry if that's the case. But their pitch sequences just seem like: Junk ball [ball 1] Junk ball [ball 2] Junk ball [swinging strike] Hey, they swung at my junk ball! Head-high fastball [ball 3] Junk ball [swinging strike] Hey, they did it again! Fat fastball over middle of plate [go-ahead HR] This post not brought to you by Silent Towel

#261 - I thought the timing was pretty bad, too ZHL. But in the longer term, AND if Ward is seriously injured, the timing is great. If he had done this a month from now, we'd have nowhere to go to fill that need.

Thanks to Dr. Cubster for the insightful comments. But I'm still trying to get over the use of the term "filleting" w/r/t joint surgery. Yuck.

I felt like I stepped into the world of Dr. Cubster yesterday when I sat in the room where my wife was having an MRI. Never been around one of those machines before. Jeez, the noises they make! It was like listening to three old Nitzer Ebb records at top volume, all at once.

Cubs have moved over the 50% mark in playoff expections over at BP: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php Still the 5th team, but are given a better shot than the hated Braves who have the same record. 3 out of 4 against the Giants was nice, but I think I would have preferred a sweep. So they should sweep the D-Backs to make up for it. Any update on Fatboy Ward's calf? DL trip for him or Floyd? We're pretty thin (pun intended) at first without Fatboy.

Marte sucks and I dont want him. I hope Hendry gets goes with the Charles Benoit guy whose stats I posted earlier in the thread if he is on the list.

“Carpenter and Mulder makes them the winner of the 2007 “Waiting for W/P” trophy” They can put it next to their WS rings. ----- Sigh. We'll always have Paris... (oops, that was Casablanca) Hendry (after the Soriano signing): Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Marte sucks and I dont want him. Define "sucks." Because Marte gets lefties out, which is exactly what you want/need him to do. Then again, so does Ohman.

WTF? Uh... Ian Snell - just a hint. You probably shouldn't threaten to kill your opponents:
"Hopefully I won't pitch in Colorado because I know who it was (stealing signs) and I will kill that dude.

Maddux gave up 8 HR's to Bonds, we should have released him back in '87 when he gave up the first one.

Trading Murton at this point seems self defeating, unless you are getting a killer return. Floyd is probably gone after the season. It seems wise at this point to let Murton continue to learn RF in Des Moines. Scott Moore could play 1st and hit as well as Sweeney or Klesko IMHO at this point. If Ward is indeed DL bound. Moore makes a ton of sense to call up. He can cover for Dlee and Aramis on defense.

I think one of the things that will serve this Cubs team well is that even when we weren't doing well early on, the starting pitching was getting deep pretty regularly. The Cubs are 14th in the NL in bullpen innings and 10th in bullpen ERA. Curiously, the two teams below the Cubs in bullpen innings (SF and AZ) have better bullpen ERAs than starter ERAs. A little too much saving of the bullpen, perhaps?

maybe sanfranciscos left some of that terrible defense for arizona to use. granted i give the cubs credit for putting the pressure on by being aggressive on bases but damn that defense sucked.

Dave: I saw this morning that Snell apologized for that already. And it was Hurdle he was talking bout.

Las Vegas odds: The Cubs opened the season as 75-1 shots to win the World Series. They've shaved that down to 15-1. On the other hand, the W__te S_x opened at 10-1 but currently are listed at 2500-1!

Mark my words, Hendry probably scored some free lift tickets and restaurant vouchers at Seven Springs Resorts here (now also owned by the Nutting family, I believe) as part of the Izturis deal.

Mark Sweeney: .205/.326/.370..ugh... Ryan Klesko: .280/.369/.445 ...eh...ok, but not eye-popping. He's also coming off a major injury known as "aging" which causes his bat speed to slow considerably. I'll take a chance on Scott Moore, or get someone a little better than Klesko.

Hey Straw: Why not try being a little less argumentative, or les imflammatory. There is a way to disagree, or make a point without coming off as a smug jerk. Pagan is lucky he has some speed. his last 30 games is not so great: .245/.276/.415 Murton certainly struggled this season, with sporadic playing time not helping any. His numbers in May were decent: .295/.377/.426, but not great. Unfortunately, he looked lost in RF. The Cubs are winning with what they currently have, but let's not put Angel Pagan into the pantheon of great players just yet. Fox has 1 at-bat, and we haven't seen him much yet. Let's wait and see before summarily dismissing Murton as finished.

SCOTT MOORE is hotter than hot. 6 home runs in the last six days. 16 on the season.

btw, MOORE's homerun barrage is the result of him working overtime with VON JOSHUA to shorten his swing and compact his stride --- a recurring theme throughout the organization since Piniella took over as Cubs manager.

Dusty Baylor: Why not try being a little less argumentative, or les imflammatory. There is a way to disagree, or make a point without coming off as a smug jerk. Yeah, the TCR crowd is great at disagreeing in a non-smug way. Anyways, back to reality, you're right on Dusty. Murt is a LF'er and since we have an $18 million dollar LF'er, he's not going to get any playing time, period. It seemed like this year he was rolling over on less pitches, but the outfielders were shading him just right. The scouts have a pretty good book on Murt now. For him to be successful, he'll have to learn a new trick or two like hitting for more power or hitting the ball where the outfielders aren't. Unfortunately for him, if he's putting up numbers like 315/394/532 in triple-A, he might find "learning new tricks" unnecessary. I like the Cub's keeping him, though, he's the type that could develop power quickly.

The E-Man — July 19, 2007 @ 9:12 pm AZ PHIL: Is Michah Hoffpauir (spelling) injured? The games I watched on TV from ST led me to believe that he could hit and hit with power while also being a potential BU for DLee had Hendry not signed Ward ====================== E-MAN: Micah Hoffpauir suffered a knee injury running the bases a couple or three weeks ago and has been on the I-Cubs DL ever since. I don't know whether he had surgery or not.

Spoofing IPs to troll a Cubs blog pretty much makes you President of the Captain Kirk Basement Geek Squad, ST. Get a life.

vorare: Spoofing IPs to troll a Cubs blog... What the shit? lol Tell me it isn't so...

JoePepitone — July 19, 2007 @ 9:43 pm AZ Phil — to borrow Eric’s question at #199, “what does Carmen Pignatiello need to do to get a shot?” What is your opinion? =========================== JOE PEP: I don't think Piniella wants more than two lefties in his bullpen, so unless Eyre and/or Ohman get hurt or traded, Pignatiello will probably not be brought up before September 1st (when the rosters expand). And if a LHP bullpen spot does open-up prior to September 1st, Piggy would still have to compete with Clay Rapada for that slot. As for getting called-up on or after September 1st, that will depend on whether Hendry can open up a slot on the 40-man roster for Pignatiello at that time. And as I've posted before, if Piggy is not added to the 40-man roster by October 15th, he has the right to be a Minor League FA (MLFAs must be added to the 40 by October 15th or else they can be a FA). Here are the Cubs minor leaguers eligible to be FAs on October 15th (player option): Federico Baez, RHP Cory Bailey, RHP Oscar Bernard, RHP Gary Cates, INF Robinson Chirinos, INF Jorge Cortes, OF Ben Howard, RHP Geoff Jones, LHP Josh Kroeger, OF Mike Nannini, RHP John Nelson, INF Mike Mahoney, C Ryan O’Malley, LHP Carmen Pignatiello, LHP Bret Prinz, RHP Carlos Rojas, SS Issmael Salas, INF Les Walrond, LHP John Webb, RHP Pignatiello had the option to be a FA after last season, too (when he was a Six-Year Minor League FA for the first time), but he opted to re-sign with the Cubs after they gave him a slot in the AFL and an NRI to ST. I don't know if Piggy would do that again this time, though. Probably not.

Sheffield/Cornelia — July 20, 2007 @ 9:16 am Score reporting Scott Moore is in the dugout at Wrigley. Ward/Floyd to DL? ========================== SHEFF: If Scott Moore doesn't get traded in a deadline deal or next off-season, his future with the Cubs will probably be as a corner IF-OF-LHPH. He also could get a shot at the left-handed hitting RF platoon job (probably with Jake Fox or Matt Murton the other half) next season.

Other than maybe Piggy or Kroeger that is a dreck of a list. I say sayonara to em all if I'm Hendry.

Geoff Jones was actually pitching pretty well for awhile this year, I think.

Sheffield/Cornelia — July 20, 2007 @ 10:14 am Geoff Jones was actually pitching pretty well for awhile this year, I think. ======================= SHEFF: The side-armin' Geoff Jones was a 27-year old lefty reliever (seven seasons in the SD organization) when the Cubs signed him as a minor league FA last off-season. So with two-plus years of AA experience under his belt--but never having pitched above AA--he pitched great at Tennessee, but obviously has had a lot of difficulty making the transition to AAA.

300

Straw: Murton is the right fielder as soon as Floyd gets injured if he isn't hurt already, just like Pie is the center fielder as soon as Jones packs his bags (if they aren't already packed). The fact that they are both in Iowa just means that they are considered starter material.

Guys - I think that Murton is done with the Cubs. I think he is likely to be one of the first trading cards played in the next two weeks, and that, unless they have no other choices, he will not play for the Cubs again. I do think that he is a major-league caliber player, but I think that Lou has made up his mind about him, and that he is history.

How recently, Johann? I have not heard that... If true, that would make me happy.

Except that teams have been told Murton is not available. I heard it recently too, but I don't remember where/when I saw/heard it.

"I felt like I stepped into the world of Dr. Cubster yesterday when I sat in the room where my wife was having an MRI." I go with my wife for hers too. I'd be interested in talking about your experience there. If you feel like it, post your email.

It was in Three Views on Cubs in July 6th Sun Times.
Matt Murton may be gone, but he's not forgotten. He was slumping at the plate and not versatile enough in the field to fit into Lou Piniella's changing roster, but the 25-year-old outfielder still is considered a big part of the team's future. The Cubs showed that when they flatly refused to consider trade scenarios that involved Murton during discussions with the Padres that eventually sent Michael Barrett to San Diego a week after Murton's demotion. He's hitting OK at Class AAA Iowa but still isn't hitting for the power the Cubs would like to see before bringing him back up.

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  • Arizona Phil (view)

    There are two clear "logjams" in the Cubs minor league pipeline at the present time, namely AA outfielders (K. Alcantara, C. Franklin, Roederer, Pagan, Pinango, Beesley, and Nwogu) and Hi-A infielders (J. Rojas, P. Ramirez, Howard, R. Morel, Pertuz, R. Garcia, and Spence, although Morel has been getting a lot of reps in the outfield in addition to infield). So it is possible that you might see a trade involving one of the extra outfielders at AA and/or one of the extra infielders at Hi-A in the next few days. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    18-year old SS Jefferson Rojas almost made the AA Tennessee Opening Day roster, and he is a legit shortstop, so I would expect him to be an MLB Top 100 prospect by mid-season. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Among the relievers in the system, I expect RHRP Hunter Bigge at AAA Iowa and RHRP Ty Johnson at South Bend to have breakout seasons on 2024, and among the starters I see LHP Drew Gray and RHP Will Sanders at South Bend and RHP Naz Mule at ACL Cubs as the guys who will make the biggest splash. Also, Jaxon Wiggins is throwing bullpen sides, so once he is ready for game action he could be making an impact at Myrtle Beach by June.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I expect OF Christian Franklin to have a breakout season at AA Tennessee in 2024. In another organization that doesn't have PCA, Caissie, K. Alcantara, and Canario in their system, C. Franklin would be a Top 10 prospect. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    The Reds trading Joe Boyle for Sam Moll at last year's MLB Trade Deadline was like the Phillies trading Ben Brown to the Cubs for David Robertson at the MLB TD in 2022. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Javier Assad started the Lo-A game (Myrtle Beach versus Stockton) on the Cubs backfields on Wednesday as his final Spring Training tune-up. He was supposed to throw five innings / 75 pitches. However, I was at the minor league road games at Fitch so I didn't see Assad pitch. 

  • crunch (view)

    cards put j.young on waivers.

    they really tried to make it happen this spring, but he put up a crazy bad slash of .081/.244/.108 in 45PA.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Seconded!!!

  • crunch (view)

    another awesome spring of pitching reports.  thanks a lot, appreciated.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Tuesday afternoon's Cardinals - Cubs game art Sloan Park in Mesa:

    SHOTA IMANAGA
    FB: 90-92 
    CUT: 87-89 
    SL: 82-83 
    SPLIT: 81-84
    CV: 73-74 
    COMMENT: Worked three innings plus two batters in the fourth... allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits (six singles and two doubles) walked one, and struck out six (four swinging), with a 1/2 GO/AO... he threw 73 pitches (52 strikes - 10 swing & miss - 19 foul balls)... surrendered one run in the top of the 1st on a one-out double off Cody Bellinger's glove in deep straight-away CF followed one out later by two consecutive two-out bloop singles, allowed two runs (one earned) in the 2nd after retiring the first two hitters (first batter had a nine-pitch AB with four consecutive two-strike foul balls before being retired 3 -U) on a two-out infield single (weak throw on the run by Nico Hoerner), a hard-contact line drive RBI double down the RF line, and an E-1 (missed catch) by Imanaga on what should been an inning-ending 3-1 GO, gave up another run in the 3rd on a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch and an RBI double to LF, and two consecutive singles leading off the top of the 4th before being relieved (runners were ultimately left stranded)... threw 18 pitches in the 1st inning (14 strikes - two swing & miss, one on FB and the other on a SL - four foul balls), 24 pitches in the 2nd inning (17 strikes - three swing & miss, one on FB, two SPLIT - six foul balls), 19 pitches in the 3rd inning (13 strikes - seven swing & miss, three on SL, two on SPLIT, one on FB - three foul balls), and 12 pitches without retiring a batter in the top of the 4th (8 strikes - no swing & miss - four foul balls)... Imanaga throws a lot of pitches per inning, but it's not because he doesn't throw strikes...  if anything, he throws too many strikes (he threw 70% strikes on Tuesday)... while he gets a ton of swing & miss (and strikeouts), he also induces a lot of foul balls because he doesn't try to make hitters chase his pitches by throwing them out of the strike zone... rather, he uses his very diverse pitch mix to get swing & miss (and lots of foul balls as well)... he also is a fly ball pitcher who will give up more than his share of HR during the course of the season...   
     
    JOE NAHAS
    FB: 90-92 
    SL: 83-85 
    CV: 80-81 
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day... relieved Imanaga with runners at first and second and no outs in the top of the 4th, and after an E-2 catcher's interference committed by Miguel Amaya loaded he bases, Nahas struck out the side (one swinging & two looking)... threw 16 pitches (11 strikes - two swinging)...   

    YENCY ALMONTE
    FB: 89-92 
    CH: 86 
    SL: 79 
    COMMENT: Threw an eight-pitch 5th (five strikes - no swing & miss), with a 5-3 GO for the first out and an inning-ending 4-6-3 DP after a one-out single... command was a bit off but he worked through it...   

    FRANKIE SCALZO JR
    FB: 94-95
    CH: 88 
    SL: 83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 6th inning... got the first outs easily (a P-5 and a 4-3 GO) on just three pitches, before allowing three consecutive two-out hard-contact hits (a double and two singles), with the third hit on pitch # 9 resulting in a runner being thrown out at the plate by RF Christian Franklin for the third out of the inning... 

    MICHAEL ARIAS
    FB: 94-96
    CH: 87-89
    SL: 82-83
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and allowed a hard-contact double on the third pitch of the 7th inning (a 96 MPH FB), and the runner came around to score on a 4-3 GO and a WP... gave up two other loud contact outs (an L-7 and an F-9)... threw 18 pitches (only 10 strikes - only one swing & miss)... stuff is electric but still very raw and he continues to have difficulty commanding it, and while he has the repertoire of a SP, he throws too many pitches-per-inning to be a SP and not enough strikes to be a closer... he is most definitely still a work-in-progress...   

    ZAC LEIGH: 
    FB: 93-94 
    CH: 89 
    SL: 81-83 
    CV: 78
    COMMENT: Was called up from the AA Tennessee group at Minor League Camp for the day and tossed a 1-2-3 8th (4-3 GO, K-swinging on a sweeper, K-looking on another sweeper)... threw 14 pitches (11 strikes - one swing & miss - eight foul balls)... kept pumping pitches into the strike zone but had difficulty putting hitters away (ergo a ton of foul balls)... FB velo is nowhere near the 96-98 MPH it was a couple of years ago when he was a Top 30 prospect, but his secondaries are better...   

    JOSE ROMERO:  
    FB: 93-95
    SL: 82-84
    COMMENT: Was called up from the Hi-A South Bend group at Minor League Camp for the day and worked the 9th (14 pitches - only six strikes- no swing & miss) and allowed a solo HR after two near-HR fly outs to the warning track, before getting a 3-1 GO to end the inning... it was like batting practice when he wasn't throwing pitches out of the strike zone...