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40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on the 60-DAY IL 

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Last updated 4-17-2024
 
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# bats both

PITCHERS: 13
Yency Almonte
Adbert Alzolay 
Javier Assad
Colten Brewer
Ben Brown
Kyle Hendricks
* Shota Imanaga
Mark Leiter Jr
Hector Neris 
* Drew Smyly
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski 
* Jordan Wicks

CATCHERS: 2
Miguel Amaya
Yan Gomes

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

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

OPTIONED: 10 
Kevin Alcantara, OF 
Michael Arias, P 
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF 
Jose Cuas, P 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Porter Hodge, P 
* Luke Little, P 
* Matt Mervis, 1B 
Daniel Palencia, P 
Luis Vazquez, INF 

10-DAY IL: 2 
Seiya Suzuki, OF
Patrick Wisdom, INF 

15-DAY IL: 2
* Justin Steele, P  
Jameson Taillon, P 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Caleb Kilian, P 
Julian Merryweather, P
 




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Game 95 Thread / Giants @ Cubs (3 of 3)

Submitted by Cubnut on

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

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.

Tags
Gameday Open Thread

Comments

Submitted by Eric S on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 07:54 pm

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.

Submitted by Jeff_Pico on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 07:11 pm

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.

Submitted by navigator on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 07:00 pm

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

Submitted by navigator on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 07:56 pm

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!

[ ]

Submitted by 10man on Sun, 07/13/2008 - 07:04 pm

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.

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Submitted by navigator on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:10 pm

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

Submitted by Chifan on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:45 am

is the starting pitching match-up for the All-star game.

[ ]

Submitted by big_lowitzki on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:14 am

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.

[ ]

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:38 pm

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.

 

 

[ ]

Submitted by big_lowitzki on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:41 pm

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?

Submitted by Mister Whipple on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:09 am

I seem to recall an entertaining PChat during last year's derby. Are we on for a repeat?

[ ]

Submitted by Wes on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:13 am

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.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:29 pm

"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.

[ ]

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 07:09 am

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.

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Submitted by Jumbo on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 07:14 am

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)

[ ]

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 07:25 pm

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.

[ ]

Submitted by Jumbo on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 07:17 am

That's just what you would expect from a really good hitter with virtually no power. BABIP isn't something that's very useful in evaluating hitters. It's more of a pitching stat, where very low BABIP is a red flag. --------- I'm no stat-expert, but if BABIP is indicative of a pitcher's success, it would seem to be an indication of a hitter's success. If Theriot had hit a bunch of at-'em balls instead of dropping in, his low BABIP would make us think he would improve to the mean, just as an abnormally high BABIP would make us think his luck will end soon. It could also mean that a low BABIP means poor/weak contact, and high BABIP means good/hard contact. I wouldn't think that a no power hitter would have a naturally high BABIP when compared to an equal hitter with more power. I don't get that at all.

[ ]

Submitted by crunch on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 07:33 pm

"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." not even slightly. not even close. im saying the guy's game is putting a ball in play. his "eye" is used to wait for a pitch he wants to swing at. the guy's hitting zone is not bonds-like and small...its kinda big. if he finds more dirt than gloves he'll look good...if he doesnt, he wont. THAT is what im saying. and while his bat control is awesome, that's a hell of an unstable crutch to lay almost all of your entire batting game on. all it would take is a bad week or two (especially in the leadoff slot) to make awesome into ugly...especially since all he does is hit singles.

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Submitted by WISCGRAD on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 07:08 am

Where am I going with this? You bitch about Theriot every day on here and have been doing so for a long time. Hitting, defense, base running, you never seem to run out of ways to criticize his game. And it never seems to be about what Theriot is, but rather what he isn't. So where are you going with it? If you don't want his removal, are happy with him, and don't want anything different, then why does pretty much every thread have you ripping on him in some fashion? Give it a rest man.

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Submitted by crunch on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 07:27 pm

no i dont bitch about theriot every day...or every other day...and it's more about what he IS than what he isn't so i dunno where that is coming from. yes, i call him a singles hitter with average D. that's his thing. that's not bitching. he is what he is. i have absolutely no control over that. i think i give a pretty damn fair and realistic view of the man and have for years. why can't i talk about the guy? ive said PLENTY about what he is...way more than than what he isn't. and if im speaking the truth about the guy what the hell does it matter? i'm not ripping on him...he is what he is and that is HIS own doing. you want me to jump down your throat about how you want him to be the allstar shortstop and best thing in town? no, of course not...cuz it's retarded for me to say you're saying that. and no, im not gonna give it a rest cuz you're not comfortable with the way i talk about theriot as long as its a topic of discussion.

Submitted by Dmac on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:19 am

I hope that Lou finds some places to rest the Riot during the 2nd half - for whatever reason, he really slumped last year. OTOH, he likely has next to no confidence in Cedeno, so his options may be limited. Soto is another concern, but I'm probably getting paranoid over his mounting playing time as well.

Submitted by navigator on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:55 am

HOT JOSH DONALDSON (A ADVANCED [promoted] STOCKTON PORTS) 7/17 .412 .444 .824 1.266 2 hr 8 rbi HOT ERIC PATTERSON (AAA SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS) 9/19 .474 .524 1.053 1.576 3 hr 8 rbi NOT MATT MURTON (OAKLAND A'S) 1/12 .083 .154 .083 .237 2 rbi MM is still making weak contact, mostly topped infield groundouts.

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Submitted by Wes on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:32 pm

Yeah, he hits a ton of singles, but this year he also gets on base better than any other shortstop in baseball. That's in either league. I don't understand why that's not valuable. He gets caught stealing half the time, but he's still tied for 5th among shortstops in steals. Yeah, he doesn't hit for a ton of power, but why are you pining for power from the SS position when this team leads the NL in runs and slugging? Do we need so much more power that our SS has to hit 15 or 20 HR's? Why is power out of the leadoff spot a necessity, anyway? Wait until Soriano comes back and then you can feel fuzzy all over again.

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Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:02 pm

Every team needs to have a few guys who make the league minimum and can still contribute. Theriot's value goes far beyond just his OBP or solid defense. The fact that he does those things on a dirt cheap salary means Hendry can go after bigger name FAs with his remaining dollars. That was one of the reasons I wasn't very happy to give up Gallagher (but obviously Harden is awesome and I'm glad to have him). The more young, cheap players we can get to contribute in a significant way, the more money Hendry has left to get guys like Soriano, Fukudome, etc.

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Submitted by Logan on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:35 pm

He does not have solid defense. Its like watching Todd Walker out there. Look at some of the graphs comparing his defensive range compared to other shortstops, he's ranked near the bottom for the past two years. He has to play in at least 4-5 steps just so he can make throws to first. That's why every time you see what should be a routine ball hit to his left, he flops on the ground in some vain effort just to look like he tried. The one thing he is good at judging fly balls hit to his right that go into left field. Other than that, its deplorable. OBP is valuable, but so is defense at one of the most critical positions on the field.

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:41 pm

went 0 for 2 with 2 K's at the Futures Game yesterday. Did anyone watch?

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Submitted by Chifan on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:03 pm

The first K vs. Cahill wasnt that bad, he did a good job of working the count which rarely happens in ASG so its nice to see OK plate discipline. That slider Cahill threw was nasty as Wes mentioned. I watched the game until the Cubs come on (which was 1/2 the game) and Cahill was the player I was most impressed by. The 2nd AB you could tell he was trying to drive the ball hard and struck out on 3 or 4 pitches.

Submitted by Tito on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:59 pm

The Riot's arm is also NOT worse than Eckstein's. It's not strong, but it's not a rag arm. I'm right-handed, and I can throw left-handed better than Eckstein can throw right-handed.

Submitted by Dmac on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 07:27 pm

"Other than that, its deplorable. OBP is valuable, but so is defense at one of the most critical positions on the field." It would help if you offered some tangible proof for Theriot's alleged suckiness in the field. Right now you're just farting in the wind, my friend.

Recent comments

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."  

    Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to

    -give Hendricks another few starts
    -give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway

    -Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks

    Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).

    I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.

    I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa? 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Pro teams have to play their "big money" guys if they are healthy and not "locker room" issues.
    The Cubs wanted to deal JHey off well before they bought him out. They just didn't want to pay him to play for someone else for that long. Jed did give him 20+mil to play for LAD last yr.
    Jed might also let Kyle walk at some point this year. Similar scenario to JHey, except Jed thought Kyle was going to be good/solid in '24!!
    You'd think Smyly is in the same book as well. Same with Neris (he's a 1yr vet RP, so he's not really in this convo too much).
    That's ~35mil between those three and those three are going to get opportunities until at least late June) over younger guys even if their performance is "iffy".
    But, Jed is going to play Taillon a lot. They have to try and justify that contract and hope a veteran works out.
    So, Taillon, Imanaga, and Hendricks are locks for the rest of April and probably May.
    Assad, Brown and Wicks handle the last spots until Steele is ready.
    Now, you're question has real merit when Steele comes back. That will interesting if Brown is still good and Hendricks is still bad. But Taillon is entirely safe as long as he's healthy.

    And the bullpen moves were "money" based as well. Smyly has actually been okay. But he hasn't been clearly better than Little. Little had one bad outing. But Smyly makes 9mil. If they needed another RHRP and one of Little and Smyly had to go, it was going to Little. But that doesn't mean Smyly is one of the best 13 arms for the team. 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: I think there was an issue with Luke Little coming into a game with men on base. He seems to need a "clean" inning to be dominant. So he is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AAA. Same goes for Michael Arias. He needs to come into a "clean" inning, and is a future closer and needs to be used in that role at AA. Porter Hodge is a more versatile pitcher, a better version of Keegan Thompson (multi-inning RP). But Little, Arias, and Hodge (probably in that order) are the Cubs top three RP prospects (all three are Cubs Top 15 prospects).

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    So, let’s do a little war gaming. Taillon is back for tonight’s game. He pitched two rehab games, just a few innings each, and not especially sharp. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been lights out since the Cubs gave him the big contract. In other words, as flat out bad as Hendricks has been, the chances of Taillon being the savior don’t look exactly promising.

    If Taillon is equally ineffective or perhaps even worse, what’s the next move? Winning teams can often find a way to work around a dud fifth starter - kinda. Two dud starters make things much more difficult.

    I believe the biggest reason for the recent bullpen moves was dissatisfaction with the recent blowing of big leads and the recognition that the bullpen wasn’t all it was thought to be. In other words, they are exploring alternate options and configurations. If similar juggling becomes necessary (even more so than it already is), what kind of reasonable maneuvering do we think could be explored?

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Cubdom needs to prepare themselves for Wicks to be sent to Iowa for Taillon to come up.
    Ben Brown has 4 appearances. Wicks has 4 appearances.
    Ben has 16.1 IP.  Wicks has 17 IP
    Ben was a 1.1 WHIP.  Wicks has a 1.7 WHIP. Wicks does have significantly more SOs. 
    Ben has been better, though.
    I love Wicks. I think he's a fighter and his stuff has improved.
    But, Jed isn't ditching Hendricks just yet. He should. But he won't.
    Hendricks should go to the IL and Taillon-Imanaga-Assad-Wicks-Brown should be the rotation.
    Wont' happen though.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    AZ Phil,
    Did you agree with the demotion of Luke Little? He'd been pretty good up until the AZ/wild pitch appearance. I know that can't jettison Smyly (just yet) so they didn't need another LHRP. Especially with Leiter effectively being a LHRP. I still thought he deserved to stay. It's not permanent. He'll be back. Lots of moves to come with Taillon, Steele and other guys coming and going.

    Also, do you see Hodge being able to "control/command" his stuff to get a chance this year?
    Is Arias better than Hodge?   Thanks

  • crunch (view)

    just waiting to hear patrick wisdom and masterboney are spotted at the airport going in opposite directions...

    aj puk going for the marlins (lefty)...gotta imagine we'll see wisdom in the lineup.

    someone has to make room for taillon, too.

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