Miles Activated; Fox Trots to Iowa

As mentioned earlier, Aaron Miles has been activated and slugger Jake Fox has been sent down giving the Cubs the worst bench that has ever been assembled. Okay, tonight's actually isn't so bad with the lefty Wandy Rodriguez on the mound: Fontenot, Hill, Blanco, Fukudome and Hoffpauir. But for the next couple of weeks, assuming the normal starters of Fukudome, Fontenot and let's say Miles at second base, the bench will be: Hill, Johnson, Hoffpauir, Scales and Blanco. 

Wittenmyer though says the plan is to give Jake Fox regular at-bats so that they can call him up in 11-12 days so he can sit on the major league bench again when interleague games begin. I suppose he'll DH a bit, but he'll have to fight Hoffpauir for those at-bats and Fox is on the short side of that platoon.  Also, don't be too suprised if Lou changes his mind on all of this in a week and a half and realizes he wants to give some regulars a break by DH'ing them and Fox's defensive limitations get him passed over by the Miles, Scales and Blancos of the world.

Lineup for tonight: Soriano, Theriot, Bradley, Lee, Johnson, Soto, Scales, Miles, Zambrano

versus

Bourne, Tejada, Pence, Lee, Berkman, Blum, Kata, Quintero, Wandy.

Also, the Astros have been flipping starters for tomorrow's finale between the originally scheduled Mike Hampton to Roy Oswalt back to Hampton and currently settling on Russ Ortiz. It's like Cecil Cooper wants to get fired.

Tags: 
Cubs Roster Moves
Game preview
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 5:43pm
Return to Homepage

Comments

Submitted by The Joe
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 6:02pm

That's rithickulous.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 6:08pm

Does Wandy own us? It feels for some reason like he does.

Edit* 4-4 with a 4.39 ERA. Just about his career average.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 6:15pm

I always remember Rodriguez to be an extreme home/away pitcher. 3.92 career home ERA; 5.40 on the road.

Submitted by billybucks
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 9:42pm

I thought the same thing -- he always seems to shut the Cubs down. Tonight seems more the norm than the exception.

Tough loss -- let's get one tomorrow and make it a good trip.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 9:20pm

I still can't help but wonder why Aaron Miles? We made fun of mcfail for these moves. Hendry gets a pass?

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 9:38pm

wasn't hendry GM for mc?fail during mcfail's last few years?

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 10:04pm

The same things people said about Miles are what we said about DeRosa when he signed. That's why Hendry gets a pass. Plus Miles was sending line drives all over the park tonight.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 8:11am

Wait....were we saying about DeRosa: Wow, he really doesn't hit or get on base much...or He's small, but he's slow?"

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 8:52am

We were saying that he was a utility man who was coming of a career year in Texas and didn't deserve the contract he was given.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 9:20am

Alrighty....you are right then..

Submitted by billybucks
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 9:37pm

Has any NL outfielder been worse than Bradley so far this year?

If so, it would boggle the mind.

He seems too close to the plate -- inside fastballs eat him alive.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 9:43pm

He really looks awful at the plate, too. I mean, my lord he was totally getting the calls yesterday and today so he can't pull that umps are picking on me crap.

I was in the let's be patient camp but he's pissing me off.

Submitted by billybucks
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 9:47pm

Rodman was a horse's ass who was entertaining and produced.

Bradely is just a horse's ass.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 10:05pm

Franceur has been worse. Chris Young isn't doing my fantasy team any favors, either.

Submitted by billybucks
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 9:46pm

Vitters with another 0-fer tonight.

I don't think he has a hit since the Trib labeled him "the real deal" several days ago -- his average has dropped about 30 points since then.

Submitted by SheffieldCornelia
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 10:04pm

Good thing we still have that hot-hitting righty bench bat around to help us solve lefties...

Oh, wait...

Can we send Miles to the DL again yet?

Submitted by dc60124
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 11:17pm

the outfielders tonight went 1 for 11 plus 1 walk. seems like grumbling about the bench becomes immaterial.

was hoping lou would have kosuke run for bradley and let hoff-power hit for johnson. kosuke looked as though he had been awakened from a sound sleep to pinch-hit.

doubly aggravating to waste a no-antics gem from z. those are rare enough that pissing one away just plain hurts.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 11:26pm

I miss Jim Edmonds and his big, looping swing.

Submitted by rokfish
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 11:30pm

yeah kosuke made lou look smart on that at bat

they can say what they want lou may give fox 2 games at dh
i see him giving poor hitting and poor defensively soriano
some dh spots and then you have one dh game for lee and hey what about bradley.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 11:52pm

Can someone translate? I sense a good point here, but for the life of me I cannot parse this out.

Submitted by Jumbo
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 4:37am

He said, "robble robble robble," then he said, "wha-whaaa-whaa-wa-whaaaa," then he finished of with, "dierka dierka dierka, muhammad jihad."

The first one is either Hamburgler or Grimace. Then the Charlie Brown teacher. Then the spies from Team America

In English: "Lou will DH Soriano for a couple games and Lee the other. Maybe Bradley will DH a game."

Submitted by rokfish
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 11:43pm

when it comes to beating the cubs

WANDY RODRIGUEZ = WOODY WILLIAMS

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 11:57pm

I seem to remember, maybe last year (I hope you are okay with commas), when we hit him pretty hard. This team's approach at the plate is a ghost of last year's.

Last year our little Cubby team was 3rd in MLB in OPS. This year, so far, about 12th or so.

Miles did look good in the field, though. I have to admit. If only he had Soriano's bat.

Oh, whoops! What an awful thing to say.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 8:02am

Could Miles even lift Soriano's bat?? Lol..I kid...

Submitted by Jeff_Pico
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:10am

Good news of the night the Brewers lost so still 2.5 games out...bad news of the night the Cards and Reds both won so we are in 4th place again.

Submitted by champsummers
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:39am

Anyone else curious why the Goozer got the call tonite?

Actually, at the time, I was really pleased with the decision.

Silly me.

Submitted by Jeff_Pico
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 1:55am

Because he's been really good?

I think he was working on a 12 1/3 scoreless streak until that game.

This game isn't on Guzman, this game is on more of the same, an absolute inability to score runs.

Hopefully we can win the series vs Russ Oritz(!) tomorrow. If we can't plate a couple against Russ Ortiz I really have to wonder about the heart of this team.

Submitted by champsummers
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 2:15am

Well yes, the reason that I was really pleased with the decision was because, as you point out, Guzman has indeed been really good.

I guess what I was curious about was Lou deciding it evidently is time to try alternatives to Marmol and Gregg.

And it still didn't work!!! I hope that he takes a big bottle of valium with him on road trips...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 7:08am

Pitching Guzman was the right thing to do there, it just didn't work out. Sometimes that happens. Had we scored more than one run in 9 innings, it may have ended differently.

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 7:24am

This team is a waste of $140 million dollars. How can this offense be so bad?

Submitted by John Beasley
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 8:14am

Just because you paid $35K for your Geo Metro doesn't make it a luxury car ... even if you call it a Geo Soto.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 8:54am

Yeah, I long for the days when we could go into Houston and score 7 runs. What were those days called again? Oh yeah, they were called 'Tuesday'.

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 9:47am

F*** that, it was Brian f***ing Moehler. Of course the Cubs scored 7 runs. That doesn't prove anything.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 9:53am

Rodriguez has a 2.15 ERA at home this year. The last time Moehler faced us he beat us, holding us to three runs in 5 innings. Wait a second... breaking news... This just in! The Cubs are not going to score 4 runs in every game for the rest of the season!

You can flip out every time we lose a game, and call all the players horseshit, but it's not going to ,you know, do anything.

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:04am

Nothing heals a tough loss like busting TRN's balls.

Seriously, though, I know they aren't going to score a bunch of runs every day, and yes Wandy 'Who the f*** is Wandy?' Rodriguez has been good decent this year. He has good home stats, and why not? Two of his 7 home starts have been against an anemic Cub's offense.

The thing is... every time the Cubs have been presented with a challenge this year, they've just rolled over. They don't grind. They don't make the opposing pitcher work. They're lost.

I know, I know, Aramis this Aramis that... but they need to find ways to win without Aramis. What if they somehow make it to the playoffs but Aramis has a bad series?

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:07am

And another thing, Milton Bradley is pressing like no one I've ever seen. The swings he's putting on the ball are insane. He needs to just make some contact.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:15am

I use foxsports.com because they give the players OPS in the box scores, but just about any site that focuses on US sports will have it.

Take a look at this link and tell me what the Cubs' record has been over the last 10 games.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/standings

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:25am

Blah... 6-4. That has nothing to do with what we're talking about. If I'm an NL team, I don't fear the Cubs at all right now. Just throw your s*** in the dirt and they'll swing.

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:30am

Yeah, they might win 6 of 10 during some stretches, but they also might lose 8 in a row too, a 10-game window is not all that telling.

Ryno's point that they aren't scoring runs is right on. Sure, they scored 7 the other day, but here is the breakdown of runs scored per game:

Before Ramirez Injury: 4.80

Since the Injury: 3.90

Since the Start of the May 19th Road Trip: 3.15

It's been a struggle.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:32am

If you win 60% of your games, you will win 97 games. If the Cubs won 97 games, they would make the playoffs.

Amazingly, they are winning with a lot of players underperforming. If you really think that Bradley will finish the year with an OPS 130 points lower than his career numbers, or that ARam won't come back and play, then sure, go ahead and freak out every time the Cubs lose.

You are becoming manny...

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:36am

Yesterday it said 7-3. :)

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:50am

It's going to take about 90 wins this year to win division.

Submitted by big_lowitzki
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:30am

Rodriguez has been good decent this year.

Wandy Rodriguez currently has an ERA+ of 149.

He is 7th in the league in ERA. 8th in the league in strikeouts. 10th in HR/9. 8th in ERA+.

That is just decent? He has been one of the top 10 starters in the NL this year.

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:33am

Fine, but it's Wandy Rodriguez. He won't finish the season with those numbers.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 9:43am

''We found something I think will help him get to the ball much easier,'' said Piniella, who wouldn't elaborate. Piniella spent about five minutes talking in the clubhouse to Bradley about it before Wednesday's game, at one point standing to demonstrate stance balance and back-arm hitting motion. ''It's fairly minor. He doesn't have to change much at all except one little thing.

''I have a pretty good feeling that this'll help.''

and then we have this...

Jake Fox, the hitter without a position, was sent back out to Class AAA Iowa to make room for infielder Aaron Miles (shoulder), who was activated from the DL -- despite Fox's 5-for-6 production as a pinch-hitter.

''My God, don't tell me that,'' Piniella said. ''Really? Five-for-six pinch hitting? Oh, well.''

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/16178...

Submitted by waveland
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 9:54am

If only we had someone to keep Lou up to date on these things. Maybe send Miles down, call up one of the kids from A ball to show the skipper how to check player stats on ESPN.com?

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:45am

What the fuck does Alan Trammell do all game? Tell dirty jokes and fetch Lou seeds?

Submitted by navigator
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:49am

Apparently Alan Trammell doesn't think it's his job.

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 10:57am

Or, we may wonder what else Lou wouldn't know if Trammel weren't there!!

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:01pm

As a sarcastic person myself, Lou's statement doesn't sound particularly serious to me.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:00pm

That last bit is SO Dusty Bakerish. A Dustyism, if you will.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:18pm

The Cubs offense by the numbers...

4.38 Runs per game, 11th in the NL
.738 OPS, 9th in the NL
.408 SLG, 9th
.330 OBP, 10th
.250 BA, 11th
10th in BB's
.249 BA with Runners On, 13th
.743 OPS with Runners On, 12th
.233 BA with RISP, 14th
.695 OPS with RISP, 15th

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:22pm

Dismal. Shows how lights out the starting pitching has been considering we're still 2 games above .500.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:27pm

It's those bottom numbers that are really killing us, and with the pressing caused by the offensive woes, I think it's becoming a it's own problem.

Submitted by dc60124
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:33pm

o come on, small sample size, right?

are you certain those charts were not printed upside-down?

Submitted by navigator
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:55pm

SORIANO with RISP

6/45 .133 .286 .289

yow

Submitted by Tito
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 4:00pm

Crunch rebuttal in 5, 4, 3...

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:49pm

He was ESPN 1000 and kept saying "Cubs need better pitching" along with the hitting.

Better pitching?

What do you want shutouts every game? Your mullet must have sucked out any brains you had left.

X
You may login with either your assigned username or your e-mail address.
The password field is case sensitive.
Loading