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

26 players on MLB RESERVE LIST are ACTIVE, ten players are on OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT to minors, two players are on the 15-DAY IL, and two players are on the 10-DAY IL

Last updated 4-17-2024
 
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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 115 Thread / Astros @ Cubs (3 of 3)

Submitted by Cubnut on

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

SP Brandon Backe
 SP
Jason Marquis

6-10, 4.72, 100 K, 56 BB, 129.2 IP
6-7. 4.68, 64 K, 45 BB, 117.1 IP
       
2B
 #Kaz Matsui LF
 Alfonso Soriano
RF
 Hunter Pence
 SS
 Ryan Theriot
1B
 #Lance Berkman 1B
 Derrek Lee
LF
 Carlos Lee 3B
 Aramis Ramirez
SS
 #Geoff Blum CF
 *Jim Edmonds
3B
 Ty Wigginton 2B
 Mark DeRosa
CF *Darin Erstad
 RF *Kosuke Fukudome
C Humberto Quintero
 C
 Geovany Soto
P
 Brandon Backe
 P *Jason Marquis

 

What a surprise!

I returned Tuesday night from a wonderful vacation on the East Coast, and based on the news mix I got from the all-sports radio station in Boston, I assumed all of MLB had gone on hiatus while the Red Sox negotiated their divorce arrangements with Manny Ramirez.

Turns out the Cubs had, in fact, stayed busy, eviscerating the Brewers and taking two-of-three from the Bayless Bucs while building a 5-game lead in the Central. This afternoon they try to even up their season mark against Houston—currently they're 5-6—while capturing yet another series win. In 18 series so far this year at Wrigley, the Cubs are 14-3-1.

Jason Marquis, winless in his last six starts (0-4, 5.25), goes for the home team. Brandon Backe, the losingest pitcher on Cecil Cooper's staff, has an ND and loss against the Cubs this season.

Hey, I see the Cubs are stumping for permission to play some of their home night games on Fridays and Saturdays. Why not? Then Erin Andrews could cover the games in a cocktail dress.

Tags
Gameday Open Thread

Comments

Submitted by WISCGRAD on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:49 pm

Sean Gallagher is expected to go on the disabled list with a sore shoulder. A source told the San Francisco Chronicle that Gallagher felt a "pop" in the shoulder in his July 25 start against Texas.

Submitted by big_lowitzki on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:50 pm

Jason Marquis, winless in his last six starts (0-4, 5.25) That is not a really fair look at Marquis. Four of his last five starts been solid or good, all being "quality starts," which should be more than enough to win on this team.

Submitted by big_lowitzki on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:53 pm

...then Erin Andrews could cover the games in a cocktail dress.
Hmm... and maybe Bruce Levine can wear a Tux or something. Oh wait... we don't care what he wears, because he is a guy.

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Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:25 pm

I've gotta disagree on this. Bruce Levine's job isn't to be on tv. Like it or not, Erin Andrews isn't a typical "journalist". She's like a host on E!, except she talks about sports instead of celebrities. Part of her job is to look good for the camera. I have absolutely no problem with her dressing a little sexy. If she were a beat writer using her tits to get a scoop, then that's a problem. But she's not. She's a fucking sideline reporter who appears on camera 4-5 times per game and lobs the players/managers softball questions for our entertainment.

[ ]

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:33 pm

That's a real stretch from what I said. You may have your own issues if you think you can't be both attractive and respected at the same time. There's a reason you don't see very many ugly people on television. Part of her job is to look good. The other part is to ask a few questions that we (the viewer) might find interesting. And let's drop the whole "respected journalist" garbage. It doesn't make me sexist or a mysogynist because I don't think she's breaking the next Watergate any time soon. And that has nothing to do with her gender or her looks. It's because she's a SIDELINE REPORTER. Woodward and Bernstein she is not, but she's good at what she does.

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Submitted by crunch on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:52 pm

that's a stretch considering she doesn't take her work as a joke. you aware that a great number of sports writers never wanted to be sports writers? it's just the job/beat that they were put on or assigned to for a lotta them. it's like any specialization, though...once you work it enough it becomes a whole lot easier to go from place to place within your specialization. besides, the pressure to wear what she wears may not even be her call. the changing face and dolling up of jennie zolasco...who's a very legit baseball reporter...doesn't even remotely match her personality.

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Submitted by johann on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:10 pm

Very few sports guys are "respected reporters". The entire genre is built first on entertainment with real journalism a very distant 10th or 11th. So Erin first going for the entertainment part of the job is absolutely no different from any male reporter first going for the entertainment story about a player, or reporting only ARod's infidelity. I'd say Erin wearing a revealing dress is a lot better actually then all the drivel spouted by ESPN talking heads. But god knows if you show some cleavage you must be a slut and have no real value as a human being, let alone a reporter.

Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:58 pm

in Parachat for the Brewers/Cincy game while I wait for the Cubs one...

[ ]

Submitted by billybucks on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:08 pm

Another strong outing by Reds' Homer Bailey -- coming in to the game, teams were hitting .381 against him. Today -- 5.1IP, 8H, 6ER. In hindsight, perhaps Mr. & Mrs. Bailey shouldn't have named their son "Homer". Not the best name for a pitcher, unless your last name is "Howry", in which case it's perfect.

Submitted by Tito on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:29 pm

Andrews, meanwhile, said she did nothing wrong. "These players are not into me like that," said told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "If anything, I think these guys look at me like a little sister or one of the guys." Riiiiggght. One of the guys they want to nail.

Submitted by vorare on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:30 pm

I don't get our pitchers keep giving Lee opportunities to beat us. Intentionally walk him, throw him crap, or put the god damn ball in his flabby ribs, but don't throw him fast balls over the plate. Eeeesh.

Submitted by billybucks on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:31 pm

I mean, really, this is not that complicated --- 2 outs, 2 on, a .228 hitting SS on deck...and you throw CLee (who is Pujols when he is in Wrigley) something to hit? WTF?????????????????????

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:37 pm

DeRosa's been putting a charge into the ball the last few days. After coming up 2 feet short of being the hero the other night, it looks like he had an extra bowl of Wheaties this morning.

Submitted by Tito on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:40 pm

I'll take this a step further...I don't even think Andrews is that good at what she does. She generally asks lousy questions along the lines of, "So, how do you feel right now?" I can't think right now of a "good" sideline reporter, but I don't think she's one of the better ones. She is, however, smoking hot.

Submitted by Doug Dascenzo on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:44 pm

Bob Brenly: This is why you don't send Geovany Soto on what could have been a close play at home plate. (less than 2 seconds later) Kasper: SORIANO DEEP TO LEFT, THAT BALL'S GONE!!! A HOME RUN! OH HO BABY! I might have to ask Brenly for the Mega Millions numbers this week.

Submitted by Jackstraw on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:51 pm

Imagine the last few minutes from the Brewers' perspective. They finish off the Reds and take one last look at the scoreboard, Cubs down 4-1. By the time they get to the clubhouse and flip on ESPN it's 9-4 Cubs. That's got to suck just a little bit. Also, if Erin Andrews were my little sister I might have to rethink my position on incest.

Submitted by billybucks on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:17 pm

Cubs lead the NL in BOTH OBP and SLG, and thus lead the league in runs scored by a wide margin -- 604 runs vs. 558 for the 2nd place Phils. Today's game will likely improve all 3 metrics. So, while no individual is having a killer year (maybe Fonzie on a pro-rated basis), the team certainly is. Well done, Jim Hendry.

Submitted by George Altman on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:26 pm

This may go against the mainstream opinion, but I believe Marquis is an above average starting pitcher for the role he plays on the Cubs - 5th starter. Somewhere on this site there must be a sabermetrician, cruncher of numbers, (where are you Dave from the old site?), who could no doubt prove my point. If you take Marquis' GS, W/L, ERA, IP, SO to BB ratio, etc., and compare Marquis against every other 5th SP in the majors, I would be very surprised if he wasn't in the top 5 - maybe even top 2-3. The frustration most Marquis-haters have is that they compare him to other teams #2 or #3 starters and that ISN'T the role he's been asked to play for the Cubs. Getting Harden solved that issue. Marquis' job on the Cubs is take the ball every 5th day, pitch 6+ innings, so Z, Harden, Dempster, Lilly aren't over-used and the bullpen isn't blown out every 4-5th game. In his first 20 starts he's logged 117 1/3 IP, 6-7 record, 4.68 ERA. Marquis is doing everything the Cubs could have hoped from a #5 starter. Is he overpaid for most 5th starters? Hell, yes. But I don't think any of us need to hold a fund-raiser for a team that's going to draw 3.3 million fans this year and is going to be sold for north of $750 million. The bitch of it is for Marquis is that he almost certainly won't make the playoff roster as they won't need 12 pitchers in the playoffs. Also, the Cubs should walk Carlos Lee every other time he bats against them this season anytime the Cubs have less than a 6 run lead.

Submitted by nohit on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 08:35 pm

I agree, although I too would like to see the numbers to back it up. I have the impression his ERA and Quality Start stats have been pretty damned solid for a #5. He pales in comparison to the other Cubs starters, but the Cubs have arguably three aces (Z, Dempster, Harden) and another guy (Lilly) who would be a #2 or #3 on most teams. I support Marquis. He competes, he hits, he pinch runs, he's solid. He gets paid too much, but since it's not my wallet, I don't care. I just want to see the Cubs win. FWIW, I'd also rather see Marquis than Howry on the postseason roster. :-) EDIT - And apparently I failed to hit the reply button... argh.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:30 am

Well, it's sort of a tough question to answer without really digging into each team. The first problem, is that Marquis was really the 4th starter, not the 5th, until Harden arrived. The second problem is that it is pretty rare for a 5th starter to get 32 starts. Typically the team thinks they can do better than that guy and he will be replaced peroidically or someone gets hurt on the staff and he moves up to #4 or #3, and you have a new 5th starter. But if you look at all NL Pitchers with 100 IP's (57 of them), Marquis ranks: 44th in Quality Start Percentage 42in ERA 57/5 = 11.2 So you would expect your 4th starter to be rank between 34 and 45, and your 5th starter to be between 46 and 57. By this simple analysis, Marquis is a bottom half 4th starter or a very good 5th starter. I think he was brought in to be a 4th starter, so in that regard he's not doing well. However, with the current roster, he can be seen as a strength compared to other teams. He's probably not going to make the post-season roster barring injury.

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Submitted by The Real Neal on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:39 am

While I have the page up, the list of guys who rank behind Marquis in ERA is pretty impressive: 43 Roy Oswalt HOU 44 Aaron Harang CIN 45 Johnny Cueto CIN 46 Joel Pineiro STL 47 Zach Duke PIT 48 Brett Myers PHI 49 Brandon Backe HOU 50 Barry Zito SFO 51 Bronson Arroyo CIN 52 Andrew Miller FLA 53 Jeff Francis COL 54 Mark Hendrickson FLA 55 Adam Eaton PHI 56 Micah Owings ARI 57 Ian Snell PIT You've got a Cy Young winner, two Cy Young contenders, one more staff ace, a couple of #2 starters and a couple more ROY hopefuls (when the season started), and Cub killer Zach Duke who rolled into the season with a 2.10 career ERA against us.

Submitted by Jackstraw on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:33 am

Well said George Altman re: Marquis. Also, it always gets lost in the mix that he makes all his starts. Would Marshall do that? One of the reasons I think Hendry got both Lilly and Marquis was durability. Each has made all their starts for the last 5 years now except one year for Lilly. After the year when the Cubs started either 16 or 17 different pitchers, Hendry got the concept of durability of starters having a trickle-down effect to the bullpen. What I hated about Marquis yesterday was a 2-out walk to Hunter F'in Pence with Berkman and Lee to follow.

Submitted by nohit on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:39 am

If my math from last week was correct, Marquis has now had 21 starts, and the Cubs are 12-9 in those games, despite his W-L record. Some of that is certainly due to the prolific run totals the team is putting up, but some of it is also because his starts have been competitive. All that said, if the Cubs continue to win half of Marquis' starts the rest of the year, I'll have very little to complain about.

Submitted by billybucks on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:12 am

Watching the highlights -- interesting reaction from Backe after the ball left Soriano's bat. He threw his hands up in disgust -- either at himself, at his catcher, or at his manager for leaving him out there to absorb the pain of an 8-run inning -- perhaps a combination of all 3.

Recent comments

  • crunch (view)

    booooooooooo

    also, wisdom and taillon are both in chicago.

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Tonight’s game postponed. Split games on Saturday.

  • crunch (view)

    cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.

    taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight.  who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.

    p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury.  good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.

  • Bill (view)

    A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return.  Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

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    Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost.  But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.  

  • Sonicwind75 (view)

    I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions.  Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022.  I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.

  • Childersb3 (view)

    I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
    I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
    I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
    That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
    I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
    We'll find out soon enough!!!

  • TarzanJoeWallis (view)

    Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.

  • 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.

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