Lilly Pitches, Hits, and Runs in Sharp Performance at Peoria

Ted Lilly threw 87 pitches—61 for strikes—in a seven-inning stint at Peoria last night, in which he gave up just one run and three hits while fanning nine. The Chiefs beat the Burlington Bees, 2-1.

Lilly walked the first man he faced and gave up a triple to the third Burlington hitter. He was almost perfect after that.

Lilly, as quoted in the Peoria Journal Star...

“I struggled with (my command) at times, but for the most part I felt alright. I was mixing my changeup more than I have, so I was getting a feel for it tonight.”

Lilly also requested to hit for himself and was allowed to do so. He wound up getting Peoria' first hit after the first eight Chief batters had been retired. Then, for reasons known only to Ted and the people who love him, he tried to steal second base.

"...he attempted to steal second (“I didn’t see that one coming,” Chiefs manager Casey Kopitzke said) and appeared to beat the throw to the bag, but was called out. "I kind of regret it now,” Lilly said. “I definitely felt I had a great jump, but I’m not as fast as I was 10 years ago.”

The veteran lefty is hopeful he will be making his 2010 Cub debut on Saturday in Milwaukee.

“That’s the plan. We’ll see. I don’t know if that’s what they want to do, but that’s what I’d like to do. We’re going to have to redo some things with our rotation, but we’ll see.”

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Ted Lilly
Submitted by Cubnut on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 7:32am
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Comments

Submitted by John Beasley
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 7:37am

Glad to hear that Lilly is on track and that he's comfortable with the idea of needing to generate his own offense.

Submitted by rob9999
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 10:30am

I was a little surprised by Ted's attempted steal. The bigger surprise, however, was the head-first slide into second!! I'm guessing that the Cubs' brass would not be too thrilled to hear that Lilly was exposing the left hand and shoulder in a head-first slide into second.

Lilly was certainly a class act. I was able to watch his bullpen session as he was warming up before the game. When he was finished, he sought out the nearest little kid and personally handed him the ball. He could have easily tossed it up for grabs and not thought twice about it. But, it was nice to see that he took the time to make some kid's night.

Also, Hak-Ju Lee has really been impressive. I have been pleasantly surprised that all the superlatives heaped upon his defensive abilites appear to be accurate. He has excellent range and quickness to compliment a plus arm. The speed is as advertised as well. Twice last night, Lee swiped both second and third for a total of 4 SBs. He was especially impressive in the 7th inning. He came to bat with 2 outs and singled to left. On the first pitch, he swiped second. On the very next pitch, he swiped third. None of the steals were gimmes as all four steals came against a very good catching prospect (Jose Bonilla - Royals #21 propsect) with an excellent arm. Lee could be another quick riser through the system.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:55pm

it's rare enough to see a pitcher slide...period.

even when it matters in the bigs you generally don't see your pitcher slide...especially one making 10m a year.

who's the manager at AAA?

...oh...

well, hopefully when he comes up he wont command 3-4m a year.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:01pm

Casey Kopitzke was Lilly's manager last night.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:03pm

thank god...and thnx.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:03pm

crunch is celebrating 4/20...

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:08pm

i wish...

A ball, AAA...same thing.

btw, anyone have 3-4 grand laying around so i can pay someone to study weeds in field production of tomatoes and melons? that'd take care of a lot of headaches so i can concentrate on the differences between 1 letter and 3 letters.

Submitted by Tito
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:09pm

For variety's sake, could you every once in a while adjust the $3-$4 million number to $2-$5 million or something?

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:11pm

denied.

Submitted by Jumbo
on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 5:01am

Outstanding

Submitted by Cubnut
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 7:54am

How the Cubs resemble Goldman Sachs (about 5:45 in):

http://bit.ly/bS7hS6

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 8:41am

lol... and ouch.

Submitted by jacos
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 8:42am

Yeah, I saw that too. Funny, thanks for posting.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 8:43am

"I don't care about the rest of the world. Just shut up and make my tube socks."

Submitted by The E-Man
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 10:03am

Cubs team line: .251 .322 .414 .736

13th/16th in team batting.

9th in Team pitching overall, 4.33ERA

Relievers: ERA=6.00 15th/16th

Save % = 43% 15th/16th

Starters = 3.53 ERA, 4th/16

Hmmm, I have not even looked at the defense. What a bunch of shit(save our starting pitching).

I get so tired of saying, "Its early."

The Cardinals are pretty impressive when you look at their overall pitching stats. 1st in the pen, 1st in starters, 1st in difference makers.

We have Jeff Samardzjia.

Submitted by Andrew
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 10:47am

In other news:

The E-Man overtakes Ryno for 2nd in all-time TCR WhiP (Whining Percentage, calculated by number of Whines divided by Instance of Cubbery). Manny's still far and away the all-time leader.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 10:55am

You have not been here long enough to comment on this I do not think. But I appreciate the sentiment and am happy you are so content with this team. Enjoy.

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:06am

Also, this is going to be a meaningless statistic. "Instances of Cubbery" are so fucking high right now that dividing any amount of whines by that number will be infinitesimally small.

For example, I just whined by saying that instances of Cubbery were fucking high, but 1/Billion is not even worth discussing. StatFail.

Submitted by Andrew
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:45pm

True enough. Maybe we need some kind of average Instances of Cubbery index.

Submitted by Andrew
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:44pm

?

I've been here since '03. Or not here exactly, but back where it was when MVN.

Thanks for playing. And for being great at taking a joke.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:09pm

I don't attack people on a personal level and I would appreciate the same courtesy.

I felt (and said so at the time) that during the '08-09 off season the Cubs got weaker, and I said during the '09-10 off season that I felt the Cubs did not improve. I am displeased with the team and if you don't care to read about my frustration, feel free to not read my comments.

Submitted by Andrew
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:51pm

Yikes. Apologies. I'd thought two guys who'd been around here a while could take a little playful ribbing from another guy who'd been around here a while. Didn't mean to strike a nerve.

As for me, I do not like this team at all. I didn't like really any of the offseason moves and I don't think Lou really deserves his job. I've publicly apologized to Manny for ever criticizing him about wanting to fire Hendry. But ever since the '07 playoffs, I've just found the Cubbery more a source of entertainment than misery. I realize I might be alone in this.

I never expected us to contend this year, but losing is never fun. Please, keep the comments coming.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:51pm

like a sorority house, everyone at TCR gets their period at the same time.

/shows self out.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:56pm

I read it as "Ryno & E-Man are whiny". If it wasn't meant that way, carry on. And yes, I get bitchy at least once a month.

Submitted by Andrew
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:00pm

It was meant that way, but more jokingly than seriously. I do a fair bit of whining myself. Perhaps whining is not really something to joke about.

Again, apologies. Please don't Internet hate me.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:08pm

We cool.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:16pm

I don't have to worry about a knife fight now...

phew.

Submitted by The Joe
on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 1:29am

Wow, you guys are all a bunch of bitches.

Cubs suck.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 2:57pm

Cool, Andrew. This team makes ALL of us whine to varying degrees. I really didn't take anything personally - and can take it if it is not malicious.

For instance, should Jeff "The Wideout" turn into a valuable pitcher, I will be the first one to belly up to the bar and state I called him a "bust."

For Will Ohman, of course, I will not - even if he wins a Cy Young.

Submitted by Charlie
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 5:01pm

That note is still on my fridge.

Right next to the note I wrote to myself about how excited I was when I saw his major league debut.

Inside the fridge I've got some frozen crow ready to defrost at any time. I have a pretty good idea who will be eating that, but I hold out hope.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 2:10pm

I think the whining and testiness tends to climb the worse the team does. Losing 3 out of four to the Astros and Mets will bring out the best in everyone.

Submitted by jacos
on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:27pm

"Big" MLB pitcher about to get suspended for PED usage.

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