Jeff Beliveau's pitching pause.

That was the first time I'd seen Jeff Beliveau pitch.
Len and Bob made a big deal about this little pause Beliveau employs right when he rears back to throw.
(In the illustration I say "windup", but he was throwing from the set position.)
I didn't think much about it.
But then he proceeded to strike out all 3 Dodgers he faced, and two more the next inning.
With Garza not looking so hot (dry AZ air?) the Cub bats getting just 5 hits and no runs, Beliveau was the most exciting thing about Sunday's zero to five loss.

At the Cubs Convention, Theo Epstein spoke about Beliveau and said something like, "All he does is strike guys out."
Maybe the pause has something to do with it, and maybe the snail made you laugh.
Either way, for the back end of a ST game...a pretty impressive performance by Beliveau.


Submitted by CubbyBlue on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 6:26am

Comments

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 7:41am

I didn't see the game, but I hope it's not just the pause, because it will only take a few turns around the league for batters to adjust. Although, it did take awhile for batters to get used to Dempster's glove eating trick.

Submitted by CubbyBlue
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:20am

Hear ya. The length of pause seemed to vary. At the convention, Theo spoke highly of him while saying he was "pleasantly surprised" about some of the Cub minor leaguers. Maybe tongue in cheek, but maybe not? I'm just trying to get to like some new guys.

Submitted by Ryno
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:42am

I'd like to see it from the behind-the-plate angle. That delivery seems deceptive. From behind the pitcher it looks somewhat unremarkable.

Submitted by DavidP
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 10:07am

For a one or two inning reliever, the pause could be effective all season long. For a starting pitcher, it probably would be of little value by the second or third time through the order.

Submitted by artskoe
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 10:37am

It's like having a slingshot pointed right at you at close range. You know the sting is coming but just when?

If he can throw 3 pause pitches as Bossio wishes: dif speeds, dif angle and dif spots, well, we might just have a secret weapon...

Submitted by Ryno
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 10:55am

Yep, reminds me of some of those Japanese pitchers (sorry about the racial profiling) that have mechanical and strange pauses in their delivery.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:42pm

Reminded me of starter Rich Hill, who hid the ball well and was sneaky fast. Hill developed a couple of serious problems--first, holding runners and later control--but he retained the ability to get hitters to swing late.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 10:57am

Cubs finish dead last in Fangraphs' org reliever rankings.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/posi...

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 11:53am

That is a pretty big supposition there. Mateo may not even make the club, and Samajrdia may end up in the rotation.

Suppose they have to write about something in the off-season.

Submitted by Ryno
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 11:00am

We have one fantasy keeper league opening remaining.

It is a 12-team points league that costs $30 to play. Payouts are $200, 100, 60 for first, second, and third place. The opening we have is an existing team that already has some players on it, so it's not like starting from scratch.

It's a fun league, so if you are interested or want more information, e-mail me at rynox77 [at] yahoo.com. I will reply to you from my 'real' e-mail address.

Submitted by QuietMan
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 11:16am

I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.

Submitted by Ryno
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:10pm

If I don't have money on a fantasy baseball team, I pretty much forget about it after the first week. :)

Submitted by Cubster
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:12pm

Suppose they have to write about something in the off-season.
---
Boone Logan, Nick Massett and Carlos Marmol all get 1.0 WAR rankings

I'm just saying'...relievers vary so much year to year (except for Mariano Duncan) that it wasn't worth the electrons wasted on the article.

Submitted by Ryno
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:17pm

Okay, so maybe I'm being dense here, but I'm just trying to figure out the MLB internet audio options:

I want to listen to games on my computer.
I want to listen to games on my iPhone.

What subscriptions/apps do I need and how much will it cost me?

I think I need this At Bat app, it's free, but there's some sort of $15 subscription within the app... then there's gameday audio... do I need both?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:25pm

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.js...

isn't that what you want? Not 100% sure if you have to buy anything extra to have it work on your phone though. I know if you get the MLB.tv premium you get it free on your phone, not sure about just the gameday audio.

Submitted by DavidP
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 1:43pm

I am trying to figure it out myself, but if I understand correctly, first you have to subscribe to the MLB audio, which is about 15 per year. You can then listen on the internet. Also, you can then download the app and listen on the iphone, as long as you have subscribed to the MLB audio.

Does anyone know for certain if this is correct?

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 3:20pm

it is a little confusing to me as well. I do know that I have had myriad problems with their streaming server in terms of buffering. With streaming audio, and more so with video, you absoletely MUST have a deep server deployment system for the time when lots of folks start pulling the same stream, at the same time. With MLB, in my experience, they are still getting their shit together.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 3:53pm

I don't know about audio but I had a video subscription last year, PLUS I had to buy the app if I wanted to see games on my phone. This year, the app is free, and I just log in using the app and I can watch games. This is nice because I can also watch games on any device, my kindle fire, my iphone, my computer, and, this year, my xBox using my xbox live account.

the bad news is that you have to pay that monthly fee, and I didn't watch many games last year because the team was so wretched, and seemed like it was going nowhere, fast. So it was kind of a waste of money, since I didn't watch many other games, either.

This year, I figure I'll be tuning in a lot more, if only to watch Soriano hit 70 home runs.

Ducks

Submitted by Eagon
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:21pm

I'm in the UK and I've had MLB.tv for the last 3 seasons, there were some problems in the 09 season with network congestion and perhaps a little in 2010 but nothing since then. Listened to a couple of games this spring, didn't have any buffering.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 11:46am

That's just brilliant. So because my flat is within a 300 mile radius of Chicago, the games are blacked out for me on MLB.TV, but some bloke from Britain can watch any game he or she pleases. No offense, mate, I'm glad you are able to watch the ball games, but doesn't this whole scheme seem odd- that the games are MORE accessible the further away you live?

Nothing puts me in a tizzy quite like the blackout rules. It's so bloody stupid.

Submitted by Eagon
on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 11:16pm

It seems a fairly stupid system alright, MLB.tv is great for me.

In the UK, football (soccer) is by far the no1 sport. The traditional kick off time is 3pm on a Saturday, most of the games are played at that time. NONE of those games are televised in the UK in order to preserve ticket sales at the grounds, only earlier or later kick offs selected by Sky Sports or ESPN.

There isn't any way to watch these games online (legally) no matter how much you are willing to pay, the only option is to watch the highlight packages that night. This drives people to installing foreign satellite receivers or illegal streams online. You probably have access to more soccer than myself.

Submitted by Stevens
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 12:45pm

You ready Jeff? I'm ready. You ready Dale? I'm ready Chris, are you?
Oh yeah, breaking ball...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 1:13pm

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php...

Cubs at #20

The rebuild his begun, but there is still much work to be done. When your team's fans are obsessed with Matt Szczur and Junior Lake, that doesn't speak well of the system.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 1:17pm

so far Sickels, Keith Law and Kevin Goldstein have all ranked them #20. Haven't seen the BA ranking yet.

Submitted by JD
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 1:43pm

Padres at #1? Ricketts should've gone after whoever built THAT system instead of Theo.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 1:33pm

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/2/6/27734...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 2:28pm

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospect...

As for pitchers, the director raved about San Francisco righthander Kyle Zimmer, particularly the athleticism in his delivery—which he likes more than Stanford righty Mark Appel's. Zimmer has been flying up draft boards with his performance this spring, and he could join Appel and Buxton in the discussion for the No. 1 overall pick

Baez mentioned among "youngsters to watch" for Top "Hitting" prospect in relation to 5 tools

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 1:48pm

1. Jackson, RF
2. Byrd, CF
3. Ian Stewart, 3B
4. Alfonso Soriano, LF
5. Bryan LaHair, 1B
6. Geovany Soto, C
7. Darwin Barney, 2B
8. Steve Clevenger, C
9. Junior Lake, SS

Maholm vs. Arroyo

Submitted by John Beasley
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 1:57pm

The classic two-catcher defense. Cubs are probably still good for a passed ball, though.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 2:09pm

copied and pasted from ESPN article, I presume one of them is DH'ing

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 2:38pm

for veterans on minor league contracts, aka Trevor Miller and Rodrigo Lopez for the Cubs.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects...

Article XX(B) free agents signing minor league contracts who are not added to the Opening Day roster or unconditionally released 5 days prior to Opening Day shall receive an additional $100,000 retention bonus and the right to opt out on June 1.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 3:27pm

Geez - not a bad pay day for 4-5 weeks in AZ!

Submitted by DavidP
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 3:14pm

Phil - you have Maples listed as on limited activity. That is usually reserved for injured players (I think). do you know if Maples is injured, and if so, what the injury is?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 3:33pm

Stewart 2B ends up scoring Byrd after an error, followed by Soriano HR. Jackson led off with a single but thrown out at 2B.

Maholm gives up a run in the 2nd on a HR to Todd Frazier.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 3:43pm

Barney leadoff double, Clevenger BB, Lake K'd, Jackson BB, Byrd SF

4-1 Cubs.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 3:55pm

Dude sure doesn't want to go to Iowa.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 5:24pm

what did he do today?

Submitted by John Beasley
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 5:27pm

A hit and a walk.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 5:46pm

Cool. It would be nice to see an outfield prospect not bust like an overfilled water balloon for once.

Submitted by Charlie
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 7:22pm

Not rushing him to majors might help. I'm looking forward to seeing Jackson's stat line after spending most of the season in Iowa.

Submitted by Cubster
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 5:08pm

BB, 2B, K, HBP, 1B, BB, SF, F7...3 runs

Az Phil might have someone check and see if he has some horse poo-poo on his shoes from all that riding on his ranch.

He might have to bring back that pitch that wasn't working last year.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 5:25pm

maybe he just needs to doctor the ball with it.

Submitted by Cubster
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 5:41pm

Joe Mather 3 run HR in 7th; Blake Lalli solo HR in 8th. 8-6 Cubs.

Mather is pushing for the 25th roster spot. Who doesn't make it if he's in? Campana/Sappelt?

Submitted by Charlie
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 7:23pm

Sappelt already doesn't make it with Reed Johnson on the roster. Mather seems redundant to Johnson as well, except that Mather can't play CF.

Submitted by Cubster
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 5:43pm

BP's system rankings, last place...

30. Chicago White Sox
System At a Glance: It really is that bad.

Submitted by Cubster
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 5:47pm

MLBTR: Boston will pursue 19-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, reports Speier (Alex Speier, WEEI Boston). Soler is still waiting to be declared a free agent by MLB, but Speier says most in the industry (including the Red Sox) expect him to sign with the Cubs.

http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/this-just-i...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 6:48pm

for Mario Williams...please, please, please

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/...

Cutler will still be throwing to Hester next year though. ~sigh~

Submitted by John Beasley
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 6:57pm

Plenty of WR talent available this year. Even if not Vincent Jackson, there's at least 8 other guys who become #1 on the Bears.

In the meantime, when you can sign the biggest impact non-QB in the game, you gotta go for it.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 7:07pm

are there? didn't most get franchised? I mean, I guess on the Bears they would be, but I think just V. Jackson and Colston are worth going after, and I think Colston is more a product of his system with the added benefit of indoor games.

M. Wallace is restricted and certainly not worth a first round pick.

The rest are a whole lot of "meh" to me...

Garcon, Manningham, Wayne (33 years old), Lloyd

Submitted by John Beasley
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:05pm

Yet any of those guys is probably the best WR on the Bears. I think Wayne is closer to the top than the bottom of the class, at least for 2012.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:13pm

33 year old Reggie Wayne? no way and not for the price I'm sure he'll end up getting...let him retire in style with Peyton and everyone else in Miami.

I certainly wouldn't mind some of the others at the right price, but Jackson and Colston are certainly the only 2 worth paying a premium. The rest are more, "wait it out" guys imo.

Submitted by jacos
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 7:37pm

If you need two $15 million a year DE's you have alot of problems.

Here's what you do, use the money on WR's and O Line.

I would be willing to give a first round pick for Wallace because you can get him cheap, he's young and Bears won't have to develop him, he's ready.

Two things Bears are really, really bad at Qb and WR development.

Get Wallace, Get Colston and a guard.

Use 2nd round pick on LB Burfict at ASU, will learn well under Urlacher and Briggs, use rest of picks on D.

~flips over table, walks away~

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 7:55pm

Wallace won't be cheap though, will he? Besides the first round pick, Steelers can match his price, right? So you have to pay as well and Steelers will likely match unless you blow them out of the water.

As for the line, Bears defense is modeled on pressure from the front 4 and we already got the good years of Peppers. He may have one or two more left in him, but I don't think getting Williams is necessarily redundant.

That being said, I'd love Jackson or Colston at the right price and I plead ignorance on what $24M in cap space can actually afford.

Submitted by jacos
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:14pm

"So you have to pay as well and Steelers will likely match unless you blow them out of the water."

Steelers over cap I thought

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:21pm

says they have $12-$14M left and that accounts for tender offers. Not a lot of room, but I doubt they'll just let him go for a song, on top of the signing team having to likely give up a 1st round pick.

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2012/3/1...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:47pm

David Haugh is in your corner.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football...

To be more specific, Emery's first call should be to wide receiver Vincent Jackson. Then guard Carl Nicks. Then safety LaRon Landry. Those players fill more glaring needs and would represent a wiser allocation of funds than Williams, likely the most expensive free agent on the market.

Submitted by jacos
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 8:53pm

Like having Phil Rogers in your corner

Submitted by johann
on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 9:37pm

I think Mario and Peppers together would be amazing. Despite how we don't play Cover 2 nearly as much as people like to say, it would help our coverage a lot. I just don't see how we can afford it though considering we need an offensive line and considering we got a bunch of aging players on defense we're gonna have to replace soon.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 1:50pm

"Two things Bears are really, really bad at Qb and WR development."

I'm not sure "development" is the right word; but it is the definition of a poor organization that they can't get players at the positions where demand is high.

Historically, the Cubs have had a few stars but not usually starting lefty pitchers, lefty-hitting sluggers, guys who could catch or play third or short or centerfield. It's what has defined them as have-nots.

Submitted by JoePepitone
on Tue, 03/20/2012 - 1:33am

"lefty-hitting sluggers"

Billly Williams was a wonderful exception to that. I loved watching him hit.

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