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Last updated 3-17-2024
 
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Yency Almonte
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Porter Hodge, RHP 
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Game 34 Recap: Cubs 0, Reds 9

This Ain't Pleasure.

W - Volquez (5-1), Mascots and umpires getting injured in funny ways

L - Lieber (2-2), 3+ hours of my life

Box Score, Photos

 

Things to Take from This Game

1. The Votto (and many others) Game.

Here is a list of Reds starters who did not hit home runs: Patterson, Griffey, Encarnacion, and the pitcher, Volquez. Joey Votto was the worst at not hitting home runs, as he failed to not hit home runs three times, against three different pitchers, to three different parts of the ball park.

2. Lieber? We barely saw 'er.

Lieber was terrible in his first start of the year. The second inning featured four home runs, to Votto, Dunn (back to back), Bako and Hairston. Just didn't have much in the way of stuff, with spotty command inside of the strike zone. It's not like Marshall or Gallagher were any better in relief

3. Can't Hit Volquez.

Volquez issued four early walks (and a couple late ones), but the Cubs couldn't hit him and he settled in after the first couple innings. Ten K's through seven, no runs, four hits.

4. Dusty, Dusty, Dusty....

What an idiot! Here we have one of the most talented young pitchers in the game, part of our core for the next several years, and with a 9-0 lead, and it's raining, and he's thrown 90-plus pitches, Dusty lets him come out for the seventh? With a rested bullpen? And there isn't even anyone up at the beginning of the inning, in case he struggles? What is he thinking? You're telling me there isn't a reliever who can cover a 9-0 lead for three innings? Of course, the young stud struggles through the inning, is painfully, clearly, visibly tired, and needs pitch number 118 to finally get through the inning??!?!

 

Oh, wait. Dusty is the Reds' manager, now? Nevermind.

5. Did I mention it rained?

And there was no one at the park, and it was deathly silent. What a wretched game to watch.

 

The all wet details, below.

Game Recap

 

Pregame

  • Comedy Gold: Reds Mascot, some man with a big baseball head, is being driven around the warning track on a four-wheeler. He falls off, smacking the ground with his big mascot head rolling off. Oh my god, you've decapitated Mr. Red! After staying down for a bit, the man beneath the mascot wound up being ok.

Inning 1 - Top

  • Johnson grounds out to SS. Looks like it's a very windy, bright day at GAB
  • Theriot bends backwards on a high tight fastball, for a 3-0 count. Walks on the next pitch.
  • Lee grounds one to Encarnacion's left. He makes a nice grab and throw to second, Phillips stays in there with Theriot right on him, and turns the DP. Nicely done, but inning over

Inning 1 - Bottom

  • Lieber makes his first start of the year, and immediately puts Corey in an 0-2 hole.
  • 0 - 3. Corey strikes out swinging.
  • the second half of the Dusty Daily Double, Jerry Hairston, gets sawed off, but dumps the ball right on the start of the OF grass on the left-side hole. Weird little base-hit. Theriot bare hands it and throws it to Lee, anyway, for no good reason.
  • Griffey flies to Pie.
  • Phillips bounces out to Theriot. Inning over

Inning 2 - Top

  • Ramirez fouls out to first.
  • Fukudome dribbles one towards first. Votto with a nice glove-hand shovel to Volquez, just beating Fukudome to the bag.
  • Soto walks on five pitches.
  • Cedeno flies out to center.

Inning 2- Bottom

  • Votto cranks one out to RF on some sort of cutting pitch inside
  • Immediately followed up by a very similar HR to Dunn. 2-0 Reds. That was quick.
  • Encarnacion pops to Cedeno. Couldn't figure out where he'd hit hit, finally sees that he's popping out, heh.
  • And Bako hits one out. This one more down the RF line. Three consecutive HRs by left-handed hitters
  • When Volquez singles to center, Rothschild calls the bullpen.
  • Lieber breaks Patterson's bat on a foul ball, lol. 0-2 count. Goes fastball upstairs for the third pitch (surprise, surprise) but Corey's check swing accidentally fouls it off
  • Corey K's looking, fastball outside corner. Poor Corey.
  • Hairston pulls one down the left field line, two-run homer. 5-0 on 4 HR in the second inning.
  • This, this is not good.
  • Griffey grounds a single into the shift. Cedeno playing way out in RF couldn't get to a weak single towards second.
  • Phillips bounces into the 6-4 force, ending the inning
Inning 3- Top
  • Pie up, Fontenot on deck. Lieber won't get a chance to hit.
  • Pie swings through a high slider, strike three.
  • Fontenot walks.
  • Johnson knocked down on a fastball that was almost a high strike.
  • Johnson strikes out swinging at a slider.
  • Theriot bounces one through the right-side hole.
  • Lee bounces one off of Volquez, but it deflects to Phillps, who makes the force at second.

Inning 3- Bottom

  • Fontenot is in on a double switch. Cedeno moves to shortstop and Theriot leaves the game. Marshall in to pitch.
  • Marshall walks Votto on four pitches. This could be a long day...
  • Where'd the sun go? It's now very overcast at GAB
  • Votto steals second, with Soto airmailing the bag. BJB says that the swipe was on Marshall, as Votto had a running start. Votto can't take third on the bad throw.
  • Dunn K's swinging.
  • Encarnacion walks. Two walks this inning for Marshall
  • Bako pops to center.
  • Marshall K's Volquez, swinging.

Inning 4 - Top

  • Ramirez rolls one through the middle, to the left of Keppinger, for a hit
  • Fukudome pops to Hairston.
  • Soto walks
  • Len observes that GAB seemed to have run out of fireworks by the time Hairston hit his. Anyone help him out, and recall if they launched fireworks for the fourth home run in that inning?
  • Cedeno battles when down in the count, but K's swinging.
  • BJB with the Pie/Patterson comparison, and as he makes it, Pie K's swinging.

Inning 4 - Bottom

  • Patterson down 1-2. Pops to the pitcher's mound, where Ramirez catches it.
  • It's starting to rain. Maybe Poseidon will take mercy on us, and drown the Reds out in his mighty, frothy waves.
  • Hairston grounds out to SS.
  • Griffey flies to shallow center, inning over


Inning 5 - Top

  • Fontenot takes strike three on a fastball that catches the inside corner
  • and Johnson K's swinging at a slider. Four straight K's for Volquez. So much for dragging out the inning in hopes of rain.
  • Marshall lines a nice single past the diving Votto.
  • Lee singles to left
  • Ramirez K's, swinging, and Volquez strikes out the side. It's an official game

Inning 5 - Bottom

  • Phillps smokes a slow curve from Marshall down the left field line, into the upper deck. 6-0.
  • Votto hits one out to center. Another set of back to back HRs. 7-0.
  • Dunn walks.
  • Gallagher in for Marshall.
  • Encarnacion pops to the pitcher's mound, Gallagher has to catch it.
  • Bako bloops one down the left field line, just fair, for a single.
  • Volquez sac bunts to Lee, Dunn and Backo advance to 2 and 3.
  • Guess who's down two strikes?
  • Fontenot makes a nice stop on a Patterson grounder, to get out of the inning

Inning 6 - Top

  • Fukudome flies out to Patterson
  • Soto K's swinging. He had been having some control issues earlier, but they now seem to be gone.
  • Cedeno flails at a tough slider, taps it back to Volquez, who slips, but throws to just beat Cedeno at first. Quick inning, Cubs look like they're trying to get out of town ASAP

Inning 6 - Bottom

  • Hairston flies to Fukudome.
  • Griffey goes 3-1.
  • Phillips inside-outs one inside the first base line, for a single. He did something to himself running to first, slows up, and trainer comes out to look at him. Stays in the game
  • Votto homers to left-center, over the 379 sign. He's now hit three HRs to three different areas of the ballpark and against three different pitchers. 9-0.
  • Dunn walks
  • Encarnacion singles. Dunn to second.
  • Gallagher K's Bako, swinging, to end the inning
Inning 7 - Top
  • Phillips leaves the game for Freel. However, Volquez, up 9-0 in the seventh, with it raining and having thrown about 95 pitches, comes out for the seventh. I'm so glad Dusty is somebody else's manager, now.
  • For the third time, Pie K's. Swinging on a changeup.
  • Fontenot walks
  • Johnson pulls one to Encarnacion, who throws a bit wide at second. Can only get one. Johnson to first.
  • Ward bats for Gallagher.
  • Ward walks. JUST NOW does a reliever get up in the bullpen, as BJB points out that Volquez clearly, visibly, is spent. He's thrown 116 pitches now. It's pretty funny to watch Len and Bob rip him.
  • Lee K's, ending the inning

Inning 7 - Bottom

  • Ward in for Lee, Howry in for Gallagher, DeRosa in for Ramirez
  • Hatteberg, hitting for Volquez bounces to Fontenot
  • Guess who's in a 1-2 hole?
  • Well, that's kicking a guy when he's down. Corey comes back to single to right.
  • As BJB predicted earlier, Hairston pulls a mammoth foul ball over the third base side. Nice.
  • Hairston pops to Fontenot.
  • Griffey dumps one into the triangle between CF, LF and SS. Corey to third.
  • Good grief, I wonder what else is on.... Heh, Scrubs re-runs. The Todd is so funny, with his obvious double-entendres. hehehhe. Silly The Todd.
  • Free grounds into a force, DeRosa to Fontenot.

Inning 8 - Top

  • Hmm, I wonder if this potato chip I found on the floor is still good. Nope.
  • David Weathers in, and Javier Valentin catching.
  • DeRosa fists one to Votto, unassissted.
  • Hey, Pokemon is on. Pickachu sure has a spunky personality. I wish he was my pet. I'd zap my neighbors.
  • Has Fukudome always stood as close to the plate as he is right now? He seems more on top of it even than Reed Johnson.
  • Fukudome finally gets a hit, legging out a single in the left-side hole.
  • Blanco up for Soto. Flies to the warning track in left, with Dunn making a nice running, stretching catch over his head.
  • Cedeno flies to right, again after a nice battle.

Inning 8 - Bottom

  • Wuertz in. Gets Votto to ground out to short. Votto gets a standing O from the five people left
  • Dunn strikes out, and Encarnacion flies out. Mercifully quick work by Wuertz

Inning 9 - Top

  • Affeldt in to pitch.
  • Pie grounds out to SS
  • Fontenot walks. Third time.
  • Valentin makes a half-hearted swipe at a pitch in the dirt. It gets past him, bounces up, and hits the home plate umpire right in the groin. It's funny on so many levels.
  • Johnson strikes out swinging.
  • Ward with a nice opposite field single. Fontenot to second
  • Soriano in to pinch hit for Wuertz
  • Soriano bounces to third, and Encarnacion steps on the bag, ending the game.

 

Parachat Recap

 

Inning 1

  • Settling In
  • Is Lieber done? (No.)
  • Can Griffey play CF? (No.)
  • Should we trade Soriano for Zito? (No.)
  • Jessica Alba (Yes.)

Inning 2

  • The sexiest trimester.
  • Where's Neifi Now?
  • The Dusty All-Stars
  • Geriatric gay porn.
  • Things Brenneman Hates.

Inning 3

  • Is this game over? (No.)
  • Who will be coming back to earth?
  • Who is Stanley Tucci?
  • By Brenneman's logic, Bako must be on the roids.
  • Old people singing about dentures
  • wanting to shave your cat's ass

Inning 4

  • Google.
  • Cheering for rain.

Inning 5

  • Moping.
  • Can any good come out of this? (No.)
  • Fukudome's home/road splits
  • Rain.
  • Why is Soto starting on a getaway day game?

Inning 6

  • What's wrong with the Cubs?
  • Letters to Gallagher
  • Dusty leaving in Volquez

Inning 7

  • Chad shows up. Hi, Chad!
  • Chad leaves. Bye, Chad!

Inning 8

  • Chad returns. Hi again, Chad!
  • MLB.TV feeds.
  • So bored, I rick roll myself.

Inning 9

My recap record falls to 3-2, for the legions who care.

 

Tags

Comments

"Votto was the worst at not hitting home runs, as he failed to not hit home runs three times..."

That's Trans recap-writing at its best.

The disgrace of the four-homer inning was compounded by the fact that two of them were hit by Hairston and Bako.

And what is the likelihood of one team allowing five unearned runs in one game and then giving up four homers in one inning, all in the same series? I'll answer my own question without consulting baseball-reference.com: it's never happened before and it will never happen again...until the next time it happens to the Cubs.

While I stayed away from the Gamechat today, from reading the recap, I have but two thoughts: 1. Reading this recap was WAY more fun than the game. 2. I am guessing that Carlos originated the cat-ass-shaving thread... Am I right?

Now, don't go knocking Dusty for the way he uses pitchers. After all, we've been told ad nauseum that there is no evidence of any pitchers becoming more injury - prone because of Dusty's brilliant grasp of pitching mechanics and other base - clogging theories of the game.

[ ]

In reply to by Dmac

i'd be a lot more worried about cubs-related things than dusty throwing a guy 118 pitches. you'd think guys never used to throw 140 pitch+ outtings...you'd think every time a guy goes 120 you know 4 years off his career. you'd also think that dusty being the most abusive manager out there would have some starters sent to surgery over his use... maybe he knows a bit more about what he's managing...a human being...rather than a pool of stats that seems to think every human being is the same.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

I'm just not sure I buy that about Dusty managing people rather than stats. I mean, even if there is 1/2 of 1% of a chance that you could damage a young pitcher with higher pitch counts then why would you put Volquez out there for the 7th inning today up 9-0?? You wouldn't right? So either Dusty is a moron and believes pitch counts have an absolute 0% possibility of hurting a pitcher. Or, if your argument holds, he knows that high pitch counts matter but ignores it from time to time to help improve the "human being." I could buy this if say it was a close game or he came into an inning with a low pitch count, got into trouble, and Dusty left him in to work out of it. Sure, there might be some long-term value in pushing a kid to be competetive from time to time and ignoring pitch counts. And sure you don't treat everyone the same. But again, it's 9-0, and it's raining. What about this situation made it at all beneficial to set a career high for pitches thrown? I just don't see it. Sure, Volquez didn't go in for surgery after the game, and there will probably never be a direct repercussion linked back to this game. But to reiterate my point above, there is a slight, sliver of a chance that it could go badly down the road, so if there is absolutely no benefit to having him pitch the 7th, why do it? I don't bash Dusty around here nearly as much as some, but I just can't find any logic in this move.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

is it really so foreign to believe dusty wanted him to go 7 with his lineup spot due? and my god...please, people...everyone who thinks 120 is a magic number...please just realize that 120 is a generalized guideline that treats every player like they're some video game character. also realize most of voz's outtings have been 90-105-ish outtings. there is nothing even remotely, mildly, or strangely weird about what voz. did...nothing at all. this has been going on for decade upon decade. i'd be more worried about a guy throwing a pitcher 130 followed by 120 followed by 140 followed by etc....than a guy pitching 118 pitches....this is nothing. not even close to a concern. people are married to a magic number that's a great guideline, but isn't gospel. almost every great pitcher you know of, that you have posters and ballcards of...almost every single one...has blown this 120 thing outta the water. roger clemens should have been washed up by 1990 for christ's sake. guess it was all the roids that saved him.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Roger grew up in a very different high school, college and minor league environment then exists now. When you grow up pitching 120 pitches from an early age, then it's not as big a deal. But now pitchers are kept to smaller pitch counts, and suddenly extending those pitch counts is what can damage you. That's the problem with the "pitchers used to do it in the good, old days." The good, old days have changed. Managers like Dusty are stuck in those days and the game is a very different one now.

[ ]

In reply to by johann

all that "pitchers dont work as hard" aside, which is kinda b/s if you've been to a highschool or college game lately (though its getting better with some high profile systems)....or that we live in an era where pitchers can pitch/condition in the offseason rather than working jobs to stretch a living... volz is not some 22 year old just off the draft...he's been stretched out over 5 years now and last year was his "go" year. he got his full workload last year. and all THAT aside...THE KID THROWS 118 PITCHES AND HE'S ON HIS WAY TO RUIN...nevermind that he's thrown mostly 95-105 almost every other start.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Again, I'm just not sure I see the logic. I'm not fixated on some magic number, in fact I never even mentioned one, you threw the 120 out there. The idea that Dusty wanted him to go 7 so his spot would come up in the order is more than a stretch. You have to burn one player anyway, how about a double switch? Even Dusty has heard of those. The guy who pitches the 7th probably wouldn't have pitched the 8th anyway, so you would pinch hit for the pitcher's spot anyway. Or you know what, use two guys off of the bench, you are afterall up 9-0, it's not like there is a fear of extra innings. Also, wouldn't the fact that he hasn't thrown more than 100 pitches or so in his starts be more caution to stretching him out further when he is not used to it? Why make a pitcher throw 20% more pitches than he normally throws if the game doesn't dicate a need for it? Also, talking about how experienced he is when he only has 24 career big league starts is stretch. He has only topped 150 innings once, last year, and 85% of those were minor league innings, which are simply not the same. I don't think anyone ever said HE'S ON HIS WAY TO RUIN now - I know I did not. I just said I saw absolutely no benefit to sending him out there for a career high in pitches up 9-0 in the rain in the 7th inning. I still don't.

[ ]

In reply to by WISCGRAD

im saying...i see nothing out of the ordinary, wrong, or odd about his performance and how he was used. i also dont see youth being pushed beyond its limit. and last year he put a full season of 90-110+ pitch outtings after being babied ON PURPOSE the 2 years before. the kid's career had a plan that started in texas and just happens to be ripening on schedule. this isn't some 22 year old a year or 2 outta the draft. and the "on the way to ruin" and "120" stuff was generalized rant outside of your stuff...it runs in a common crowd. sorry if it was confusing or you thought i was bitching at you about that. ...and he has thrown more than 100 pitches in his starts, both last year and this year (and the year before)... the reason '120' is even mentioned is cuz that's the universal "oh no!" point...its a great guideline for youth, but once you know what you got you put it to work. if you're never going to use it, it won't get used. and the strategy of the whole thing...maybe dust didnt wanna bring out a reliever when he could just pinch hit next inning cuz his starter was barely 100ip...there's few places in the baseball world this is radical or odd thinking. this is pretty damn ordinary stuff, imo.

[ ]

In reply to by crunch

Also, this is interesting article I dug up (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=148). It's old, but this is a list of the top 10 Most Abused Young (25 or under) Pitchers (judged by Pitcher Abuse Points - PAP) as of 1998. The list is pretty precient about how these guys ended up. Colon, Bartolo (on DL 6 times in career) Hernandez, Livan Sanchez, Jesus (out of baseball by 2004) Radke, Brad (retired at age 33) Wright, Jaret (60-Day DL 3 times) Estes, Shawn (60-Day DL twice) Wood, Kerry (60-Day DL 3 times) Haynes, Jimmy (60-Day DL once, out of baseball by 2005) Schmidt, Jason (15-Day DL 5 times, 60-Day DL once) Saunders, Tony (out of basball by age 26) Gonzalez, Jeremi (60-Day DL once, 5 other times on minor league rehab) Millwood, Kevin (60-Day DL once, 15-Day DL 4 times) Other than Livan, who has turned out to be a workhorse, the rest represent the most oft-injured pitchers of the last decade. Schmidt, Wood, Colon, Wright, Millwood, it's a whose who. Gonzalez was always injured, Sanchez, Saunders, and Haynes ended up being duds, Estes had two major surgeries, and while Radke avoided injury, it was surprising to see him retire at age 33 after only 12 years in the bigs. There is obviously not a magic number or formula that you can apply robotically to everyone, but again, even if there is a shred of creedance to the debate, you don't press it with any pitcher much less a young one.

So we got blown out. It happens. On any given day any great team can get blown out. It's a long season. This is just another down swing and it will be wiped out by many UP swings. We have a good team with a good nucleus. We started out April terribly but overall it was a good month at 17-10. We start out May just as bad (2-5), but there is more reason to believe this month will become a winning one too, than there is to believe it won't. So lets all forget today and look forward to tomorrow. (And if you can't take my word for it, then you can always take Mark Grace's)

2. I have forgotten, I should have given the shout-out at the time. Anyone want to claim credit? It wasn't Carlos. Meanie.

Z pitches on 2 days of rest, and all the position players go back to hitting over .350 with OBPs over .450, and we'll be fine. It's a game of hot streaks and slumps -- lousy teams have 5 game winning streaks, and 90-win teams lose 4 in a row. However -- 4 and 5 starters are a real issue.

I'm conflicted. I only have two modes: "Cub's are the great team ever and will win the world series", or "kill me now". I'm kind of on the fence at this point.

Didn't Lieber say he hopes Rich Hill will take his starter job back away from him? I didn't realize the full meaning of his words when he said them. Still, I'd rather they lose 9-0 than 10-9 in 10. As long as they don't make a habit of it.

I took my 10 year old son to last two games of the series. When we entered the park 2 hours early on Tuesday, the Cubs were taking BP, shagging balls, etc. The energy level was high and they looked like they were ready to rock the house. That's of course what they did. When we arrived in the park 2 hours early for the game Wednesday, there was no BP and nothing going on but Dempster playing long toss with a bullpen catcher. He stopped to talk with Bronson Arroyo for a while before Rothechild showed up and they retreated to the bullpen for a side session. The Reds were out in significant number going through there paces, but there wasn't a Cub to be found save for Kerry Wood who signed autographs for every one who wanted one and posed for countless pictures. Before the game the Reds for some reason were acting jazzed and ready to rumble. Apparently they knew something.... The Redlegs baseball head guy blowing himself up on the warning track in centerfield was THE highlight. His head just rolled away. Ha, ha. The character driving the 4 wheeler was oblivious to the fact he'd lost his passenger and drove around for a good 45 seconds doing his little schtick. A few minutes later they both made their way over to where my son and I were. The baseball head guy was covered in dirt and just looked trashed. It was hilarious. The game was worse in person I'd imagine. We were a couple of rows off of the Cubs dugout right behind Piniella. When Glendon Rusch...I mean, when Lieber gave up that 4th bomb, Lou turned around and said, "This is ridiculous. Get somebody up in the pen." My son then looked at me and said, "Leiber sucks. Why didn't they just start Gallagher?". Turns out maybe that wouldn't have been much better. Then the rains came and just made it worse. The Cubs looked like they were ready to turn on the suck before the first pitch was thrown and obviously remained true to form.

Every guy except for Hill who would seem to be logical Rotation candidates. Are currently sitting in our MLB Bullpen. Not stretched out. Not ready for 100 Pitch outings as MLB starting Pitchers. Would it be so hard for Lou to: 1.Call Hill back up for his next start 2.Send Lieber back to the bullpen where he has been good 3.Send Gallagher and Marshall back to Iowa to get ready to start 4.Call up Bullpen guys like Cotts,Eyre,Ascanio,Wells to pitch in the Chicago pen? It seems not only shortsigted for today. But as of now in ensures that we won't have Gallagher or Marshall ready the next time Lieber or Marquis bomb.

Good points, Dr. Lou hinted there will "be changes" - at least what I got out of Bruce Miles column today in the Daily Herald.

Dr. Aaronb - You are completely ignoring one important fact: Hill currently cannot throw strikes. He is an absolute train wreck right now. Starting him again would be taking a HUGE risk. The idea is to try an minimize the strain on your bullpen. The reason we have several of our startin candidates in the bullpen is due to early departures of the starters (Hill and Lilly mostly though Lilly seems to have straightened out.

[ ]

In reply to by Jace

Do we really need Marshall AND Gallagher up here to pick up 5 innings per week between them? Some combination of Cotts/Ascaino/Eyre/Wells couldn't provide the same mediocre relief? Obviously it's just my opinion. However I would feel much better about the rotation going forward if I thought either one of them would be able to physically step in to it at any time. With them not stretched out to start. Chances are slim that either guy could do it at this point.

[ ]

In reply to by Dr. aaron b

I agree with the rest of your point, minus the notion of getting Hill back. Hill is a big reason that they have these guys up with the team right now. He is not part of the solution right now. Moving at least one of these guys down to get stretched out makes a lot of sense, especially with Eyre coming back. Let's just hope that Eyre doesn't have the same problems he had early last year...

According to Sun Times Mulder out indefinetly now after "shoulder pain" during rehab.

[ ]

In reply to by jacos

Mulder has been getting absolutely hammered down here in Memphis. No word yet if Anynomous Cardinals GM has made any comments along the lines of "When we get Mulder back. It will be like making a deadline trade. Only without giving anyone up."

Cotts wasn't fooling anyone out there, at least as far as I remember. Shades of Wade Miller - I recall many hard hit balls off those soft tosses; hope Hendry will start to wean himself off of his endless fascination with rehab projects.

Recent comments

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    Today is an off day for both the Cubs MLB players and the Cubs minor league players.  

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    For those of you keeping track, so far nine players have been called up to Mesa from the Cubs Dominican Academy for Minor League Camp and they will be playing in the ACL in 2024: 

    * bats or throws left 

    Angel Cepeda, INF 
    * Miguel Cruz, P
    Yidel Diaz, C 
    * Albert Gutierrez, 1B
    Fraiman Marte, P  
    Francis Reynoso, P (ex-1B) 
    Derniche Valdez, INF 
    Edward Vargas, OF 
    Jeral Vizcaino, P 

    And once again, despite what you might read at Baseball Reference and at milb.com, Albert Gutierrez is absolutely positively a left-handed hitter (only), NOT a right-handed hitter.

    Probably not too surprisingly, D. Valdez was the Cubs #1 prospect in the DSL last season, Cepeda was the DSL Cubs best all-around SS prospect not named Derniche Valdez, Gutierrez was the DSL Cubs top power hitting prospect not named Derniche Valdez, E. Vargas was the DSL Cubs top outfield prospect (and Cepeda and E. Vargas were also the DSL Cubs top two hitting prospects), Y. Diaz was the DSL Cubs top catching prospect, and M. Cruz was the DSL Cubs top pitching prospect. 

    F. Marte (ex-STL) and J. Vizcaino (ex-MIL) are older pitchers (both are 22) who were signed by the Cubs after being released by other organizations and then had really good years working out of the bullpen for the Cubs in the DSL last season. 

    The elephant in the room is 21-year old Francis Reynoso, a big dude (6'5) who was a position player (1B) at the Cardinals Dominican Academy for a couple of years, then was released by STL in 2022, and then signed by the Cubs and converted to a RHP at the Cubs Dominican Academy (and he projects as a high-velo "high-leverage" RP in the states). He had a monster year for the DSL Cubs last season (his first year as a pitcher). 

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    DJL: The only players who definitely have opt outs are Cooper, Edwards, and Peralta (Opening Day, 5/1, and 6/1), and that's because they are post-2023 Article XX-B MLB free agents who signed 2024 minor league contracts and (by rule) they get those opt outs automatically. 

    Otherwise, any player signed to a 2024 minor league contract - MIGHT or - MIGHT NOT - have an opt out in their contract, but it is an individual thing, and if there are contractual opt outs the opt out(s) might not necessarily be Opening Day. It could be 5/1, or 6/1, or 7/1 (TBD).

    Because of their extensive pro experience, the players who most-likely have contractual opt outs are Alfaro, Escobar, and D. Smith, but (again), not necessarily Opening Day. 

    Also, just because a player has the right to opt out doesn't mean he will. 

  • Dolorous Jon Lester (view)

    I love the idea that Madrigal heads to Iowa in case Morel can’t handle third.

    The one point that intrigues me here is Cooper over Smith. I feel like the Cubs really like Smith and don’t want to lose him. Could be wrong. He def seems like an opt out if he misses the opening day roster

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    Childersb3: Both Madrigal and Wisdom can be optioned without any restriction. Their consent is not required. 

    They both can be outrighted without restriction, too (presuming the player is not claimed off waivers), but if outrighted they can choose to elect free agency (immediately, or deferred until after the end of the MLB season).

    If the player is outrighted and elects free-agency immediately he forfeits what remains of his salary.

    If he accepts the assignment and defers free agency until after the conclusion of the season, he continues to get his salary, and he could be added back to the 40 anytime prior to becoming a free-agent (club option). 

  • Childersb3 (view)

    Phil, 
    Madrigal and Wisdom can or cannot refuse being optioned to the Minors?
    If they can refuse it, wouldn't they elect to leave the Cubs org?

  • Arizona Phil (view)

    In my opinion, the biggest "affirmative" mistake the Cubs made in the off-season (that is, doing something they should not have done), was blowing $9M in 2024 AAV on Hector Neris. What the Cubs actually need is an alternate closer to be in the pen and available to close if Alzolay pitched the day before (David Robertson would have been perfect), because with his forearm issue last September, I would be VERY wary of over-using Alzolay. I'm not even sure I would pitch him two days in a row!  

    And of course what the Cubs REALLY need is a second TOR SP to pair with Justin Steele. That's where the Cubs are going to need to be willing to package prospects (like the Padres did to acquire Dylan Cease, the Orioles did to acquire Corbin Burnes, and the Dodgers did to acquire Tyler Glasnow). Obviously those ships have sailed, but I would say right now the Cubs need to look very hard at trying to acquire LHSP Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins (and maybe LHP A. J. Puk as well).