Thursday is "Camp Day" at Cubs Extended Spring Training, which means the entire squad participates in an extended training & workout session (PFP, pick-off drills, baserunning drills, fielding practice, BP, and situational hitting), with an intrasquad game to follow.
In post-Minor League Camp roster news, RHP Alvido Jimenez, Hector Mayora, and Jade Mendez, 1B Melvin Camarena, and OF Xavier Batista, Albert Hernandez, and Manuel Pestana arrived at Fitch Park from the Cubs Dominican Academy in Boca Chica, DR, last week (and Camarena, X. Batista, Hernandez, and Pestana have already seen EXST game action), and 23-year old 5'11 195 former catcher Alvaro Sosa (214/254/305 with a 33% CS% combined at AZL Cubs and Boise in 2009 and a career .225 hitter going back to 2005) is being converted to a RHP (joining ex-OF Drew Rundle, who continues his conversion to LHP that began at Instructs last October). And (as I have mentioned previously) utility INF Jonathan Mota continues his conversion to catcher, to help him improve his versatilty. (Mota will be assigned to a full-season minor league team after he has had a chance to get some more experience behind the plate).
Here is the current up-to-date Cubs Extended Spring Training roster (61 players) as of today:
Baez has picked it up lately, hits in 13 of his last 14 games..something like 19/56 with 3 BB and 9 K over that span.
That Liberace movie is on HBO this week end.
/just saying
wow...that rizzo K in the 8th was a swing even sammy sosa would rag on.
It's hard to compare two very different eras, but as good as Urlacher was, Butkus was better.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
cubs load the bases with 0 out...no one scores.
awesome!
I thought it would be strained neck from watching balls fly over his head
~~ right after Sveum stomped on his big right toe.
He sounds like Marmol minus the $9.8M.
i wonder how long until i.stewart asks to be traded...if for no other reason than to get ABs on someone else's AAA team
yet another day he didn't start...got a PH appearance, 0-1.
also, josh vitters continues to be unimpressive, 0-4.
b.bogusevic continues to make a joke of AAA...1-2 (HR) with 3bb...(.370/.475 avg/ob%)
"My right big toe is kind of sore, why do you ask?"
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Somewhere in the Cubs locker room, Bill Murray chimes in...
"an Army without leaders is like a foot without a big toe"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtbBmwgxKc0
I wonder how what converstion went.
"Hey Shawn, do you have anything that hurts?"
"My right big toe is kind of sore, why do you ask?"
i'm not sure the author of that report knows what "lights-out" reliever means.
if he means a reliever with spotty control that will throw 20+ pitches an inning in AAA is "lights-out" i wonder how high the praise goes for someone that deserves it.
he's got good velocity at least. he's worth taking a chance on.
s.camp on the DL (evidently sucking is an injury these days) with a "sprained right big toe" (no, seriously)...r.dolis up
File this under the banner of how's the Cubs organizational depth coming along...
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Must have stubbed that toe throwing the grand slam last night. How convenient.
per Roto...
But for 2013 the Cubs rotation depth is greatly improved.
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JB: I completely agree about the 2013 improvement.
In fact, the debacle that was 2012 was accelerated when Maholm/Dempster/Garza were gone which is a tough nut to crack for any team. If the trade deadline subtracts 2 starters this year from the Cubs they likely will have Villanueva and even Scott Baker should be ready by then...and if not then one AAA guy (Rusin, Vizcaino).