Gameday Open Thread
Game 147 Thread / Cubs @ Astros (kinda), (1 of 2)
[Updated 10:40 by ruz]: Whoooooooo!!!!!!!
Game 145 Thread / Cubs @ Cardinals (2 of 3)
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SP | *Ted Lilly |
SP | Braden Looper |
13-9, 4.43, 161 K, 60 BB, 176.2 IP | 12-11, 4.09, 87 K, 41 BB, 174 IP |
||
LF |
Alfonso Soriano |
SS |
Cesar Izturis |
SS |
Ryan Theriot |
3B | #Felipe Lopez |
1B | Derrek Lee |
1B |
Albert Pujols |
3B | Aramis Ramirez |
RF |
Ryan Ludwick |
C |
Geovany Soto |
C |
Yadier Molina |
RF | *Kosuke Fukudome |
LF |
Josh Phelps |
2B |
Mark DeRosa |
2B |
*Adam Kennedy |
CF |
*Felix Pie |
P | Braden Looper |
P | *Ted Lilly |
CF |
*Skip Schumaker |
With the NL Central race now firmly under his team's control, Cubs manager Lou Piniella sounds like a guy who is prepared to enjoy a low-stress wind-down to his team's regular season before he has to deal with the high drama of the National League playoffs.
"After that little rough patch on the last homestand, it's good to see us clicking again," Piniella said following Tuesday night's one-sided win against the Cardinals. "We're playing like we expect to win and doing the things that got us here. It's fun to watch this club play right now."
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Game 144 Thread / Cubs @ Cardinals (1 of 3)
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SP | Ryan Dempster |
SP | Kyle Lohse |
15-6, 2.99, 167 K, 72 BB, 183.2 IP |
13-6, 3.76, 106 K, 44 BB, 182 IP |
||
LF |
Alfonso Soriano |
CF |
*Skip Schumaker |
2B | *Mike Fontenot |
3B | Troy Glaus |
1B | Derrek Lee |
1B |
Albert Pujols |
3B | Aramis Ramirez |
RF |
Ryan Ludwick |
RF | Mark DeRosa |
LF |
*Rick Ankiel |
CF | *Jim Edmonds |
C |
Yadier Molina |
C |
Geovany Soto |
2B |
#Felipe Lopez |
SS |
Ronny Cedeno |
P | Kyle Lohse |
P | Ryan Dempster |
SS |
Cesar Izturis |
The Cubs and the Cardinals meet in the first of three at Busch and the first of six matchups between now and the end of the season. The Cubs lead the season series, 5-4, and have won 10 of their last 15 in St. Louis.
Dempster won his only start this year against the Cardinals, allowing 2 ER over 6 2/3 in a 6-2 Cub victory in early August. Lohse is 0-1, 6.92 in a pair of starts this season vs. the Cubs, but is otherwise having a fine year, producing more ground balls, yielding fewer long balls, and allowing fewer walks than at virtually any other point in his MLB career.
Thread for Games 142, 143 / Cubs @ Reds
Update: We decided to try the losing thing all over again. A brutal, brutal, brutal 9th inning made possible by Kerry Wood's lack of control, Ronny Cedeno's inability to field a ground ball, and the offense's inability to take advantage of the myriad opportunities it had to crush a horrible team.
Good news—the Brewers lost and nearly got themselves perfect-gamed by Chris Young of the Padres, thus ending a 2-5 homestand which included a four-game split with San Diego. What's more galling: splitting four with the Padres at home or losing two of three to the Reds in Cincinnati? (There appeared to be so many Cub fans at the Great American Ballpark this weekend, I think these games should go against our home record.)
Update: The losing streak is over; the winning streak has begun.
Jason Marquis gave up just two ER over 7 1/3 Saturday night, and Cub hitters beat the Cub bullpen, 14-7.
Micah Hoffpauir started in right field, and Dave van Dyck writes that former Rookie of the Year candidate Kosuke Fukudome may want to get used to the view from the dugout.
If adversity really does build character, the Cubs are on their way to having a locker room full of Albert Schweitzers and Abraham Lincolns. Since August turned into September, the Cubbies, losers of six in a row for the first time since last June, are hitting .228 and the pitchers have a cumulative 6.32 ERA.
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Game 141 Thread / Cubs @ Reds (1 of 3)
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SP | *Ted Lilly | SP | Bronson Arroyo |
13-8, 4.23, 160 K, 57 BB, 174.2 IP | 13-10, 4.97, 137 K, 57 BB, 166.2 IP | ||
LF | Alfonso Soriano | CF | *Chris Dickerson |
SS | Ryan Theriot | SS | Jeff Keppinger |
1B | Derrek Lee | 2B | Brandon Phillips |
3B | Aramis Ramirez | 1B | *Joey Votto |
2B | Mark DeRosa | 3B | Edwin Encarnacion |
CF | *Jim Edmonds | RF | *Jay Bruce |
C | Geovany Soto | LF | Jolbert Cabrera |
RF | *Kosuke Fukudome | C | Ryan Hanigan |
P | *Ted Lilly | P | Bronson Arroyo |
That well-known rabble-rouser, Mark Sheldon of mlb.com, is billing this series as a showdown between NL Rookie of the Year candidates Geovany Soto and Joey Votto.
Actually, I don't know anything about Mark Sheldon's rabble-rousing, but the comparison is not entirely off-base:
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Game 140 Thread / Astros @ Cubs (3 of 3)
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SP | *Randy Wolf |
SP | Ryan Dempster |
8-11, 4.73, 134 K, 64 BB, 158 IP |
15-5, 2.95, 160 K, 69 BB, 176.2 IP |
||
CF |
*Michael Bourn | LF |
Alfonso Soriano |
LF |
Ty Wigginton | SS | Ryan Theriot |
SS | Miguel Tejada |
1B |
Derrek Lee |
1B | #Lance Berkman |
3B |
Aramis Ramirez |
3B |
#Geoff Blum |
C | Geovany Soto |
RF |
Hunter Pence |
RF | Mark DeRosa |
2B |
*David Newhan | CF |
Reed Johnson |
C |
Humberto Quintero | 2B | Ronny Cedeno |
P | *Randy Wolf |
P | Ryan Dempster |
Please.Win.This.Game.
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Game 139 Thread / Astros @ Cubs (2 of 3)
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SP | Brandon Backe | SP | Carlos Zambrano |
9-12, 5.42, 122 K, 72 BB, 159.1 IP | 13-5, 3.53, 114 K, 61 BB, 168.1 IP | ||
CF | *Michael Bourn | LF | Alfonso Soriano |
LF | Ty Wigginton | 2B | *Mike Fontenot |
SS | Miguel Tejada | 1B | Derrek Lee |
1B | #Lance Berkman | 3B | Aramis Ramirez |
3B | #Geoff Blum | RF | Mark DeRosa |
RF | Hunter Pence | CF | *Jim Edmonds |
2B | *David Newhan | C | Geovany Soto |
C | Humberto Quintero | SS | Ryan Theriot |
P | Brandon Backe | P | #Carlos Zambrano |
While Cub fans are hoping that the team's bats will come back to life (no EBH's among the club's last 27 hits), the greater concern right now is with Carlos Zambrano.
All Cubdom would like to see that the two extra days of rest Zambrano got when his scheduled Sunday start was pushed back to this evening have proven beneficial to his "fatigued" "dead" tired arm. If nothing else, in the span of those two days, the calendar turned from August to September.
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Game 138 Thread / Astros @ Cubs (1 of 3)
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Game 137 Thread / Phillies @ Cubs (4 of 4)
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SP | *Jamie Moyer |
SP | *Sean Marshall |
11-7, 3.81, 102 K, 50 BB, 160.2 IP |
3-3, 3.52, 43 K, 13 BB, 46 IP |
||
SS | #Jimmy Rollins | LF |
Alfonso Soriano |
2B | *Chase Utley | CF |
Reed Johnson |
LF | Pat Burrell |
1B |
Derrek Lee |
1B | *Ryan Howard |
3B |
Aramis Ramirez |
CF | #Shane Victorino |
2B |
Mark DeRosa |
RF |
Jayson Werth | C |
Geovany Soto |
3B |
Pedo Feliz | RF |
*Kosuke Fukudome |
C |
Carlos Ruiz |
SS |
Ronny Cedeno |
P | *Jamie Moyer |
P | *Sean Marshall |
Carlos Zambrano was scheduled to start Sunday for the Cubs, but Z and his dead arm ("muscle fatigue in his triceps," according to the Cubs) are going to skip a turn. WSCR also reported this morning that Rich Harden, whose velocity was markedly down against the Phillies on Friday, will skip his next turn, meaning he won't pitch until sometime after the Houston series. Can I say it? Oy, oy, oy. (Nice to have an 11-game lead in the Wild Card race, however.)
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Recent comments
crunch (view)
masterboney is a luxury on a team that has multiple, capable options for 2nd, SS, and 3rd without him around. i don't hate the guy, but if madrigal is sticking around then masterboney is expendable.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
I THINK I agree with that decision. They committed to Wicks as a starter and, while he hasn’t been stellar I don’t think he’s been bad enough to undo that commitment.
That said, Wesneski’s performance last night dictates he be the next righty up.
Quite the dilemma. They have many good options, particularly in relief, but not many great ones. And complicating the situation is that the pitchers being paid the most are by and large performing the worst - or in Taillon’s case, at least to this point, not at all.
Childersb3 (view)
Wesneski and Mastrobuoni to Iowa
Taillon and Wisdom up
Wesneski can't pitch for a couple of days after the 4 IP from last night. But Jed picked Wicks over Wesneski.
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)
Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention". Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."
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!!!