Cub Power and Wood Arm Fry Padres
Alfonso Soriano laced a two-out line-drive two-run double down the LF line and Dioner Navarro followed with a towering two-run HR over the RF bullpens to rally the Cubs to a 4-2 lead in the 6th, and then Jorge Soler slugged a solo home run to the top of the berm over the LF fence and Christian Villanueva drilled two-run HR over the left-center fence to key a five-run 8th, as the Cubs defeated the San Diego Padres 9-3 in Cactus League action this afternoon at Dwight Paterson Field at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, AZ.
LHP Travis Wood contributed with both his arm and his bat, throwing four innings of one-hit shutout ball with six strikeouts, and roping a line-drive lead-off single and then scoring on the Soriano double to ignite the four-run 6th. On the negative side, Wood did walk three over the course of the 4.0 IP (63 pitches - 35 strikes).
RHP Scott Feldman got the start for the Cubs and worked three innings (51 pitches - 33 strikes), allowing two runs on four hits (including a Mark Kotsay two-run line-drive double into the RF Corner) with three strikeouts. He was aided by two nearly identical outstanding defensive plays by SS Alberto Gonzalez, as the veteran utility infielder made two diving stops to his right and then righted himself and make a pinpoint throw to 1st base to retire the batters. Before you get too excited, Gonzalez also booted a routine grounder for an E-6 that should have been turned into a 6-4-3 DP.
In addition to Gonzalez's two highlight-reel stops & throws, catcher Dioner Navarro picked a runner off 2nd base and nailed another runner trying to steal 2nd.
Down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the 6th, the Cubs rallied for four runs off SD RHP Tim Stauffer.
Travis Wood ripped a line-drive single to left and David DeJewsus lined a single to RF to start the inning, Then with two outs, Alfonso Soriano laced a line-drive double into the LF corner to drive-in Wood and DeJesus, and Dioner Navarro followed immediately with his two-run HR over the bullpens in RF.
The Cubs added some insurance, putting-up a five-spot in the 8th against Padres RHRP Dale Thayer.
Jorge Soler slugged a one-out solo HR to the top of the berm in left, and then Dave Sappelt lined a single into left-center and Logan Watkins walked. J. C. Boscan roped an opposite-field line-drive RBI single to RF to score Sappelt, and Steve Clavenger lifted a sacrifice fly to left to plate Watkins. Christian Villanueva then completed the Cubs scoring with a two-run HR over the left-centerfield fence, his team-leading third HR of the Spring.
Carlos Marmol and Michael Bowden followed Feldman and Wood to the mound, each throwing one inning. Marmol had an easy 1-2-3 8th (F-8, 4-3, 6-3), but Bowden allowed a run on two hits in the 9th (one a bloop double that fell between Sappelt, Villanueva, and Edwin Maysonet near the foul line in short left, and the other a line-drive RBI single that glanced off the glove of second-baseman Logan Watkins).
Recent comments
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Dolorous Jon Lester 1 hour 28 min ago (view)
Teenagers we've never heard of*
Fixed! -
crunch 1 hour 55 min ago (view)
2027 team gonna be fire.
i can't wait to see what group of teenagers we get for bryant mid-season.
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tim815 2 hours 14 min ago (view)
Underwood to Pittsburgh for a 1B that hasn't played stateside yet. 2 DSL seasons.
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crunch 5 hours 7 min ago (view)
the 2 geese are now together covering left-center
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crunch 5 hours 20 min ago (view)
we now have 2 OF geese.
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crunch 5 hours 51 min ago (view)
game is in goose delay.
arrieta threw 2 innings...not bad, not good, nothing alarming, nothing impressive. it'll be nice to see him work in future outings.
game back again...goose still in CF.
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crunch 6 hours 15 min ago (view)
there is a goose in CF hanging out.
this is goose territory now. this is not up for discussion.
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crunch 7 hours 25 min ago (view)
pedro strop broke COVID protocol and will be even more days away from his spring debut. good job, guy.
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Arizona Phil 21 hours 28 min ago (view)
HAGSAG: I've been watching Michael Hermosillo since his earliest days with the Angels, playing over the years against the Cubs in AZL, Minor League Camp, EXST, and AZ Instructs.
From the outset he showed plus defensive skills, a plus arm, and plus speed, but his hit tool was clearly lacking, and he had well below-average power. I thought AAA was his likely ceiling, and even then only as a 4th OF.
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crunch 1 day 4 hours ago (view)
3/9 with a homer (no walks).
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Cubster 1 day 4 hours ago (view)
How is Almora Jrs spring going?
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crunch 1 day 4 hours ago (view)
maybin 0-9 with 6 Ks so far this spring.
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Hagsag 1 day 14 hours ago (view)
Phil, what are your thoughts on Mike Hermosillo? He is from our area,Ottawa.
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Arizona Phil 1 day 23 hours ago (view)
The fact that the Cubs have not run him through waivers by now tells me they know Duane Underwood Jr is a lock to get claimed and so they are hoping to find a club that would be willing to give the Cubs something more than the $50,000 waiver price in return for Dunderwood (either more $$$ and/or a player).
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Arizona Phil 1 day 23 hours ago (view)
Today's pitchers, most of them the same guys who threw last Tuesday:
Alec Mills:
FB: 89-91
SL: 81
CH: 81-82
CV: 67-70
COMMENT: This just in: Mills heater now sitting at 91!!!!... had two easy innings and looked very good... threw only a handful of his "Bugs Bunny curves" but they are fun to watch because hitters don't know how to deal with it... ...
Craig Kimbrel:
FB: 93-96
CT: 87-88
SL: 82-84 -
Arizona Phil 2 days 3 hours ago (view)
DJL: Jason Adam sustained a right elbow fracture a few years ago and missed two full seasons, and when he returned to action he started using a "short-arm" delivery.
Comments
Today is the first day that
Today is the first day that Draft-Excluded players can be sent to the minors (a Draft-Excluded player is any player on a minor league reserve list eligible for selection in the 2012 Rule 5 Draft whose contract was selected & who was added to an MLB 40-man roster between last August 15th and the December 2012 Rule 5 Draft), and it's also the first day that a Rule 5 player can be sent to the minors (or reclaimed by the organization from which the player was drafted), so look for lots & lots of transaction activity around MLB today.
BTW, the Cubs Draft-Excluded players are Chris Rusin, Trey McNutt, Christian Villanueva, Logan Watkins, and Rob Whitenack, which is why McNutt, Villanueva, Watkins, and Whitenack have lasted in Big League Camp this long. (Rusin has pitched very well so far, so he could be one of the last cuts).
Then next Friday is the last day that an injured player who did not accrue any MLB Service Time in 2012 can be sent to the minors, so Junior Lake (sore shoulder) has to be optioned by that date or else the Cubs would be stuck having to place him on their MLB DL (and pay him at the MLB rate) if he is not ready to play by MLB Opening Day.
Next Friday is also the deadline to release a player who is signed to a non-guaranteed contract and pay the player 1/6 of his 2013 salary as termination pay. (If a player signed to a non-guarateed contract is released 15 or fewer days prior to Opening Day, he gets 1/4 of his salary as termination pay). This would apply to Ian Stewart, who is signed to a $2M non-guaranteed contract. However. if an injured player is released he must be paid 100% of his salary, so the Cubs would have to wait until Stewart is cleared to play in a game (and probably not until he actually does play in a game) before they can release him (presuming they are inclined to do so). Which is why Stewart would be smart to string the injury out as long as possible, if he thinks he might be a release candidate.
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McNutt, Raley, Watkins, Whitenack, Struck and Cabrera sent down...camp at 53.
Alberto Cabrera was at Minor
Alberto Cabrera was at Minor League Camp today, but the other five had not yet arrived.
Several pitchers threw "live" BP at Minor League Camp today, including Jose Arias, Paul Blackburn, Esmailin Caridad, Lendy Castillo, Corbin Hoffner, Pierce Johnson, Su-Min Jung, Austin Kirk, Ryan McNeil, A. J. Morris, Loiger Padron, Jasvir Rakkar, and Austin Urban.
Urban threw the ball very well, and this was actually the first time I've ever seen him throw to hitters. He's been on the DL for his entire Cub career prior to this season with a back injury (he was drafted out of an Iowa JC in 2011 and got an "overslot" bonus to sign), and has yet to pitch in a game of any kind.
And Dillon Maples is hurt again. It's either his elbow or his shoulder.
For all you Daury Torrez fans out there (and I know you are there), he has arrived, he is in uniform, and he has been assigned to the Daytona Squad (at least temporarily). Some of you may be aware that Torrez was the only Cub prospect rated in the Baseball America Top 20 DSL/VSL prospects list last month.
BTW, Torrez, RHP Erick Leal (acquired from AZ in the Tony Campana deal), and catcher Erick Castillo are the only DSL players in camp (so far) who have not previously been in the U. S.
Venezuelan 3B (ex-C) Mark Malave is also in camp, but he was at Instructs post-2011 and at Extended Spring Training last year. (Malave is notewoirthy because he received a $1.6M signing bonus from the Cubs as a 16-year old in 2011).
And FWIW, Dan Vogelbach is assigned to the Kane County squad, and has been taking grounders at 3rd base.
Daury is the man or maybe the
smell the desperation...
smell the desperation...
Yanks reaching out to Chipper Jones' agent and have asked about Derrek Lee.
Garza passed some tests, may start throwing on Wednesday and hoping to get at least one Cactus League start in...
Also called Rolen.
"Indians purchased the
"Ian Stewart (quad) is
josh booty (ARZ) in a b-game
Jim D. steps into the booth
Monday was a big day for Mark
wow...they got him in tent
Gracie has the same bunk that
He plays baseball all day
With the possibility of being
Injury updates
Italia! Italia!
Italia goes up 4-0 in first over D.R. on a 3-run HR by some dude named Colabello. Rizzo walked and scored a run.
Colabello is a Massachusetts
Rebuilding sucks.
i'm just glad most of the
Yeah, rebuilding is a
i'm about sick of it...this
So, basically, our front
that's a bit extreme.
Sticking to my guns. This
the jim hendry shit sandwich,
I'm with you, Crunch. I
I'll take the train in with
I just moved to Naperville
I know we keep repeating
It's important to home-grow
I didn't want any of the top
i understand them walking
Rizzo 0/3 with a a BB, K and
Rizzo 0/3 with a a BB, K and run through 7.2 IP, just popped up off Casilla to leadoff 8th inning and Italia down one.
Has anyone used unblock or