Cubs Playoff Baseball, Kind Of!
SOUTHERN LEAGUE (AA) NORTHERN DIVISION PLAYOFFS
GAME 1, IN-GAME DISCUSSION THREAD [PARACHAT]
CAROLINA MUDCATS (77-57) @ WEST TENN DIAMOND JAXX (83-56)
PRINGLES PARK, 6:35 pm CDT, RADIO: WDXI
It's not all doom and gloom in the Cubs' system. No, the team's Double-A affiliate, the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, have qualified for the postseason by virtue of winning both the first and second halves of the season in the Northern Division of the Southern League! Today, the Jaxx commence a best-of-five series against their biggest rivals this season, the Carolina Mudcats, a Florida Marlins affiliate, and given that the Cubs aren't giving us much to cheer about at the Major League level, why shouldn't we revel in the fact that the Jaxx have enjoyed a terrific year? It's pure escapism! The Diamond Jaxx are... SP: *Renyel Pinto, Ricky Nolasco, Carlos Marmol, Jae-Kuk Ryu RP: David Aardsma, Randy Wells, Andy Shipman, Jon Searles, Thomas Atlee, Victor Ramos, *Ryan O'Malley C: #Jose Reyes, Casey Kopitze IF: Brandon Sing, *Eric Patterson, #Matt Craig, Casey McGehee, *Buck Coats, Ryan Theriot, Aaron Sisk OF: *Adam Greenberg, Matt Creighton, Luis Montanez, #Dwaine Bacon DL: Jemel Spearman, *Felix Pie, *Sean Marshall, *Jon Connolly, Lee Gwaltney, Rocky Cherry And today they line up as follows...
Some of you may remember Renyel Pinto, 23, from the final Spring Training game this spring, when he started against a certain Felix Hernandez of the Mariners. On that particular day, Pinto started the game with eight balls, allowed a run to score on a wild pitch in the same frame, and then proceeded to shut the Mariners down, inducing plenty of groundballs. In his four innings, he didn't allow a single hit, and it was certainly a promising outing. Given that he'd dominated at Double-A in 2004, he was to go to Iowa, and, should he dominate there too, it ought not have been long before he was up in the majors.
It didn't quite work out that way. The transition from the pitcher friendly Southern League to the much more hitter orientated Pacific Coast League saw Pinto, never the most pinpoint to begin with, lose all control, as he allowed 24 walks in 22.2 innings, and 31 hits too, all "good" only for a 9.53 ERA. A month into the season, the left-handed Pinto took his low-90s fastball, slider and changeup, all three of which are good pitches, back to West Tenn. His control as ever remains an issue, for he's walked 58 there in 129.2 innings, and he probably projects best as a left-handed reliever, but Pinto's got himself back roughly to where he was at this stage last year. Which is needing to crack Triple-A. And he'll only do that if he throws more strikes.
Hopefully he can come up with the goods today, anyway.
The rest of the series looks like this...
Game 2, Tomorrow, 6.35pm CDT, Carolina Mudcats @ West Tenn Diamond Jaxx
Game 3, Friday, 5.05pm CDT, Carolina Mudcats @ West Tenn Diamond Jaxx
Game 4, Sunday, 2.00pm EDT, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx @ Carolina Mudcats
Game 5, Monday, 7.15pm EDT, West Tenn Diamond Jaxx @ Carolina Mudcats
Games 4 and 5 will only be played if necessary. The series winner will then play either the Birmingham Barons (CWS) or the Jacksonville Suns (LAD) for the Southern League title in a five game series starting a week today.
Do be sure to either listen via the Radio (Dixie 1310 AM WDXI, and there's an online feed at WDXI.com), or go to the games in person if you have the chance!
And go Jaxx!
It's not all doom and gloom in the Cubs' system. No, the team's Double-A affiliate, the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, have qualified for the postseason by virtue of winning both the first and second halves of the season in the Northern Division of the Southern League! Today, the Jaxx commence a best-of-five series against their biggest rivals this season, the Carolina Mudcats, a Florida Marlins affiliate, and given that the Cubs aren't giving us much to cheer about at the Major League level, why shouldn't we revel in the fact that the Jaxx have enjoyed a terrific year? It's pure escapism! The Diamond Jaxx are... SP: *Renyel Pinto, Ricky Nolasco, Carlos Marmol, Jae-Kuk Ryu RP: David Aardsma, Randy Wells, Andy Shipman, Jon Searles, Thomas Atlee, Victor Ramos, *Ryan O'Malley C: #Jose Reyes, Casey Kopitze IF: Brandon Sing, *Eric Patterson, #Matt Craig, Casey McGehee, *Buck Coats, Ryan Theriot, Aaron Sisk OF: *Adam Greenberg, Matt Creighton, Luis Montanez, #Dwaine Bacon DL: Jemel Spearman, *Felix Pie, *Sean Marshall, *Jon Connolly, Lee Gwaltney, Rocky Cherry And today they line up as follows...
Renyel Pinto, LHP 10-3, 2.78 ERA 123/58 K/BB, 3 HR in 129.2 IP |
Ray Aguilar, LHP 5-2, 3.20 ERA 49/17 K/BB, 6 HR in 84.1 IP |
2B *Frank Moore | 2B *Eric Patterson |
LF James Shanks | SS Ryan Theriot |
RF Juan Carlos Muniz | RF *Adam Greenberg |
C Jason Hill | 3B Casey McGehee |
CF Reggie Abercrombie | 1B Brandon Sing |
1B Angel Molina | CF *Buck Coats |
3B #Drew Niles | LF Luis Montanez |
SS Rex Rundgren | C #Jose Reyes |
P #Ray Aguilar | P *Renyel Pinto |
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