TWiB 6/26 - 7/2

[MikeJordan23 0]

It still seems likely the Cards are just in a bad stretch that may or may not be related to playing the AL. We'll see how things go when they're back to playing their own league.

 

I don't really think it's the AL, if we were pitching like this against any team in the NL, we'd be losing too. We slaughtered the Royals in their ballpark earlier, so that's not the problem. I think the pitching has finally imploded, and they are pitching like their peripherals would suggest they should. For the past 3 years, atleast 3 outta of the 5 starters in our rotation pitched to below avg/bad peripherals, but didn't totally fall apart do to superior infield defense, and some luck. Now, all those ground balls that used to get gobbled up, are finding holes, and those walks are all scoring. A team that has a bunch of pitchers that pitch to contact, walk a lot of hitters and can't strike out anyone, is setting themselves up for a failure. And we don't have a 2004 offense that can cover up the bad pitching and slug teams to death. We have a very average lineup and a horrible back end of a rotation, and a struggling bullpen. We'll still probably make the post season by default.

[MikeJordan23 0]

 

 

I don't know, have they've been worse? The Cardinals starters ERAs in June

 

Jason Marquis 8.40

Jeff Suppan 5.40

Sidney Ponson 8.22

Mark Mulder 12.71

 

All have a BA against over 3.90+, Mark Mulder's is almost .500 for the month of June. That's insane.

Ryan Madson 5.72 (6 starts)

Cory Lidle 5.65 (5 starts)

Brett Myers 7.13 (5 starts)

Cole Hamels 6.49 (5 starts)

Eude Brito 10.38 (2 starts)

Scott Mathieson 6.75 (2 starts)

Gavin Floyd 15.75 (1 start)

Adam Bernero 36.00 (1 start)

 

You left out Anthony Reyes and Chris Carpenter. I did not exclude a single starter. You'll note four spot starts gone horribly wrong. Even Brett Myers stunk before the domestic assault incident.

 

 

Wow, I didn't know it was THAT bad. Fair enough. That is...crazy.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

And Aaron Fultz will get a start tomorrow!

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Aaron Rowand, Coco Crisp, or Gary Matthews Jr?

 

That's a tough one for me to figure out. That catch today was SICK.

[strummer 0]

There was just a stat on BBTN that the Cubs are 19-20 against the NL Central and 10-31 against everybody else.

[the pinjockey 0]

I see Gillick's master plan now. In an attempt to get out of Ryan Franklin's contract he is going to push him into murdering someone by throwing Fultz out there.

 

Matthews>Crisp>>>>>Rowand, mostly due to my irrational hatred for that play by this point.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Mathews by far had the best catch this year.

[Guest Brian]

It still seems likely the Cards are just in a bad stretch that may or may not be related to playing the AL. We'll see how things go when they're back to playing their own league.

 

I don't really think it's the AL, if we were pitching like this against any team in the NL, we'd be losing too. We slaughtered the Royals in their ballpark earlier, so that's not the problem. I think the pitching has finally imploded, and they are pitching like their peripherals would suggest they should. For the past 3 years, atleast 3 outta of the 5 starters in our rotation pitched to below avg/bad peripherals, but didn't totally fall apart do to superior infield defense, and some luck. Now, all those ground balls that used to get gobbled up, are finding holes, and those walks are all scoring. A team that has a bunch of pitchers that pitch to contact, walk a lot of hitters and can't strike out anyone, is setting themselves up for a failure. And we don't have a 2004 offense that can cover up the bad pitching and slug teams to death. We have a very average lineup and a horrible back end of a rotation, and a struggling bullpen. We'll still probably make the post season by default.

 

When is this going to happen to the White Sox...

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I thought you were a Sox fan?

[Guest Brian]

Fifteen years and I jumped ship. My hatred of Guillen and Williams has built steadily and my disdain over the treatment of Thomas has culminated in a crescendo of anger. In other words, I'm pissed over everything and I've burnt that bridge. I now have no favorite team; just teams I hate for various reasons and teams I like for various reasons.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Alright, fair enough. One person or a few isn't going to turn me off from a team. But I can understand if it does another person.

[Vern Gagne 0]

espn.com

 

 

 

Since 1965, major-league teams have relied on the amateur draft to find players who they hope will become stars in the near future.

 

But the richest and cheapest source of talent can be found in the international market, especially in Latin America, and not in North American schools.

 

That is why July 2, when teams are eligible to sign international players who will turn 17 years old before September, is such an important date. And this year's harvest of talent might be the best yet.

 

 

"This year more organizations conserved part of their budget to go after the ballplayers that will be available in the international market."

-- Dodgers scout Ezequiel Sepulveda

"There's talent all over the place this year. I think that at least three players could get millionaire bonuses to become professional," said former major-leaguer Junior Noboa, now the Arizona Diamondbacks' scouting director in Latin America.

 

Although major-league organizations invest millions of dollars searching for players in faraway places such as Australia and Asia, the best available talent resides in Dominican Republic and Venezuela once again.

 

"Last year I searched Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Venezuela and Dominican Republic looking for players," said Felix Francisco, the Latin American scouting supervisor for the San Diego Padres. "By far this year's best players will be in Dominicana and Venezuela, as it has been all of these years."

 

Puerto Rico, which participates in the amateur draft as part of the North American school system, and Cuba, which prohibited professionalism 40 years ago, are not among the scouts' options.

 

Last year the New York Mets found within 24 hours two of the best available prospects: Dominican outfielder Fernando Martinez and Venezuelan veteran pitcher Deoly Guerra, who got $1.4 million and $600,000 in signing bonuses, respectively.

 

"This year more organizations conserved part of their budget to go after the ballplayers that will be available in the international market. In the past, they used to spend all the money in the North American draft," said Dodgers scout Ezequiel Sepulveda, who is president of the Dominican Republic Scouts Association.

 

ESPNdeportes.com polled at least a dozen Latin American scouts who agreed that Venezuelan catcher Jesus Montero is the most coveted international prospect available.

 

Montero, 16, is a right-handed hitter with tremendous power who could be converted to first base in the pros. Most scouts believe Montero will get a signing bonus in the $1 million to $2 million range.

 

Dominicans Engel Bletre (OF), Angel Villalona (3B), Moises Tejeda (SS), Francisco Pena and Esmeily Gonzalez (SS); Venezuelan pitchers Larry Suarez and Euclides Viloria and Australian Jason Smit are the other players who could get better offers.

 

"One never knows what each organization is thinking, but as far as San Diego, we think Montero, Beltre, Villalona and Tejeda are the best of the group," said Francisco.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

When is this going to happen to the White Sox...

It's already happening. The Jon Garland contract inked during the off-season is looking worse with each passing start; Javier Vazquez is only being bailed out of potential losses by great Sox comebacks, and Contreras probably should've lost at least two or three starts in the month of June, but again, the offense bailed him out.

 

The Sox are touted for their great pitching, but their team ERA is fifth in the AL and 10th overall. Again, they've got enough guys who will give them six or seven innings, although the backend of the rotation is more likely to give up more than a few runs in the process.

 

It's the offense that's getting the job done. The Sox are first in the bigs in runs scored and RBI and near the top for hits, homers, batting average and slugging.

 

Naturally, I couldn't help but look at some team stats for the Cubs. They and the Royals are the only teams without a complete game on the season. They're also last in runs, doubles, RBI, OBP, and slugging. These factors considered, this cross-town showdown should be a bunch of blowouts.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Blue Jays should've just worn the Canadian WBC uniforms or something.

 

I thought they were pretty cool, except for the gaudy CANADA in place of the name on the back.

 

 

[CanadianChris 0]

They weren't bad. Of course, if the Jays keep winning, they can go out there in ballet costumes for all I care.

[treble 0]

They didn't even bother to make the numbers and the 'Canada's in the same style as they are in their new uniforms. They obviously had that shit left lying around from a few years ago and stitched them on to some black jerseys.

[Guest Felonies!]

Why don't the Toronto Blue Jays actually wear, y'know, blue? Are they afraid they're not selling enough merchandise to black people?

[Bored 0]

ESPN's "exclusive" announcement for All-Star selections is tonight but it's already been leaked that Jason Bay and Jose Reyes have been voted as starters.

[vivalaultra 0]

Good. Jason Bay absolutely deserved it. He's been under the radar, but definently deserves to start the All-Star Game, just keep him outta the homerun derby. Jose Reyes deserved it based on the last month alone, and there's a large derth of big name shortstops in the NL. I imagine the rest of the NL team will be:

 

1B: Pujols

2B: Utley

3B: ...Scott Rolen...or David Wright

C: Lo Duca

OF: Andruw

OF: uh...who's ahead? Beltran or Edmonds?

P: probably not Glavine...either Arroyo or Webb

 

The interesting thing will be who Phil Garner takes as backups. I imagine Berkman will be selected and most likely Biggio. That leaves 5 manager picks, of those five, I have no idea, but probably Nomar, I'd guess.

[Guest]

He should take Jeff Kent or Furcal.

[Hawk 34 0]

Remember those talks about Griffey, Jr should move to LF? Yeah, after watching Ryan Freel miss about 8 plays that Junior would have easily covered, let's just put that idea on the shelf for the time being.

 

I still want to know who the hell they put on the AS team for the Royals. At least Pittsburgh has Jason Bay...

[Guest]

Ok, why the fuck did Aaron Fultz start. They seriously started a terrible lefty specialist/middle reliever.

 

It's almost as if they wanted to give the bullpen a head start.

[Guest Felonies!]

Crazy game in Chicago. The Cubs have scored 4 in the first!

 

EDIT: 7! Barrett and Zambrano homered!

[vivalaultra 0]

I detest the Cubs, but I love me some Zambrano~! The Cubs/Sox series has been great, just to listen to the Cubs broadcasters bemoan the fact that their team blows and then hear Hawk Harrelson begging for balls to get foul and being a complete and utter homer. I hate Hawk.

 

As far as KC All-Stars...uh....Reggie Sanders or Grudzielanek? Maybe Emil Brown?

[Bruiser Chong 0]

then hear Hawk Harrelson begging for balls to get foul and being a complete and utter homer. I hate Hawk.

I said the same thing elsewhere. I'm so used to his pleas getting answered that it's funny to see it not pan out.

 

The funny thing about this he only threw 24 pitches in the inning. Hopefully this doesn't turn out like the White Sox/Twins game earlier this year. I'm hoping Zambrano can just attack the zone with a five-run lead.

[vivalaultra 0]

I liked how the Cubs were just jumping on Buerhle's first pitch and smacking the shit out of it, so Hawk said it was obviously because he was tipping his pitches. The Cubs are easily my least favorite team in baseball, but they're on pace to lose 100 games, so I feel safe rooting for them against the villianous White Sox.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The Cubs are playing well. Thank god I'm watching the Twilight Zone marathon instead.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Theres gonna be a show on The Science channel on July 10th at 9pm (bad timing with the HR Derby) called "The Secret Formula of Baseball" and it looks interesting sort of.

 

Os have first and third, one out down 6-2 in the 8th.

 

Edit: Bad throw by Betemit allows a run to score and runners at second and third.

[vivalaultra 0]

It's lookin' like the Big Z might be losing his cool...and control.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

And suddenly, it's a game. Cubs are in trouble if they don't tack on some more runs, because Zambrano won't be in the game much longer.