Cubnut's Archives
Game 2 NLDS / Dodgers @ Cubs
SP | Chad Billingsley | SP | Carlos Zambrano |
|
16-10, 3.14, 201 K, 80 BB, 200.2 IP |
2008 | 14-6, 3.91, 130 K, 72 BB, 188.2 IP |
||
0-0, 0.00, 3 K, 0 BB, 2 IP |
Post | 0-1, 4.37, 20 K, 6 BB, 22.2 IP |
||
SS |
#Rafael Furcal | LF |
Alfonso Soriano |
|
C |
Russell Martin |
SS |
Ryan Theriot | |
LF |
Manny Ramirez | 1B |
Derrek Lee |
|
RF |
*Andre Ethier |
3B |
Aramis Ramirez |
|
1B |
*James Loney |
2B |
Mark DeRosa | |
CF |
Matt Kemp |
CF |
*Jim Edmonds |
|
2B |
*Blake DeWitt |
C |
Geovany Soto |
|
3B |
Casey Blake |
RF |
*Kosuke Fukudome |
|
P |
Chad Billingsley | P | #Carlos Zambrano |
It has taken a good 21 hours of self pity and a bracing White Sox defeat to clear my head and even let me think about previewing Game Two.
Yes, last night went down harsh, but from reading Rob's post and many of the ensuing comments earlier this afternoon, it is clear that there are still some optimistic souls in Cubdom. All I can say is, God bless you all.
Starters' Records Since 8/1/08 |
|||||||||
W |
L |
IP |
H/9 |
K/9 |
BB/9 |
ERA |
HR/9 |
No-Hitters Thrown |
|
Billingsley |
5 | 1 |
62 | 10.2 | 8.1 |
3.5 | 3.34 | .73 | 0 |
Zambrano | 2 | 2 | 47 | 8.6 | 6.5 |
5.0 | 7.28 | 1.80 | 1 |
Billingsley pitched twice against the Cubs this season. On both occasions, he matched up with Ryan Dempster. Once, Billingsley threw well (7 K, 2 ER in 6 IP); the other time, he threw not as well. The Cubs won both contests.
Among Cub hitters, only Jim Edmonds has more than 10 career plate appearances against the 23-year-old Billingsley, though Fukudome, Lee, and DeRosa have all tagged him for homers.
Zambrano, meanwhile,
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Cubs to Win World Series, and Other Hopeful Links
--At the Baseball Analysts, Ross Roley explains why the Cubs have a 22% likelihood of winning the World Series. That's the marginally bad news. The good news is, that's the highest probability for any of the competing playoff teams, according to Roley. The Brewers come in second at 16%. The Angels, with the best record in baseball, weigh in at just 13%. Predicting the result of a short series is an inexact science at best.
Cubs vs. Dodgers—Stacking Up the Stats
How the Cubs and their NLDS opponents stacked up in a variety of statistical categories. (Team's National League rankings appear in parens; "DER" refers to Defensive Efficiency Ratio and "RZR" refers to Revised Zone Rating. Throughout, * means stats are through Saturday, 9/27. )
CUBS |
L.A. |
|
Hitting | ||
855 (1st) |
RS |
700 (13th) |
184 (5th) | HR |
137 (13th) |
.355 (1st) |
OBP |
.333 (6th) |
.445 (1st) |
SLG |
.400 (13th) |
800 (1st) |
OPS |
733 (11th) |
Pitching | ||
668 (2nd) |
RA |
645 (1st) |
3.87 (2nd) |
ERA |
3.68 (1st) |
2.30 (3rd) | K/BB |
2.51 (2nd) |
711 (2nd) |
OPS vs. |
691 (1st) |
66% (4th) |
SV % |
65% (5th) |
Fielding* | ||
.706 (1st) |
DER |
.693 (9th) |
.832 (6th) |
RZR |
.825 (12th) |
Here's another interesting set of numbers—the performance of the Dodgers offense before and after the acqusition of Manny Ramirez:
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Game 161 Thread / Cubs @ Brewers (3 of 3)
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SP | Angel Guzman |
SP | *C.C. Sabathia |
|
0-0, 7.04, 6 K, 4 BB, 7.2 IP | (NL) |
10-2, 1.78, 121 K, 24 BB, 121.2 IP |
LF |
Alfonso Soirano | CF |
Mike Cameron |
SS |
Ryan Theriot |
2B |
#Ray Durham |
1B |
Derrek Lee |
LF |
Ryan Braun |
3B |
Aramis Ramirez |
1B |
*Prince Fielder |
CF |
Reed Johnson |
SS |
J.J. Hardy |
RF |
*Micah Hoffpauir | RF |
Corey Hart |
2B |
Ronny Cedeno |
3B |
*Craig Counsell |
C |
Henry Blanco |
C |
Jason Kendall |
P |
Angel Guzman |
P | *C.C. Sabathia |
First, Paul Sullivan writes that despite his recent travails (5.40 ERA in September), Jeff Samardzija has made the post-season roster and that Chad Gaudin will likely be a spectator.
As for today's game, Mark DeRosa (calf strain) was hoping to get in a few swings so he didn't have to go into the playoffs cold. Alas, he is not in the starting lineup. Geovany Soto (sore hand) is also sitting.
The Brewers begin play tied with the Mutts for the Wild Card, with a one-game tiebreaker tomorrow at Shea in the teams' futures if things don't get settled today. (As I post this, the Marlins and Mets are waiting out a rain delay at Shea.)
"It's not going to matter because, well, it is going to matter but it's not going to matter,"
Translated into English, it means that Lou Piniella decided that Carlos Zambrano would not pitch the first inning or two of today's regular season finale at Milwaukee and Angel Guzman will.
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Cub Ticket Lawsuit Fever—Catch It!
So maybe you and a group of acquaintances divvy up some Cubs season tickets. Now that the boys are going to the playoffs and playing an as-yet-undetermined number of games at Wrigley, what do you do? What else—you sue!
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Game 158 Thread / Cubs @ Mets (4 of 4)
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Game 157 Thread / Cubs @ Mets (3 of 4)
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SP | Carlos Zambrano |
SP | *Oliver Perez |
|
14-6, 3.77, 128 K, 68 BB, 184 IP | 10-7, 4.10, 168 K, 97 BB, 184.1 IP |
|
LF |
Alfonso Soriano |
SS |
#Jose Reyes |
SS |
Ryan Theriot | LF |
*Daniel Murphy |
1B |
Derrek Lee |
3B |
David Wright |
3B |
Aramis Ramirez |
CF |
#Carlos Beltran |
RF |
Mark DeRosa | 1B |
*Carlos Delgado |
CF |
Reed Johnson |
RF |
*Ryan Church |
2B |
Ronny Cedeno |
C |
*Brian Schneider |
C |
Henry Blanco |
2B |
#Argenis Reyes |
P |
#Carlos Zambrano |
P | *Oliver Perez |
After a lifetime spent listening to ballgames on the radio, I have come to associate certain parks with a certain tone, a certain pitch in the crowd sound. Obviously, my ear is well attuned to the way that Wrigley Field crowds come across on-air. Same with Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park, and the Metrodome. (Loved hearing all those Twins fans Tuesday night!)
Shea Stadium is another one of those parks. Unlike what you hear over the radio from those other parks, however, the crowd sound that goes out over the airwaves from a raucous Shea isn't one of collective joy. It's much more coarse, much more dangerous, a wild, unruly roar—like the sound of inmates rooting on two guys aiming to shank each other in the middle of the yard.
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Game 152 Thread / Cardinals @ Cubs
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SP | Adam Wainwright |
SP | Carlos Zambrano |
|
9-3, 3.20, 84 K, 26 BB, 121 IP | 14-5, 3.41, 127 K, 65 BB, 182.1 IP |
|
CF |
*Skip Schumaker |
LF |
Alfonso Soriano |
LF |
Ryan Ludwick | SS |
Ryan Theriot |
1B | Albert Pujols |
1B |
Derrek Lee |
2B | Felipe Lopez | 3B |
Aramis Ramirez |
3B |
Troy Glaus |
CF | *Jim Edmonds |
RF | *Adam Kennedy |
RF |
Mark DeRosa |
SS |
*Aaron Miles |
2B |
*Mike Fontenot |
P |
Adam Wainwright |
C |
Henry Blanco |
C |
Jason Larue |
P | #Carlos Zambrano |
In his post-game press conference Thursday, a giggly Lou Piniella implied he was planning to go out last night to tie one on in celebration of the spectacular comeback victory. (I believe the exact quote was, "This is going to be a bad night for me.") It's a relief then, looking at today's lineup, to see Lou didn't stumble into the lockerroom still drunk and blindly pencil Koyie Hill into the leadoff spot as his second baseman or give a spot start to Michael Wuertz.
Geovany Soto gets the day off owing to irritation of a joint in his left hand. He is listed as day-to-day.
Our man Zambrano makes his first start since last Sunday's no-no at Milwaukee. I took a look at the last ten National Leaguers to throw complete game no-hitters before Zambrano to see how they fared in their very next outing.
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Game 151 Thread / Brewers @ Cubs (3 of 3)
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The Chicago Cubs—Your 2008 NL Central Executioners
Out of the corner of my eye last night, the one corner that wasn't marveling at how grotesquely obese Prince Fielder has become, I noticed what was happening to a couple of our National League Central friends:
The Cardinals, who were officially eliminated from the division race last night, were continuing to get their brains beaten in (six straight losses, five straight road losses, and 10 road losses in their last 11 tries), and the Astros were continuing to not hit (a 5-1 loss at Florida, which means Houston has scored two runs in three games).
Most everyone agrees that the Cards overachieved all season long and that they haven't been viable contenders for quite a while. However, if LaRussa & Co. had any flickering hopes, the Cubs went a very long way toward snuffing them out with their series win in St. Louis last week.
As for the Astros...
Brewers Fire Yost...the Chicago Way
Dan Fox offers a historical perspective on the Brewers' firing of Ned Yost while in the thick of the race for the post-season.
Turns out the 1932 Cubs were the first team to change managers mid-season (Rogers Hornsby out; Charlie Grimm in) and then go on to win the pennant. The 1938 Cubs repeated the maneuver (Grimm out; Gabby Hartnett in) and again, the result was a National League championship.
Cub-related names are all over this phenomenon:
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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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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!!!