does soto need more rest?

since may 6th .221/.303/.430

he never played so much and they have a good back up.

I think it has more to do with scouting - he's been swinging at and striking out on breaking balls in the dirt quite a bit, and as a result, he isn't seeing as many fastballs recently. I think pitchers have found a weak spot and are exploiting it until he can lay off the breaking balls out of the strike zone.

So I finally got around to updating the title of the thread. Been a nice ride, huh?

He almost has no choice the way the other bullpen guys are going right now. It's almost at a point where you bring up K. Hart, give him the ball in the sixth and say "Win or lose, it's yours." Eventually, if other guys in the pen don't step it up a notch, he'll have no choice but to sit the three big guns no matter what happens. I hope it never gets there, but I'm just saying.

I agree they have a good back up ... but it's strange for me to see "Henry Blanco" and "good backup" in the same sentence.

I think my heart stopped when Kemp swung at that last fastball.

Late night W


Wood has to stop hitting guys...........he's driving me nuts!!!!

it HAS been a while right? im happy with wood being the closer

6 hits baseman in 33.1 innings, seems like a problem to me.


I too think Wood is our closer, Marmol is just to valuable in the 7th/8th, but STOP HITTING GUYS!!!! Free bases in the 9th are not what we need.

no i hear that, im just saying that since the beginning of season, hes settled in and stopped hitting guys for the most part. i could be wrong though. too lazy to look it up

You don't have to look it up, I just told you. He's hit 6 in 33.1 innings.

And hit one last night.

i dont think you understand what im saying, dingus. im saying he was wild early on, and now hes settled down. hes been lights out for the most part.

Double to Loney, hit batter Tiffee, and walked Pierre.............all with a one run lead.

Of course he got out of it, but come-on.!!!!!

If he hits one more guy, my head is going to explode.

Another W last night.

We need more of these.

A winning west coast road trip - I'll take it.

BTW, the umpiring in the Dodger's series may have been the worst (not one sided- just flat worst) I've seen all year. They missed at least 4 or 5 fairly obvious calls in the series and I didn't even see all of yesterday's game. The 3-2 count on Kent (Saturday I think) was 3-4 inches off the plate inside and they rung him up anway. He just turned around and smiled in disbelief - as did I. There were at least two calls at first base that even the national commentators basically said they got wrong. There was also a steal call that they blew completely. There were a few questionable check swings - but those are tough. I realize umps can have a bad day or miss a call, but they missed quite a few - and some where not even that close. I don't think we'll be seeing any of those umpires in the playoffs anytime soon.

W

The Cubs had 3 stolen bases last night, by three different guys. All 3 runners scored - 2 on sac flies. Cub hitters walked more than they struck out...again. All 8 position players had at least 1 hit - 6 had at least 1 RBI and 6 of the 8 scored at least 1 run. Ramirez's OB% is .416 and last I heard (checked Sunday) he leads the league in hits with 2 strikes.

Just some things I found interesting.

Stony on the Score talking about the Cubs having an interest in CC Sabathia.

that would be unreal... also get him out of the al central, for you sox fans...

They also mentioned this on a recent Cubs telecast. That would be a great pickup, if the price is right.

Who wouldn't have an interest in Sabathia?

CLV would be foolish to trade him now. They will have many more suiters come deadline time.

Don't get me wrong, THIS WOULD BE AWESOME. I just don't see it happening.

They did say it makes no sense for the Indians to deal him now. I mean, that much is obvious to anyone. I think maybe someone in the Cubs organization put a bug in their ear just in case he becomes dealable before the deadline.

Now this makes sense.

But, Now would be the time to make a move for him........at least before the Bankees and Red Sux get any ideas.

yeah, cc will probably never be a cub.

The Bankees!

The Cubs have some chips to move (Pie, Patterson, R.Hill) and have some attractive throw-ins (Murton) for a deal...but I got a real bad feeling they end up with Kenny Rogers.

Enjoyed the win last night. And slightly encouraged by the 4-3 road trip. But seriously, what is with the huge disparity in home/away records? I understand the whole league is going through similar patterns but the Cubs need to up the ante a little on the road during the next few weeks or risk losing the lead. They're still only 2.5 games ahead.

I think if Soto needed more rest Piniella'd be the first person to recognize it. I swear that guy can tell if people are tired and dragging before the players themselves.

Even Cardinal fans agree that the makeshift pitching staff of starters is playing WAY over their heads right now + Pujols just went down and will likely hit the DL. I agree, I'd like to see the Cubs do a little more on the road, but more so they have confidence come playoff time, not becuase I think it's going to spell the difference between the division and not. The old adage of "play .500 on the road and win more at home" is a truism - and they're basically doing that.

Another big win , but a costly one .
Soriano will be out six weeks after breaking his hand, after being hit by a pitch.

It will be interesting to see what they do. Lou said two players will be called up.
I'd guess Hoffpauir will most certainly be one, not sure on the other. Murton maybe ?
Hart will probably be sent down during inter-league play.
We'll see.
Hopefully big Z can relax and get back to his old self tomorrow.

8-2- that's Zambrano's record...and Dempster's.

Each of them has started 14 games. Z has thrown 92.2 innings. The converted closer? 89.2 IP. Z has struck out a decent 63 - Dempster has fanned 75. As of last night Demp notched a complete game - the first of the year on the team. Now, to be fair he has hit one more guy and given up 2 more HRs than Big Z. But also to be fair Zambrano has given up 90 hits in his 92.2 IP, Demp has given up 60 in 89.2 IP. And ERA? Z's is a respectable 3.01 yet Demp's is 2.81.

Dempster might not hit as well and may not be as fun to watch, but imho he is quickly and quietly becoming a potent #2 punch closely behind Zambano's powerful yet occasionally erratic #1.

Dempster is top 5 in the NL is HA, victories and ERA and probably won't even make the All-Star team. It's cool though - he'll start Game 2 of the Wolrd Series.

3.01 is more than respectable.

Anyway, was watching ESPNEWS last night. What do they open with? "Best team in baseball, best curse in baseball." C'mon. Soriano's loss just gives Hoffpauir another shot. That kid's got skills.

Down 2-0....3rd inning....Derosa on second, Zambrano on first, Eric Patterson at the dish with no one out........What do you do? Sweet Lou gives E.P. the green light and he grounds into a double play. I guess a sac bunt was out of the question!?! For a guy who plays percentages, someone needs to tell Lou he needs to play them in HIS favor!

Wonder what Soriano's doing right now?

Edmonds!

Still hate him

I'm over it. Especially today!

Agreed! Edmonds does fine in his role....However, not sure if Len Kasper is fine in his role (bush league Brickhouse impression!)

I am at work so didn't get to see it. It is throwback day.

W

AWESOME!!!!!

Not the prettiest W but we'll take it!

Maybe I'm being silly, but does anyone else strangely feel a iffy about the possible C.C. Sabathia pick-up?

What does this mean?

Sabathia would be a great addition, but the lifelikeness that the Cubs could pull off such a deal, seems remote at best.

I've heard people say the Cubs should do the deal "if the price is right".

When you haven't won a WS in 100 years, I think this line of thinking can pretty much go out the window. I don't care how good Felix Pie, Matt Murton, Ronny Cedeno, Sean Gallagher, Sean Marshall or Rich Hill might be someday. Heck if you have to put all 6 on a bus to get Sabathia I'd do it yesterday. My point is that Cub fans and hopefully the Cub front office realize that the Cubs are that good - they are on the precipece of a World Series - you make it happen NOW. And if Sabathia wants a multi-year contract, it aint my money - sign him for what he wants. All I know is this year Cub fans aint gonna listen to "Well, we didn't want to give up player x,y and/or z just to have a chance." Yes, we do - and no, we don't give a #### about 2012. You have a team that is arguably one piece away from being good enough to win a WS - you close the deal. Period. I don't care about ownership questions, I don't care about 2010, and I certainly don't care if you raise ticket prices...again. Just MAKE IT HAPPEN, BABY!

I gotta say, I loved the uniforms yesterday.

Not only do I agree with you, I'd empty the minor leagues and do whatever it took to get Bedard as well.

Oh, I agree with everything you have said.

I just don't think CLV is ready to move CC.

And when they are, their will be more teams involved. ie: Yankee's/ Red Sox.......the bidding will be crazy.

Good posting. You guys are very close

On the radio today, they played back his call yesterday then played Jack's call of Ernie's 500th. Then they mixed the two (played just the individual parts). At the end of the call, Kasper said "that one was for you Jack." Kasper not only nailed the call dead on, it was great tribute to Jack Brockhouse, whom Kasper probably never heard live (i.e. to do it as well as he did Kasper had to study it and practice). The Score was throwing Kasper big kudos for obviously working on it and recognizing the histrocial significance of Brickhouse by doing so.