Game Eleven: Cubs (6-4) vs. Phillies (5-6)
Game Time - 6:05pm C.T.
Coverage - TV: WGN TV - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 174, 183
Location - Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
Ted Lilly (0-1, 9.72/1.68) vs. Cole Hamels (1-1, 1.20/1.00)
A sixteenth of the 2008 season is complete. The Cubs are 6-4 and have shown glimpses of how good the team is capable of playing....but they have also shown the opposite. Lou Piniella's crew must work on building consistency, getting on base and most importantly cut down on all of the extra opportunities they are giving to the other teams on a daily basis. Today is a big game for the Cubs, not in terms of the standings or record, but for Ted Lilly.
Read on for more on tonight's match-up, the latest from the newsroom and a little speculation from the CCO....
After a shaky Spring Training, Ted Lilly has regressed in his first two starts of the young season and needs a good start tonight. Lilly has struggled with his location and the velocity on his fastball is down. Lilly was the most consistent starter on Piniella's staff a year ago and tonight would be a good time for Lilly to put up his first win of the season.
Ted Lilly has yet to complete 5 innings in either of his two starts this year. The Brewers rocked Lilly on April 2nd....he gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Last Monday, the Cubs offense staked him a 7-0 lead but because of nibbling around the plate and errors by Ronny Cedeno and Aramis Ramirez, Lilly left with 2 outs in the 4th inning.
Lilly's strike to ball ratio is adequate but his walk to strikeout ratio is alarming. Lilly has walked 2 and struck out just 5 in 8 1/3 innings this year....and is elevating the ball, 15 fly ball outs to only 4 groundball outs. If Lilly does not keep the ball down tonight, it could be another very short outing for Lou Piniella's number two starter.
Ted Lilly is 1-1 in two career starts, both in 2007, against the Phillies with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP....his win came at Citizens Bank Park, the only one the Cubs posted in Philly last year.
- Pedro Feliz - 3-for-8 with a home run
- Ryan Howard - 1-for-3 with a double
- Chase Utley - 0-for-3
- So Taguchi - 1-for-11 with a home run
According to several reports, Kosuke Fukudome will not be in the starting lineup tonight. The outfield could consist of Reed Johnson in center and Mark DeRosa in right with Ronny Cedeno making a start at 2nd base.
Cole Hamels has been the total opposite of Ted Lilly. Hamels has allowed only 2 earned runs, 3 total, in his first two starts of the year. Hamels lost on April 2nd against the Nationals but gave up on 1 run on 5 hits in 8 strong innings. Hamels has a nice 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio and is arguably the best young southpaw in the league. Hamels is what Rich Hill has the talent to be.
Hamels is 2-1 in 3 career outings against the Cubs with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP....but those numbers are deceiving. The Cubs lit up Hamels at Wrigley on August 24, 2006 to the tune of 9 runs, 5 earned, on 9 hits in 2 innings. Last year the Cubs offense could not touch Hamels....2-0 in 2 starts with a 1.80 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP, 3 runs on 10 hits with 4 walks and 15 strikeouts in 15 innings.
- Mark DeRosa - 0-for-5
- Derrek Lee - 0-for-6
- Aramis Ramirez - 4-for-8 with a triple and a home run
- Alfonso Soriano - 5-for-20 with a double and 3 home runs
- Ryan Theriot - 5-for-10 with a double and a home run
From the Newsroom
The Cubs completed the deal for Craig Monroe with the Twins earlier in the week. As talked about here at the CCO on Friday, the Cubs acquired Doug Deeds as the PTBNL for Monroe.
Deeds was drafted by the Twins in the 9th round back in 2002 and had two impressive years in Double-A in 2005 and 2006 before struggling last season in Triple-A in limited action. Deeds has a career .375 OBP in 538 career games in the minors with a little bit of pop....51 home runs. The lefty was compared to Matt Murton on Friday and from the numbers, the comparison looks valid. Deeds also has spent time at 1st base.
Doug Deeds' page at the Baseball Cube
In a related note, Tim Lahey was released by the Phillies, cleared waivers and was returned the Minnesota Twins.
Rich Hill will be available out of the bullpen for the remainder of the series in Philadelphia and his next scheduled start was pushed back until Thursday against the Reds at Wrigley. Ryan Dempster will pitch the opener on Tuesday with Carlos Zambrano starting the Wednesday night game.
Bruce Levine speculated on Saturday morning that Hill could soon be replaced in the rotation unless he quits thinking so much on the mound and just starts pitching. Hill is over thinking and must learn to pitch to contact. Many have suggested that Hill's ability to strikeout batter after batter in the minors have his approach at the big league level.
Maybe Mr. Hill should watch 'Bull Durham' and listen to Crash Davis' take on strikeouts.
And finally from the speculation department.... With the way the Cubs are promoting Jeff Samardzija, look for a promotion to Triple-A and a call up soon after to the big league team. The Shark's performance on Thursday was featured predominately on Cubs.com, he was interviewed on XM Radio Friday afternoon and joined Bruce Levine on ESPN 1000 Saturday morning.
Let's Talk Cubs Baseball....
Subscribe
Today's lineup:
Soriano - LF
Johnson - CF
Lee - 1B
Ramirez - 3B
Soto - C
DeRosa - RF
Cedeno - 2B
Theriot - SS
Lilly - P
Most of you know Im usually not the most pessimistic guy on this site. But Ive got a bad feeling about tonight...
Idk Matt...i am not worried b/c of our lineup but b/c we are facing a very good pitcher...i think the lineup is interesting though and I really think it is good to give Fuk a day off
Its not the line-up Ryan. Its something else Im worried about. Id say it, but I dont wanna jinx it.
I'm going to be optimistic here too. Ronny Cedeno is gonna have a monster game and make a push for the starting SS position nod.
It's just about game time. Go Cubbies.
Baseball has its surprises. The top 4 in the order get 7 hits, Lieber and Marmol pitch 4 innings and Cubs win with 6 runs. Now that the hard work is done, I'm taking my first wife out to dinner!
Come on, Lilly! We need this one!
Ronny being Ronny but no hurt as D-ro picked him up with a nice catch...thats what good teams do in my opinion cause mistakes are going to happen
Thanks Ronny for making me look like a fool on the first defensive play of the game.
Anyone wanna tell me who the Phil's TV announer is? The guy with the croaky voice. Its disturbing...
Great catch by Victorino.
Baron, if you are reading this...Hamels just retired the Cubs in order on just 4 pitches. That is a good example of the free swinging mentality we were talking about the other night.
Lilly is not looking good again. Walk, home run and a double to the pitcher.
Bullpen is warming in the 2nd inning....WOW!!!
The sooner that Lou realizes that Marshall is his best left hander, the sooner this team will improve!
Matt,
That's Harry Kalas I believe. He also is the voice of the NFL films.
I also had a bad feeling about tonight, thats why I wanted last night so bad.
Wow I just saw that the Giants were beating the Cardinals 5-0 heading into the 7th at home and Cain had a no hitter going....and they lost! Man when do we get to play the Giants? Thats why I don't buy this start for St.Louis, all they've played are the Giants and Nationals.
If somehow we could get to their bullpen down only we have a chance. Comon' Lily/offense.
BTW Jim[TP]-of all the managers I dislike Ozzie the most... he thinks he is bigger than the game.
Cory I agree with you on the Cards opponents....but never count them out.
Another horrible start for Lilly.
Great...let's keep killing our bullpen.
Good Lord! I guess thats what happens when you sign a career .500 pitcher and he has a good year...a bad one will follow. I've seen enough, goodnight all!
Oh and your right Neil, trust me I don't count ANYONE out, especially the Cards.
Did Lilly have any good outings in Spring ball?
If Hill is being sent to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness, then Lilly should be right behind him. Neither of them have looked good through the spring and into the regular season.
Before coming to the Cubs, Lilly sported a 4.06, 5.56 and 4.31 ERA in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Those are ok-to-real lousy numbers. He dropped to 3.83 last year because he pitched in the NL central, which was one of the worst hitting divisions in baseball..
Now we got Z, maybe Dempster and 3 dubious characters at 3-4-5....
I am in favor of inserting Kevin Hart into the rotation a couple of times to see how it works out --- then maybe call up Sean Gallagher..
Right idea on Sean Gallagher, but wrong arm. We need a left hander. Marshall has the best form and mix of pitches among the 3 active lefties. Give him the shot first!
Baron I'm with you, but where do you put them? Z and Dempster (thought I'd never say that) have been our only resemblance of solid starters in our rotation. Lilly isn't going anywhere with his contract, and Marquis will also be difficult to unload. Hill supposedly was banished to the pen for a few days, but I doubt we'll see him. If anyone deserves a shot at the rotation, it's Lieber.
I would love to see the Cubs offload Marquis, but I doubt there's any interest. If Hill can get back on track, then that makes Lilly expendable, but I doubt they'll make any moves any time soon. Lilly has just looked clueless, and the first inkling I had that it'd probably be a really long year for him was in Vegas when he looked completely lost out there and they absolutely punished everything he was throwing.
ON a day like this...as much as it pisses me off to see the effort we gave today-----you still have to tip your cap to Hamels. That guy's the real deal, and reminds of a young Greg Maddux...only left-handed---back when Maddux had a decent low-90's fastball and excellent command of off-speed. I wish we could find a guy like him in our system.
BTW---looks like Howry is up to his usual...Is that guy not worthless or what?
We just don't play well against the good teams.
I'm not "Crowning" Philadelphia we just have a tough time against them.