The Cubs are three weeks into the longest Spring Training in recent memory and I have a lot of thoughts. Some you may agree with, some you may not and some you may not even understand. Sorry about that in advance.
- It doesn't seem as if Carlos lost weight this off-season. He always loses weight. Weird.
- Little Babe Ruth is tearing it up this spring. He is making it awful hard on Lou not to put him in the starting lineup. He could be a great fit in the 2-hole.
- And speaking of LSU baseball players, The Riot is feasting this spring. He is hitting .476 as of Monday night.
- I really like "bring the Power, the Hoffpauir." But at the same time, not calling him "The Hoff" is tough. Or we could go with both. What do you guys think? I know what Shaun thinks.
- The battle for the 5th starting spot is enticing. Marshall has been impressive and it might not even be a battle much longer. Heilman is hanging in there nicely.
- Unfortunately, the Shark has not been as impressive. Unless he is working on a certain pitch or something to that effect, he does not look poised to win this battle. He will be a starting pitcher soon, but maybe not at the beginning of this season.
- I am intrigued by Joey Gaithright. Very intrigued. If he could hit .300, what an addition he could be. I know, not likely.
- However, if someone kept Reed Johnson on the bench consistently, he would have to be quite the player.
- I read where someone thinks the Reds have the most impressive rotation in the NL Central. That scares me a bit. The Reds start hot a lot and have a lot of young talent. Pay attention to them.
- I know, I know, I know who their manager is ...
- So Taguchi is almost 40. Really? I found that out from my mom. Weird.
- I am not concerned about any single performance or the overall team performance thus far in Spring Training. Ask me again in two weeks.
- Would the Cubs actually carry three catchers? Even though he has played better, I just can't see the Cubs keeping Koyie Hill over Paul Bako. I just can't see that happening.
- Jason Dubois meet Crash Davis. Crash Davis, Jason Dubois.
- A couple of good performances thus far. Jake Fox might not break camp with the big league club, but he will be one of the first to get called up during the season. Very impressive numbers to date.
- I have enjoyed the World Baseball Classic. I wasn't looking forward to it nor did I expect to be entertained by it, but I have been pleasantly surprised. There is nothing quite like playing for your country.
- Speaking of an event ... I am very excited for the NCAA tournament. There is nothing like it in all of sports. Watching these teams from small conferences celebrate after winning the conference tournament is one reason I love sports.
- Friday Night Lights is the best show on television.
- Everything that comes out of Lou's mouth makes it seem as if Alfonso is leading off, Lee is hitting third, Bradley fourth, and Ramirez fifth.
- I wonder how long that will last. Lou definitely knows more than I do about baseball. However, seniority should not play a role in filling out the lineup card. I think D. Lee is bigger than that.
- I really miss Mark DeRosa. I have tried not be a 'hater' of Chicago's other baseball team, but I am really going to enjoy rooting for the Indians this year.
- Soriano has four hits ... two homers. No, I am not worried at this point. Not worried at all.
- It is time for Angel Guzman to stand up and perform. If he is going to be part of this team, he has to become something close to the pitcher many thought he was.
- With their proclivity to injury, I see "The Hoff" being instrumental this year while subbing for Soriano and Bradley.
- Redeem yourself, Kosuke. Redeem yourself!
Just a quick reminder. The CCO Radio is back and the next show is Wednesday night at 7:00pm C.T. You can listen to the show live on Blog Talk Radio. The CCO Radio call-in number is 347-237-4020.
Feel free to email me at brian@chicagocubsonline.com and until next time ...
Stay Classy Cubs Fans!!
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I like "The Hoff"
And I reallllly want Fukudome to redeem himself as well.
I hear you Ryne!
I was glancing at some of the numbers from last season and one thing I hope changes is Theriot's SB percentage. He stole 22 but got caught 13! Compare that to Sori's 19 and only caught 3.
Also, Fontenot should be given the 2B job until he proves its not his anymore. He provided surprising power last year and has shown no signs of that stopping. I just don't see how Miles is a more attractive option.
In regard to your first point. I think Carlos grew the size of his ass this off-season, to help provide a better center of gravity. More ass and less shoulder is his rational. Seriously though, how long does he think he'll last without some sort of off-season conditioning? Did Chavez confiscate his paycheck, or isn't $18,000,000 a year enough to hire a personal trainer?
Gary, he has personal trainers nevertheless...You can take the cow to the river but you can't make her drink water.
I am looking forward Fontenots breakout season!
I agree that Big Z needs to get on a fitness program....THAT is his main battle right there....
Fontenot deserves to be the starter at 2B, resting him against select lefties.
I'm tired of the question of who is starting opening day....the final answer will be this...They both are going to get to start. One will start the season opener....and the other will start the home opener. I'm guessing Dempster gets the season opener for his performance last year while Z gets the home crowd.
Physical fitness or mental fitness? Or both?
I agree Joe S., it don't think it is really that important who starts on Opening Day. They are both good pitchers and it is just 1 game. In my opinion, Ted Lilly should get to start because he never got to pitch in the postseason last year.
I also think that the Hoff Power will be a nice power-utility man.
FonteYES gets the nod at 2nd.
The Riot needs to settle down on the base paths and Soriano needs to steal twice as often as he did last year.
I would be surprised if Gaithright or Taguchi saw more than 20 games combined.
What was the point of bringing in Taguchi and Kadokura for ST if Kosuke is playing the WBC for almost all of ST? The consensus was that it was for language and culture comfort of Kosuke, right? I don't care if we see either of them in the reg season, but I want Japan numbers out of the Asian Sensation this year.
As of right now, Marshall is your #5.
4 hits (2 homers) for Soriano... yeah... sounds like a great lead-off hitter to me.
Thanks Brian for a bunch of interesting "ramblings". Like everyone, I hope Guzman pitches like his last outing the rest of S.T. If he's close to that, he will make the team and be a big contributor. (Might we call him, "Gas Man". If he is only tempting with his performances, he and/or guys like Hart and Indy's Jake Fox will be traded, IMO. (I'm still hoping for the lefty, Downs, from the Jays.)
My takes: Marshall will start and Heilman will pitch the 7th more often than not. Fontnot has won the 2nd base job.
And speaking of money, HOW ABOUT THIS? The Netherlands (which includes Curacao, home of Randall Simon and Andruw Jones) had $400,000 of major league payroll on the field against the Dominican Republic. The D.R. had $86 million of major league payroll on the field, and The Netherlands eliminated the Dominican Republic. You talk about anything can happen in a short series!
One sad note re the D.R., Carlos Marmol gave up the winning run in the extra innings game. I think I saw him yield a flare hit and then throw wildly to first in a pickoff attempt (that DLee would have caught. Then a batter hit one off the first baseman's glove that drove in the winning run. (Yes, DLee would have caught that one too.)
Speaking of WBC. Just saw Lilly pitch 3 fairly unimpressive innings. Hank White had the unfair advantage of familiarity and tagged Lilly for a home run. The team for the US looks very disinterested. Maybe it's that week off they had. The WBC has the stupidest scheduling I have ever seen in any sport.
Did Lilly immediately throw his mit down on the mound?
How do the Cardinals have a Hoffpauir as well. Our Hoff will destroy there Hoff.
LaTroy Hawkins, Jeremy Guthrie...
Is this the best bullpen the US can assemble??????? What happened to Papelbon, Joba Chamberlain?
This year's WBC actually has a better schedule than any other int'l baseball events that I'd seen (World Cup, Olympics, Intercontinental, Konami Cup, the Carribbean Series, etc.)
The double-elimination schedule adds the intensity and the demand of winning each game from the team.
Playing for one's nation is the highest honor for most players. I'm glad that all of them played in full.
And I think Soto saw God after he called a no-run game against the Dutch.
;)
JimK,
D.R made many defensive errors, and their lineup is out-sync.
A lineup where you bat Jose Guillen and Willy Taveras around cleanup is doomed to fail.
Dorasaga....The D.R. lineup 1-6 with Jose Reyes, Taveras, Hanley Rameriz, Big Papi-Ortiz, Miguel Tejada and Jose Guillen--possibly all all-stars at least once--had a lot more sync than you give them credit for. It's amazing to me that, with a lineup like that against a no-name pitching staff, the score was 0-0 after nine innings.
and where does the US get these managers??
Buck Martinez, Davey Johnson? These are the biggest loser managers in history..... I apologize to Lou for calling out his errors... Davey is a moron...
He has brought LaTroy Hawkins out in 0-0, 1-1 games in key moments, and though he did ok, no sane human being representing the US would make this call.....
What are Lou, Tony P, Mike Sciosa doing? Where do they get these imbeciles to manage the freakin US national team...
Soto also had a clutch 2 out hit with the bases loaded. It is too bad that P.R. wins Pool D and gets the USA team in the first round. The Venezuela team is not that good. I guess today games were only theorical because the results did'nt change anything. The USA team was un interested.
Team Cuba team looks very impressive, I hope they loose.
People here were saying that winning today was extremely important because USA was [supposed] going to beat Venezuela and Pool D winner P.R. would get the looser of Pool C. P.R. was supposed to play an easier Venezuela team and now it's P.R. vs USA. Damn.
Current MLB managers were not going to leave their teams to coach the usa team. and didn't davey johnson win a world series with the mets and the reds.