SB Nation - Buck Coats

Cubs Lose 11-5, Fall Two Games Out - But Cubs Win, Too! (Iowa Cubs, That Is)

Al — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:46:14 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Sorry, Randy. It just wasn't your day.

Most of what I'm going to write about today's game is going to be from the boxscore and a bit of following along by cellphone while I was at Wrigley Field watching the Iowa Cubs defeat the Las Vegas 51's 5-4.

Let me first praise Milton Bradley for having perhaps the best day he's had in a Cubs uniform -- 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI, raising his average to .266 and his OBA to .401. In seven August games he's now hitting .450/.571/.550 -- and I think he's now in the perfect spot in the batting order for him, second. Clearly, he puts too much pressure on himself to produce when he's hitting in a RBI spot (fifth, much of the year), and batting him second gives him a real chance to be on base, as we have seen, more than half the time this month (after posting a .457 OBA in July). He's playing good defense and running the bases well.

It's not exactly what Jim Hendry had hoped for when he signed Bradley last offseason, but this type of production is something we haven't seen from many -- or really, any -- Cubs players over the last ten years or so.

I won't pin today's loss on Randy Wells, either, though he struggled and allowed seven runs (five earned) in 5.1 innings. His defense deserted him and the Cubs made three errors in all, and Jeff Stevens got hit pretty hard in his inning-plus of work, putting the game, which resulted in an 11-5 Cubs loss, out of reach. Combined with the Cardinals' come-from-behind win over a really bad Pirates team (thankfully, the Cubs get to play them next weekend), the Cubs now sit two games behind St. Louis.

Mostly, I'm going to pin this loss on the offense, which generated 17 hits, including six extra-base hits, but couldn't get many of them home. The Cubs left RISP in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th innings -- ridiculous, in my opinion, and left 13 on base all told. It was clear that Lou Piniella had no interest in watching this mess -- he got himself tossed in the second inning.

There's still a chance for the Cubs to split the series (and road trip) against a very good Rockies team tomorrow night... so, look forward to that, and below the fold is my recap of the Iowa/Las Vegas game.

Travis Snider is the guy I was hoping the Cubs would select in the first round of the 2006 draft. Instead, they selected Tyler Colvin; he's been dissected many times on this site, and after seeing Snider pound out a pair of homers at Wrigley today, I'm holding to my position that passing on Snider (who was picked by the Blue Jays with the pick right after the Cubs) was a mistake. Snider, who is only 21 (three years younger than Colvin), has already had a couple of cups o' coffee in the major leagues (posting a .736 OPS with 5 HR in 172 AB) and will likely be in the Blue Jays' starting outfield by 2011 at the latest, perhaps even next year.

That was the parlor game to play today, given that this, unlike last year's "Road To Wrigley" game, was a Triple-A game: "How many players in today's game have played at Wrigley before?" Snider wasn't one of them, but I counted no fewer than six (Buck Coats, Marty McLeary, So Taguchi, Luis Rivas, Bobby Scales, and Micah Hoffpauir), seven if you want to count Justin Berg, who was on the Cubs' 25-man roster briefly last month, warmed up a couple of times, but didn't get into a game. Howie Clark, a 35-year-old veteran of six major league seasons, has also played against the Cubs and former Cub minor leaguer Brian Dopirak has surfaced again in the Blue Jays organization.

How weird must it have been for Micah Hoffpauir, who was in the major leagues with the Cubs all year till Friday, to return to Wrigley as an Iowa Cub? (He got loud ovations every time his name was announced.) His average shown on the scoreboard was blank, which means today was his first minor league game of the year (if he had any AB without hits, it would have shown as .000). I suspect when the Cubs sent him down, they probably told him simply to go to Chicago and wait for the Iowa team to meet him there. Hoffpauir had a bloop double in four at-bats and played both first base and right field. Iowa hitting stars were John-Ford Griffin, who homered onto Sheffield (I was surprised there weren't more homers, with the temperature a stifling, humid 87 degrees and the wind howling out to CF at what was reported at 11 MPH, but it had to be at least twice that), and Darwin Barney, who had a pair of hits.

John Gaub, who has put up gaudy numbers since being promoted, was called on in the seventh, issued a walk and struck out Howie Clark, and then was yanked -- couldn't possibly let him face a right-handed hitter, right? (Granted, it was Randy Ruiz, who has 106 RBI in 113 Triple-A games this year.) Vince Perkins came on and retired Ruiz on a fly to center.

The game is played at just a slightly slower pace than a major league game. You can clearly see why certain players are at that level and can't get any higher, or, as in the case of guys like Clark, Ruiz, Coats and Taguchi, are hanging on, trying to get one more shot at a major league game. The Las Vegas third baseman, Kevin Howard, who got into some of the antics with the "Zooperstars" mascots who appeared today, is in his seventh year in the minors with his seventh organization and you could see why today -- he made two throwing errors on routine ground balls which led to a couple of Iowa runs.

Blake Parker closed the game for his 13th save, but not before allowing a home run to Angel Sanchez. Attendance was 16,280, about half of what the Cubs drew for the minor league game featuring the Peoria Chiefs last year -- possible reasons: a Sunday afternoon isn't going to draw as well as a Tuesday night; it's a lot farther to Des Moines than it is to Peoria, meaning fewer people would follow the team (although a few busloads from Iowa were dropped off on Waveland), and the heat may have kept a few people from walking up on the day of the game. Ran into BCB reader Damen Jackson today; he had a seat near the photographer's bay and hopefully, will have some pictures to post here later on.

We will no doubt see Hoffpauir returning to the Cubs after September 1, and Scales may also be brought up. Apart from that, I don't see anyone who was in today's game who looks like a "hot prospect", nor will be back in Chicago this year (with the possible exception of Justin Berg). The real Cub prospects are at the lower levels of the organization. Perhaps we'll see some of them at Wrigley in the near future.

Lord Knows I've Paid Some Dues Getting Through, Tangled Up in Blue: Spring Training Week 2 Report, the Hitters

hugo — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:56:10 -0000

The plot thickens and things get more tangled as spring training continues and guys keep competing against one another to get through to the major league roster - made me think of the line from the Dylan song.

Game Recap: Jay and Pirates Tie

Tom Dakers — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:06:04 -0000

Jays 2 Pirates 2

They say a tie is like kissing your sister, but then that worked for Luke Skywalker. Occasionally in Spring Training teams run out of pitchers they want to use that day so they decide just to stop. I kind of like the story of a veteran pitcher years ago in spring training, game was tied in extras and he told the batter there was a batting practice fastball right down the middle coming, hit it hard. Batter got a home run. They asked the pitcher why he did that and he said 'I had gotten my work in and it was time to go home'.

Anyway today the teams decided after 11 innings that that was enough and it was time to go home. Pitching was great today, notably Doc was Doc for 4 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. BJ Ryan was....well he was the good BJ Ryan, 1 shutout inning, a walk and a strikeout. Dirk Hayhurst pitched another scoreless inning though he gave up a hit this time. TJ Beam and Adrian Martin each pitched a scoreless inning. Luis Perez and Robert Ray gave up a run each.

Offensively Moonraker was 2 for 3, while Johnny Mac, Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, Lyle Overbay, Buck Coats and one of our favorites Scott Campbell each had a hit. Guys of note not to get a hit Kevin Millar (tho he had a sac fly), Jason Lane (I wish we could make the type smaller on this site, I'd have done that it little tiny letters) (he is still hitting .400<----those would have been big letters) and Michael Barrett (batting a big .000). Shortstop prospect Justin Jackson got into the game too, going 0 for 2 but nice to see him get to play.

We are now 7-5-1 on the spring. Tomorrow the Jays have an off day, but Friday Brett Cecil, David Purcey and Jeremy Accardo are to pitch. That game doesn't appear on Gameday Audio's schedule so I guess we won't be able to listen in.

Bullpen Math: Easy, Fun!

Al — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:26:48 -0000

Buried in Gordon Wittenmyer's article in this morning's Sun-Times, ostensibly about how the Cubs do or don't miss Kerry Wood, are these very good clues about exactly who will and won't be in the 2009 bullpen, after expected closer Carlos Marmol:

Kevin Gregg, who has impressed with his fastball and command as he gains strength after a knee injury last year, is the other certain late-inning reliever. Fifth-starter combatants Jeff Samardzija and Aaron Heilman are in the mix for the two other setup jobs Piniella wants to fill, along with hard-throwing Angel Guzman and young Kevin Hart.

Neal Cotts, who pitched out of a seventh-inning jam Tuesday against Oakland, might wind up the only left-hander in the pen. Chad Gaudin probably will be there, too, as a middle reliever and/or spot starter. Piniella said Luis Vizcaino, who threw a 1-2-3 sixth Tuesday, fits in middle relief, and he said he has been impressed by prospect Marcos Mateo, while calling lefty prospect Jason Waddell "interesting."

Not only does that represent massive turnover of a 97-win team's bullpen, but do the math: That's 11 names for seven spots.

OK, let's do the math, presuming there are seven spots: Gregg, Marmol, Heilman, Cotts and Gaudin are locks, either because they're good at what they do, lefthanded, or having been acquired in high-profile trades. Essentially, that leaves six pitchers for the other two spots.

Mateo -- brother of former Cub Juan Mateo, and who was acquired from the Reds as the PTBNL -- hasn't pitched above A ball yet. He may have talent, but Double-A is his likely destination. Waddell spent eight years in the Giants organization without ever moving above Double-A, so "interesting" to Lou or not, his best-case scenario probably has him at Iowa. Samardzija is probably being stretched out to start (he'll start the game against the White Sox at Las Vegas tonight), so he's probably also headed to Iowa, given how well Sean Marshall has thrown and how he's changed his approach to increase his chances of being a full-time starter this spring.

So that, essentially, leaves three pitchers for two spots -- Vizcaino, Guzman and Hart. Vizcaino has a contract that the Cubs had to take in exchange for Jason Marquis, so he might have a leg up on one of the slots -- unless the Cubs can flip that deal somewhere before the end of spring training. That leaves Guzman and Hart for the final spot. (Hey, Gordo: Hart isn't "young" -- he's 26.)

Despite Guzman's bad outing over the weekend, I'd like to see him get it. He could, assuming Marmol eventually winds up with the closer spot, become what Marmol was to Kerry Wood last year. I like Guzman's arm and now that he's no longer a starter, similar to Wood, that ought to take stress off his arm and he can stay healthy. Touted as "the next Zambrano" after an outstanding 2002 season, Guzman spent much of the next five years on the DL. He's 27, and I think now is his time.

So that, really, nails down all 12 spots on the pitching staff. The only real decision is whether that 12th spot is even needed for the first few weeks; the problem is, if Guzman is the 12th guy, he is out of options (Hart isn't), and might wind up having to be kept for that reason alone. The only question mark left for the 25-man roster is likely the last bench spot; current competitors are Micah Hoffpauir, Jake Fox and non-rostered Corey Koskie, who won't be in a Cub uniform until Canada finishes its participation in the WBC.

It's nice to have this kind of depth, isn't it? I haven't even mentioned guys like Jose Ascanio, Randy Wells and Rule 5 guy David Patton, who will likely wind up being returned to the Rockies. That will make the Iowa staff a good one and provide plenty of reinforcements in case of injury.

Game Recap, Jays Lose to Team Canada

Tom Dakers — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:09:28 -0000

In a game that made it hard to figure out who to cheer for Team Canada beat the Jays 6-4. Maybe let's talk about the two teams separately.

Team Canada:

It looks like the Canadian team will have a really good offense, maybe leaning a little too much on the lefty batters. Is it a Canadian thing that most of our best batters swing left-handed. I know that there are far more lefty golfers in Canada than there is in the US. In Canada about 25% of us swing lefty while in the states it is less than 5%. The explanation I agree with is it is a hockey thing, most of us on this side of the border swing a hockey stick long before we swing a golf club and many (half?) hockey players are left-handed shots. So it is natural for us to pick up a golf club the same way. Maybe the same is true with a baseball bat.

Anyway the Team Canada bats looked good today, get 8 hits and taking 7 walks. Of note, Corey Koskie looked good at the plate, he was 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, a hit by pitch and 3 runs. Leadoff hitter and shortstop Chris Barnwell was 1 for 3 with 2 walks. Justin Morneau was 2 for 3 with an RBI and Pete Orr was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI. Back-up catcher Luke Carlin hit a 2 run double.

The defense for Canada might be a problem. In the outfield we had Joey Votto in left, Jason Bay in center and Matt Stairs in RF. I'd like to think Adam Stern will play center in the tournament games, moving Stairs to DH and maybe Kosie (who DHed today) to 3B.

Pitching looks to be the weak link for the Canadian team, but it was pretty good today. Scott Richmond went 2.2, gave up 4 hits, a walk, a strikeout and 2 runs. Chris Begg followed him with a good 2.1 innings, striking out 4 while giving up just a run. First round draft pick Phillippe Aumont, Jesse Crain, Steve Green and David Davidson (what were his parents thinking) each pitched an scoreless inning except for Green. Green gave up a homer to Aaron Matthews (who?) but got lucky on a call where Mark Teahen, playing RF, trapped a ball against the RF fence but got credited with a catch.

Blue Jays:

Mike Maroth didn't impress, he walked 3, hit one batter but only gave up 2 runs in 2 innings. Fabio Castro didn't have a great showing either giving up 2 hits and 2 walks in 2 innings. Bill Murphy also gave up 2 runs in 2 innings. Rick Bauer gave up 1 run in his 1 inning of work. But TJ Beam and Robert Ray looked good, pitching a scoreless inning each. Ray in particular has looked good this spring.

Batting wise Scott Campbell went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Johnny Mac, Inglett, Jason Lane and Adam Loewen each went 1 for 3. Russ Adams was 1 for 2 with a walk and run, but he didn't look good in the field, playing second base.

Doing less well were Michael Barrett (0 for 3 with 2 strikouts), Buck Coats (0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts), Ryan Patterson (0 for 2), Brad Emaus (0 for 2) and Kevin Ahrens (0 for 2).

Tomorrow the Jays play Team USA. Brad Mills is to start for the Jays and Casey Janssen and Lyle Overbay will get their first game action this spring.