SB Nation - Rob Bowen

The Good Things Only Recap Of A Really Bad Cubs Loss, 8-2 To Dodgers

Al — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:22:39 -0000

What could be going on in this conversation? You decide!

Yes, I know. The Cubs lost 8-2 to the Dodgers Sunday night, and ESPN may as well have switched to Australian rules football by 7:30 Central time, because the game was pretty much over after the Dodgers batted around off Sean Marshall in the first inning. The only real hard hit was the two-run double by Mark Loretta over Mike Fontenot's head. There's one instance where the Cubs could have used a taller third baseman -- a nearly identical line drive hit by Derrek Lee was snagged by the 6-0 Loretta. Fontenot is listed at 5-8. Trust me on this one -- he's at least two inches shorter than that.

Anyway, I'm not going to dwell on that. While I know this season is not all puppies, butterflies and rainbows, let's look at some of the positive things both about last night's game and the 2009 Cubs:

The Cubs had a winning month of May at 15-13.
The best team in baseball came in and the Cubs fought them to a draw, and shut them out for the first time this season.
Last night, the bullpen threw 4.2 innings of four-hit ball and struck out eight.
Reed Johnson had three more hits and pushed his average to .295. (OK, one tiny little negative: he made an ill-advised dash to the plate trying to score in the second inning on a fly ball to short right and was gunned down easily by Dodgers RF Jamie Hoffmann.)
Jason Waddell threw very well in his major league debut.
Since the eight-game losing streak started, the Cubs are now 4-10. In those 14 games, the Cubs got outstanding starting pitching in 10 of them; in those 10 games they allowed 3, 2, 3, 4, 3, 1, 2, 2, 1 and 0 runs. If this team gets starting pitching like that in 71% of its remaining games, they will win a lot of games.
That doesn't mean they don't need more hitting. That wouldn't have helped last night, but pretty much the same starting lineup scored seven runs on Saturday and even last night, had nine hits and did have a chance to get back in the game after scoring two runs in the sixth. One more single, with runners on second and third, would have produced two more runs and made it a game at 8-4.
Two years ago tomorrow -- the day of Lou's calculated tirade at umpire Mark Wegner -- the Cubs stood at 22-31, nine games under .500 and 7.5 games out of first place. (They would be as many as 8.5 games out later in June.) By the end of that month Rob Bowen was their starting catcher. And yet, that team came back and made the playoffs.

For you ledge jumpers out there, this season is far from over. The Cubs' starting pitching is going to keep them in most games and they sit only 4.5 games out of first place (four in the loss column). Aramis Ramirez is still targeted to come back after the All-Star break, although he may have to have offseason shoulder surgery:

"I'm working to get the strength back and, hopefully, I won't need surgery," Ramirez told the Sun-Times on Sunday. "If at the end of the season, if it is still bothering me, then I'll have to do something. But if I rehab pretty good, and everything goes well, then I don't have to.

"If I have to have surgery, I'm going to have it right after the season. And I should be ready for the next season. I don't know if I'll be ready for spring training, but I should be ready for Opening Day."

In the meantime, enjoy this day off -- the first of four consecutive Monday off-days, a rarity in June. The Cubs will take advantage by tweaking the rotation for the upcoming road trip:

Manager Lou Piniella said Sunday the day off allows him the flexibility of giving Dempster an extra day of rest, using Sunday's starter, Sean Marshall, on Friday in Cincinnati and Dempster on Saturday. Dempster pitched seven scoreless innings Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers but has been battling the blister most of the season.

It's a new month, and here's another comparison point: despite all the turmoil of May, the Cubs are only four games worse than they were after 49 games in 2008 (29-20) -- something to keep you in a positive mood.

Finally, if you create a new FanPost today, you will probably go "Whoa!" when you see the new posting box and other new editing features. For a complete rundown on the new posting features -- particularly autotagging and the ability to tweet your posts via your own Twitter account, go here.

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:11:11 -0000

Some things to read while having that dream again.

Coming off an outing yesterday that saw him give up two home runs in an inning and a third, Carlos Villanueva has been called out by management and needs to have a couple of good outings yet this spring to secure his role as Trevor Hoffman's primary set-up man. PocketDoppler thought the timing was a little odd, but isn't reading too much into it.

While the first home run off of Villanueva (hit by Ryan Rohlinger) was inside-the-park, it bounced off a 35 foot high wall 435 feet from home plate, so odds are it would have been a home run in most parks. The second one actually cleared the same fence, which hadn't been done in over a dozen years. Jesus Guzman, who hit the shot, says he'd never hit a ball that far in his life.

Meanwhile, the Brewers made a roster move for the third straight day, claiming reliever Wes Littleton off waivers from the Red Sox and designating Eduardo Morlan for assignment to make room on the roster. (h/t FanShot) The Brewers have until Thursday to work out a deal to keep Morlan or offer him back to Tampa for $25,000, and while the Rays are taking their time to think it over, I can't imagine them deciding to let the Brewers keep a young, talented prospect without getting anything in return.

By the end of spring, the Brewers' trainers will be experts in treating torso injuries: Trevor Hoffman is the latest Brewer to miss time with an oblique strain. (Also noted in FanShot) It's not expected to be serious, and team officials aren't concerned about it affecting Hoffman's preparations for the season. The injury did, however, give Hoffman more time to talk to Scott Miller of CBS Sports about his new home and taking one bite out of entire plates of donuts.

Yes, if you're scoring at home, we've now established that Trevor Hoffman eats two things: donuts and worms.

The outbreak of ribcage injuries in Brewer camp has led Big League Stew to wonder if the McRib should compete in the 2009 Sausage Race.

Finally, Angel Salome is now sidelined indefinitely with back spasms after being removed from Saturday's game. One would have to assume the Brewers will take it slow with his rehab this time, seeing as it's the second occurence.

Visual evidence from yesterday's game:

This photo of Ken Macha must have been taken early in the game, because I doubt he was laughing afterwards.
Another day, another awkward celebration photo: this time it's Alcides Escobar and Trot Nixon.
Nixon was, however, just a few inches away from a great leaping catch in right field.

Trot Nixon has come around a bit in the last week or so of camp, but it might be too little too late to replace Brad Nelson on the roster. Nelson's bat has cooled a bit this week, but he and Chris Duffy are still the most likely candidates to open the season in the two vacant backup outfielder spots.

In the only season preview I have today, Full Count Pitch thinks the Brewers' pitching deficiencies are likely too large to overcome, but projects them to win 80-85 games and finish just out of the playoffs.

Despite that, though, the Brewers are one of the finalists for Sports Business Journal's Professional Sports Team of the Year. The winner will be announced on May 28.

Meanwhile, in other camps:

Astros: Aaron Boone is leaving the team to have heart surgery and may be forced to retire.
A's: Released Rob Bowen.
Padres: Reliever Chris Britton has been informed he won't make the team, and may report to minor league camp or become a free agent.
Phillies: Tests showed no structural damage in Cole Hamels' elbow, but he's still a long shot to be ready for Opening Day.
Rangers: Andruw Jones is unlikely to make the team coming out of spring training and could opt out of his deal as soon as Friday.
Royals: Signed Sidney Ponson to a minor league deal.

Ryan Braun didn't play in the WBC last night, but he will remain with the team following Team USA's walkoff victory, advancing to the semifinals. I'm torn on this: obviously I like seeing Team USA succeed, but I also would have liked to have Braun back in Arizona with the rest of the team.

Corey Koskie made his spring debut for the Cubs yeterday and doubled in his first at bat. It's good to see him complete his recovery.

Teams are always searching far and wide to find the next generation of players, but where will major league baseball find the next generation of umpires? The Padres have an idea, and they're sponsoring a camp for Marines interested in learning the job. I hadn't thought about it before, but the quote in the link is dead-on: Marines are uniquely qualified.

Oh, and former Brewers Rick Helling and Mike Myers are working for the Players Association now.

Drink up.

The Brewer Advent Calendar #14: Mike Rivera

KLSnow — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:00:14 -0000

Behind door #14 we find...Mike Rivera!

via www.milwaukeebrewersticket.net

EDIT: That's actually Damian Miller. My mistake. Pretend it's Mike Rivera.

At least we know we didn't pull him away from anything important.

On Jason Kendall's page, we briefly discussed how much Kendall plays. But there must be two sides to every coin, so it's only fair to point out how little Mike Rivera played. What's even more interesting is how well he hit in limited opportunities. Rivera hit .306/.377/.435 in 2008 despite ten different stretches where he went ten days or more without an AB. Only eight catchers in all of baseball posted an OPS higher than Rivera's .812. Here are the worst ten OPS seasons from 2008 by catchers who played more often than Rivera:

Player	Team	AB	OPS
Luke Carlin	San Diego	94	.472
J.R. Towles	Houston	146	.503
Rob Bowen	Oakland	91	.505
Guillermo Quiroz	Baltimore	134	.528
Josh Bard	San Diego	178	.549
Mike Rabelo	Florida	109	.550
Humberto Quintero	Houston	168	.568
Michael Barrett	San Diego	94	.572
Jose Molina	New York (AL)	268	.576
Ronny Paulino	Pittsburgh	118	.582

2009 Poetic Interlude #1: Bowen on the Bench

monkeyball — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:20:11 -0000

Or, a series of koans illustrating the mystery of the backup backstop ...

[Original lyrics here.]

Bowen on the Bench

How many Rhodes must a GM live down
Before you call yourself a fan?
Yes, 'n' how many Grieves must in white cleats fail
Before we sign Garret And'?
Yes, 'n' how many usernames must the Internet trolls try
Before they're forever bANnEd?
The catcher, AN, is Bowen on the bench,
The catcher is Bowen on the bench.

How many trades must a fan cook up
Before a free agent we buy?
Yes, 'n' how many beers must one man have
Before he forgets Slide, Jeremy, Slide?
Yes, 'n' how many DLs will it take 'til we know
That Beane to the press has lied?
The catcher, AN, is Bowen on the bench,
The catcher is Bowen on the bench.

How many years can Mount Davis exist
Before it's brought down with TNT?
Yes, 'n' how many years can Mark Ellis compile assists
Before his Gold Glove they concede?
Yes, 'n' how many times can Jack Cust take those strikes,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The catcher, AN, is Bowen on the bench,
The catcher is Bowen on the bench.

Poll

How many Rhodes must a GM live down before you call yourself a fan?

0

10 votes

1

14 votes

1,000

12 votes

The number of Angels who can dance on a pinhead

31 votes

The number of ears it takes to hear one hand clapping

11 votes

Trick question: if one is a fan, the number of Rhodes is limitless

100 votes

178 votes | Poll has closed