I thought about posting this elsewhere, but it seems like it should be mentioned and perhaps even discussed.

Randy Wells is tipping his pitches.

Yep, sure enough is. I know what you're thinking, probably that I'm some sort of conspiracy theorist or crackpot. Think that if you want, but I'm serious. I sat in a bar tonight and predicted the result of each of his pitches in the 4th inning.


When you play poker you never reveal another player's tell, but I cant help but mention this to hope that it corrects itself (i.e. someone tells him) or that something is done (i.e. someone tells him and tells him to fix it).

When Randy is reaching in his glove from the windup for a fastball he closes his glove tight. When he's reaching in for anything offspeed, specifically a breaking ball, he fans his glove out just a bit and its a noticable difference. This is EXACTLY what Buck Showalter discussed on Baseball Tonight last night and tonight I paid specific attention and Randy is definatelly tipping pitches.

Hopefully Dempster gets with Wells and gets him to do something funky with his glove before his delivery to eliminate this issue.

From MLBTR...

Patrick Newman of NPB tracker is relaying a report from Japanese-based Sports Hochi that states the Cubs are close to inking a one-year deal with left-handed pitcher Ken Takahashi.

Newman calls it "very early speculation," but it's definitely a situation worth eying.  Sports Hochi believes that Takahashi would be used mostly in middle relief by the Cubs and could be in line for some spot starts.  According to the report, the Cubs are looking for support for Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome.  Others have drummed up a similar idea in the past.

While I dont think the Cubs NEED another bullpen arm, its good to see that Hendry is out looking to give Cotts some competition. It also suggests that Fukudome's decline could have been (according to the Cubs) partially mental...

...and discuss...

Went out and got The Bill James Handbook 2009, and my personal favorite section of the book is the future projections...

PROJECTED WINS/LOSSES:
Cotts: 2-2
Dempster: 12-10
Gaudin: 4-4
Gregg: 4-3
Harden: 11-5
Lilly: 12-11
Marmol: 6-4
Marquis: 9-10
Marshall: 5-4
Wuertz: 3-2
Zambrano: 13-9

TOTALS: 81-64 (Winning Percentage: .559)

This puts the Cubs just shy of 91 wins, based on the percentage.Obviously this is projecting, and it doesnt really take the offense into account... but it suggests that some are ready for the Cubs to take a drastic step back.

If you watched last year's NLDS you might remember a commercial for a tv show on TBS that ran during every commercial break (it seemed). Well... bad news. He's got a new season and TBS has already began running tons of commercials for it. I was watching TBS (Kingpin, what a great movie) and they ran perhaps 10 commercials for Frank TV, and unfortunatelly they were all the same.

At least last year there were a couple different ones. Get ready to be bored to tears by TBS commercials again. Wahooo-oooooo!

Hopefully the Cubs sweep so we dont have to see 5 games worth of these commercials.

I was hoping that fans of the site that chose to get print at home tickets for each of the games of the NLDS would post a screen shot (or link) to their ticket after the game has been played, so that the rest of us can have a souvineer of sorts.

If this makes sense, awesome. I realize it sounds a bit jumbled, but some of us wont be able to attend the games, and I can think of no cooler souvineer than a ticket stub. Since they're offering print at home, all you'd have to do is share the link/picture after the game has been played and the rest of us could have a souvineer too.

Please and thanks. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would appreciate this.

This isnt opinion, its fact. The Cubs confirmed it with a story over on Cubs.com (here)

Im a bit surprised with it, but its Lou's decision and I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Dempster has been the most consistant starter for the Cubs, so it makes sense.

From what I could tell there is no word as to who will start games 2 and 3, but Id imagine it'd be Harden followed by Z...



...and discuss...

Obviously there has been debate about the ability/effectiveness of Felix Pie and today he played well... I've always been a big fan of Pie, so it was no surprise that Pie looked like a capable major league outfielder. That being said, I know that this site was fairly split when it came to Pie, so I figured it was time for discussion in its own thread, despite the fact that this has been a topic in various threads this year... and discuss...

Should Marshall step into the rotation? Perhaps get a few more spot-starts?

Lets be honest, Jason Marquis isnt stunning anyone, and Marshall has looked solid for a majority of his career, and tonight he has looked downright nasty through the first four innings.

Yes, I know there is plenty of time for him to implode tonight, and I know that he's only started a few games this year and we're talking about a small sample size... but...

Do we find a way to work Marshall into the rotation in some form or fashion to get maybe 3 or 4 more starts?

Before I get bashed, blocked, and banned, I think you should take a look at a post by Peter Gammons over on ESPN... (here)

While I dont think he's MVP material, its an interesting insight into the whole thing.

"The average major league team gets a .256 batting average with 11 homers and a .711 OPS from its catchers. The Cubs, for instance, are tied with the Braves and Angels with 22 homers from the catcher position, lead the majors in catchers' OPS at .863, and -- if one talks to the Cubs' pitchers -- have two catchers in Soto and Henry Blanco "Hey, we won the series, the pitchers were great, and today we had a shutout," Soto shot back. "What's better than that?" who care more about their pitchers than their own numbers. Earlier this season, Soto struck out eight straight times in Washington, but on the bus to the airport he was joking around when a teammate reminded him of his strikeouts.

...and discuss