What do you say about a 17-1 game that isn’t obvious or sarcastic? The Cubs got their asses kicked today, and most of the damage came off of Jeff Samardzija and Casey Coleman. The end.
Brett Taylor is the lead writer at Bleacher Nation, and can also be found as Bleacher Nation on Twitter and on Facebook.
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21 May 2013
The Cubs now have 10 days to trade, waive, or release the 26-year-old righty.
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21 May 2013
The 24-year-old righty was excellent in 2011 before falling off over the last two years.
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21 May 2013
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21 May 2013
Could it be that the organization still believes Vitters is the long-term answer at third base?
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21 May 2013
What exactly are we looking for from Matt Garza over the next couple months? What's coming for Starlin Castro? And what's up with David Price's arm?
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21 May 2013
There is still plenty of time, and plenty of good indicators, including the most important ones at this point in his development.
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21 May 2013
Albert Almora is coming back, and a number of prospects are heating up.
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In other news, the Cubs said to be in pursuit of Puig.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-cubs-pursuing-cuban-outfield-prospect-puig-20120627,0,7738476.story
I know we don’t know much about this guy but say the Cubs do sign him. Do you happen to know his possible prospect rating? or anything in fact on this guy?
From what I have seen he is a work in progress, more (in terms of prospect-y-ness) along the lines of Szczur, Dawson, etc… than Soler, Almora, Jackson.
Yup, they are…
http://www.bleachernation.com/2012/06/20/chicago-cubs-reportedly-pursuing-another-top-cuban-outfield-prospect-yasiel-puig/
(I kid. The Rogers piece is added confirmation.)
Tomorrow is an off day right? I wouldnt be surprised if we see some changes
Well done! Really not much to say about a game like this, Brett.
It really doesn’t seem like the Cubs won this series does it?
So its safe to assume Coleman isn’t stepping in and filling in for Dempster anytime soon?
What a repulsive display of pitching Samardzija and Coleman.
If only Rizzo had gotten to the plate in the 9th he could’ve tied it with a 16-run homer….
Haha, that’s great Evan. I didn’t watch the game, but what happened with Castro on the bases? Was he popping bubble gum and staring into the bleachers, or did Ike Davis pull a Haywood by saying “Castro, real hard to steal second with your shoe are untied” before the pickoff?
Oh Shark… I am not trying to pick on Sveum or anything, but his whole lefty-righty thing is starting to piss me off. There really aren’t any positive results from this method! Stop playing Baker!!!
totally agree, guy is absolutely useless.
I know, if Baker wasn’t in the lineup it would have only been a 15 run game.
Jeff made Randy look good today.
rcleven: And that’s really saying something!
Boy, getting the first overall pick in the draft is painful.
At this rate, it might happen again in the 2014 draft as well.
I bet Nationals fans are not regretting two years of suckitude right now…
No, I bet they aren’t. Wish there was a super prospect being touted this upcoming draft that we can look forward to, but there is still plenty of time for the class to take shape.
Wow. I fought like heck to get to watch this game and get kicked in the nards for doing so. Samardzija had no movement on the fastball and kept leaving the breaking stuff either up or out of the zone. Is he hurt? Is it mechanical? Does Chris Bosio suck? Should I have tacos for dinner?
Oh yeah, and the lefty offense is awesome once again, the best day was put in by the guys who bat left handed.
tacos are always an excellent choice in my opinion!
RY34: Agreed! (=
Instead of tacos, have a burrito. Yum
Chicken beef or pork?
Tongue, don’t knock it until you try it.
Featherstone: Love me some cow tongue! Agreed, don’t knock it until you try it!
Tried it on a whim once, was very pleasantly surprised. I also love me some good chorizo especially with my eggs.
I tried it at first when someone was talking to my grandpa. We were both used to being the only ones around with our name and so I thought they were talking to me and I had some. It was fantastic.
I have a great recipe for boiled beef tongue and raisin sauce. It’s one of my favorite dishes.
steak
I’m with you Dave, I’m going with the steak, but there may or may not be doritos involved. I will have to keep that in mind Hansman.
I’m sorry, but in honor of Anthony Rizzo, shouldn’t we be having pizza?
Taco Pizza is acceptable.
yes tacos – take ground beef, a packet of seasoning, rice, doritos, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, ranch, sour cream and taco sauce and you have yourself one helluva meal
amen to that!
Skip the packet of seasoning and instead add a stick of pork chorizo. Its not a taco unless its tuning down your arm
It’s easier to decide on an appetizer, main course and dessert than this lineup. What ever you choose I would suggest a strong bottle of wine to go with it or maybe a white bordeaux. You’ll need something like that to wash down the score, Then add some schnapps for dessert and you’ll truly appreciate the score.
Anybody else starting to wonder whether or not the shark should be a reliever again? Just curious. Won’t happen this year, but on a good team is he a SP?
Lots of discussion on that in the pre-gamin’ thread. The answer is yes. He could be a stud reliever. As a starter? I’ve seen enough.
When you start Jeff Baker in RF,and Mather.Our lineup against LHP is awful.We need someone like Scott Hairston before today 7 out of 9 Hrs are against Lefties.He hits the ball hard every time.
Maybe a closer one day. I could see the music playing the Jaws theme and the Shark comes in.
Will Ohman anybody? His ERA is only .650.
We need a lot more good players!!!! that sums it up best…
Here is the kind of trade we need to make for Garza…10 years ago today. Cleveland traded there #1 starter Bartolo Colon for Lee Stephens and 3 minor leaguers..Brandon Phillips,Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore.GREAT SCOUTING
Montreal thought they were being contracted so they didn’t give a rip about the future.
In other news, the Yankees have put CC Sabathia on the disabled list. Hmm.. Garza to the Yankees looking real sweet about now….
Pettite to the DL too
Oooh.
seriously, who on this roster will be around when we’re good in a couple years? Castro, Rizzo, Shark, Wood???, Barney???…Theo and Jed have so much work to do to acquire big league talent it’s not even funny. i hope Oswalt sucks and N. Feliz doesn’t come back anytime soon, i’d like to get Texas desperate for Garza! Leonys Martin is who i’d like to pick up as a prospect…who cares how many OF prospects we have.
the pitching staff??? i have no idea where we go from what we have now to a consistent post season type staff…i’m sure the plan is to build bullpen with cheaper, home grown arms and then spend on the starters when possible. Our staff is abysmal.
I would say Castro and Rizzo would be it…….and we don’t even know about those two yet either…..
I was thinking the exact same thing earlier today while at work. I was trying to see what a line up of the future might look like assuming all of our top guys reach their projected ceilings. My conclusion was we have a lot of work to do. And I wasn’t even looking at pitchers just position players.
also i love the iphone and twitter was built for it! i enjoy chatting cubs on there…hit me up at @offaironpoint!
Shark is over used right now. This season doesn’t mean anything. I pass him up until after the all star break is over. He is running out of gas every game earlier and earlier. He still throws hard but his arm drops along with his elbow and the ball moves up and the rest is history. If the Cubs are smart they do this or he won’t be around at seasons end. He will have an arm issue and then these dumb asses will really be under the gun.
I agree. Start limiting his pitches and soiling some starts,or at least hive home so.e extra days. Then don’t leg him train as hard in the offseason this year. Shark came into camp k. Mid-season form and now hes worn out. Not ready to give up on him as a SP yet but he needs rest
Yep. Or just put him back in the bullpen where he belongs. Whichever one’s easier.
I’d say he soiled his own start today
I agree with you, Joey. Too early to give up on a guy who showed so much promise in April and May. Dial him back, get him to build up endurance, and see how he goes in 2013. If he can’t handle the whole season next year (or most of it, at least), then back to the stud pen he goes, and no regrets!
The box score reads: Samardjia, Coleman, Ascencia, Dolis, Corpas. The real question is did Svuem hit the fast forward button to September 7th or rewind back to March 21st?
Well, I am going to put a positive spin on this suckiness that we are about to go through over the next two to three seasons. When Bobby Cox became GM in Atlanta in 1985, he started trading away the Braves best hitters for prospects and they put a lot of money towards drafting and player development. They lost 90-100 games for three or four straight years. Now, they still don’t have the same market that we do….but look at how their dedication to constantly developing a farm system has worked out for them. Yes, rebuilding through the farm systems sucks, it’s painful, and it takes a little while. However, you build a foundation where you are able to contend year in and year out for several years. They still don’t sign big name free agents, but sign solid players that can complement their younger players. Most teams get panicky and start trading their prospects and aren’t as disciplined as the Braves. The only other team that is similar in style would be the Rays….and they are on their way to the same type of long term success.
Every team in the league outside of New York and Boston has been trying to imitate the Braves’ model for the last two decades. Andy MacPhail referenced it heavily when he took over the Cubs.
Wanting to be the Braves and actually being them are two very, very different things.
I didn’t say they were imitating the braves philosophy exactly….I was simply talking about building through the farm system. And no…..every team has NOT imitated the Braves model, because as I said…..teams are not patient and disciplined enough to develop their own. They end up trading top prospects for a quick fix. McPhail did this successfully as well…..the cubs had the #1 farm system in 2002. By the way, Epstien DID say that he would not trade away the prospects that he did if he didn’t feel like he was forced to. That’s the key, the more talent you have in your minors that you are patient with and don’t trade away, the more you will look like the Rays and Braves. Hendry got aggressive and started trading away a lot of guys and also forgot about player development. If you look at his hit rate on his first round draft choices, you can understand why he didn’t want to trade them.
“the cubs had the #1 farm system in 2002″
Talking about how any one team succeeds usually leads to logical fallacies. The Braves did X. The Braves won a lot. Therefore, X works. The Rays did Y. The Rays won a lot. Therefore, Y works. These are both fallacious statements because they omit the fact that several other teams have been trying X and Y: and it has not worked out for them. Now, in part, this is because “building through the farm system” borders on being a pithy aphorism: it’s an incredibly vague term that can cover any number of tactics or sets of tactics. The real philosophy is in the sort of player that you try to acquire. And even there, well, there is a huge luck component: you can draft a Chipper Jones, but the odds on having one play so well for so long are astronomically small.
At least Baker only struck out twice today. He is WAY OVERDUE to hit for the cycle, have a 4 homer game, 56 game hitting streak, etc.
Repeat after me…..must….play……Baker……must…..play…….Baker…..
Everyone knows Baker sucks balls bigtime. But if you ask Sveum why he plays Baker he will start talking about something else. He tries and make everyone forget about the original question, but it never works. He tries to be like Theo, but can’t hang..
I wonder if the Shark is still the only guy on the “won’t trade list” still? That’s a madeup and stupid article anyways.. He looks like complete a$$hole out there these days.
Baker must have some dirt on these guys…
He is holding children hostage.
A game like this you just gotta shrug your shoulders. Tomorrow’s another day.
Amen.
Opened a beer so I could cry in it.
Rizzo left 4 on base….but who’s noticing through the kool aided blue fog?
*facepalm*
Because every silver lining has a cloud…..
Where were you last night after the game? How about when he crushed a double today? Oh yeah! You ignored it! You are right though…..Rizzo should go 5-5 with three homeruns everyday with 200 RBI or we should consider him to be a bust……
Sounds about right.
Rizzo should be hitting 4 HRs with 8 RBIs while delivering babies every game. How dare Rizzo leave runners on base. I’m sorry, but Rizzo will be the worst player the Cubs ever has. I’d take 100 Marvelle Wynnes before one of Rizzo. Oh, my post was sarcasm.
WHERE WAS HIS NINE-RUN HOMER IN THE FIFTH? THAT WOULD HAVE TIED THE GAME!
Lets not forget that if Randy Wells would get a start everyday the Cubs would go 162-0….Jed and Theo don’t know anything about baseball!!! Also, Tony Campana should bat cleanup!!!!
whoa sarcasm to the extreme…i like it
I would have to think that a Szczur is going to be getting a promotion pretty soon. He has a grand slam, double, and a single tonight and his OPS is approaching .800 in a pitcher’s league.
Very encouraging. I’ve always been a Szczur skeptic. It was nice that he was starting to walk more this season, but the power was non-existent. If he can find a way to combine the two, he proves my skepticism wrong.
He still projects nicely into center field, so he won’t need a lot of power. If he can hit 10-15 HR a year he’ll probably be OK.
I’m not sure about a near term promotion, though. He did sit out for a few weeks with a knee injury. He might go to Tennessee late in the season to help them out down the stretch and in the playoffs (like did for Daytona last year), but I would not expect anything sooner than that.
I’m not so much worried about the MLB home run totals as I am that a lack of power at almost 23 in A+ would indicate a lack of ability to drive the ball with solid contact. Especially given his butt-ugly swing.
He’s walking at right around 10%, striking out at only 14%, and slugging .121 points higher than his BA, which is rapidly increasing. What lack of power? He has more doubles than Ryan Braun, Dustin Ackley, Derek Jeter, Rafael Furcal, Adam Dunn, Starlin Castro, and Bryan LaHair in around 15 less games played. He also on pace for almost 70 steals in 162 games. He’s a natural athlete and has at least two more seasons to refine his hitting before coming up. I’m really not sure what you want from a CF if you are saying that. If you want a little more hitting and a little more power, then you have Mike Trout, and that is too much to ask.
Chirogreg,
Are we still talking about Szczur???? If so, you can’t compare stats that guys put up in High A ball to guys in the majors…..
Coming into tonight, he had a .378 slugging percentage and an IsoD of .104. You can’t pretend that’s not a concern for a guy who is almost 23 playing in A+.
Kyle,
As Luke has emphasized many times…..you have to look beyond the initial slash line. Matt had a very slow start in april and early may but has come on strong ever since his overall slash line doesn’t tell the whole story.
I pretty explicitly acknowledged that he’s been on the upswing and that if he keeps it up, I’ll change my mind about him.
My mistake, you did acknowledge it earlier…..I forgot I was talking to the same guy
Question for anyone that knows, What is the difference between the ratings on WGN when the Cubs play vs. when the broadcast Sox games? I wonder why they waste my time putting those A$$ Clowns on TV around the country when they have no national fanbase. I would much prefer 80 Cub games then listening to Hawk complain about calls and Steve Stone stew about getting fired a decade ago..