after whoever it was singled, the Cubs broadcast showed the bullpen coach taking the tarp off of the mounds.

I’m a little weird in saying this, but I want our young pitchers to struggle here and there. I’d rather them traverse those situations with a nine run cushion as opposed to a one run game. Baseball at the MLB level is a mental game more than a physical one

I say that Edinson learned that he can pull his own ass out of the fire he created today. That seed will bear great fruit in the future, say next year when it matters.

He would be priceless.

How can anybody not like this guy?

is like the dude on my high school basketball team that would sneak up behind you in the locker room shower and pee on your leg.

/Mark-Prior—First-Game-Photograph-C10108942.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/90557&h=129&w=103&sz=25&tbnid=4_EtkWnYow4J:&tbnh=129&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dphoto%2Bof%2Bmark%2Bprior&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&cd=3”/>

I am a little more concerned now that Waynes gone. I think Wayne had some limits for the young pitchers that Walt won’t have. We all saw what happened to Matt Morris in St. Louis. TLR abused him, he had an injury early in his career, bounced back for a few impressive seasons, but now his career is over at a seemingly young age. I have not seen anything in writing about Krivksy keeping tabs on the pitchers, but I am inferring he would because of his caution with Homer Bailey.

not if his arm falls off in August.

now of course that is a bit hyperbolic, but seriously. with everything we know about youth and pitch-counts there is no excuse for letting someone like EV throw 118 pitches in a game. in any game. ESPECIALLY in a game led by 9 runs. but ESPECIALLY in a game where the ‘pen has the next day off. i can tolerate a certain amount of ignorance from my baseball team, i mean, they just arent going to know how to run a team as well as i can. but something as rudimentary as pitch counts has to be on like page 4 of Dusty’s orientation booklet.

its obvious he still has work to do. this is a dude leading the NL in Ks and ERA and HE STILL HAS WORK TO DO!! HE CAN GET BETTER!! oh, and his name is not Homer, neither is it Cueto. this is so awesome!

obc and I were at the game. You need to meet us so we seem like real people, damnit. :)

and hedge bets of the other two games. It would be better if the other two starters came from the group of Harang, Volquez, and Cueto, not Matt Belise.

...is that I don’t think I’ve very often heard them discussed except by analysts and PBP guys casting aspersions at the defining parameters of a “quality start.”

FWIW, I think that Vin Scully created the term (and said parameters) in order to give some credit to an MLB team’s back-of-the-rotation guys when they go out and “keep their team in it.” It’s a nice way to say, “Hey, will you look at that… Matt Belisle didn’t throw up all over his dick today.”

I think “quality” is kind of supposed to be spoken softly and applied loosely. Kinda like saying “Glad All Over” by the DC5 is a quality rock and roll recording.

I’ve got no problem with that. (And I’ve got no problem with Vin.)

didn’t Dusty openly worry about Brays durability during spring training? Well I guess the best way to find out if he is durable is to pitch him 3 days in a row. I guess this is still better than last June when Narron ran Majewksi out there 15 times in 8 days.

the game is more offensive than it was 50 years ago. Guys are stronger and there are more quality hitters now than there were at that time. At that time positions like shortstop and second base were seen as primarily defensive positions and as long as they stayed above .200 it was ok. Now catcher is the only position where it is acceptal for a guy to be defensivly minded, and that is only to a certain point.

I think the hitters have changed more than the pitchers. Guys always threw 95 mph. That is more of a talent than anything else. A fatfuck like Mike Stanton can hit the high 80’s so conditioning doesn’t have that much to do with velocity. A position player can go to the weight room, (or pharmacy) and add on 10 or 15 homeruns in a season. A pitcher can’t go into a weight room and add 10 miles onto his fastball.

The other change is in 1968(?) the mound was lowered. I think that has also helped the offense.

Plus there is still the unexplained mystery as too why more pitchers get hurt today than 50 years ago. Is it that pitchers always did get hurt, but the talent was as deluted so it wasn’t as noticable? Is it the mound being lowerd? Is it that it wasn’t as noticable because a guy would get hurt lose effectiveness, and bow out because there weren’t Tommy John and Shoulder surgeries weren’t performed? Has floradation affected their precious bodily flulids causing them to lose their essence? It has even changed in the last 20 years. I am pretty sure Maddux threw over 150 pitches a few times in his younger days. He seems to have had little ill effect. But now a young guy throws 118 pitches and that is a danger zone.

that is one big lio de html

I’ll point out that the only two people to bring up Wood and Prior and Dusty’s past are you and justin, both of whom defended this move. Personally, I’ve stopped worrying about that reputation, but this specific instance really only bugs me because it was unnecessary.

As for the bullpen, it was the day before an off day and prior to yesterday Cordero had pitched 2 innings in May, Weathers 1IP, Mercker 1.1 IP and obviously Affeldt was available as well. I think it’s safe to say that those 4 relievers could handle 2+ IP between them in a 9-0 game.

I don’t have a problem with Volquez starting the 7th, but he threw 24 pitches that inning and Dusty never had anyone up in the bullpen. Typically in those situations managers yank the pitcher at the first sign of trouble, but Dusty appeared to have his mind made up that Volquez’s line would have 7 IP. Why? It was 9-0. That’s what I don’t like about this.

Wood already had a prior record of injuries. Yeah his injuires may have been inevitable no matter what happened but… Dusty knowing that he had a pitcher with bad mechanics, and past injuries, and who’s arm was thought to be a ticking time bomb, did nothing to try and protect him.

In Woods final 6 starts of 2003 begining on August 27th he threw 125 pitches in a 2-4 lose. On September 2nd 120 pitches in a 2-0 loss, on the 7th he threw 122 pitches in a 9-2 win, on the 12th he threw 114 pitches in a 7-6 win, 17th he threw 125 pitches in 2-0 win, and on the 23rd 122 pitches in a 6-0 win. In the 9-2 and 6-0 game he pitched 7 innings despite the Cubs getting a sizeable lead before he started the 7th. Keep in mind that the Cubs were also skipping Shawn Estes as much as possible during this time, so he had three starts in a row with the minimum 4 days rest.

Why hasn’t Jocketty done this deal yet? Why would the White Sox want a 25-year old outfielder with a .955 OPS this season when they can have a 38-year OF/DH with a .695 OPS and a $16.5 million option for next year?

AGAIN!

with that giant board that gives the number of pitches, balls, strikes, and velocity.