ZoomSlowik

That wasn't one of Bobby's better fastballs.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 02:14 PM) Rowand would've had it. Brian drops one in Center. Rowand used to do the same thing with regularity.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:54 PM) Good comparison between Capuano and Russ Ortiz. That is actually perfect. Neither one has much talent at all, although Russ is a fierce competitor. I'd rather have Capuano or Davis as opposed to Backe as well, but that ain't saying much. I dunno, we'll see. I even had Capuano on my fantasy squad last year. I caught a few of his games. I had to drop him with the quickness, no doubt. Actually, both of those guys have a lot more talent than Ortiz, which is pretty obvious by looking at their strikeout totals and BAA. I used that comparison to say it was a bit of a fluke and that he probably should have won more like 14. That's part of my point. The only other team in the division that really has more than 2 good starters is St. Louis (and I guess the Cubs if they ever get healthy, but we know that's a stretch). It is possible that their ERA's jump this year, but Davis has been fairly good for two years running, and Capuano is young enough that he can improve it. I remember saying the same thing about Carlos Zambrano a couple of years ago, and we know how that turned out.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:37 PM) The 1.20 range is damn good. But if you're at 1.45 like Capuano and Davis? You suck, and there is absolutely no doubt about that. Keep in mind that I'm looking strictly at road numbers in this particular case. Actually, all those guys I listed were at 1.25 or higher last year, which is starting to creep towards bad. Those guys don't really pitch like it though. These guys obviously have the stuff to get by though. They posted very high strikeout totals and had low BAA. That compensates for the high walk rates a bit. Plus their totals aren't that bad if you actually look at all their numbers instead of picking half of them. I can make a lot of guys look bad if you just want to use splits. As I said, they're not aces, but they're better than a good number of pitchers in their division.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:34 PM) What do you think of those Home vs. Road stats that I posted? You don't think that both Capuano and Davis are products of Miller Park? I don't think that they have much talent at all, but I suppose that's just me. Put them in Houston, and they're just as wack as the other guys in their 3-4-5. But they pitch in Milwaukee, and people (for whatever reason) don't realize that Miller Park is a pitching haven, so I dunno. They're not that good, but the other team has to deal with the same conditions. If they play in Milwaukee the other pitcher has the same advantage, and if they play in Cincinnati they have the same diadvantage. Capuano managed to win 18 last year, so he can't be all bad. Yes, it was a Russ Ortiz-esque 18, but he still won that many. I'd still rather have Davis and Capuano instead of the bottom 3 in Houston's no matter where they pitch. Thier road numbers are still better than what those pitchers posted. Outside of some flashes from Backe they're just not very good. Hell, Backe was better at home than away (3.91 ERA at home, 5.83 away).

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:21 PM) With what minimum of IP? I'm going by 150. I'm not sure, whatever ESPN uses. There are also several other fairly effective starters with WHIPS above 1.2, like Freddy, Vazquez, Sabathia, and Webb.

I'll agree that a high WHIP is generally a bad thing, but for some guys it doesn't really matter that much. The three guys that I mentioned put a lot more guys on base than you would think based on their general pitching performance. Capuano is a little erratic, but he's got good enough stuff to get out of it a good portion of the time. For a #3 starter that still has some room to develop, you could do worse. Davis also has a high WHIP, but his overall numbers have been fairly good the last two seasons. Granted they're not staff aces, but they're better than a lot of teams have. If Sheets keeps getting hurt, then yes, their rotation is eventually going to kill them. But with those guys as your 2 and 3 in a division that doesn't have a lot of pitching depth, they can get by. Their rotation is definitely stronger than Cinci and Pitt no matter what happens, and with Sheets it's better than the current Cubs' rotation and arguably even the Astros (great top two, but the bottom 3 are pretty weak). I don't think they can beat the Cardinals, but they can do better than the rest of the division.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:09 PM) Zoom, all three were Top 15 in the majors last year: Zambrano 1.15 WHIP Buehrle 1.18 WHIP Oswalt 1.20 WHIP I must say that I'm stunned by your post. WHIP is so much better than ERA that it's not even funny. They've put up higher WHIP's than that in the past while still doing pretty well. If you've got the stuff and pitching ability to get out of it, how many baserunners you allow doesn't really matter. By the way, according to ESPN Buehrle ranked #17 last year and Oswalt was #21. Not that it really makes much of a difference, just saying.

Although neither is perfect, ERA is a better method of measurement than WHIP. Guys like Roy Oswalt, Carlos Zambrano, and Mark Buehrle have put up some pretty high WHIP numbers while still being highly effective pitchers. Davis and Capuano are two other pitchers that have done fairly well the last two years despite high WHIP numbers. Plus both are fairly young pitchers that are going to get better with a little more seasoning.

QUOTE(Timoperezrulez @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 11:08 AM) But the thing is these cubs fans always say " that is all in the past, right now we are better then you" what are some good comebacks for that? You could always just tell them to put down the crack pipe. Seriously, their 3, 4, and 5 starters are Glendon Rusch, Sean Marshall, and Jerome Williams, and Wood and Prior have no timetable for return (as always). They're not going anywhere with that rotation. Of course the problem is logic never seems to work on Cubs' fans.

QUOTE(rventura23 @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 11:06 PM) Its not that there were not impressive, its just that they claim they are a dynasty when they only won 1 BCS championship game. Still a very impressive stretch IMO. Technically they do have 2 National Championships though, they were #1 in the other poll the year they were screwed out of a title game appearance. I also have no doubts they would have won that game had they been given the chance.

I still say Williams and Washington are gone.

QUOTE(TLAK @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 08:51 PM) In related news: rotoworld: Locker room photo: I think the Cubs just got their ass kicked too hard.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 08:31 PM) Twins roaring back. 6 unanswered. 6-4 Twins. Figures that they put on an offensive spurt right when I rip on them.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 08:05 PM) Their pitching is what makes their opponents look like they can't hit. They have got some studs. Not when Jason Johnson throws a shutout. I wouldn't call their guys "studs" either, although Sabathia, Lee, and occasionally Westbrook are above average. The Twins and Mariners both have below average offenses. It's probably going to take a team out-slugging them right now. They have Detroit and Baltimore coming up on the schedule, so hopefully they'll lose a couple in there.

It'd be nice if someone would beat those damn Injuns one of these days. Are they ever going to play someone that can actually hit?

1) Northwestern football title- that'd be pretty nuts, and with our tailgate group we'd have a ton of fun with that. 2) Sox title 3) Northwestern basketball title- we all know that this one is a serious longshot. Honestly, I wouldn't be super-excited if the Bulls or Bears won it all. The novelty kind of wore of after 6 titles for the Bulls, and I just don't follow the NFL as much as I used to anymore.

If we could get him for a collection of spare parts, then yes. I don't see any real reason to not take Torii Hunter. He's not a very patient hitter, but he's an elite defender and has some decent pop. We'd have to give up something decent to get him though, and it seems unlikely that the Twins would trade him to us. I wouldn't give up anything too valuable to get him.

Man, the Scrubs sure are getting rocked today. They're down 9-0 with 5 homers allowed. One of them was a grandslam, another was to the pitcher. Wow, I guess we can start printing the Cubs' World Series tickets. This is going to happen a lot more often now that they actually need a 5th starter.

I love it, Bronson Arroyo has homered off the Cubs twice this season.

You got a new one now thanks to the Reds: Bronson Arroyo, a pitcher who hasn't hit a homerun since high school, now has two homers against the Cubs on the season.

My predicted stat lines for the 3 players in question: Derek Lee- 38 homers, 105 RBI, .290 average Jim Thome- 41 homers, 100 RBI, .275 average Paul Konerko- 37 homers, 115 RBI, .278 average I would say that Thome would hit even more homers, but I expect somewhere around 140 games played, and he's a bit streaky so there might be a 2 homer month at some point.

Just wait a couple of weeks for the balance to shift the other way. The Cubs are bound to lose the series to either the Reds or the Pirates (that's just their way), and will probably split at best with the Dodgers and Cardinals. This is especially true when Sean Marshall and Jerome Williams have to make more starts.

QUOTE(POPPY_HIDALGO @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 11:42 AM) I'll guarantee you that Konerko has more homers than Thome. Considering Thome won't make it all the way through this season injury free. So Thome has one injury-plagued year and suddenly he's a serious injury threat? The guy has played at least 140 games in 8 of the last 10 years. That's pretty durable.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 11, 2006 -> 11:38 AM) Is no one holding out for Konerko to hit more homers than Thome and Lee? I think it's highly possible that happens. I just don't see Lee matching his total from last year because even if he were performing at the same level he's probably not going to see quite as many good pitches to crush. I think he ends up with a total in the high 30's, which should put him in roughly the same spot as Konerko. If he stays healthy the whole year, Thome could easily reach the mid-40's, especially considering that the Cell can be a launching pad in mid-summer. Plus last year was Lee's first year with more than 32 homers.