Len & Bob's baseball blog

Is Jim Dandy?

2008-05-15T00:00:12Z

Looks like Jim Edmonds is going to be a Chicago Cub. He's in town to take a physical today and if he passes, we could see him in CF in a Cubs uniform. Thoughts on this pending move? My take--low risk, high reward. It won't cost the Cubs more than the prorated minimum. If it doesn't work out, you can cut bait and move on quickly. But it has the potential of being a worthwhile acquisition to help the Cubs from the left side of the plate. Edmonds might not be the same player he once was, but he still can have value. Maybe his early season struggles were the result of just not being back all the way yet from the calf injury. Plus, his experience could be a nice asset. My guess is, the biggest problem some Cubs fans will have with him is that he was a Cardinal.

Len

Game Notes For Wednesday vs. The Peavys

2008-05-14T20:30:17Z

*Over the past 3 years, the Padres are 13-4 vs. the Cubs. *Since the NL Central came into existence in 1994, only one starting pitcher has a lower career ERA against the division than Jake Peavy's 2.36 (Kevin Brown 2.33). *Alfonso Soriano, who has hit home runs in back-to-back games for the first time this season, hit a leadoff home run for the 45th time in his career last night. He is 3rd on the career list behind Rickey Henderson (81) and Craig Biggio (53). *From the 3rd inning on, the Cubs are a +51 in run differential, best in the majors.

Minor League Report for 5/13 Games

2008-05-14T10:23:30Z

Iowa extended their season-high winning streak to seven games with a 5-2 victory over Portland.
RF Micah Hoffpauir drove in all five of Iowa’s runs, going 2-for-4 with a double and a three-run homer. He is 5-for-9 (.556) with a double, two homers, and nine RBI in his last two games.

Tennessee dropped a nail-biter, 3-2 in 13 innings to Huntsville..

Brevard County evened the series at one-game apiece with their 3-0 blanking of the Daytona Cubs.
RHP Marco Carillo handcuffed the Manatees through six, bringing a no-hitter into the seventh, but with one out in the seventh, Lorenzo Cain singled to right field. Carillo shut down the next two batters to end the threat.
RF James Adducci went 2-for-4, recording his 19th multi-hit affair of the season.

Peoria’s game with Quad Cities was postponed due to rain … the game will be made up as part of a doubleheader today.

Podcast: Opulent, Never Fraudelent

2008-05-12T16:20:03Z

Are the Cubs for real? What is the story with the Wrigley Field turnaround this year? Who sang a rough 7th inning stretch? What does opulent mean? Learn the answers to these and many other penetrating questions in this week's Len and Bob's Podcast. As always, our all-access Pod service can be downloaded to your iPod or mp3 player in the audio format, or you can watch our favorite pair via the video version. If you would like, you can watch the podcast on your computer right at your desk.

If there's any vocabulary words you'd like to add for Bob next week, just let us know.

Game Notes For Monday Vs. Friars

2008-05-12T15:32:37Z

* These teams will be meeting for the first time this season. The Padres have won five of the last seven meetings between these teams. * The Cubs will be looking to extend their winning streak to four games. At 14-6, the Cubs have the third-best home win percentage in the majors this season. * San Diego will be looking to extend its winning streak to a season-high three straight games. * Carlos Zambrano is 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA in seven career starts against the Padres. * Randy Wolf is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA over his last three starts. Wolf is 2-5 with a 4.35 ERA in 12 career starts against the Cubs. * Adrian Gonzalez has reached base safely via a hit or walk in each of his last 14 games. * The Cubs lead the majors with a .502 slugging percentage at home this season.

Minor League Report for 5/11

2008-05-12T10:23:23Z

The Iowa Cubs swept a doubleheader beating Portland 3-0 and 3-2 .
Starter Rich Hill tossed 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, walking four, and fanning eight … he owns a 1-1 mark with a 1.69 (2 ER/10.2 IP) in two starts with Iowa.

Tennessee lost to Huntsville 7-2 to fall to 15-22 on the year..
RF Ryan Harvey and 1B Jake Fox plated Tennessee’s lone runs on a pair of RBI-singles in the third … Harvey’s 15 RBI on the season, rank tied for the team lead with Tyler Colvin.

Clinton beat Peoria 12-4.

Tony Romo Sings The Stretch

2008-05-12T01:28:37Z

Sweet Sweep

2008-05-12T01:28:07Z

Sean Gallagher Gets Surprise Start

2008-05-12T01:27:34Z

Conditioning

2008-05-11T18:23:34Z

One of the things we'll spend a lot of time talking about today is the conditions here at Wrigley Field. It's cold and the wind is howling in from the north, really coming hard. This ballpark plays so many different ways - I've said many times when the wind is the other way and howling out, the best thing a pitcher can do is roll it up there. Today, unless it's a low liner, it will be extremely difficult for anyone to take a ball out to left. My old buddy, Mike Krukow, threw a bunch of games here for the Cubs and as the opposition and has always harped that you have to pitch to the conditions and alter what you do to suit the weather when it's like this. If that's the case, Sean Gallagher should be coming inside to the right-handers today. Let's hope he has a good start.

Bob

Game Notes For Possible Sunday Mudder's Day

2008-05-11T17:37:08Z

*Daryl Ward is 2-for-3 vs. Edgar Gonzales. The only other Cubs with an at-bat against him (Lee, Ramirez, Fontenot, Blanco) all made an out in their only time facing him. *Chris Burke is the only D-Back to face Sean Gallagher and has a single in his only at-bat against the Cubs starter. *The Cubs are 13-6 at Wrigley Field this season. *The Cubs have drawn 168 walks this year, second in the majors behind St. Louis (179). * Cub starters have a 3.75 ERA this year, 3rd in the NL behind Atlanta (3.38) and St. Louis (3.61).

Cubs Sunday Rain Lineup

2008-05-11T17:26:46Z

While we wait out the rain, the Cubs have changed their lineup for today. Both starting pitchers, Carlos Zambrano and Randy Johnson have been scratched. Edgar Gonzales is pitching the for D-Backs, Sean Gallagher toes the bump for the Cubs.

Reed Johnson - LF
Ryan Theriot - SS
Derrek Lee - 1B
Aramis Ramirez - 3B
Kosuke Fukudome - RF
Geovany Soto - C
Mark DeRosa - 2B
Felix Pie - CF
Sean Gallagher - P

Cubs Make It Back-To-Back Over The 'Backs

2008-05-10T22:22:13Z

Gracie Sings The Stretch

2008-05-10T03:19:48Z

The Diamonds Are Back

2008-05-09T17:58:07Z

When you take a look at the Diamondbacks, it's pretty easy to see they do all things well. It’s close to a juggernaut right now with this team and they are really young as well. With Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Micah Owings and Randy Johnsonhave a few aces on this staff. One thing about Haren is that he is profiting the 1st time around the National League this year - we saw that with Ted Lilly last year.

One good thing is Cubs have played much better at home, especially hitting the tar out of the ball. Hopefully that home field advantage we've been looking for is here to stay and shows up this weekend.

Bob