I just finished reading The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst. Hayhurst is a pitcher, currently in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. The book details his career as a minor league pitcher. It focuses mostly on his time spent between the High-A Lake Elsinore Storm and the Double-A San Antonio Missions during the 2007 season, with a few other season sprinkled in.
The books main focuses are on the daily grind of minor league baseball, what it means to be a Professional Baseball Player, and what baseball means to Dirk Hayhurst relative to life. He writes about his desire to quit pro-ball multiple times, his relationships with his teammates, a tumultuous and frustrating family life, living on an air-mattress at his grandmothers house, locker room hi-jinx and many other interesting and unexpected aspects of his life.
This was a hilarious book and is one of my immediate favorites. It is a must read for every baseball fan.
3.27.2011
Silva Leaves, Much the Same as Milton Bradley
Carlos Silva's brief tenure as a member of the Chicago Cubs ended today when the veteran pitcher was released after he failed to make the 25 man roster and refused an assignment to Triple-A Iowa, stating that he did not want to be kept around simply for insurance purposes.
On his way out of town,Milton Bradley Silva took some parting shots at the Cubs brass. Specifically, he did not like the way that new pitching coach Mark Riggins went about telling Silva there was not a spot for him on the pitching staff, stating that Riggins has to realize that he is in the major leagues now.
Cubs GM Jim Hendry retorted this morning with remarks that were similar to ones he directed at Milton Bradley after the beleaguered outfielder and the Cubs parted ways:
On his way out of town,
Cubs GM Jim Hendry retorted this morning with remarks that were similar to ones he directed at Milton Bradley after the beleaguered outfielder and the Cubs parted ways:
"Obviously, we're dealing with a man that at this particular point in his career is not willing to face the facts that what he's done the last years -- except for a two-month period -- is well below Major League standards.
"He seems to make a continual [habit] of blaming everybody but himself,".
What this means: Andrew Cashner will be the cubs 5th starter despite failing to make it past four innings in any of his starts this spring. Marcos Mateo will be the last man to make the bullpen. Mateo appeared in 21 games for the Cubs last season.
Most importantly, this roster move shows that the Cubs will play players based on their baseball abilities, not on their contracts. Carlos Silva's salary for this season was $11.5 million ($3.5 payed by Seattle) and they are completely walking away from him. This means that players like Darwin Barney and Tyler Colvin should get opportunities should higher paid players like Kosuke Fukudome falter.
3.07.2011
Silva Unimpressive in Second Spring Outing
To say that Carlos Silva was unimpressive in his second outing of the spring would, frankly, be the understatement of the century. Silva allowed eight runs, all earned, on ten hits in just two and one thirds innings of work. He also hit a batter while striking out none. Incredibly, Silva allowed the first seven batters of the third inning to reach base. He then recorded a line drive out before allowing the double that would end his day. There was only one error, on right fielder Tyler Colvin.
This start marks the second consecutive performance in which Silva, who is on the record as saying that he does not feel that he needs to prove himself in order to make the rotation, was underwhelming at best. Sure the Cubs made three errors in his first go-round, but he also gave up two long balls and then proceeded to fight Aramis Ramirez in the dugout. This time, it appears Silva was throwing batting practice.
Silva, who came over in the Milton Bradley trade before last season was excellent in the first half last year, before his season was derailed by injuries. However, I am a firm believer that unless you are a bona-fide ace (see Zambrano, Dempster, or Garza) nothing should be guaranteed, including Silva's spot in the rotation. With Randy Wells pitching as well as he has thus far, it is looking more likely that he will be in the rotation as the 4th starter. That would leave Silva, Andrew Cashner, Casey Coleman, James Russell, and possibly someone like Todd Wellemyer or Jay Jackson to battle it out for the 5th spot in the rotation. And while none of these pitchers has set themselves apart as of yet, I like Todd Wellemeyer for the spot. In two games so far, he has a 2.25 ERA in four innings of work, allowing one run on four hits while striking out four batters. The one thing Silva does have going for him is a ridiculously inflated contract, though some of the money is being paid by the Mariners.
Todd Wellemeyer: Wellemeyer returns to the Cubs for his second stint of duty after spending last season with the world series champion San Francisco Giants. He has made 75 starts in his eight year career. His best season of record came in 2008 with the St. Louis Cardinals when he started 32 games and pitched 191.2 innings. He finished the season with a 13-9 record and a 3.71 ERA. Wellemeyer previously pitched for the Cubs from 2003-05. He was drafted by the Cubs and remains the on Cubs pitcher to record a save in his Major League Debut.
This start marks the second consecutive performance in which Silva, who is on the record as saying that he does not feel that he needs to prove himself in order to make the rotation, was underwhelming at best. Sure the Cubs made three errors in his first go-round, but he also gave up two long balls and then proceeded to fight Aramis Ramirez in the dugout. This time, it appears Silva was throwing batting practice.
Silva, who came over in the Milton Bradley trade before last season was excellent in the first half last year, before his season was derailed by injuries. However, I am a firm believer that unless you are a bona-fide ace (see Zambrano, Dempster, or Garza) nothing should be guaranteed, including Silva's spot in the rotation. With Randy Wells pitching as well as he has thus far, it is looking more likely that he will be in the rotation as the 4th starter. That would leave Silva, Andrew Cashner, Casey Coleman, James Russell, and possibly someone like Todd Wellemyer or Jay Jackson to battle it out for the 5th spot in the rotation. And while none of these pitchers has set themselves apart as of yet, I like Todd Wellemeyer for the spot. In two games so far, he has a 2.25 ERA in four innings of work, allowing one run on four hits while striking out four batters. The one thing Silva does have going for him is a ridiculously inflated contract, though some of the money is being paid by the Mariners.
Todd Wellemeyer: Wellemeyer returns to the Cubs for his second stint of duty after spending last season with the world series champion San Francisco Giants. He has made 75 starts in his eight year career. His best season of record came in 2008 with the St. Louis Cardinals when he started 32 games and pitched 191.2 innings. He finished the season with a 13-9 record and a 3.71 ERA. Wellemeyer previously pitched for the Cubs from 2003-05. He was drafted by the Cubs and remains the on Cubs pitcher to record a save in his Major League Debut.
3.06.2011
Cubs Win First Televised Game of Spring
Who said there can't be dramatics in Spring Training?
The Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first televised game of the spring on a 2-Run, Walk-Off Home Run in the bottom of the 10th inning off the bat of second baseman DJ LaMahieu. After blowing three-one run leads, the Cubs edged out the Dodgers in a game that probably would have ended in a tie had runs not been scored in the bottom of the 10th.
Cubs starter Ryan Dempster pitched a solid four innings, allowing three hits and one earned run. Dempster struck out three batters, walked none, and faced just 15 batters. Esmailin Caridad, who was expected to be a key member of the Cubs bullpen last year before spending the season on the Disabled List picked up the win. He pitched a perfect top of the 10th.
The Cubs offense scratched out nine hits in total, four of which went for extra bases. Marlon Byrd, who was 3-3, added two doubles and Steve Clevenger added a double to go with LaMahieu's home run.
Most importantly, this game marks the second in a row where the Cubs did not make an error.
The other half of the Cubs squad was wiped out by the Cincinnati Reds today by the score of 10-0. Players in this game included many starters such as Blake DeWitt, Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Pena. They managed just two hits against the defending NL Central champs, and also made no errors.
Todd Wellemyer started and gave up one run in two innings of work. Casey Coleman gave up three runs, Trey McNutt gave up four runs, and Scott Rice and Kyle Smit each gave up one run apiece.
The Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first televised game of the spring on a 2-Run, Walk-Off Home Run in the bottom of the 10th inning off the bat of second baseman DJ LaMahieu. After blowing three-one run leads, the Cubs edged out the Dodgers in a game that probably would have ended in a tie had runs not been scored in the bottom of the 10th.
Cubs starter Ryan Dempster pitched a solid four innings, allowing three hits and one earned run. Dempster struck out three batters, walked none, and faced just 15 batters. Esmailin Caridad, who was expected to be a key member of the Cubs bullpen last year before spending the season on the Disabled List picked up the win. He pitched a perfect top of the 10th.
The Cubs offense scratched out nine hits in total, four of which went for extra bases. Marlon Byrd, who was 3-3, added two doubles and Steve Clevenger added a double to go with LaMahieu's home run.
Most importantly, this game marks the second in a row where the Cubs did not make an error.
The other half of the Cubs squad was wiped out by the Cincinnati Reds today by the score of 10-0. Players in this game included many starters such as Blake DeWitt, Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Pena. They managed just two hits against the defending NL Central champs, and also made no errors.
Todd Wellemyer started and gave up one run in two innings of work. Casey Coleman gave up three runs, Trey McNutt gave up four runs, and Scott Rice and Kyle Smit each gave up one run apiece.
3.02.2011
Spring Training Sparring Match
After Randy Wells' strong spring debut on Monday, Carlos Silva needed to come out and compete Wednesday if he wants to set him self apart from the other pitchers vying for a spot in the Cubs rotation. Though the defense played poorly yet again, Silva did not help himself out by allowing 2HR's.
He then proceeded to make matters worse. It is unclear what exactly transpired after the inning, however, it appears that Silva channeled his inner Carlos Zambrano circa the 2010 All-Star Break. Reports are saying that Silva and Aramis Ramirez, who committed one of the Cubs 3 first inning errors got into a heated exchange before it was broken up by teammates.
I personally think that this type of fire early on in the season is a good thing. The Cubs do not really have a chemistry, so to speak, that could be broken up at this point in time. This is completely different than if a fight were to occur during the regular season (see Zambrano v D-Lee or Zambrano v Michael Barrett). This shows that players on the team actually care about whats going on on-field, and that maybe they are willing to step it up a notch to change things.
To this point, the Cubs have made 14 errors in four Spring Training games. And its not like the no-name rookies are committing errors. It is regular season starters who are having the miscues. We all knew coming into this season that the Cubs were not going to be a strong defensive team. But, 14 errors in four games might be something to worry about.
For his part, Cubs skipper Mike Quade said that he does not expect either player to be disciplined and that the sloppy play in the field cannot continue if the Cubs want to contend in the NL Central.
He then proceeded to make matters worse. It is unclear what exactly transpired after the inning, however, it appears that Silva channeled his inner Carlos Zambrano circa the 2010 All-Star Break. Reports are saying that Silva and Aramis Ramirez, who committed one of the Cubs 3 first inning errors got into a heated exchange before it was broken up by teammates.
I personally think that this type of fire early on in the season is a good thing. The Cubs do not really have a chemistry, so to speak, that could be broken up at this point in time. This is completely different than if a fight were to occur during the regular season (see Zambrano v D-Lee or Zambrano v Michael Barrett). This shows that players on the team actually care about whats going on on-field, and that maybe they are willing to step it up a notch to change things.
To this point, the Cubs have made 14 errors in four Spring Training games. And its not like the no-name rookies are committing errors. It is regular season starters who are having the miscues. We all knew coming into this season that the Cubs were not going to be a strong defensive team. But, 14 errors in four games might be something to worry about.
For his part, Cubs skipper Mike Quade said that he does not expect either player to be disciplined and that the sloppy play in the field cannot continue if the Cubs want to contend in the NL Central.
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