MLB - NEWS & NOTES

John Danks released by the White Sox today. The White Sox have 8 losses - Danks has 4 of them.

 

Thats kinda surprising about Danks, but its all about the W's.

When does Chicago come back to Earth, or are they for real?

 

that's to hide bc they are all so ugly. haha

 

I think the White Sox are going to be decent. They have a good top 3 starters. Latos will probably regress and there will be growing pains for Rodon at some point. But Sale and Quintana will be as good as Arrieta and Lester the whole summer long. Last year, their biggest weakness was defense. That has improved substantially. They also dug themselves a huge hole to start the year with several hitters having career worsts. This year those hitters have vastly improved. They also added a solid player in Fraiser. I think they will be in the mix all summer long. Plus they can play with a chip on their shoulder and talk about the Cubs getting all the attention (ESPN Chicago doesn't even have a White Sox beat reporter right now). That plays well with some teams. They've put themselves in a great position in the AL to start the year. Hopefully this is not a repeat of 2008 where both Chi teams make the playoffs and then don't do squat.

 

What! You don't look at Kris Bryant and just want to eat him up. . (And then realize how young he is and go, damn I'm getting old).

 

i was talking about the people in Pittsburgh. I went to College in the West burbs of Chicago. I just drink to avoid those people.

And I'm a guy. Now if a hot cheerleader was playing for the Cubbies, i'm sure i would enjoy that. Kris Bryant...eh.

 

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/15458724/more-ped-busts-coming-major-league-baseball-soon

More PED bust coming. Should be interesting to see who made the list...

 

Anthony Rizzo, just hit his 9th HR.

 

damn. he's a beast.

a shoutout to phillies young stud pitcher Aaron Nola for beating the Cardinals last night 1-0! The Phils lead all MLB in shutouts.

 

The Phillies are freekin good, Cat... im here to tell ya.

 

well as a Phillies fan, you're telling me nothing I already know. haha.

the key is there is no Hamels trade to distract them anymore. And most of these guys are young, cheap and looking for semi-long term deals as most were spring training invitees. they are hungry and looking for steady playing gigs. and a new manager who knows baseball and does the little things to win. sandberg tore the clubhouse apart and fought with everyone.

they will buy out ryan howard's last year in 2017 and only have matt harrison's money left. they will have a ton to spend on f/a. with their youth, a top 5 minor league systems thanks to the hamels and giles trades and a new owner with buckets of money, so don't think for 1 second they won't be heavily involved in 2018 when harper, kershaw and mccutchen are free agents and trout in 2020.

they will contend next year and be in the playoffs in 2018! mark my words.

and btw - how is blake swihart doing boston? could've had hamels for a lot cheaper than david price...

 

phils get screwed in St. Louis last night. First up 3-0 with 2 strikes and 2 outs they review a play for 5 min and reward the St. Louis hitter second base when it wasn't conclusive. Then the Cards score 3 runs with 2 outs. Then in the 9th their 3rd base coach gets in the way of the play and the runner is not ruled out for interference and the Phils lose 5-4. Bad all around!

 

Sounds like a fun game... and I missed it.

 

The Cardinals scored three runs in the fifth with the help of two reviews.

Ruben Tejada led off the inning with a hit down the third-base line that was originally called foul but ruled a double after a 5-minute review. After a walk to Eric Fryer and pinch-hit single by Brandon Moss, Aledmys Diaz hit a single off the glove of shortstop Freddy Galvis that scored two runs. Fryer was safe at home on a close play that was reviewed, but not overturned.

Piscotty followed with an RBI single to score Moss and chase Phillies starter Adam Morgan, who allowed three runs and six hits in four-plus innings.

Phillies left fielder Tyler Goeddel made a catch at the wall to take a hit away from Jedd Gyorko to end the eighth inning.

"We walked five guys and three of them scored so the walks kind of hurt us," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "But like I said Gomez walked the leadoff guy, which I wasn't real happy about, but then he had a situation to get a ground ball. That's what we wanted him to do, and he gave us a ground ball that found a hole."

 

bOO! *REF*

 

Who's going to beat the Cubs. I don't see a weakness. The lineup is loaded with good pitching. They have it made this weekend as Pitt and the Cards play each other. They will probably gain ground on one or the other......... *WALL*

 

injuries, a cold couple of playoff games and history! they were loaded last year and didn't win. i know people don't like talking about jinxes or curses but until they win the WS, they are not favored as the favorites don't always win. The 08 Phillies know all about that.

 

Final...

 

Lol Iggy. You did get to see Rizzo have by far his best series of the year. He raised his average like 60 points over the 3 games.

As far as injuries go, position wise they are actually battling quite a few injuries. Our starting catcher is out, our backup can only catch 3 days a week (David Ross is 37 and not up to catching daily, his words). Heyward did not play against Pit because of some wrist. Sczur (and I butchered that) was a quality defensive outfielder and pinch runner is on the DL. Both of those are amplified by the fact that Schwarber is out for the year. Now, if we lose Bryant or Rizzo - those are the 2 position players we can't lose for an extended period of time.

The benefit the Cubs have is most of their players play multiple positions. Bryant has been playing Left and Right field depending on how the numbers look.

If there are injuries to Arrieta or Lester, then we are in trouble.

Finally, I just hope the Cubs come as close to clicking in October as they are now. That is where Maddon comes in.

 

Oh Catfish - the Cubs know they haven't won anything. Theo and Joe talk about how they are a 3rd place team.