In case you were doing something better than watching the Cubs last night (I was watching B-movies on Netflix), you might have missed another depressing Cubs loss. Jeff Samardzija continued his recent trend of not pitching very well.
“I’m beginning to notice about the 80-pitch mark, the ball gets up,” Sveum said. “Even though there’s no velocity (drop), the ball gets up and that’s where the walks start coming in. So we’re going to have to monitor that because it’s definitely getting to be a pattern.”
Jeff’s season is definitely not headed in the right direction.
Samardzija said he feels “better” than he did early in the season when he went 2-0 with a 1.03 ERA in four starts. Since then he’s 1-5 with a 5.95 ERA over his last seven starts.
“It’s just those times when there are runners on base, you need to really bear down and make your pitches,” he said. “I left that splitter up to Montero, which was a big pitch. Those are make or break times in the game.”
So, Mr. Sveum, the D’Backs had a late scratch from a lefty starter to a righty, but you stayed with the same old crappy right-handed hitting lineup. Any explanation?
Sveum said he had time to change the lineup but believed it wouldn’t make much of a difference against Collmenter, whose “funky” delivery makes it especially difficult for anyone who hasn’t faced him several times.
“We had no prior history with him. None of our hitters had ever faced him,” Sveum said. “I saw it last year. For [hitters who’d] never faced him before, he’s a completely different pitcher. He’s a guy you have to face three, four, five times before you get a reading on that arm slot and everything.”
So you don’t think any of the Cubs hitters would have hit him. I’d still rather give Bryan LaHair a shot there than Jeff Baker. But maybe it’s just me.
One of those right-handed hitters who was in the lineup Friday night was Darwin Barney. He finds himself facing uncertainty with most of the roster on the trade bloc.
‘‘If anything, it just creates an unknown,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not necessarily an anxiety, but it’s just a feeling of what-if. But that goes away really fast because you go to the cage, start working, getting ready for your day, and it just feels like it couldn’t happen. Until it does.’’
He laughs a little at that.
‘‘You just never know,’’ he said. ‘‘You have a job to do, and that’s what’s first and foremost, and that’s what we all focus on.’’
If it does turn to anxiety, maybe someone could get Darwin a prescription for Xanax.
As for today’s game, you’ll have to wait till 9:10 Central to watch. If you make it that late you’ll get to see Paul Maholm (4-5, 4.88) against Ian Kennedy (5-7, 4.13). You’ll be able to watch either on CSN or on the Major League Network. Lineup for tonight:
DeJesus CF
Castro SS
LaHair RF
Soriano LF
Valbuena 3B
Soto C
Clevenger 1B
Cardenas 2B
Maholm P
ADIOS, BEEEEECHES!!!! I’m on my way to the Caribbean!!!! I’ll try to stop by the Cubbies camp in the Dominican to give you an update.
See ya in a week, suckas!!!!!
I’m not going anywhere.
Join the club.
watching the Cubs is my vacation
Haven’t I always told you that you’re going places?
No she’s not.
What cocktail do you want me to have for you at sailaway?? It’ll be like you’re there!!!!
And MAYBE next time you get invited into a bigwig suite at Wrigley, you’ll remember who your sailaway cocktail buddy is!!!!
Did he abscond with some $$$?
I’ll be at the game tonight. Taking lil bro to his first Cubs game ever. Hoping they don’t completely suck but we’ll see.
How do you get to sit in the hot tub? You should sit there.
Should be a pool at Wrigley.
There should be about a thousand different things at Wrigley that can distract us from the team on the field.
They could try Lucha Libre night, or pole-dancer night to liven things up. Or put a bingo game up on the scoreboard…
Spellcheck should put on some lipstick and give the pole dancing thing a crack until he learns how to pitch better.
If the Cubs keep playing like they are, they could have “assault a cub day,” for the last home game of the year. Of course, I am talking about an effigy of a cub, not the actual player…
And who would you bitch slap first? I would personally put a pimp hand on Jeff Baker because he just sucks…
Either Spellcheck or Soriano, just because they keep opening their mouths and saying stupid hings…
My spellcheck changed “things” to “hings”. LOL
Is this game over yet?
I’m going to have to fight for the tv,if the Fox game runs late…
Predictions on the score? Lol
No Cubs Baseball on TV here in Tulsa tonight. Guess I will have to settle for the David Ortiz Fight on HBO….
I am having a bad day. I could really use RizZOMG today. . . .
Having to put up with Eric Karros running his mouth. He keeps making stupid statements then having to retract them. Right now, he accused Trout of the Angels of spiking, then had to take that back. He Also kept talking about being in Chicago last year; does he think the Cubs/Sox would hire him?
Hey–back off Karros. He was my favorite.
Well, you don’t have to hear him and Gary Miller on their Dodgers show. According to Karro, the Dodgers are the greatest team in the universe and the Cy Young,MVP, and very other title should o to Dodgers. If he learns to replace the word “Dodgers” with “White Sox”, he’d be the perfect sidekick for Hawk…
I don’t really listen to what he says. I just like looking at him.
Ya and you are in puppy love with that Sox lout also…
I’m beginning to sense a trend…
I don’t get to see the Cubs game even though the stupid schedule said we would. We get the stupid Padres game. My night is complete…
So, how bad they lose?