2007 Chicago Cubs Schedule/Results...

**Bob Sacamento** · 05-10-2007, 01:05 AM

I just want everyone to know there is NO WAY in HELL that Marquis keeps this up over the season. He's not going to play offensively weak teams all the time.

I will say though, that his mechanics have been looking good...

**Scartissue** · 05-10-2007, 06:20 AM

Agreed. I'd settle with Marquis having a low to mid-3's ERA going forward, which is where I see him the rest of the year. I watched the last three innings. To me, it looked more like bad hitting than dominating pitching. I thought he pitched well though, just not overpowering.

**wrigleybum** · 05-10-2007, 09:53 PM

Originally Posted by Bob Sacamento

I just want everyone to know there is NO WAY in HELL that Marquis keeps this up over the season. He's not going to play offensively weak teams all the time.

I will say though, that his mechanics have been looking good...

Still, even if he doesn't keep this up, he has been a plesent surpirse. I was expecting him to post a 5+ ERA like he did for St. Louis. Even if he cools off a bit, he has looked strong enough to pitch decent at worst for the rest of the season.

**rockin500** · 05-13-2007, 12:56 PM

at least they salvaged one game in philadelphia with a beautiful performance by ted lilly again.

nice throw by soriano to nail utley for the last out of the game.

**otis89** · 05-13-2007, 01:08 PM

That was a stupid attempt by Utley to try and get to second.

**otis89** · 05-14-2007, 07:06 PM

Walking in the winning run has to be the most pathetic way to lose a ballgame.

**rockin500** · 05-14-2007, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by otis89

Walking in the winning run has to be the most pathetic way to lose a ballgame.

i dont know, i think there were probably some worse ways to lose last year and in 2005. remember latroy throwing the ball off the runner going back to first base? or the ball bouncing off of ramirez's head last year?

you name a pathetic way to lose these cubs teams have done it.

only good thing that happened was the brewers imploding in the 8th inning against the phillies.

**The Splendid Splinter** · 05-14-2007, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by otis89

Walking in the winning run has to be the most pathetic way to lose a ballgame.

Esp. when you walk 3 straight batters to bring in the winning run... what was it? 10 straight balls? horrible...

**NYMets523** · 05-14-2007, 09:15 PM

Does Lou manage the pen like this every game? I think it's foolish when managers constantly do the lefty-righty switches. The advantage is really minor for the most part. I thought Ohman pitched well (he was hitting mid-90's I think) and thought he could have gotten Lo Duca out.

I think balking in the winning run is worse than walking in the winning run. There's no chance the batter can swing and miss and it's because of an even stupider mistake.

**Dalkowski110** · 05-14-2007, 09:55 PM

"I think balking in the winning run is worse than walking in the winning run."

Hitting a guy with the bases juiced on an 0-2 count to force in the winning run also kinda sucks...I think Willard Hunter did that with the '62 Mets.

**rockin500** · 05-15-2007, 06:32 PM

nice to know the offense finally woke up. and finally got a hit with the bases loaded. monster shot by ramirez (and didnt he know it)

**NYMets523** · 05-15-2007, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by rockin500

nice to know the offense finally woke up. and finally got a hit with the bases loaded. monster shot by ramirez (and didnt he know it)

He'll get one in the back tomorrow for his showboating.

**otis89** · 05-15-2007, 07:49 PM

Well, that was a much better game today. Of course, scoring 10 today means they'll score 1 tomorrow.

**Ubiquitous** · 05-15-2007, 07:54 PM

Just as long as the Mets score 0.

**rockin500** · 05-16-2007, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by NYMets523

He'll get one in the back tomorrow for his showboating.

and then Hill will drill someone in return. you handle it that game. not a day later.

**NYMets523** · 05-16-2007, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by rockin500

and then Hill will drill someone in return. you handle it that game. not a day later.

They would have if Lou kept him in the game. He knew A-Ram had it coming. No reason to bench your best hitter after he hit a grand slam.

It probably won't happen anyway since the 3 Met pitchers with the guts to hit a batter are out.

**rockin500** · 05-16-2007, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by NYMets523

They would have if Lou kept him in the game. He knew A-Ram had it coming. No reason to bench your best hitter after he hit a grand slam.

It probably won't happen anyway since the 3 Met pitchers with the guts to hit a batter are out.

aramis was pulled for the plain and simple reason they had a huge lead in the late innings. Its something Lou has done (and most other managers will do) once he has a huge lead in the late innings.

he could have unsnapped his gloves, dropped them and THEN jog like milton bradley. not to mention its SO commonplace nowadays that its not worth throwing at.

**Scartissue** · 05-17-2007, 05:31 PM

Not good that the Cubs can't beat the Mets even when their 3 best players sit for most of the game. I thought they caught a break, given Guzman was pitching.

**rockin500** · 05-18-2007, 02:37 PM

good bounceback win today!

**Scartissue** · 05-18-2007, 07:08 PM

And good to see the bullpen pitch 2 perfect innings. I thought Howry and Dempster earned the good results with quality pitches, and didn't just get lucky. I expected Lilly to be the second best starter behind Zambrano this year, so I'm not too surprised by his continued quality starts.

**rockin500** · 05-18-2007, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by Scartissue

And good to see the bullpen pitch 2 perfect innings. I thought Howry and Dempster earned the good results with quality pitches, and didn't just get lucky. I expected Lilly to be the second best starter behind Zambrano this year, so I'm not too surprised by his continued quality starts.

excacltly, while i didnt see dempster due to the commute today, i DID hear howry today, and he freakin rocked. they attacked today. screw the pissy try to nibble the corners bullcrap. they ATTACKED the zone. thats what a reliever needs to do. it sucks if they hit a homer, but Id rather have that than walk.

**CubNZ** · 05-19-2007, 01:02 AM

Originally Posted by Scartissue

I expected Lilly to be the second best starter behind Zambrano this year.

I saw a lot of him while marooned in yankeeland, and he always made pitching look so easy. But he's never pitched 200 innings or been much better than .500. I loved the signing but can he last the season healthy and maybe give us 6-8 games over .500?

**Scartissue** · 05-19-2007, 06:01 AM

Originally Posted by CubNZ

I saw a lot of him while marooned in yankeeland, and he always made pitching look so easy. But he's never pitched 200 innings or been much better than .500. I loved the signing but can he last the season healthy and maybe give us 6-8 games over .500?

His Yankee days are a long time ago, when he was still young, and pitching in the pressure cooker of NY. He's now in the prime of his career, and presumably better able to handle pressure. As far as durability, he's started 32 games in 2004 and 2006, pitching almost 200 innings those years. I thought he would have an ERA around 3.3 to 3.5, because he was pitching in a really tough division, and in the AL. He's exceeded my expectations, and I think a large part of it is that this year he's pitched with far greater control. Over his career, he's walked .39 batters per innning, and this year, he's walked slightly less than .17 batters per inning. Strange, when you consider historically, Cubs pitchers have had trouble keeping the walks low, so I don't know that Rothchild had anything to do with Lilly's improvement. It's possible his results are temporary--I don't know if it's true, but I've heard that a lot of pitchers switching leagues do significantly better for a couple of months, but then hitters adjust. In addition, Lilly's a quick starter--his career ERA in April is 3.45, significantly lower than his overall career ERA of 4.48. Also, Lilly's faced some really poor offensive teams thus far (White Sox, Pirates (twice), Cardinals, Astros), although I give him props for doing well against the tough Phillies and Brewers lineup. I'm still hesitant to say he'll finish the year at the same level as he's pitching now, but I now think he'll finish with an ERA of 3.0 to 3.3 (assuming he's really found something that's helping him with his control). I think 4-6 games over .500 isn't a stretch; 6-8 is if he keeps his current pace, which I'm still not convinced he can do for an entire season.