Archive for the ‘fantasy’ Category

1st Sweep of the year!

Posted: May 4, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Sorry couldn’t come up with a good pun for sweeps and Pirates.  The second J in the 4 out of 5 Cubs starting pitchers, Jon Lester looking for his third win of the season against Juan Nicasio and the Bucs.  Dexter Fowler would leadoff another game with a hit, a single to right. Kris Bryant would get on with a walk but Juan gets out of the inning.  Lester also only gives up one hit in the bottom half.   Both pictures would see four batters each.  

Fowler would leadoff the third by reaching first again but this time it was by a base on balls.  La Stella would reach with Fowler being forced out.  With two outs Rizzo would reach on a fielding error.  With two on and two out, Zobrist would send a line drive to right field over the fence for his second dinger of the year.  Then Baez and Russell would reach on singles prompting a visit to the mound but that would calm Juan down and get Ross to fly out.  Cubs up 3-0. Both men would get through the fourth but not with out a little trouble.  

Rizzo would leadoff the fifth with his seventh double of the year.  Baez would send a line drive down the left field line that would be ruled a ground rule double but scoring Rizzo. Juan would get through the rest of the inning without any more runs.  Lester would give up two runs in the bottom of the fifth but still no runs for the Bucs.  Cubs up 4-0.  

Ryan Vogelson would come into and make it a quick 1-2-3 inning. Lester would allow two baserunners in the bottom half but get out without any damage.  With Ryan still pitching, Rizzo would lead off the seventh inning with his ninth home run of the season.  Adam Warren would come in for relief of Lester and get the first out but would give up a double to right for Andrew McCutchen.  Matt Joyce would replace pitcher Vogelson and hit a monster 2 run home run to center field.  That would be all for that inning but the Cubs only up by 3.  

Set up man Tony Watson would come into the game walking Ross but gets the next three guys out.  Pedro Strop for the Cubs would have similar results.  Mark Melancon comes into the ninth, trying to avoid adding to the Cubs lead.  He would give up singles to Rizzo and Bryant, who would end up at third on Anthony’s.  Baez would ground into a force out but Bryant scores putting the Cubs up now 6-2.  Hector Rondon would be lights out in the bottom of the ninth, although he didn’t get the save, Cubs get thier first sweep of the season!   

Cubs pitching holding it all together today.  Lester with 5 2/3, would give up a high 8 hits to the Bucs but would strikeout 5 and only walk 2.  The bullpen in 3 1/3 would walk no one, only give up three hits and 2 earned runs.  Great road trip the Cubbies.  But now it’s time for Bryce Harper and the Nationals! 

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

Cubs take the booty!

Posted: May 3, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Tonight in Pittsburgh Jake Arrieta takes on The Cutch, Andrew McCuthen and crew.  On The Podcast, the other day, which I don’t remember, the Big Jack had mentioned an interesting theory the Bucs had in store for The Great One, pitching him inside to get him on base.  I’m not sure if this was a ploy to knock him off his game but to me that’s not something you throw out, you just do it because if so, he definitely had time to prepare himself. Either way it would seem he started off shaky but we’ll get to that in a sec.  Dexter Fowler would leadoff the game with a hit to continue his hit streak but would be out on Soler’s 5-4-3 double play.  Arrieta would walk the first two batters, John Jaso and McCutchen but would strike out David Freese and get the next two batters out.  

Going into the 2cd Johnathon Niesse would hit Rizzo to lead off the game.  Zobrist would move him to third on his double.  Baez would ground out scoring Rizzo. Russell and Federowicz would walk to load the bases.  Now that theory about pitching Arreita inside didn’t seem to work because Jake would single to center scoring Ben.  That would be all the runs scored in the second. Bryant would get a single in the third but that would be all the action for the third.  

Russell would leadoff the fourth with a walk and end up at third on Tim Federowicz’s double.  With Fowler in the box, Niesse would throw a wild pitch scoring Russell.  It my have thrown him off his game because he walks Fowler, then gives up RBI singles to both Soler and Bryant.  Rizzo would also join the RBI club of the night hitting an RBI double.  The inning would end but the Cubs would be up 6-0 After four.   And the Pirates, well The Great One is no hitting them through four.  Niesse would make it through the fifth but that would be all for him. AJ Schugel would start the sixth inning off and get a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth seventh and eighth. 

Arrieta would continue his no hitter with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Francisco Cervelli would single to Soler in left breaking up Jakes possible second no hitter of the year.  Jake would come out in the top of the eighth and be replaced by Trevor Cahill who would give up a lead off single to Sean Rodriguez.  Chris Stewart would pinch hit for Schugel and reach on a throwing error by Russell.  John Jaso would ground out but Rodriguez would score the Pirates first run of the game. 

Jared Hughes would come into the top of the ninth giving up a lead off line drive single to Kris Bryant. Rizzo would hit his second double of the game. Zobrist would a sac fly to McCutchen scoring Bryant.  Hughes would get out of the inning giving the Bucs a shot at redemption.  The bottom of the ninth would be Trevor Cahill’s.  He would get David Freese to ground out but would walk Matt Joyce.  With 2 outs and one man on and Starling Marte comes to the plate and grounds out to Rizzo.  Gregory Polanco would be the last hope but would also ground out to Rizzo ending the Pirates only chance at getting close to catching up with the first place Cubs.  

Another great performance by the Cubs pitching staff.  Jake “The Great” Arrieta would give up only 2 hits and only walk 2 batters while striking out 5.  Trevor Cahill would only give up 1 hit and only walk 1 batter while giving up the only run and striking out 2.   

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

Cubs hit 7 seas in Pittsburgh

Posted: May 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, Sports Time Radio
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Jason Hammel looks for one of his biggest outings against the also hot streaking Pittsburgh Pirates and thier #2 Gerrit Cole.  Now I have to be honest, today on The Podcast I not only went against the Cubs but I questioned thier ability to perform against a playoff contending team like the Pirates, who’ve also been tearing up their opennents.  They must have had us on in the clubhouse and dugout (I wish) because they shut me up.  As I predicted though, Dexter Fowler would lead off the game with a single, at least I was spot on with that but Cole would get out of the inning.  Hammel would get leadoff man John Jaso to ground out but would give up a solo home run to Andrew McCutchen.  Both pitchers would have relatively easy 2cd innings.  

Fowler would leadoff the third with a walk.  With two men out Rizzo would step into the box and send a fly ball to right scoring Dexter!  Zobrist would send a line drive single to right scoring Rizzo. Russell would end the inning swinging but the Cubs would go up 2-1.  The every other inning theory says they both had again relatively easy fourth innings.  

With the leadoff man out, Kris Bryant would walk and reach third on Rizzo’s second double of the game.  Zobrist would get his second RBI of the game with a sac fly to center.  Cole would hit Russell and then walked Matt Szczur prompting a pitching change, with A.J. Schugel.  David Ross would send a soft line drive to right, scoring both Rizzo and Russell.  Hammel would strikeout ending the inning but the Cubs would be up 6-1.  

Jason Hammel would give up a leadoff single to Jody Mercer and then a walk to Jason Rogers  but would get the next three batters out including McCutchen but not before Jody Mercer would score.  Kyle Lobstein would come in for the Pirates giving up a lead off double to Fowler but would get out of the inning with out any damage.  Hammel would start off the sixth by hitting Starling Marte which would bring a coaching visit to the mound.  With Adam Warren pitching, Marte would get caught stealing but he would get out of the inning with out a run.  

Lobstein would hit Zobrist to start the inning off but would get Addison to pop out.  Baez would single pushing Zobrist. Soler would pinch hit for Adam Warren and on a wild pitch Zobrist would score but Soler would pop out.  Cubs up 7-2.  

Justin Grimm would come into the game and get out of the 7th by only giving up one hit.  With Lobstein still in the game, he would get out of the eighth by only giving up a double to Bryant.  Pedro Strop would replace Grimm by striking out Matt Joyce.  Marte would single to center but that would be all she wrote with Francisco Cervelli grounding into a double play.  Arquimedes Caminero would replace Lobstein and with two outs would give up a single to Baez and walk Ross.  Clayton Richard would come into the game pinch hitting for Strop but would ground out to end the inning. 

Travis Wood comes into close out the game and starts it off by striking out Gregory Polanco. With two outs he’d walk Jody Mercer but would strike out Jason Rogers to end the game.   Cubs pitching would prove to be a huge strength tonight especially the bullpen combined only giving up 2 hits and striking out 6 batters with only two walks.  Hammel is now 4-0 with 5 games started and only 29 innings.  Until tomorrow! 

The Podcast
@danzeeeman

Cubs split the series

Posted: May 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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The Cubs enter May with the best record in the MLB and continue to liter the warning track in front of their dugout.  Julio Teheran takes on John Lackey looking for his fourth win of the season and trying to improve his ERA.  Lackey would have a quick 1-2-3 first inning.  Fowler would continue his hot streak with a leadoff single, deep into shortstop.   Heyward would send a screamer right back at Teherhan moving Dexter to second.  Kris Bryant back in the line up would strikeout on a caught foul tip.  Anthony Rizzo would walk and with Bez Zobrist up to bat both men would steal but Ben would get caught watching the ball cross the plate for his first K of the day. 

Aside from the leadoff hit by Fowler in the first, both men would cruise through the first four innings with out a run crossing the plate and for Lackey, no hits through four.  His first hit would be given up to Kelly Johnson, who would attempt a bunt, throwing Lackey off enough for a double to left.  Johnson would be pushed over to third and then score on Jace Peterson’s sac fly to right.  Lackey would get out of the inning but it would be 1-0 Braves. 

The top of the sixth would prove to be trouble for Lackey, he’d give up a single to Mallex Smith, the walk Nick Markakis.  Erik Aybar would move up the runners with a bunt, setting up Freddie Freeman for an intentional walk.  Adonis Garcia would reach on a fielding error scorin Smith.  Kelly Johnson would get an unusual RBI in his inning ending double play, Zobrisy would miss the tag on Garcia, throw to Rizzo for the out, who would throw back to Ben for the tag to end the inning. 

Mallax Smith would leadoff the eighth with a double to the left center gap but get tagged out trying to stretch it for three.  Lackey would finish the eighth.  Jim Johnson would replace Julio getting the lead off man to line out. Matt Szczur would reach on a bunt.  Fowler would push Matt to third on a double who would then score on Heyward’s ground out to second base with Hunter Cevanka on the mound, Fowler at third.  Arodyis Vizcaino would come in to face Bryant giving up a base hit scoring Fowler.  But Rizzo would end the inning with a K.  Braves 3, Cubs 2.  

Travis Wood starts the ninth off against Freeman getting him to ground out.  He’d give up a walk to Francoeur but get Johnson to fly out.  Justin Grimm would come into the game, throwing a wild pitch to advance the runner but would get the last out.  

Zobrist would lead off the ninth with a walk.  He would make it to third on Vizcaino’s throwing error to try to pick off Ben.  Zobrist would then score on Russell’s single to right, tying it at three but Aroydis would get out of it taking us into extra innings.  Hector Rondon would come into the 10th, getting the first out but Daniel Castro would single to right advancing to third on Mallax’s single to left.  Markakis would send a fly ball to left, scoring Castro.  Rondon would finish the inning off.    4-3.  

Jason Grilli would start the 10th off by getting Fowler to ground out, then get Heyward to strikeout.  Kris Bryant with two outs and a 3-2 count would walk bringing Rizzo to the plate.  However, Rizzo would fly out to left.  Still a great game for the Cubs, not what we wanted but they can’t win them all.

@danzeeeman
The Podcast

Angel Pagan puts the fizz in Giants’ pop!

Posted: May 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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As April fades into May, we see that both the Chicago Cubs (17-5) and San Francisco Giants (11-12) sit atop the standings in their respective divisions, despite the different routes they have traveled to get there.

Even though they are currently tied for first place in the National League West, courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ six game losing streak, the outlook has not been brilliant for the San Francisco Giants in April. They were crushed Friday night in New York by the Mets, 13-1, and they dropped a 6-5 decision on Saturday evening, as the Mets extended their winning streak to eight.The Cubs are 8-2 in their last ten games and missed the opportunity to break their franchise record for wins in April because of Saturday’s rainout with the Atlanta Braves (5-18). 

The Giants, on the other hand, were swept in their first four games of the most recent homestead by the Arizona Diamondbacks, before rallying to take five of the final six between the San Diego Padres, who they swept, and the Miami Marlins, who dropped two of three.

Between Jake Peavy (1-2, 8.61 ERA, 2.00 WHIP) walking guys on Friday night, and Matt Cain (0-3, 7.00 ERA, 1.59 WHIP) hitting batters with pitches on Saturday, the Giants were giving runs away like they were going out of style. Granted it would have made no difference on Friday, but those two hit batsmen in Saturday’s game cost Cain his first victory this season. 

Of course, prior to doubling their run production for Cain on Saturday by scoring three runs, the Giants had managed to score only three runs total in Cain’s first four starts, shades of deja vu from early on in his career, when the longest tenured Giants gained sympathy for his lack of run support.

Still, there is no getting around his 7.00 earned run average and his 1.59 WHIP in the opening month of the season. As much as he has looked good on the mound, especially early on in games, Cain needs a shakeup, or maybe a shakedown, to stir things up and activate his confidence. 

Otherwise, the Dodgers are going to get their act together, and leave San Francisco behind while it continues to allow Cain to try and pitch his way back into some semblance his former self.

Peavy is actually worse statistically than Cain, despite going seven innings against the Marlins eight days ago, while giving up just two runs. That’s the frustrating part with both Cain and Peavy, the fact that both have looked sharp at times, and clueless at others.

Despite the sagging back end of the rotation, there are some incredibly bright spots for the Giants, including the fact that they have struck out the fewest of any teams in the National League (155); only the Los Angeles Angels (123) have whiffed fewer times in all of MLB. 

Angel Pagan is batting .315 with 17 RBIs in the early going, but it is his positive attitude that has been the most noteworthy component of the team’s new left fielder. Pagan’s willingness to put the team first when Denard Span came on board, by shifting from center field to left, paved the way for the smooth transition in the outfield.

Bruce Bochy’s strategy of batting Pagan ninth, giving the team two consecutive speedsters in the batting order after the first inning, has proven to be an effective tool in light of Pagan’s quick start. The former Met has epitomized the role that chemistry plays within the Giants organization, and it is showing up in more tangible ways as far as batting average and production as the season wears on.

Johnny Cueto’s 4-1 win/loss record and his 2.65 ERA are examples of his contributions on the field, but it is his charismatic presence that cannot be underestimated, as far as providing leadership and motivation to the team. His ability to stay on an even keel no matter what is going on around him, contributes to the team’s ability to respond accordingly.

The Giants seem to be more relaxed when Cueto is on the mound, a reflection of the Dominican native’s ability to keep the team loose. The season is still early but it is obvious that the one-two punch of Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto will be an effective combo against any other two starters in the league.

Of course, when it comes to pitching, the Cubs with a team ERA of 2.39, have almost half the earned run average of the Giants, 4.70. 

The season may be only one month old, but this has got to change if the Giants are going to be able to establish the confidence needed to make a serious run at a fourth title in seven years.
That being said, confidence does not seem to be lacking on the Cubs these days.
@BelllSpringsMark  

You can find more of Mark’s writing on China Basin Chatter

Posted: April 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Day game two and you never know in April what the weather will be like but the forecast was clear enough to get this one on the books.  The veteran John Lester vs 2013 first rounder, Aaron Blair.  

Both pitchers duel it out for three full innings without any real damage to either’s pitching count or ERA.  Lester would leadoff the fourth inning with three straight balls to Freddie Freeman, he would get the green light on 3-0 and send one deep into the right field bleachers, putting the Braves up 1-0.  Blair would make it through the fourth but would give up a lead off double to Javier Baez.  The Cubs would tie up with one out and a man on second, when David Ross would send a shot to left field scoring Baez.  Lester would end the inning with a double play.  Both men would make it through the sixth with no real issues but it’s the seventh, where things get exciting.  Jeff Francoeur would lead off with a single he would throw a wild pitch, then walks Tyler Flowers.  Erik Aybar would reach by simply bunting the ball back to Jon Lester, knowing he couldn’t make the throw to first.  Madden would come out to the mound to calm down Lester, which it would work.  He would strike out the next two batters and gets Nick Markakis to ground out ending his half of the inning.  

The Braves would bring in Alexi Ogando.  Rizzo would leadoff the bottom half with a walk, Soler would single.  Baez would ground out moving up both batters.  The Braves would put Russell on first but Ross would end the inning with a 4-6-3 double play if your scoring at home.  

Pedro Strop would move quickly through his portion of the eighth.  Jim Johnson would come into the game to try and stop the Cubs.  Tommy La Stella would lead off with a double would be caught trying to reach third on a infield ground ball by Dexter Fowler.  Heyward would walk.  Zobrist would single to load the bases.  Rizzo would send a line drive to center scoring Fowler.  Cubs up 2-1, with Mr. Hitting Instructor, Matt Szczur would challenge new pitcher, Chris Withrow.  With bases loaded, 1 out and an 0-1 count, Withrow would serve up a 92 mph fastball right over the plate, Szczur would send one into the bleachers for his first grand slam of his career! 

Hector Rondon would come into the ninth to preserve Pedro Strop’s chance for a win.  Francoeur would fly out to right, Flowers would strikeout.  Erik Aybar would ground out to Rizzo.  

Cubs Win!  Cubs Win!  First to 17.  They shoot to close out April with the best record in the MLB! 

@DanZeeeMan

The Podcast 

Jake the Great!

Posted: April 28, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Soooo last nights matchup pitting Mr. “No one will under cut my work,” Jake Arrieta takes on Milwaukee Brewers 0-3 Taylor Jungmann.  It would appear that the extra day of rest would through The Great One off.  He would give up a single to lead off man Jonathan Villar who would steal second, with #3 in the lineup Ryan Braun.  With one man on and one out, Braun would reach on a walk.  Catcher Jonathan Lucroy would walk but not before the double steal would go into effect.  He wouldn’t let it get to him by striking out the next two batters to prevent the Brew Crew from scoring.  

Dexter Fowler would spark the Cubs with a leadoff single to center.  Heyward would pop out. Chris Bryant would reach after getting hit.  Rizzo would walk to load the bases.  Ben Zobrist with bases loaded would send a ground ball to right scoring Fowler and Bryant!  Cubs up 2-0 after 1 inning.  David Ross would lead off the second with his second home run of the season.   3-0 Cubs after 2.  Kris Bryant would lead off the third with a single and score on Anthony Rizzo’s double to right.  Tommy La Stella would send a line drive to right to right scoring Rizzo.  

Taylor Jungmann would only last 3 2/3 innings with 5 earned runs but the Brew Crea would get out of the fourth with giving up any runs.  After his scuffle in the first, Jake would cruise through the first half of the game but would give up a single to Jonathan Villar who would steal second and score thier first run of the game on Alex Presley’s double to right breaking The Great One’s scoreless streak at the Freindly Confines.  

Chris Capuano would come into the fifth and load the bases with walks.  Fowler would ground into a force out getting the run back, putting the Cubs up 6-1.  Madden would pull Arrieta after 5 for Justin Grimm.  Sam Freeman would come into the sixth for Milwaukee.  He would give up a leadoff hit to Javier Baez and then would walk the bases loaded for Addison Russell who would ground into a force out scoring Baez but would get out of the inning. 

Trevor Cahill would start the seventh with a strike out, give up a hit, then a strike out, walk and pop out to end the inning.  He would get two batters out but after a fielding error and a walk would be replaced by Pedro Strop who would end the inning on a strike out.  

Neil Ramirez would come into the ninth inning, leading off with a K but would give up a double to Villar who would move to third on a wild pitch.  Alex Presley would score him on a sac fly.  Ryan Braun would ground out to end the game.  7-2. 

Jake would get his fifth win of the season but not a quality start striking out 6, walking 4 and giving up just three hits with a run.   The Cubs bullpen would continue to protect thier starting pitcher as they have all month long giving up only 3 hits and 1 run but striking out 7.   

Another W in the books! 

@danzeeeman
The Podcast

How was your week

Posted: April 23, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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MLB

With the MLB coming up on the 20 game mark of the season it’s difficult to make decisions on how the season is going to go. One thing appears to be certain and that the National League isn’t going to be happy about it. Through 4 starts this season Jake Arrieta looks better on the mound than he did last season. Arrieta is 4-0 in his 4 starts for the Chicago Cubs. He’s thrown 31 innings giving up 15 hits, 3 earned runs and 2 home runs while walking 6 and striking out 26. That translates to an ERA of 0.87 and a WHIP of 0.68 for Arrueta.  On Thursday Arrieta threw his first shutout of the season which just so happened to be a complete game no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. It looked as though Arrieta didn’t have his best stuff when he no-hit Cincinnati. Arrieta issued 4 walks in this start against the Reds while striking out 6 and throwing 119 pitches over 9 innings of no-hit baseball. This is Arrieta’s second no-hitter as a member of the Cubs.  On August 30th of last season Arrieta no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 in Dodger Stadium. That no-hitter against the Dodgers was part of a Cy Young award winning season for Arrieta. In 2015 Arrieta went 22-6 with an ERA of 1.77. He made 33 starts covering 229 innings with 4 complete games; 3 of those being shutouts. Arrieta also struck out 236 batters last season while walking just 48 and his WHIP was 0.87. Arrieta picked up 17 of a possible 30 1st place votes as he edged out former Dodgers teammates Zack Greinke (2nd) and Clayton Kershaw (3rd) for the N.L. Cy Young award. While we can’t forget that it’s only April, but with the way his season has started off could Arrieta be a back to back Cy young award winner after this season.

On Thursday, Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers threw a 47 pitch bullpen session and things looked like they where on track for him to make his first rehab start on April 26th as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. After the bullpen session Darvish himself was dissatisfied with the fact that not all his pitches where he wanted them to be, especially his curveball and his change-up. After the bullpen session and the dissatisfaction that Darvish showed the Rangers have decided to push his first rehab start back to May 1st. The Rangers will still have Darvish pitch on Thursday, but it will be a longer bullpen session. The Rangers are hoping that Darvish can throw a 60 pitch bullpen session or close to 4 innings total. Even with his first rehab start being pushed back this hasn’t thrown off the timetable for his return to the Rangers if things go well. If Darvish looks ready to go he could return to the Rangers rotation as early as May 16th. If Darvish isn’t ready to go after those 3 rehab starts the Rangers could  expand his rehab assignment to a full 30 days and six starts. Texas is off to a 10-7 start and they are tied with the Oakland A’s for 1st place right now. Adding Darvish to a starting rotation that already features a 3-0 Cole Hamels could be the key to another post season appearance for Texas.

Now I was unable to do this in any of my fantasy leagues, but a lot of owners tried to grab Darvish late in their fantasy drafts. They would either have to hide him on their bench until he returns or put him on the disabled list if your league offers that feature. If Darvish returns in May this could turn into a move that might make or break your fantasy season. Depending on where you had to draft Darvish it might be hurting your team right now, but once he returns it’s tough to find an ace through trades or waiver pick ups. In this case you just have to wait for your ace to get healthy.

NFL

The NFL is gearing up for the draft which starts with the 1st round on Thursday. While the draft has taken center stage as far as NFL news goes there was a big move made by the Carolina Panthers.On Wednesday the Panthers removed the franchise tag from cornerback Josh Norman making him and unrestricted free agent. After becoming a free agent it only took Norman 2 days to become the highest paid cornerback in the NFL. On Friday the Washington Redskins announced that they had signed Norman to a 5 year $75 million dollar deal. It’s being reported that $51.1 million dollars in the deal is guaranteed. With an average salary of $15 million dollars a season Norman supplants Patrick Peterson of the Arizona Cardinals; who makes $14.01 million dollars a season; as the highest paid cornerback in the NFL.

Norman makes his regular season debut on ESPN’s Monday Night Football September 12th against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Norman and his new Redskins teammates will appear on Monday Night Football again on December 19th; this time against his former Panthers team. On course signing with the Redskins out Norman in the NFC East where he’ll get to match up with New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. twice a year. The Giants host the Redskins on September 25th and then the two teams meet again on New Year’s Day with Washington being the home team.

Norman had a career-high four interceptions with 16 passes defensed and 56 tackles last season for the Panthers last season, but was looking for a long term deal with Carolina. The Panthers had placed the franchise tag on Norman last month, guaranteeing him $13.952 million in 2016. Norman never signed it and was planning to skip at least the first part of off-season workouts, which begin Monday. There are reports that the Panthers made Norman a contract offer of $11 million dollars, but Norman wanted to be paid in the range of $15 to $16 million dollars a season. Carolina never moved off their offer and on Thursday Panthers General Manager Dave Gettleman said the Panthers chose to rescind Norman’s franchise tag because of the flexibility the team would have without him counting toward its salary-cap number. With the draft starting Thursday does Carolina have an eye on someone to fill Norman’s role with there defense.

NHL

The San Jose Sharks and the Tampa Bay Lighting have advanced to the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs. The Sharks knocked the Los Angeles Kings out of the playoffs winning that series 4 games to 1. The Lighting also won there series 4 games to 1 as they knocked out the Detroit Red Wings. We could see two more series end today. If the Pittsburgh Penguins or the St. Louis Blues pick up victories in their games today they will both win there series and advance to the 2nd round. Then on Sunday we could have three series come to an end. If the Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars and New York Islanders all win on Sunday their series will be over and they’ll all move into the 2nd round. Sadly the Kings where my pre-season pick to win the Stanley Cup. Is your pick or team still alive?

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

Two in a row, two to go

Posted: April 22, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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John Lester seeks to get his second win of the season on the road at Great American Park against 24 year-old Jon Moscot.  Moscot would get out of the first unscathed but would walk Heyward and Rizzo.  Javier Baez would lead off the second with a single, he would steal second and advance to third on a ground out by Addison Russel.  David Ross would send a sac fly to right scoring Baez. Moscot would get out of the inning and get through the third no problem.

Anthony Rizzo would lead off the fourth with his sixth home run of the year that would go about 10 rows up into right field.  Ben Zobrist would walk but would be forced out by Baez’s ground ball to short.  Russell sends a ground ball to right advanceing Baez to third.  David Ross would take one for the team and lay down a bunt scoring Javi.  Moscot would make a throwing error advancing Russell to third.  John Lester would copy Ross and also lay down a sac bunt, scoring Russell.  After four innings the Cubs would be up 4-0.

John Lester would cruise through the first five innings giving up one walk and three singles and with the help of Javier Baez’s stellar defense would get through those innings with out a run.  He would give up a lead off home run to Zachary Cozart, his first of the year in the sixth.  He would finish up the sixth and make it through seven innings.  Through seven, he would give up five hits, one walk and one earned run with four K’s on the night.

Pedro Strop would come into the eighth knocking them down in order.  J.J. Hoover would come into the top of the ninth, to ho,d the Cubs from scoring any more runs.  He would throw a curve ball to Baez, who would send a line drive to left, cracking his first home run of the season.  Russell and Ross would get two outs in the ninth.   Tommy La Stella would pinch hit for Strop singling to right.  Fowler would get his first hit of the night on a double to center, scoring Tommy.  Jason Heyward would send his third double of the season to right field.  Kris Bryant would also hit a double scoring Heyward.  The Reds would bring in Ross Olendorf to try and get the last out on Anthony Rizzo.  He would get him to pop up shortstop.

Justin Grimm would come into the ninth with an 8-1 lead, hoping for a quick ninth inning.  He would get Eugenio Suarez to ground out on four pitches but would hit Joey Votto.  0-3, Brandon Phillips would send a quick shot back to Grimm, advancing Votto, but not hard enough to get the hit.  Devin Mesoraco would come up with two outs and send a line drive to Russell ending the game giving the Cubs their twelfth win of the season and Lester his second win of the season.

With eight days left in the month and seven games left, I cannot remember the last I have seen the Cubs off to a start like this.  It was exciting to watch Sammy Sosa and Moises Alou, Derick Lee and Aramis Ramirez, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior but I cannot remember seeing a team like this.  This is a team that Theo builds, a mixture of youth and veterans.  It’s exciting but I hope it’s not just #ItsOnlyApril.

@DanZeeeMan           @SportsTimeRadio
The Podcast

WCUB in Cincinnati!

Posted: April 21, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, sports, Sports Time Radio
Tags: , , , , ,
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Jake Arreita comes into this game trying to preserve his lossless record and the boys “Trying not to Suck” would help him tremendously against left hander Brandon Finnegan.  Dexter Fowler would lead off the game continuing his hot streak with a double. Heyward would would strikeout but Kris Bryant would send a line drive to left knocking in his third home run of the season.  Finnegan would get through the first but would give up a lead off home run to Ben Zobrist. David Ross and Jake Arrieta would single but Ross would score on a force out by Fowler. The second inning would end with the Cubs up 4-0.

In the fourth, David Ross would walk and reach third on an Arrieta single up the middle.  The throw to third would be backed up by Finnegan but his wild throw to first trying to catch Arrieta would score Ross putting the Cubs up 5-0.

David Ross would lead off the top of the sixth with a line drive to right field for his first homer of the season.  Fowler would reach on a walk and move over to second on a single by Kris Bryant.  Anthony Rizzo would step to the plate belting his fifth home run of the season!  Reds pitcher Tim Melville would end up making it through the sixth but not with out giving up four runs, putting the Cubs up 9-0.

Drew Hayes would come into the seventh getting Ross to ground out but he’d end walking Arrieta.  Fowler would single, then Heyward would walk ,setting up Kris Bryant with the bases loaded.  He would do exactly what every Cubs fan wanted… Grand Slam to right field or as the MLB would refer to it this season, “Papa Slam!” Tyler Holt would come into the eighth getting the only 1-2-3 inning for the Reds.  Blake Wood started off the ninth with two groundouts to Jake & Dexter but would give up singles to Heyward & Bryant.  Rizzo would reach first on a pass ball, dropped third strike.  Matt Szczur would come into the ninth and send a line drive to right scoring Jason Heyward.  Zobrist would smack his fourth double of the season, scoring both Bryant and Rizzo!  Russell would end the inning and be the only one to go hitless.

Saving the best for last, Jake Arrieta would walk Jay Bruce in the second, Eugenio Suarez in the fourth, Scott Schebler in the sixth and to lead off the ninth.  On his 119 pitch he would get Suarez to pop up to second base, throwing his second no hitter in 11 months!

According to Jake it was “Business as usual!”

@DanZeeeMan

 

 

 

 

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