Posts Tagged ‘Chicago Cubs’

Wait til next year

Posted: October 22, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, post season
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The Chicago Cubs 2015 season came to and end last night (Wednesday) as they where swept out of the national League Championship Series by the New York Mets 8-3 at Wrigley Field. The Mets will move on to represent the National League in the World Series. They’ll play the winner of the Kansas City Royals/Toronto Blue Jays series. Kansas City currently leads that best of 7 series 3 games to 2. Game 6 is tomorrow (Friday) night in Kansas City.

On the Sports Time Radio podcast I was pushing very hard for Jon Lester to take the Game 4 start on 3 days rest for the Cubs against the Mets, but for some reason I seemed to be the only guy who was bang the drum for Lester to start. Jason Hammel had been the listed starter for the game, but I really thought Lester would be the better choice even on short rest. Being that it was an elimination game I thought the Cubs would want one of there Top.2 starters on the mound and since you’re not going to bring Jake Arrieta back on just 2 days rest Lester seemed like the next best choice. The Cubs didn’t listen and Hammel took the start. Sadly with Hammel on the mound the game was over before the Cubs even came to bat. Lucas Duda gave the Mets the early lead as he hit a 2-out, 3-run home run in the Top if the 1st inning. Travis d’Arnaud went back to back with Duda and his solo shot gave the Mets all the runs they would need on the night. Hammel by the way lasted 4 outs. In Hammel’s 1 1/3rd innings he was charged with 5 runs; all earned on 4 hits (2 home runs), he walked 2 and struck out 1. Do you honestly think that Lester on 3 days rest wouldn’t of had a better outing; honestly? The Cubs over used bullpen did a solid job after Hammel was removed giving up 3 runs over the 7 2/3rd innings they where asked to cover. Travis wood gave up 1 run on his 1 2/3rd innings as the first guy out of the bullpen and Fernando Rodney gave up the other 2 runs to the Mets when he pitched the his inning. Clayton Richard (2 Innings), Trevor Cahill (1 inning), Pedro Strop (1 inning) and Hector Rondon (1 inning) weren’t scored upon out of the Cubs bullpen. 24 year old Steven Matz made the Game 4 start for the Mets and while he only lasted 4 2/3rd innings he was able to relax right out of the gate as he was giving a 4-run lead before he ever had to take the mound and then 2 more runs where added to that before the Cubs batted a 2nd time. In a bit of an odd twist; Matz was almost dealt to the Cubs for Starlin Castro during spring training, but the Mets changed there mind on the trade. Matz gave up 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 4 and walking 2. Bartolo Colon relieved Matz in the bottom of the 4th inning and was credited with the win. Colon went 1 1/3rd innings; he gave up 0 runs while walking 1 and striking out 1. Addison Reed was next out of the Mets bullpen; he struck out 1 in his 1 inning of work. Tyler Clippard pitched the 8th inning for the Mets giving up the Cubs final 2 runs of the season on a Kris Bryant home run. Clippard gave up 2 hits, walked 1 and struck out 1 as well in his inning of work. I was a little surprised to see Mets closer Jeurys Familia come in to pitch the bottom pf the 9th. It was an 8-3 game and normally closers don’t do well in these type of situations. Familia didn’t have any issues. He got the first 2 hitters to ground out and after a walk to Miguel Montero; Dexter Fowler struck out looking to end the Cubs season and send the Mets into the World Series for the first time since 2000.

You always figure that fans will make some type of an excuse for there favorite team losing or maybe that’s just me when my favorite team loses. I was a little surprised last night to here some of the Chicago media making excuses for the Cubs losing the series. As tough as it is for Cubs fans to take the Mets where just the better tam in this series. The Mets played better defense, out-hit, out-pitched and Terry Collins out-managed Joe Maddon in the series. Even though the Cubs won all 7 regular season games against the Mets this was a different Mets team and that showed. Neither of these teams where expected to be here this season. The Mets weren’t suppose to be able to win there division because the Washington Nationals where going to take it. The Cubs where suppose to be a year away from contending for a playoff spot, but managed to get that 2nd wild card. These teams should be interesting for baseball fans to watch as the Mets have very good young pitching and the Cubs have very good young hitting, but right now I want to look at the Cubs since the Mets still have a series left to play.

Every team makes change in the off season and expect the Cubs to do a little tweeking here and there. Dexter Fowler is a free agent and I’m guessing the Cubs will allow him to leave unless he’s willing to take a short term deal for very low money to stay. While Chris Coghlan had a solid season and showed surprising power with 16 home runs; I don;t think he’s an everyday player for the Cubs next season. Coghlan is also a free agent, but could be a valuable utility player on a contender. If Fowler and Coghlan are out of the Cubs starting line up next season Miguel Montero will be the oldest everyday player at 32, but besides Montero no other regular will be older than 26. The playoffs proved that you can;t win without starting pitching and the Cubs will need more than Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester. It would be difficult for Arrieta to repeat the kind of season he had this year; so someone will have to help out in the rotation. There are a couple of quality free agent starting pitchers who will be on the market, but I’m not sure if the Cubs will hand on another big money long term deal to a pitcher again. Maybe the Cubs target a young free agent starting pitcher like Mike Leake (29) or Jordan Zimmerman (31) instead of going after the top tier free agent pitchers. Of course the other way for the Cubs to add pitching is through trades. I expect that one of the regulars will be dealt for some young starting pitcher. If you’re going to take a guess I’d say Starlin Castro would be the guy traded and the Cubs would use a platoon with Tommy LaStella and another veteran; maybe Coghlan at 2nd base. As much as you get attached to the players on your favorite team little changes here and there are needed to continue to improve the team; so we’ll see what the Cubs roster looks like come 2016.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 21, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, post season
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The League Championship series are one win away from being wrapped as as yesterday the Kansas City Royals took a 3 games to 1 lead over the Toronto Blue jays and the New York Mets went ahead in there series 3 games to 0 on the Chicago Cubs. Game 5 of the ALCS is this afternoon with the Royals looking to go back to the World Series. Game 4 of the NLCS is tonight where the Mets will look to sweep and advance to the World Series.

The offensives really got rolling in the ALCS as both teams combined for a total of 19 runs in the Blue Jays 11-8 win. The Blue Jays had a 10-4 lead after 5 innings and added a run in the bottom of the 8th inning and looked like they would cruise to there first ALCS victory. The Royals decided to make the game a little more interesting than people thought it would be as they scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th inning, but it wasn’t enough as the Blue Jays held to for a win an9d cut the deficit in the series to 2 games to 1.

The offense continued in Game 4 of the ALCS, but just for the Royals. Kansas City scored 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning highlighted by a 2-run Ben Zobrist home run and an Alex Rios solo home run in the top of the 2nd gave the Royals a 5-0 lead and they never looked back on there way to a 14-2 victory and control of the ALCS 3 games to 1. Former Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey made the start for the Blue Jays, but didn’t get through 2 innings. Dickey lasted 1 2/3rd innings giving up 5 runs; 4 of which where earned on 4 hits while walking 2 and striking out 1. There was also a passed ball charged to catcher Russell Martin while Dickey was on the mound. Chris Young made the Game 4 start for the Royals. Young lasted 4 2/3rd innings before giving way to the Kansas City bullpen. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. It wasn’t a long outing for Young, but it was what the Royals need as Luke Hochevar (1 1/3rd innings), Ryan Madson (1 inning), Kelvin Herrera (1 inning) and Franklin Morales (1 inning) didn’t allow the Blue Jays to score in relief. Each pitcher gave up 1 hit in relief; Madson struck out 2 while Herrera and Morales each recorded 1 strikeout. After Dickey was removed Liam Hendriks came out of the Blue Jays bullpen and allowed just 1 hit to the Royals over 4 1/3rd innings while striking out 2. LaTroy Hawkins took over on the mound at the top of the 6th inning and didn’t record an out while giving up 3 runs on 2 hits while walking 1. Ryan Tepera relieved Hawkins and didn’t have much more success against the Royals line up. Tepera pitched 1 2/3rd innings giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and walking 2. Mark Lowe worked an inning after Tepera and gave up 2 runs on 1 hit while striking out 2. Shortstop Cliff Pennington got the final out of the top of the 9th for Toronto becoming the first position player to pitch in a post season game. Pennington pitched 1/3rd of an inning giving up 2 hit, but 0 runs.

It will be a rematch of Game 1 on the mound as Edison Volquez starts for the Royals and Marco Estrada gets the start for the Blue Jays. Volquez got the win in the Royals 5-0 Game 1 victory. He pitched 6 innings walking 4 and striking out 5. Estrada took the Game 1 loss for the Blue Jays pitching 5 1/3rd innings giving up 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6. Can the Blue Jays extend the series and go back the Kansas City for a Game 6 behind Estrada or will the Royals win with Volquez and head to the World Series.

In the NLCS the Mets have used there good young pitching and Daniel Murphy’s bat to take all 3 game of the series against the Cubs. The Mets jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on a Javier Baez error that allowed David Wright on base and then with Wright on the move Yoenis Cespedes doubled and with Wright moving on the hit and run he was able to score. The Cubs got even in the bottom of the 1st inning on a Kyle Schwarber solo home run, Murphy struck again for the Mets in the top of the 3rd inning when with 2 outs he homered to center field to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. The Cubs evened the game up again in the bottom of the 4th inning on another solo home run this time by Jorge Soler. The Mets found a way to take the lead again in the top of the 6th inning on one of the odder plays this post season. With Cespedes on 3rd and 2 outs Michael Conforto struck out which would normally end the inning, but the baseball got away from Cubs catcher Miguel Montero and Conforto was able to reach base safely and Cespedes scored to give the Mets a 3-2 which they’d never relinquish. The Mets added 2 big insurance runs in the top of the 7th inning. With 1 out Wright doubled then Murphy got an infield hit moving Wright to 3rd base. Cesepedes followed that with a single to left field scoring Wright with Murphy going to 3rd and Cesepedes moving to 2nd on the throw. A Lucas Duda ground out allowed Murphy to score the 5th and final Mets run of the night on there way to a 5-2 win.

Kyle Hendricks made the start for the Cubs and while he had a solid outing he wasn’t around long pitching 4 innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 4. Cjayton Richard was the first of 6 Cubs relievers out of there bullpen pitching 1 inning, walking 1 and giving up 1 hit, but 0 runs. Trevor Cahill followed Richard and pitched an inning giving up 1 runs on 2 hits while striking out 1. Travis Wood worked 1/3rd of an inning giving up 2 runs on 2 hits while striking out 1. Justin Grimm pitched 2/3rd of an inning giving up 1 hit while striking out 1. Pedro Strop was next and worked a perfect inning getting 1 strikeout. Hector Rondon was the last Cubs pitcher of the night and he threw 1 inning, walking 1 and striking out 1. Jacob deGroom started for the Mets pitching 7 innings. deGroom gave up 2 runs on 4 hits while walking 1 and striking out 7. Tyler Clippard pitched 1 inning giving 1 hit and striking out 1 before closer Jeurys Familia entered the game working a perfect 9th inning striking out 1 to pick up the save and give the Mets a 3 games to 0 lead in the series.

The Mets are looking for the sweep tonight behind rookie pitcher Steven Matz. Matz has made 1 post season start going 5 innings and taking the loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. Trying to avoid the sweep on the mound for the Cubs will be Jason Hammel. In Hammel’s 1 post season start he lasted just 3 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in that NLDS match up. There was some talk last night that the Cubs may turn to Jon Lester on 3 days rest to take this start, but I don;t think that’s been announced yet. No matter who gets the start for the Cubs tonight they’re going t have to be the first team since the 2004 Boston Red Sox to come back from being down 0-3 if they want to get out of this series. Sorry Cubs fans, but Jon Lester wasn’t on that 2004 Red Sox team.

Believe it or not Week 6 in our NFL picks actually went my way. I won the week with a 9-5 record while Dan the Man and Schaumburg Stu finished a game behind me at 8-6. Either Mr. Fantasy’s illness or the fact that he didn’t make his picks live on the Sunday podcast cost him as he finished under .500 at 6-8. With the poor showing by Mr. Fantasy Dan the Man has been able to leap frog him and move into 1st place by a game 56-35 (Dan) 55-36 (Mr. Fantasy) I’m still in 3rd place at 51-40 while Schaumburg Stu is 2 games behind me at 49-42. Let’s see how Week 7 goes for us.

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 14, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, hockey, NFL picks
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Who had the Chicago Cubs being the first team to lock up a spot in the National League Championship Series (NLCS)? The Cubs wrapped up there series against the St. Louis Cardinals last night with a 6-4 win. What’s interesting in this Cubs series victory is the fact that players like Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant didn’t carry the team. They each have 3 hits this post season with 2 of Rizzo’s hits being home runs and 1 of Bryant’s hits being a home run. Jorge Soler is hitting .571 during the post season. Kyle Schwarber is hitting .538 with a team leading 3 home runs and 5 RBI’s. Dexter Fowler is hitting .300 out of the lead off spot for the Cubs. Javier Baez had to enter Game 3 do to an injury to starting shortstop Addison Russell. Baez had a couple issues in the field which might’ve been do to nerves, but he was 4 for 5 at the plate and hit a big 3-run homer last night. Now I’m not sure if the Cubs can continue to advance with Rizzo hitting .167 and Bryant hitting .150, but they’ll have a few days off as they wait for the winner of the other National League Division Series (NLDS) be it the New York Mets or the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The American League will wrap up both if it’s division series today. The first game of the day has the Texas Rangers on the road to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Now no home team has won a game in this series and the Blue Jays will need to change that to advance. The pitching match up for Game 5 is a rematch from Game 2 as Cole Hamels starts for the Rangers and the Blue Jays go to Marcus Stroman. Both pitchers threw 7 innings last game, but neither figured in the decision as the rangers win the game 6-4 in 14 innings. Hamels gave up 4 runs, but only 2 where earned on 6 hits while striking out 6, Stroman gave up 4 runs with 3 being earned on 5 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5.This series has been kind of a surprise as no one thought the Rangers would be this much trouble for the Blue jays let alone take them to a Game 5. Do the Rangers have 1 more surprise in them.

The second Game 5 in the American League has the Houston Astros on the road to take on the defending American League champions the Kansas City Royals. The Astros are going with Colin McHugh as there starting pitcher while Kansas City turns to there trade deadline pick up Johnny Cueto. McHugh got the win for the Astros in Game 1 of this series pitching 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits while walking 1 and striking out 1. Cueto started Game 2 of this series for Kansas City pitching 6 innings giving up 4 runs on 7 hits while walking 3 and striking out 5. Cueto didn’t figure in the decision, but the Astros won Game 2 5-4. This is another series that I don’t think anyone had going 7 games and I don’t remember anyone picking the Astros to win.

If you live in the Chicagoland area you might not know that there was a second National League playoff game last night. Clayton Kershaw went out and did just what he was suppose to do for the Los Angeles Dodgers last night. Over 7 innings Kershaw gave up 1 run on a solo home run to Daniel Murphy. Kershaw struck out 8 walked just 1 and besides the home run only gave up 2 other hits to the Mets. Steven Matz got the Game 4 start for the Mets. Matz pitched 5 innings giving up 3 runs on 6 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. The Dodgers got all there runs off of Matz in the top of the 3rd inning. An Adrian Gonzalez single to center with runners on 1st and 3rd got the Dodgers 1st run home. Justin Turner followed Gonzalez with a double down the left field line to drive in the Dodgers other 2 run. That gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead and they scored all of these runs with 2 outs in the inning. The Murphy homer cut the lead to 3-1, but neither bullpen gave up a run and Kenley Jansen worked a 1,2,3 9th inning striking out 2 while picking up the save for the Dodgers. The series heads back to Los Angeles on tied 2-2 with Game 5 being on Thursday. The Mets are going with Game 1 winner Jacob deGroom. deGroom worked 7 shutout innings giving up 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 13. The Dodgers are countering with Game 2 winner Zack Greinke. Greinke went 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 8. The winner of this game knows they’ll go on to face the Cubs while the loser is done for the season.

Now baseball will always be my first love as far as sports go, but football isn’t far behind. This season I;m having a big problem with the NFL. Where has the defense gone? It seems as if every game I watch the when there’s about 3 minutes left to play neither team can stop the other one. I understand the rules greatly favor the offensive team, but you’ve stopped them time and again the entire game and now that there’s just 3 minutes left you can’t even slow them down. Not only can’t I figure this out, but I’m starting to feel like I’m wasting my time watching the first 3 and 3/4th of the game when all I need to see is the last 3 minutes. If you’ve listened to the Sports Time Radio podcast you know that my biggest issue with the NBA is the fact that I only really need to see the 4th quarter to know what’s going on with the game. This season in the NFL has pretty much went the same way for me. Besides the Denver Broncos is there another team out there that’s going to play defense?

With baseball in the post season and the football season up and running you might not have noticed that the NHL season has started. The Montréal Canadiens are off to a 4-0 start and there are a few teams behind them at 3-0. Canadiens left winger Max Pacioretty has 4 goals and is tied for the league lead with Justin Abdelkader of the Detroit Red Wings, Zach Parise of the Minnesota Wild and Oscar Lindberg of the New York Rangers. While it’s too early for these stats to mean all that much it’s always fun to see who’s putting the puck in the net.

Now I didn’t forget about our pick for Week 5 in the NFL, but I’d like to. Dan the Man won the week with a 10-4. Mr. Fantasy was a game behind him at 9-5. Schaumburg Stu had an 8-6 week while I barely made it to 7-7. Mr. Fantasy still has the overall lead at 49-28 with Dan the Man a game behind at 48-29. I’m a ways back in 3rd at 42-35 and Schaumburg Stu is still in the cellar at 41-36. Maybe I’ll have a good Week 6, but I doubt it.

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalklRadio.com

Managers, Managing

Posted: October 1, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball
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How many wins does a good manager get his baseball team through a 162 game season? Now if you have a bad or sub-par manager you can see moves he makes that cost your favorite team games during a season. I bet we could find a few Washington Nationals fans who could point out where a Matt Williams move lost a game for the team. So what quantifies a manager getting a win for his team. Sending up the right pinch hitter? Using the right relief pitcher? Or is it just something as simple as running the correct everyday line up out there for games? Now if any of these moves was messed up by a manager it could easily cost his team a game, but does doing them right count as that manager getting a win for his team. I’ve heard different debates about this and it seems to be that a good manager gets his team 5-7 wins a game and then in reverse a poor manager will lose his team 5-7 games a season. Now I’m fine with that number and I’m sure somewhere down the line there will be a saber-metric way to figure this out. While I haven’t had an issue with trying to decide how a manager wins a game for his team; what I am having an issue with is new managers getting quite a bit of praise for a teams improvement from one season to the next.

The Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs are two of the most improved teams from last season to this season and they both changed managers before the 2015 season. In 2014 the Astros finished 70-92 and went 59-79 before firing manager Bo Porter. Tom Lawless finished the season as manager and went 11-13. A.J. Hinch was hired as manager in the off season and the Astros are 84-75 right now and have a chance at the AL West title or possibly  getting a wild card spot. The Cubs where managed by Rick Renteria in 2014 and went 73-89. Renteria was let go by the Cubs when Joe Maddon became available and the Cubs are 93-65 right now and have clinched a National League wild card spot. My take is since neither Hinch or Maddon had anything to do with the 2014 versions of their teams they don’t get any credit for the teams improvement from year to year unless they where managing the season before. Neither Hinch or Maddon where with the team when free agents where signed or when trades where made. Now they should get all the credit in the world for how the team is playing right now, but the improvement from 2014 doesn’t go on their resume. Since I get all the Cubs news I can handle living in the Chicago suburbs let’s work with them and see how this works out.

In 2014 Wellington Castillo appeared in 110 games for the Cubs and was there #1 catcher. Castillo hit .237 with 13 home runs and 46 RBI’s. For the 2015 season the Cubs sent  Jeferson Mejia and Zack Godley to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Miguel Montero. Montero is hitting .248 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI’s in 111 games. there stats look pretty even, but Montero was brought in for his defense and pitch framing.  Castillo threw out 33% of runners trying to steal in 2014 while Monteo has thrown out 21% of runners trying to steal this season. This position looks pretty even from 2014 to 2015. In both 2014 and 2015 Anthony Rizzo was the Cubs 1st baseman. In 140 games Rizzo hit .289 with 32 home runs and 78 RBI’s. This season Rizzo is hitting .278 with 30 home runs and 95 RBI’s in 156 games. Rizzo has doubled his Hit By Pitch numbers this season; 15 in 2014 to 30 this season. Now Rizzo’s numbers are very similar from this season to last, but he wasn’t considered an MVP candidate in 2014. Now in 2014 Darwin Barney held down the 2nd base position until Javier Baez was brought up. Barney is a gold glove player, but hit .230 with 2 home runs and 16 RBI’s over 72 games. Baez played 52 games in 2014 and hit .169 with 9 home runs, 20 RBI’s and struck out 95 times. Starling Castro has been moved to 2nd base this season and seems to have established himself as the starter there. He played a total of 147 games hitting .269 with 11 home runs and 68 RBI’s. Now in 2014 Castro was the starting shortstop. Castro hit .292 with 14 home runs and 65 RBI’s, but also committed 15 errors in 133 games. Addison Russell has taken over at shortstop in 2015 after being the starting 2nd baseman in the beginning of the season. Russell is hitting .241 with 13 home runs and 53 RBI’s spending most of the season as the 9th place hitter. Russell has made 12 errors on the season. Baez has played in 24 games as September call up hitting .286 with 1 home run and 4 RBI’s and has struck out 20 times. In 2014 Luis Valbuena was the Cubs everyday 3rd baseman. Valbuena hit .249 with 16 home runs in 51 RBI’s in 149 games. Kris Bryant is the 3rd baseman for the 2015 season and has hit .279 with 26 home runs and 99 RBI’s in 148 total games this season. In 2014 the outfield was a combination of Chris Coghlan who played in 125 games; hit .283 with 9 home runs and 41 RBI’s.  Arismendy Alcantara hit .205 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI’s in 70 games. Nate Schierholtz appeared in 99 games hitting .192 with 6 home runs and 33 RBI’s while Junior Lake played in 108 games hitting .211 with 9 home runs and 25 RBI’s. The 2015 outfield is a little different. Coghlan is still in it hitting .246 with 16 home runs and 46 RBI’s in 144 total games. Dexter Fowler has played in 153 games and is hitting .248 with 17 home runs and 45 RBI’s. Jorge Soler is hitting .262 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI’s in 100 games and Kyle Schwarber has added a .247 average with 16 home runs and 43 RBI’s over 66 games mot of them as an outfielder. Offensively the team is close in some categories, but the outfield is much better in 2015 than 2014.

Here’s the 2014 starting rotation. Travis Wood 31 starts 8-13 with an ERAof 5.03. Edwin Jackson 27 starts 6-15 with an ERA of 6.33. Jake Arrieta 25 starts 10-5 with an ERA  of 2.53. Kyle Hendricks 13 starts 7-2 with an ERA of 2.46 and Tsuyoshi Wada 13 starts 4-4 with an ERA of 3.25. Remember Jason Hammel and  Jeff Samardzija were traded during the 2014 season. The 2015 starting rotation looks like this. Jon Lester 32 starts 11-12 with an ERA of 3.34. Arrieta has made 32 starts and is 21-6 wit an ERA of 1.82. Hendricks has made 31 starts is 7-7 with an ERA of 4.09. Hammel was resigned in the off season and has made 30 starts and is 9-7 with an ERA of 3.86. Dam Haren was traded for to fill the 5th starter spot for the team and in his 10 starts is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.30. Which rotation would you like to have?

The 3 main bullpen arms in 2014 where Pedro Strop who pitched in 65 games and had an ERA of 2.21 with 2 saves. Justin Grimm made 73 appearances and had an ERA of 3.78 and was 5-2. Hector Rondon took over as closer and pitched in 64 games saving 29 and posting an ERA of 2.42. In 2015 Strop has pitched in 74 games and has an ERA of 3.00 and 3 saves. Grimm has pitched in 60 games and has an ERA of 2.08 and has 3 saves. Jason Motte took over the closer role for a while and saved 6. He has an ERA of 3.91; he also has a 8-1 record in 57 games, but is currently on the disabled list. Rondon is still the main closer on the team and has pitched in 70 games picking up 28 saves and has an ERA of 1.72.

I’m going to say this one more time. I have no issues with a new manager getting credit for how his team is doing on the field that season, but it’s when they start to give him credit for the great improvement the team is having from the season before. As you can tell by what I wrote there are different players brought in both rookies and free agents. Players improve or decline from season to season and it’s really the front office that should be getting credit if a team makes a marked improvement from one season to the next when a new manager is hired. As always though it could just be me!

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Also listen the the Sports Time Radio podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com

Let’s call it Wednesday.

Posted: September 9, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball
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There where two pretty interesting series that opened this Labor Day. The New York Mets traveled to Washington to play the Nationals in a 3 game series and in another three game series the Chicago Cubs went on the road to play the St. Louis Cardinals. So far the visiting teams have managed to win the first 2 games in these series with the series finales being Wednesday. No matter what the outcome is in today’s game the Mets will have put some more distance between themselves and the Nationals and while it doesn’t look like the Cubs can catch the Cardinals they have cut into that division lead with this series. Let’s look closer.

This was suppose to be the series where the Nationals showed that they where the team everyone predicted they’d be at the start of the season and eat into that Mets lead in the National League East, but it hasn’t worked that way. The Nationals had Max Schrerzer starting Game 1; who they paid quite a bit of money this off season to win these type of games. Mets starter Jon Niese was giving a 2-run lead in the Top of the 2nd as Michael Conforto (6) and Kelly Johnson (13) both hit solo home runs off Schrerzer.The Mets added a run in the Top of the 4th inning as Yoenis Cespedes 31st home run of the season was upheld on review; 3-0 Mets. In the bottom of the 4th the Nationals got it all back and then some as Wilson Ramos hit a grand slam to give the Nationals a 4-2 lead. Jayson Werth also doubled in a run to give the Nationals a 5-3 lead after 4. Now this is the point where Schrerzer is suppose to take over the game and get his team a big win to start the series, but that didn’t happen. The Mets came back with solo runs in the 5th and 6th innings to tie the game 5-5 . That ended Schrerzer’s night after 102 pitches and he gets a no decision. The Mets took advantage of the Nationals bullpen combination of Blake Treinen, Felipe Rivero, Casey Janssen and Matt Thornton in the top of the 7th for 3 runs to make the score 8-5 which is how it ended. So with their ace on the mound the Nationals where unable to gain any ground in Game 1.

Last night (Tuesday) it was Jordan Zimmerman facing Matt Harvey. Now there have been a lot of talk about Harvey’s what seems to be self imposed innings limit looming. You had to wonder if it would affect him mentally and even though he’ll say it had nothing to do with his performance he went out and had one of his worst outings of the season. Washington jumped on Harvey right away scoring twice in the 1st inning and once in the 2nd. The Mets where able to get a run in the top of the 2nd; so it was 3-1 Nationals after 2 and that’s how it stayed until the bottom of the 6th. Michael Taylor singled to center with the bases loaded and with the help of a Cespedes error all 4 runners scored making it 7-1 Nationals and it looked like the series would be even at a game apiece. Erik Goeddel came in to finish the inning for Harvey who was done after 5 1/3rd and giving up 7 earned runs. Zimmerman was also taken out of the game in the 6th officially pitching 5 2/3rd innings before turning it over to the Nationals bullpen. Treinen started the 7th and he struggled again giving up 3 runs. Rivero relieved him, but couldn’t get anyone out and was charged with 2 runs. Drew Storen was next out of the Nationals bullpen, but the former closer had issues to and walked in the game tying run before getting out of the inning. So it’s 7-7 after 7 innings and Harvey’s teammates got him off the hook. Jonathan Papelbon entered the game in the top of the 8th with the game still tied 7-7. Papelbon got the forst 2 outs of the inning and then it was the pitchers spot due up. Kirk Nieuwenhuis pinch hit for Addison Reed and hit Papelbon’s 2nd pitch of the at bat into the right center field seats to give the Mets an 8-7 lead. Tyler Clippard pitched a 1,2,3 8th and while Jeurys Familia did give up a single and a walk in the bottom of the 9th he was able to close the game out for the Mets and give them a win in the 2nd game of the series.

So it’s Game 3 tonight and it is as close to a must win for Washington as there is in baseball. While a win would help them knock a game off of the Mets 6 game lead in the division just from a mental stand point a win is important. Don’t forget that these two teams end the regular season with a 3 game series in New York October 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Washinton will send Steven Strasburg to the mound to try and avoid the sweep tonight. While Strasburg’s season numbers aren’t great 8-6 with a 4.35 E.R.A. in 18 starts; 4 of his last 5 starts have been very good. While he did struggle in his last outing against the Miami Marlins he’ll need to find that form from those 4 starts before that to get the Nationals a win tonight. The Mets will counter Strasburg with last seasons Rookie of the Year Jacob deGroom on the mound for them. deGroom has been good all season long for the Mets. He’s 12-7 with a 2.40 E.R.A. in 26 starts; so the Nationals have their work cut out for them. Now even if the Mets sweep this series they’re still not home free in the N.L. East, but it would make quite the statement with under 25 games left to go in the season.

The Cubs went into St. Louis in 3rd place and they’ll leave there in 3rd place. Chicago is 6 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the National League Central and while they might be able to pass the Pittsburgh Pirates for that 1st wild card spot it will be very difficult for them to catch St. Louis at the top of the division. What is interesting is how the first 2 games of this series has played out.

Lance Lynn made the start for St. Louis in Game 1. St. Louis has had the best pitching staff in baseball this season, but Lynn lasted just 2 1/3rd innings giving up 6 runs on 7 hits and the Cubs never looked back as they cruised to a 9-0 victory. Overall the Cubs got 12 hits on the night against the Cardinals pitching staff with 4 extra base hits. Dexter Fowler doubled and homered, Addison Russell also homered while Anthony Rizzo doubled. What may be the biggest take away from Game 1 for the Cubs is the fact that Dan Haren pitched 7 scoreless innings. Haren did give up 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5 to even his record up at 9-9. Haren hasn’t been sharp for the Cubs since they picked him up from the Miami marlins at the trade deadline; so could this outing turn the corner for Haren?

While the score of Game 2 an 8-5 victory for the Cubs looks like a closer game it really wasn’t. The Cubs had an 8-0 lead before the Cardinals finally got to Jason Hammel and Justin Grimm for 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th to tighten the game up at 8-5. A Cubs bullpen combination of Clayton Richard, Fernando Rodney, Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon who picked up his 27th save they ended the Cardinals scoring over the last 2 2/3rd innings to get the Cubs their 2nd win in a row this series. It was another rough outing for a Cardinals top starter as Michael Wacha gave up 6 runs on 6 hits over 4 innings while walking 3 and giving 2 home runs; to Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro.

As the Cubs go for the sweep this afternoon they turn to Jon Lester on the mound to get the job done. While the Cubs have had a very positive season Lester has to be the biggest disappointment in it. Over his 27 starts this season he is 9-10 with an E.R.A. of 3.59. Not the kind of numbers he was expected to out up when he was signed for 6 years and $155 million this past off season. St. Louis will send out Carlos Martinez to try and avoid the sweep. Martinez is 13-7 in 25 starts with a 3.04 E.R.A. It not a must win or anything close to that for the Cardinals, but what a confidence builder this series has to have been for the Cubs. The winner of the wild card game will face St. Louis in the NLDS and if the Cubs can get by the Pirates in that wild card game they’d be hosted by the Cardinals and how nice is it for a young team to go into a place like St. Louis and not just win a series, but sweep it.

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: May 13, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, hockey, NASCAR, sports
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We’ve been picking a fantasy players of the week this season for baseball. 1 hitter and 1 pitcher win the award every week.  I keep forgetting to post them; so I’m going to catch you up and cover who we’ve picked through 5 weeks of the season. Week 1 Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers and  Aroldis Chapman Cincinnati Reds. Week 2 Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles and Hector Santiego Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Week 3 Mark Teixeira New York Yankees and Gerrit Cole Pittsburgh Pirates. Week 4 Jose Altuve Houston Astros and David Price Detroit Tigers. Week 5 Bryce Harper Washington Nationals and Shelby Miller Atlanta Braves. You’re all caught up and now you can go back and look at the stats and see if you agree with us. We’ll pick our Fantasy players of the week on the Sunday podcast 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

What is going on with the scheduling for the NHL conference finals. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Anaheim Ducks don’t have a date for Game 1 of their series in Anaheim even though both teams wrapped up their series last week. There is a Game 7 tonight between the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals, but that’s an Eastern conference game and shouldn’t have any affect on when the Blackhawks/Ducks series should start. The Tampa bay Lighting eliminated the Montreal Canadiens last night (Tuesday) 4-1 to win the series 4 games to 2. Tampa Bay gets the winner of the Rangers/Capitals game in the Eastern conference finals. I’m not saying that the Ducks/Blackhawks series should’ve started, but they could’ve played 1 game by now. I guess the NHL is waiting for all of the series to finish to announce the schedule for the conference finals. Tyler Johnson of Tampa Bay has scored the most goals in the playoffs with 8. Corey Perry of Anaheim has the most points with 15. While Lighting goalie Ben Bishop has won the most playoffs games with 8. Anaheim has had the best power play so far in the playoffs scoring 31% of the time they have a man advantage. At 3.89 goals a game Anaheim is averaging the most goals in a game as well. The Rangers have the best goals against average at 1.73. Of course the Rangers goals against will go up or down depending on how their game goes tonight.

Kyle Busch is having a good week. First it was announced that Busch would be returning for this Saturday’s All-Star race.  Busch received medical clearance from his doctors and NASCAR on Monday, but he has yet to make a start this season after suffering a compound fracture in his right leg and a broken left foot in the Feb. 21 season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway. The shorter All-Star race and its segment-and-break format should help Busch in his return. There was more good news for Busch because on Wednesday, NASCAR granted a waiver to the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver who will return to racing in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Despite missing the season’s first 11 races, NASCAR has waived the Chase requirement for Busch. Should he win one of the remaining 15 regular-season points races and make the top 30 in points or earn a spot based on his position in the points standings, he would be one of the 16 drivers in this year’s Chase field. Similar situations have come up before — three other drivers have been granted waivers since NASCAR re-tooled the Chase format before the start of the 2014 season. Tony Stewart, out for three races last summer after his involvement in an on-track fatality in a non-NASCAR sanctioned event, was given the all clear to pursue a Chase spot upon his return. Unlike Hamlin, Stewart was unable to qualify for the 10-race program. Before the start of the 2015 season, NASCAR announced driver Brian Vickers would be eligible for a Chase spot after missing this season’s first two races due to health issues. Kurt Busch was suspended for the first three races of the season as a result of domestic violence allegations made by former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll. A Kent County (Delaware) family judge granted Driscoll a protective order, however the State Attorney General declined to file charges against the driver. Busch was reinstated and granted a Chase waiver. Last month, he won at Richmond and is currently in the provisional playoff field with the victory and a 14th-place points position. Last year, Denny Hamlin missed one race (at Auto Club Speedway), won one race (at Talladega Superspeedway) and was awarded one of the 16 Chase starting positions, and this year, Kyle Larson missed a race in March at Martinsville Speedway, but both drivers took part in Coors Light Pole Qualifying to remain Chase-eligible. I thought it was only fair on NASCAR’s part to give Busch the waiver and a shot at making the Chase. Now it’s up to Busch and his JGR racing team to win a race and get into the Chase.

I saw an odd quote from Chicago Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer and I’m disappointed that I was unable to find it for this blog. Hoyer mentioned something to the affect that the Cubs and the New York Mets have some matching pieces, but they hadn’t come to any kind of deal yet. I did see a report that the Mets inquired about Addison Russell, but I’d be surprised if the Cubs would deal him. It does appear that the Mets may be looking for a shortstop. Does that mean Starling Castro is headed to New York. I actually thought he’d be the guy to take Derek Jeter’s spot for the other New York team, but I was wrong. Castro has a very friendly contract, but if the Cubs move him what do they get in return. The Mets do have some quality pitching prospects in their minor league system, but aren’t the Cubs suppose to be on the verge of winning according to the Theo Epstein plan. If Castro is traded Russell would have no issues moving over to shortstop, but then who takes Russell place at 2nd base. Did  Arismendy Alcantara show you enough in the games he played with the Cubs to handle the everyday job at 2nd base. Alcantara was on the opening day roster and has since been demoted to Triple A Iowa. There’s also Javier Baez. Just imagine the strikeout total Baez could put up playing everyday. Looking at a deal like this I’m not sure what Hoyer meant by match up.

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: April 8, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, NASCAR, sports
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The Washington Nationals were pretty much everyone’s pick to win the National League east and the World Series this season. Now there’s no real concern after a 3-1 opening day loss to the New York Mets, but what may become an issue are the Nationals injuries. The Nationals are starting the season with 4 players on the disabled list. Denard Span has been out since March when he had core muscle surgery. Span was the engine that got the Nationals offense rolling last season and there’s a big hole at the top of the order with him out. Span may return at the end of the month, but it may also take him a while to get into game shape against major league pitching. Span missed a big chunk of spring training and you have to wonder if a minor league rehab stint will be needed to get him back on track. Jayson Werth is still recovering from the shoulder surgery he had in January. Werth did hit in some minor league games at the end of March and it shouldn’t be too much longer before he’s able to return to the Nationals line up. Just like Span; you have to wonder how far behind Werth will be since he’s been out for 4 months. Washington needs Werth’s bat back in the middle of their line up and they may get it about the middle of this month. Nate McLouth would’ve been the guy to fill in for Werth, but he’s out as well. McLouth had shoulder surgery in August of 2014 and has a difficult time returning from it. McLouth may be back this month as well, but hiss absence has been twice as long as anyone else and you have to wonder how far away he is from being ready to hit major league pitching. Casey Janssen was brought in by the Nationals to provide a some bullpen support and take some pressure off of closer Drew Storen, but Janssen landed on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis. Janssen is another Nationals player who may return this month, but it’s his throwing arm that’s the issue and you have to wonder if this will hang around all season long with Janssen. Storen had some injury issues as well during spring training, but didn’t end up on the DL. With Janssen out and Storen having some issues; what kind of shape is the Washington bullpen in? Anthony Rendon was talked about as being the break out player of 2015, but his year has started on the DL with an MCL sprain in left knee. When Rendon first got hurt it was reported as minor and that he would miss a few days. Then the report changed to Rendon would miss the rest of spring training, but he should be good to go for the start of the season. Then as the season was getting ready to start Rendon went on the DL with his time table being set for a possibly April return. Rendon has avoided knee surgery and the Nationals are right to be very careful, but they’re also missing a huge piece of their line up. On the plus side for the Nationals none of their starting pitchers have ended up getting injury. That may be enough to keep them in games and get them some wins early in the season, but with Soan, Werth and Rendon’s bats on the sidelines they’re going to have to find ways to score runs. There’s nothing that can derail a teams run more than injuries to their key guys.

NASCAR took the week off last weekend, but they return Saturday in Texas for what has to be Dan the Man’s favorite race. the Duck Commander 500 at the 1.5 mile Texas motor speedway. Chris Olmstead from BeyondtheFlag.com will join our podcast Friday night around 10:30 p.m. to preview this race for you. It’s a full weekend in Texas for NASCAR. On Thursday from 4:30 pm-5:30 pm there’s NASCAR Xfinity practice. The Xfinity drivers return from 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. for their final practice. Friday has a full day of activity starting at 11:30 am with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice. At 2:00 p.m. the Sprint Cup drivers hit the track again for their final practice. At 4:45 pm it’s time for NASCAR Xfinity Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying. After the Xfinity guys qualify the NASCAR drivers get back on the track around 6:45 pm for their qualifying runs. Friday night wraps up with the NASCAR Xfinity Series O’Reily Auto Parts 300. Then on Saturday night the Sprint Cup drivers will go 334 laps or 501 miles in the Duck Commander 500.

Now normally on the podcast it’s Dan the Man who comes up with the conspiracy theories, but I actually have one of my own. Yesterday the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs had a night game schedule at Wrigley Field. Just a little after Noon I turned on the MLB Network to catch some updates and on their crawler at the bottom of the screen there was an announcement saying the Cubs/Cardinals game had been postponed. They where siting the weather that they predicted would hit the Chicago area. While it would’ve been a tough night to play baseball the rain and wind that was being forecasts to hit Chicago area didn’t. These two teams have another game scheduled for this afternoon and the weather outside is just as bad as it was last night and there is rain in the forecast. So the question is; will they play today’s game? Now there was no make up date announced for yesterday’s day and why do I have a feeling that the date will be after the construction at Wrigley Field is done. I’m pretty sure you can see what I’m implying here. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if today’s game ends up being called off because of the predicted weather. Even though Wrigley Field didn’t look bad on television Sunday night it obviously isn’t in the condition the team would like it to be. Not to mention the more games they can play after construction is done the more people they can squeeze into the ballpark. All you have to do is remember that Cash Rules Everything Around Me!

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It’s just 1

Posted: April 7, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports
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The baseball off season was very exciting in Chicago. The Cubs went out and signed the top starting pitcher on the market (Jon Lester) to a 6 year $155 million dollar deal. They also signed Jason Hammel to a 2 year $20 million dollar deal to round out the starting rotation. The Cubs also sent Dan Straily and Luis Valbuena to the Houston Astros to get centerfielder Dexter Fowler. Now not to be out done the White Sox added 3 players of their own. They signed left handed power hitter Adam LaRoche to a 2 year $25 million dollar deal. They also inked Melky Cabrera to a 3 year $42 million dollar free agent deal. Then the White Sox sent Rangel Ravelo, Chris Bassitt, Josh Phegley and Marcus Semien to the Oakland A’s for starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija.

Now after these signings and deals most if not all fans of Chicago baseball where looking forward to opening day. Well opening day was Sunday night for the Cubs and yesterday (Monday) for the White Sox. Both teams lost their opener. The Cubs 3-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals and the White Sox 10-1 to the Kansas City Royals. Now what surprised me was how after each of these losses was how quickly the excitement that was there in the off season quickly turned to negativity and dislike for each team.

We have two radio stations in Chicago that cover sports 24/7. There’s the one that offers national coverage with a couple of local shows added in; this is the one Dan the Man listens to. Then there’s the station that focuses on just Chicago teams and that’s the one I listen to. I was actually caught off guard with some of the callers to the overnight show I was listening to after both games. I heard everything from wait until next year to the Cubs wasted their money on Lester and the White Sox made a bad trade for Samardzija. It was just 1 game. There are 161 more games left this season.

The Cubs had some good scoring chances and just didn’t get that hit when they needed it. Do fans really think the Cubs will go 0-13 with runners in scoring position every game. They should also factor in that the pitcher they where facing was Adam Wainwright; who is a Top 10 or maybe even a Top 5 pitcher in baseball. Now Lester didn’t have a great outing, but he found a way to limit the damage when he had to. Remember that Lester had some dead arm issues towards the end of spring training and he has to work his way through that. There where 2 things that concerned me with the 1st Cubs game. Lester not being able to make pick off throws to the bases is one. Now he he doesn’t let any runners get on base this won’t be an issues, but you’d have to think that any team who gets a runner on against him would take a shot at stealing a base. The other one was the batting order. I’ve heard all of the reasoning for hitting the pitcher 8th and they always sound like excuses to me. It came back to bite the Cubs a little as Lester came up with a runner in scoring position and 2 outs. Now 1st base was open and they could’ve worked around a guy to get to Lester anyway, but there was no decision involved with Lester at the plate because he was in the 8th spot. I think this move was Joe Maddon trying to prove he’s a wacky guy and he’ll go against the grain. Or it was just a sad cry for attention.

With the White Sox it looks like it was a bad outing for your pitchers. Samardzija really struggled through 6 innings giving up 5 runs on 6 hits while striking out just 1 batter. Samardzija had some control issues as well as he walked 3; hit 2 batters and uncorked a wild pitch. The fans will dump all of the blame on Samardzija since he was the big guy they picked up in the off season, but the 2 pitchers who followed him weren’t any better. The White Sox picked up Dan Jennings to help shore up the bullpen and get lefties out. Jennings struggled on opening day just like Samardzija did. Jennings pitched 2/3rds of an inning gave up 3 runs on just 1 hit while walking 2 (1 intentionally) and striking out 1. Kyle Drabek was the next White Sox pitcher out of the bullpen. Drabek pitched an 1 1/3rd giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with 1 strikeout. Call it opening day jitters or just a bad outing, but don’t forget that the Royals are the defending American League champions and while they haven’t gotten a lot of respect from the baseball experts this off season maybe they’re better than people thought. Maybe you could add in that Yordano Ventura was the Royals opening day starter and he’s an up and coming pitcher in the game of baseball. Ventura along with Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Ryan Madson held the White Sox to 5 hits, but 1 of them was a Jose Abreu home run. If yoou noticed last season that’s the Royals formula for winning. 6 innings out of the starter and an inning each out of 3 relievers to wrap the game up. Hopefully White Sox fans can let this game go unless you think Samardzija is as bad as he was on opening day.

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: April 1, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, NASCAR, sports
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To the surprise of no one except maybe Scott Boras and the MLBPA the Cubs sent Kris Bryant to Triple A Iowa earlier this week. It’s not the fact that Bryant was sent down that should’ve been the story, but who went to the minors with him. Again it wasn’t a shock that Addison Russell was sent down. Russell hasn’t spent a full season at Triple A and he was injured last season; so a full season at Triple A wouldn’t be the worse thing for him. The story should’ve been that Javier Baez was sent down. Baez was a 1st round pick and 9th overall in the 2011 draft. He appeared in 52 games last season. He hit .169, but showed good power with 9 home runs and drove in 20. He did also steal 5 bases in 6 attempts. Did I mention he struck out 95 times in 213 at bats. Theo Epstein went out and hired Manny Ramirez to work with Baez the middle of last season and then the Cubs sold their fans on the fact that they would work with Baez in the off season to cut down on his strikeouts. This spring Baez hit .179 with 1 home run and 1 RBI in 16 games. In 52 spring training plate appearances Baez struck out 20 times. How much work did the Cubs do with him in the off season? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say NONE! Another issue I have is the fact that about a week or so ago Cubs management came out and said that they weren’t sure if Bryant could play 3rd base in the majors. Now 2015 was the start of Bryant’s 3rd season with the Cubs and they’re just now figuring out that he might not be able to play 3rd base. Bryant has played 160 games in the Cubs minor league system. He’s committed 27 errors and has a career fielding percentage of .942. He made a total of 21 errors last season; 14 of those errors were made at Double A Tennessee in 62 games, but at Triple A Iowa where Bryant played in 67 games he made just 7 errors. So the Cubs top 2 prospects start the 2015 season in the minor leagues. They couldn’t teach one to cut down on his strikeouts and they can’t find the proper position for the other one. Instead of focusing on how bad it was that Bryant got sent to the minors maybe it’s time to look at player development in the Cubs system. It’s great to stock pile all of these top prospects, but if you can’t teach them how to be good major league players; how is that going to help your team. Are you tried of seeing players the caliber of Baez traded and then turning into the player he should’ve been in a Cubs uniform?

Staying with Baez for a minute here. No one and I mean no one had him headed to Triple A. If someone tries to tell you they did they’re lying to you. On the Sunday podcast of Sports Time Radio Al Yellon from BleedCubbieBlue.com was on with us to preview the Cubs 2015 season. Al was the first person I had heard say that Baez was headed to the minors to start the season.

While I’m handing out credit on the podcast Sunday morning we also had Chris Olmstead from BeyondtheFlag.com on to talk some NASCAR with us. Chris has been on the last couple of weeks with us to look at the goings on in NASCAR and preview which ever race is happening that weekend. I always give Chris a chance to pick 3 drivers that he thinks will end up in victory lane at the end of the race. While on the podcast Chris said that Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver Denny Hamlin was the guy to watch in Martinsville on Sunday. At the end of the STP 500 at Martinville Speedway it was Hamlin who was driving his car into victory lane.

We’re almost done with our season previews for the upcoming baseball season. Dan the Man was able to track down guests to come on the podcast and preview all the teams except the Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals; so we’re trying to handle the previews ourselves. We’re actually down to just 1 team to go and that’s the Red Sox; will be doing that preview on the Friday podcast. Sadly for us we’re not as in depth with these teams as the other people we’ve had on, but we’re doing what we can to give a solid preview for 2015. You can listen to today’s podcast or any archive show we’ve done at BlogTalkRadio.com and just find our show Sports Time Radio.

You can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Vs. Series (Starting Pitchers)

Posted: March 20, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports
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We move to the mound to take a look at each teams five man rotation for the coming season. Every team except the Cubs have a starter who’s going to miss some time and in one case the entire season. Let’s start in New York with pitching.

The New York Mets have some of the best young pitching in baseball, but they’ll have to find a way to replace Zack Wheeler who has a torn UCL ligament and is going to have Tommy John surgery and miss the 2015 season. After missing all of the 2014 because he had Tommy John surgery Matt Harvey is back and has looked good in his spring training outings. Harvey is set to be the ace of this staff for a long time as long as he’s healthy. Bartolo Colon looks like he’ll fit in as the #2 starter for the Mets. As a 41-year-old Colon went 15-13 last season, but more importantly he’ll give you innings. Colon has pitched over 200 innings 8 times in his career. Jacob deGrom won the National League Rookie of the Year award last season going 9-6 with and ERA of 2.69 in 22 starts last season. Being slotted as the #3 starter will help deGrom not have to carry the load for the Mets. Jon Niese will fill one of the last two spots in the rotation. Niese was 9-11 in 30 starts last season with an ERA of 3.40 in 30 starts. Dillon Gee will be the other pitcher in the rotation to start the season. Gee made 22 starts last season going 7-8 with a 4.00 ERA You’d have to figure that either Gee or Niese will be headed to the bullpen once the Mets are ready to turnover a spot in the rotation to top prospect Noah Syndergaard. Syndergaard is 31-19 in 84 career minor league starts with an ERA of 3.25. With Wheeler out for the season and the Mets looking like they might contend for a playoff spot in 2015 you have to wonder how long they’ll leave Syndergaard in the minors.

It was the New York Yankees who won the Masahiro Tanaka derby last season and you wonder if they’re second guessing themselves for that right now. Tanaka put up great numbers for the Yankees last season. He was 13-5 with an ERA of 2.77 with 3 complete games and 1 shutout, but that was all in just 20 starts. Tanaka had arm issues last season, but passed on surgery to rehab it instead. He’s reportedly healthy and ready to go, but the Yankees will need to monitor him as the problem could come back. The Yankees even talked about going to a 6 man rotation to help Tanaka. He is undoubtably there #1 starter and the Yankees need him to stay healthy. C.C. Sabathia is another Yankees starter trying to bounce back from injury. Sabathia made just 8 starts last season covering 46 innings. The Yankees will need a return close to form from Sabathia if they’re going to compete in the American League East. It seems like I’m saying this about every Yankees starter, but Michael Pineda is also coming back from a season where ha made just 13 starts covering 76 1/3rd innings. To be fair Pineda did miss some starts due to a suspension, but the Yankees could use a healthy 30 plus start season from him. Now the 4th and 5th spots in the Yankees rotation might be a little up in the air. It was thought that Chris Capuano would fill one of those spots, but he’s likely to start the season on the disabled list with a strained right quad. Ivan Nova will also start the season on the disabled list. Nova is still recovering from the Tommy John surgery he had last season. It looks like former Miami Marlin Nathan Eovaldi will find a spot in the Yankees rotation. Eovaldi made 33 starts last season going 6-14 with an ERA of 4.37. Eovaldi will have to figure out how to miss some bats as he gave up 223 hits in 199 2/3rd innings last season. Will Adam Warren be the guy to take the 5th starters spot until Capuano comes back from injury. Warren made 69 relief appearances last season picking up 3 saves and posting an ERA of 2.97.

This turned out to be a pretty easy choice for me. I’ll go with the Mets starting rotation over the Yankees. Even if the Yankees had all 5 of their starters healthy; I’d still take the Mets.

The Cubs went out and paid Jon Lester $155 million dollars over 6 years to be the ace of their pitching staff. Lester has made 31 or more starts ever season since 2008. He has a career ERA of 3.58, but he should post a better number now that he’s pitching in the N.L. The Cubs where the only team willing to offer Lester a 6th year; so will see if their gamble pays off. Jake Arrieta had the best season of his 5 years career going 10-5 with an ERA of 2.53 in 25 starts with 1 complete game and 1 shutout. I’m sure the Cubs would like to see Arrieta get into that 30 start area, but keep his ERA around where it was last season. What a split season Jason Hammel had in 2014. Hammel was good with the Cubs 8-5 with a 2.98 ERA but he was bad after being traded to the Oakland A’s 2-6 with a 4.26 ERA Hammel is back in the Cubs rotation and they’re hoping he’ll just pitch like he did when he was with them last season. You would think Kyle Hendricks has a spot in this rotation, but all the reports out of Chicago is that the front office doesn’t like him. Hendricks went 7-2 in 13 starts with an ERA of 2.46. Those look like good numbers to me, but since Hendricks doesn’t hit 90 mph on the radar gun he’s not a front office favorite. With the demotion of top pitching prospect C.J. Edwards to Triple A Iowa yesterday (Thursday) it looks like the last spot in the rotation will go to Travis Wood. Wood made 31 starts last season going 8-13 with an ERA of 5.03. The ERA will have to come down if Wood is to keep his spot in the rotation as the Cubs have a couple of other options.

Chris Sale is the best left-handed pitcher in the AL and the 2nd best left hander in baseball behind Clayton Kershaw. Sale has a foot injury and will miss opening day, but should be back right after that. Sale was a Cy Young contender last season going 12-4 in 26 starts with an ERA of 2.17. Look for Sale to be in the Cy Young conversation again. The White Sox sent four players; Rangel Ravelo, Chris Bassitt, Josh Phegley and Marcus Semien to the Oakland A’s for Jeff Samardzja. Samardzija made 33 starts between the A’s and the Chicago Cubs posting an E.R.A. of 2.99 while going 7-13.  Samardzija lost a lot of close games with the Cubs last season; so if the White Sox can score fo him he might be able to turn his won-loss record around.  Jose Quintana is a very underrated starting pitcher. While his record was 9-11 his ERA was 3.32 in 32 starts last season. If the White Sox can get those numbers out of Quintana again with a better won-loss record they’ll be happy. John Danks should be #4 in this rotation. Danks was 11-11 with an ERA of 4.74 in 32 starts. Danks never turned into the starting pitcher a lot of experts thought he would, but he’s a solid guy to have in the 4th spot. It looks like Hector Noesi will start the season as the White Sox 5th starter. Noesi made 27 starts last season going 8-11 with an ERA of 4.39. Noesi will stay in the rotation until the White Sox decide if last season 1st round draft pick Carlos Rodon is ready for the majors. Rodon only has 9 games of minor league experience with 6 of those games being starts. He did make 3 starts at Triple A Charlotte last season and while he didn’t get a decision he did post an ERA of 3.00. He may be a factor in the White Sox rotation before the season is over.

These two rotations are close, but I’m going to go with the Cubs here. The 1 – 3 spots in the rotations are very, very close, but the 4th and 5th spots easily go the Cubs way and that was the deciding factor in me taking the Cubs here.

The Vs. series is off tomorrow for the regular How was your week blog to appear here. The Vs. Series comes back on Sunday with only one more comparison to do and that’s the bullpen.

Follow me on Twitter @Burketime

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