Posts Tagged ‘Javier Baez.’

Diamondbacks rattle the Great One

Posted: June 5, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Diamondbacks/Cubs series wraps up with Patrick Corbin taking on Jake Arrieta looking for his 10th win of the season.  He starts off the first inning with a K followed up by a walk and then two more strike outs to end the inning.  Corbin would get the first two outs of the bottom half but then gives up a single passed shortstop to Kris Bryant who would advance to second when Jorge Soler gets hit by a pitch.  Javier Baez would ground out to end the inning.

The second inning, The Great One off his game gives up two singles to Chris Herrman and Chris Owings.  Yasmany Thomas would see the first pitch as a ball but then takes the next one to right center scoring both Chris’s making it a two RBI double.  Jake would settle down by striking out the next three batters to end the top half of the second.  Arizona 2-0.  With one out in the bottom half of the inning, Matt Szczur would send a line drive to left for a single but would be forced out when Miguel Montero sends a ground ball to Goldschmidt who throws it to short for the force.  With two outs, The Great One steps in the box and sends a double to center scoring Montero.  Fowler would end the inning with a ground out to third.  Cubs 1, Arizona 2.  The top of the third and Jake only strikes out two batters and gets the other to ground out.  Corbin would only have one K in the bottom half but it would be a 1-2-3 inning for him also.

Arreita would again strike out three batters to end the inning but not before giving up another single to Chris Owings.  Corbin repeats his third inning with one K and 1-2-3 inning.  The top of the fifth would see Jake giving up lead off single to his counter part Corbin, and then three straight singles to Michael Bourn, Phil Gosselin and Goldschmidt, which his would score an RBI.  He would get Jake Lamb to strike out for the second out of the inning.  Chris Herrmann would get his second single of the game but Phil would get caught in a run down for the third out.  Arizona 3, Cubs 1.  The bottom half, Montero would lead off with a single and then advance on Jake’s sac bunt but he wouldn’t cross home as Fowler and Zobrist would both ground out.

Trevor Cahill would enter the game in the top of the sixth and get the first two batters out, gives up a walk to Brandon Drury but ends the inning striking out Corbin.  Corbin stays in the game get the first two batters to ground out.  With two outs, Javier Baez would send one just over the right field basket for his fourth home run of the season.  Russell would ground out to end the inning.

Cahill still in the game strikes out the first two batters and then appears to strike out Goldscmidt on a check swing, but it turns out to be ball 4.  Joel Maddon walks out of the dug out and questions the call no before even making it to the field is ejected.  He “gets his money’s worth” making his case for a short delay.  Justin Grimm comes into the game getting Jake Lamb would ground out to end the inning.  Corbin still in the game, strikes out two and gets one batter to ground out.

Travis Wood comes into the 8th giving a lead off single to Hermann who advances on Ahmed’s sac bunt.  Wood gets Tomas to strike out then intentionally walks Drury.  Rickie Weeks, Jr, pinch hits for Corbin to pop out to end the inning.  Tyler Clippard enters the bottom half of the 8th getting Fowler to fly out to left.  Zobrist walks, but Bryant strikes out and Soler grounds out to end the inning.

Wood stays in for the ninth, striking out Michael Bourn to be replaced by Adam Warren.  Adam gets Gosselin to ground out but walks Goldshmidt.  He does end the inning by getting Jake Lamb to line out.  Brad Ziegler enters the game for the Dbacks getting the first two batters out.  Anthony Rizzo walks to breath some life into Wrigley.  With two outs and Rizzo on first Miguel Montero steps into the box and sends a soft grounder to Goldscmidt to end the inning.

Although the Cubs lost 3 to 2, Arreita strikes out 12 in 5 innings walking 1 but giving up an unusual 9 hits that would score the 3 runs.  The bullpen really kept things together with four innings giving up only 1 hit on 6 strike outs.  The Cubs embark on a 9 game road trip headed east, #LetsGoCubs.

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

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Baez makes it 7!

Posted: May 8, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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It took 13 innings, but the Chicago Cubs found a way to extend their winning streak to 7 with a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals. The win also gives the Cubs a sweep of the 4-game series.

After a Kris Bryant double tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the 7th both teams had opportunities to score, but couldn’t get that hit they needed. Finally with 2 outs in the bottom of the 13th inning Blake Treinen hung a 2-2 slider to Javier Baez and Baez sent the ball into the left center field bleachers for a walk off 4-3 win.

Jake Arrieta started for the Cubs while Tanner Roark was the starter for the Nationals. Both of them where long gone by the time this one ended. While it looked as though the Cubs had an advantage on the mound going into the game it didn’t start that way. Arrieta had one of his worst outing in who knows when. He lasted just 5 innings giving up 3 runs with 2 of then being earned. He also walked 4 while striking out 7 and it took him 100 pitches to get through those 5 innings. Roark lasted 1 inning longer than Arrieta and gave up just 1 unearned run while walking 2 and striking out 7. It was in the hands of the bullpens after that. The Cubs bullpen pitched 8 scoreless innings while the Nationals bullpen went 5 1/3rd scoreless innings before the Baez home run ended that streak and the game. Travis Wood picked up his 1st win of the year and Treinen (2-1) took the loss.

Kris Bryant had 3 hits and 2 RBI’s for the Cubs with 1 of his hits being a double. Jason Heyward, Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell each had 2 hits for the Cubs. Wilson Ramos and Danny Espinosa each had 3 hits for the Nationals and Ramos also drove in a run while 1 of Espinosa’s hits was a double. Daniel Murphy also added 2 hits with 1 being a double for Washington. Bryce Harper tied a major league record by walking 6 times on a game. Harper had no official at bats in the game as he had the 6 walks and in his other plate appearance he was hit by a pitch.

Washington (19-12) gets t head home after a 10-game road trip. They face the Detroit Tigers tomorrow. The Cubs (24-6) get to stay at the friendly confines as the San Diego Padres come to town to start a 3-game series on Monday.

@Burketime
The Podcast

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

Who’s the ____ at 2nd base

Posted: March 26, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports
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We move over to 2nd base for our next set of picks; so let’s see who’s on top in are four categories.

The Best; Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners. Cano hit .314 with 14 home runs and 82 RBI’s and it was considered a down year for him. He even added a career high 10 steals. If he put up the same numbers this season it would be a good year, but since it’s Cano more is expected and he should deliver this season. With the addition of Nelson Cruz behind him in the batting order should help. The team is improved around him as well and the home runs should go back up to around 20. Don’t be surprised at the end of the season Cano is in the talk for MVP.

Underrated; Howie Kendrick, Los Angeles Dodgers. With the deal to the Dodgers Kendrick will have a chance to show the baseball world what he can do. After spending 9 seasons with the Angeles in Anaheim he’ll get more attention as the Dodgers 2nd baseman. Kendrick hit .293 with 7 home runs and 75 RBI’s while picking up 14 steals. If Kendrick can get to that 15 home run plateau while the rest of his numbers stay the same he’ll be a solid 2nd baseman for any fantasy team this season.

Bounce back; Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians. Last season was suppose to be Kipnis’s break out season, but he hit .240 with 6 home runs and 41 RBI’s in 129 games. Injuries played a big part in Kipnis’ numbers being down last season and just him being healthy should improve them right off the bat. Even in a season were Kipnis struggled he still stole 22 bases. Kipnis needs to return to his 2013 numbers of 17 home runs and 84 RBI’s while hitting .284 and stealing 30 bases. The key of course is can he stay healthy enough to bounce back.

Stay away from; Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs. If your league deducts points for strikeouts take Baez off your board right now. While he does have big time home run potential he’s going to strikeout 200 plus time this season. Baez hit .169 with 9 home runs and 20 RBI’s last season, but struck out 95 times. His spring training average is .128 and has struck out 14 times in 13 games. If there are no negatives for strikeouts in our league Baez might be worth a risk very, very late in your draft because of his power, but again if strikeout are negative points in your league run far away from Baez.