WTF?

[roenick99]

When did we get Barrett back? Oh wait! That was Bowen that threw the ball into CF...

Also, Barrett can actually hit a fastball...

This is still the Cubs weakest position...

[SKIPPER 11]

Where have you been Roenick? Finally, someone agrees with me. Ive been taking shrapnel left and right for wanting a C and a CF. We are winning though, so I cant complain too much. Not yet today though- down 1-0.

[roenick99]

Where have you been Roenick? Finally, someone agrees with me. Ive been taking shrapnel left and right for wanting a C and a CF. We are winning though, so I cant complain too much. Not yet today though- down 1-0.

I had to take a break from all things Cub and this site. I was getting too stressed out about this freaking team and some of the bashing I (among others) was taking for being "too negative" about this team. Although, I am not entirely convinced this team has "turned it around", I am not as stressed as I once was. Their catching situation is weak and Pagan is NOT the answer in CF. He is the weakest player out of him, Pie, and Jones. People don't realize that Jones plays a pretty good CF because it is a much easier to read the ball off the bat from center and everyone knows how tough RF is in Wrigley. What can yo do though? I am not the manager.

[DLee25]

I had to take a break from all things Cub and this site. I was getting too stressed out about this 1. freaking team and some of the bashing I (among others) was taking for being "too negative" about this team. Although, I am not entirely convinced this team has "turned it around", I am not as stressed as I once was. 2. Their catching situation is weak and 3. Pagan is NOT the answer in CF. He is the weakest player out of him, Pie, and Jones. 4. People don't realize that Jones plays a pretty good CF because it is a much easier to read the ball off the bat from center and everyone knows how tough RF is in Wrigley. What can yo do though? 5. I am not the manager.

1. It sounds like your still stressed, might wanna take a bigger break next time.
2. Hey you are kind of bashing again. Wait, did you just say our catching was weak? WHOA 1 error and we are weak guys!
3. You think jones is better than Pagan? Are you crazy? One, pagan doesn't strike out everytime he comes up to the plate, did i mention field the ball? Pie needs to go down IMO.
4. From what I read CF is the hardest to play at wrigley.
5. No comment.

Sorry, I had to speak my mind. Sorry if your offended.
5.

[Sheffield_&_Waveland]

2. Hey you are kind of bashing again. Wait, did you just say our catching was weak? WHOA 1 error and we are weak guys!


Are you forgetting there is more to it than just catching? Are you watching a different game than the rest of us? Does the catcher bat? The games I have seen the catcher position is one of the positions this team is struggling at the most. Its not always just about defense. If the catcher is a guaranteed strikeout then there is a problem. Sorry if I offended you but just had to speak my mind :D

[DLee25]

You can't even compare barrett with bowen. Barrett can bat, bowen cannot. Bowen can play D, barrett cannot.

He started the thread just like that, comparing to barrett, Bowen made an error, big deal it didn't come back to bite us. Barretts mistakes did.

Now to talk about batting....

[SKIPPER 11]

I feel his pain with the catching situation. Pagan looks like he has taken over CF, with Pie not playing the last 4 games. I do expect him to start tomorrow though. I wouldnt mind seeing Jones get another shot in CF. I mean we obviously cant get rid of him, we might as well use him some.

As far as catcher - I am at a loss here- I have seen Bowen throw one guy out since he has been here, but we have been winning. Our pitchers are really not throwing any better as a whole. Z has been better of course. It would just be nice if they chipped in a little offense every now and then.
I like the catcher we are playing against right now- Schneider- great defense- decent offense- situational hitter. Other names that have been thrown around on here- Larue, J. Molina, A.J., B. Molina. B. Molina would be nice but SF has a young , promising staff so I dont thin k the Giants will part with him. I like the guy from Pittsburgh-Doumit- he can also play RF and 1B. He crushes too. Swith hitter. He has only caught 20 games though. They say his problem is not throwing it is calling the game. Heck get Blanco to call it from the duggout. 380 thousand salary too.

[DLee25]

The part about throwing people out is you have to look who is pitching too. Today hills delivery to the plate was very slow.

[SKIPPER 11]

I know that. The stolen base thing is minor. Nobody really seems to run anymore anyway except for a select few. Barrets problem was simply catching the ball and blocking. When you start giving teams a free 90 feet every game - a ball in the dirt that gets away or a passed ball- that means scoring position. If a runner is on first it takes 2 singles to score him- If hes on first and then we have a passed ball - 1 hit usually will score them. That part of the game has been sured up. Im not sure though the calling of the game has changed any.

[SKIPPER 11]

R. Hills fault all the way on the SB today. Bowen did not have a chance- but he did compound it by throwing it to CF. It did not matter today. He actually looked a little better at the plate today too. His last AB HE STRUCK OUT, but he just missed a home run too. He probably hit our best ball today.

[Drockvb]

HENRY FREAKIN' BLANCO!!!!!

Where are you??????

[ChinMusic22]

Lou likes a strrong defensive catcher who calls a good game. A stron defensive catcher will win you more games then a catcher who fights with his pitchers but has a decent bat.

As a whole the team has plyed 100 times better since Barrett was dealt.

[SKIPPER 11]

Koyie Hill, however is not considered to be known for his defense according to Brenly. Bowen is.


The problem I have is since the trade we have to be 30th in the league in production offensively from our Cs.

For the year, I bet we are 30th in offensive production from our CFs too, that includes the games Soriano started there.

[Sheffield_&_Waveland]

Lou likes a strrong defensive catcher who calls a good game. A stron defensive catcher will win you more games then a catcher who fights with his pitchers but has a decent bat.

As a whole the team has plyed 100 times better since Barrett was dealt.

I agree the team has played better but at the same time Bowen and Hill just are not getting it done at the plate. These guys are barely even making contact. I have thrown JJ under the bus for his strikeouts but the way it looks these three have a side bet to see who can strikeout the most :confused:

[SKIPPER 11]

Ive said it before - this lineup would be ok if you were running Prior , Wood, Z, Clement out there like 03- but we need O with this team, because you never really know what to expect from our pitchers. Its like today, our big guys cant do it every day. They need help- rather its a hit, moving a runner up, a bunt, walk - just do something positive. The bottom 3 in the order hasnt shown they can do that.

[LeeEila's/rant]

K. Hill is the better catcher. There is a reason Bowen has been bounced all over.

[roenick99]

1. It sounds like your still stressed, might wanna take a bigger break next time.
2. Hey you are kind of bashing again. Wait, did you just say our catching was weak? WHOA 1 error and we are weak guys!
3. You think jones is better than Pagan? Are you crazy? One, pagan doesn't strike out everytime he comes up to the plate, did i mention field the ball? Pie needs to go down IMO.
4. From what I read CF is the hardest to play at wrigley.
5. No comment.

Sorry, I had to speak my mind. Sorry if your offended.
5.

You obviously missed my point. I appreciate your comments as they are your opionion and I don't expect you to take my opinions for facts. There is absolutely no reason anyone should get personal when it comes to this team or this website. State your opinons, contradict others' opinions, and argue all you want. Just keep the personal attacks to yourself. For a while there at the lowest point of the season, this place started to look like cubs.com and rather than take the bait and start name calling like a little 7-year-old sissy, I chose not to post for a while. My standards are really, really high this year because this organization set them there by their actions over the winter. I accept absolutely NOTHING less than a WS victory as a successful season and short of the last 20 games or so, this team has not even been a playoff worthy team. My high standard is a hangup of mine, but you know when the WS happens, it will be totally worth it. What can you do?

As for your comments about the CF and catcher situation, I don't agree. The Cubs had two runners on and no outs with Pagan, Fontenot, and Bowen up next. Fontenot is cooling off and the other two are non-factors with the bat. Three up, three down. And like it was stated in other posts, Hill is a better defensive option. Bowen has not impressed and I don't see where we benefited from the trade other than it was time for Barrett to move on. We need offense in the bottom of the order and I don't believe Pagan and Bowen are the answer or can get the job done. Also, check your facts about CF. Both Steve Stone and Bob Brenly (among others) have stated that RF in Wrigley is THE toughest outfield spot in ALL of baseball. Also, more often than not a CF'er is going to have balls coming straight at him off the bat thus making it easier to read the ball. I have heard all of that information a thousand times over. My ideal situation is to have Hill at catcher and Pie in CF. Pie will hit at some point, but if he is sitting on the bench we will never know. I think he is the BEST defensive option in the whole outfield and should get the start over Jones and Pagan.

[SKIPPER 11]

This team plays better with a lead or even tied usually. That is the case for most teams. In saying that I actually think Lou looked at his lineup yesterday and said Font needed to hit in that situation. It showed me he did not not have confidence in Pagan and Bowen. We were down 1 at the time- it was the opportune time for a bunt from Font to move both runners in scoring position. Rammy was on second though and it may have been hard for him to get to third. But if you make the 3rd basemen field the bunt, Rammy would have been fine. It was a lefty, lefty matchup as well- Font is 0- his last 11, 0-8 at that time. The Nats do had not scored over 3 runs in forever, it really shows he has no confidence in the nezt 2 batters.

[DLee25]

Good post, I will stick with my opinions. I didn't go for a personal threat and I hope you didn't take it like that. I won't take anything less than a WS victory either.

I am done in this thread.