Vogelbach, Vosler Earn League Honors

Sleep was necessary on Saturday, so my weekend review is a bit of a two-fer. IOWA Friday, Luke Farrell started, and Memphis (Cardinals) tallied in five of the first six innings. When it gets that far, and it will, the Cubs will have a number of players to Designate For Assignment. Mike Freeman led the offensive charge with a hit, run, and walk. Memphis 9 IA 3 Saturday, Duane Underwood pitched like a pitcher with a future. The two runs off of him (in five innings) were unearned. He fanned

Three starting pitchers were really good on Thursday. I could go for more of this. Iowa sent Michael Roth to the mound, and he responded with six innings of two-hit two-walk shutout ball. Anthony Bass pitched well in the seventh. Randy Rosario and Dillion Maples made a 3-0 game close again. Justin  Hancock fanned four in four hitters. Shae Simmons earned the save by pitching a scoreless eleventh. Six Cubs scored. Mark Zagunis walked three times. David Bote had two hits, a walk, and drove in a

Photo Credit Rebecca Snyder The Cubs tend to draft defense-first players down the ticket. This leads to very good defenses, especially in the outfield. However, starting three college CFs doesn't necessarily mean the offense will score enough. Another tough one in the pipeline for the sticks. Iowa Jen-Ho Tseng lasted 5.1, but gave up six runs, five of which were earned. Rob Zastryzny and Cory Mazzoni pitched run-less relief, but neither were flawless. Mike Freeman tripled. Taylor Davis had

Having three minor league games going on at once tends toward sensory overload. At least, it does for me. On Tuesday, all three games started off poorly. One game continued as such. One turned to a minor loss, and the third was a comeback. Minor-league season is going, and the goal ends up being which events are real, and which are less so? Iowa sent Alec Mills to the mound in a game against the A's, and this one took about two innings to get mildly out of control. Mills is a pitch-maker, more

With Anthony Rizzo DL-bound, the pertinent question becomes, who replaces him? I've heard a number of ideas. However, once I ran a mental sort, one name became obvious. Efren Navarro should be called up to replace Rizzo. I have three entirely valid reasons why Navarro is a preferred selection over other options. The first involves experience. *** Navarro has 370 MLB plate appearances. Among the players that could be taking his spot, Navarro is not only experienced at the plate (relatively),

In my past, I remember reading an article on an NBA player "fouling into" an NBA game. We're familiar with a player "fouling out", but very rarely "fouling in". The oddity of the circumstances of the NBA game, and the unfortunate dominoes that saw Corey Knebel get injured on Thursday night serve as the perfect setting for why a five-man bench is outmoded in current MLB baseball. The NBA game in question happened in 1986. Due to injuries, the Atlanta Hawks showed up with only ten healthy

Despite winning only one game in the pipeline, it wasn't a bad night at all. Winning isn't the yardstick. Staying healthy and improving are. That said, it's easier to look good and improve with a degree of success. Nonetheless, I give the day a C+, which I thought of three minutes ago. Iowa split a twinbill. and postponed Friday's game at the end of Thursday's doubleheader. Jen-Ho Tseng took a 1-0 lead into the fourth in the first game. Oklahoma City lined up three hits in the fourth, and a

With games starting today across the country on the minor league slate, I have a simple request. Respect the team you are playing, and the representatives on that team. If you had trouble growing up with people teasing you because of who you cheered for, it's rather unlikely these guys were the ones doing it. They were probably out, y'know, playing actual sports. Minor league fans have a mild edge with that aspect. I have no awareness of many of the players the Cubs affiliates will be playing

Weather pending, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans play a scrimmage tonight. As the weather sounds favorable, and Alex Lange is the starting pitcher, this scrimmage is my priority game of the night. Yes, over the parent club's game. Because I prefer the minor league mindset, anyway. With the big league squad, it's about winning. Always about winning. If a perfectly enjoyable game goes sideways the last few innings, more than a few will refer to the evening as "entirely wasted". Since winning is all