The 2014 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread

[Shortstop]

Ike Davis is my hero!

At least for tonight!

[Chi_archie]

The Cubbies may actually make some noise here in the next few years if all of these prospects reach their potential...

having Rizzo break out to be such a stud already, gives them a nice core to build around

[EmpireMaker]

The Cubs are going to call up highly-touted prospect Jorge Soler before their series against Cincinnati begins Tuesday, reports David Kaplan of Comcast Chicago. Soler clubbed a three-run homer and then was pulled from the Iowa Cubs' game Monday night shortly thereafter mid-inning, seeming to signal the promotion.
Soler, 22, is hitting .340/.432/.700 with 23 doubles, 15 homers and 57 RBI in 62 minor-league games this season (eight in Rookie ball while he was rehabbing from injury, 22 in Double-A and 32 in Triple-A). He was ranked as the 41st best prospect in all of baseball heading into the season by Baseball America.
Expect Soler to play everyday, just as Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara are doing, in order to adjust to the majors this season while the Cubs aren't in contention. He'll play one of the corner outfield spots.
The Cubs signed Soler to a nine-year, $30 million deal in 2012 out of Cuba and he was already on the 40-man roster, so this move is hardly surprising. It's also worth mentioning that perhaps the Cubs' two best prospects -- Kris Bryant and Addison Russell -- are still in the minors. So the new wave isn't all up just yet.

Soler went 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI's last night in his first MLB game.

[koz-man]

Soler went 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI's last night in his first MLB game.

This kid is going to make some noise next year. And the Cubs are going to be an exciting team to watch as well...

[Shortstop]

Soler went 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI's last night in his first MLB game.

Nice debut!

This kid is going to make some noise next year. And the Cubs are going to be an exciting team to watch as well...

I agree!

[Shortstop]

Jeff Locke continues to get the job done for the Pirates...

J Locke (W, 6-3)	7.1	6	1	1	2	3	1	98-66	3.51

[Chi_archie]

Ike Davis is my hero!

At least for tonight!

2 nights of Ike Heroics keeping the bucs in the hunt

[yisman]

Soler probably the best of the new batch of Cubbies. They might be good in two years.

[MexicanStallion]

Soler probably the best of the new batch of Cubbies. They might be good in two years.

What debuts for Baez and Soler. Bryant has some pressure for him to homer in his first at bat. Cubs have potential. Need some pitching.

[Chi_archie]

Soler probably the best of the new batch of Cubbies. They might be good in two years.

they really should be, with how Rizzo has broken out

[EmpireMaker]

On Thursday against the Rockies (GameTracker), Giants right-hander Yusmeiro Petit set down the first eight batters he faced. That gave Petit a total of 46 consecutive batters retired, and that means he has now broken Mark Buehrle's all-time record of 45 set in 2009. Before Jordan Lyles' third-inning two-bagger, Petit hadn't allowed a batter to reach since Marlon Byrdof the Phillies touched him for a double in the fourth inning of their game on July 22.
This season, Petit, age 29, has pitched to a 3.59 ERA (96 ERA+) and sparkling 5.12 K/BB ratio in 34 games, seven of which have been starts.

[koz-man]

Jonny Venters (elbow tear) shut down

NEW YORK -- The Atlanta Braves have shut down left-hander Jonny Venters for the rest of the season after the reliever tore an elbow ligament while trying to come back from his second Tommy John surgery.
The 29-year-old Venters hasn't pitched in the majors since 2012, a season after he made the National League All-Star team.


The Braves said Thursday that Dr. James Andrews had found the tear a day earlier. Venters had been doing light throwing in his comeback bid.


"They did an MRI, and he retore it," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "One of the options is for him to have the third Tommy John."


Venters previously had the elbow surgery in 2005 and '13.
Venters is 15-10 with six saves and a 2.23 ERA in three seasons with Atlanta. He led the majors with 85 appearances in 2011.

Maybe the 3rd will be the charm!!!!....lol

[Shortstop]

On Thursday against the Rockies (GameTracker), Giants right-hander Yusmeiro Petit set down the first eight batters he faced. That gave Petit a total of 46 consecutive batters retired, and that means he has now broken Mark Buehrle's all-time record of 45 set in 2009. Before Jordan Lyles' third-inning two-bagger, Petit hadn't allowed a batter to reach since Marlon Byrdof the Phillies touched him for a double in the fourth inning of their game on July 22.
This season, Petit, age 29, has pitched to a 3.59 ERA (96 ERA+) and sparkling 5.12 K/BB ratio in 34 games, seven of which have been starts.

Retiring 46 straight batters is remarkable! Wonder if he even had any idea when he took the mound yesterday?

That's almost the equivalent of throwing back-to-back perfect games...

[Shortstop]

I was at the game tonight.

Volquez tossed an absolute gem and the bullpen shut the door!

E Volquez	7.2	3	1	1	3	6	0	114-71	3.45
T Watson (W, 10-1)	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4-3	1.72
M Melancon (S, 25)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	12-9	2.08

Josh Harrison is having an MVP type year. Yes, Josh Harrison.

He's raking at the plate and his defense has been beyond solid...

J Harrison 3B	4	1	3	1	0	0	11	.308	.342	.504

Yeah, I'm a homer!

[Chi_archie]

Josh Harrison is gonna finish top 10 in MVP voting as utility player

I agree with Shortstop!

I said this about 2 weeks ago and he's been on fire since

[EmpireMaker]

After having right thumb surgery back in July, Yadier Molina has returned to the Cardinals, as the club announced they activated him from the 15-day disabled list Friday. As a corresponding move, catcher Tony Cruz was optionted to Double-A Springfield.
Molina, 32, last played July 9, when he broke his thumb. The six-time All-Star is hitting .287/.341/.409 (109 OPS+) with 16 doubles, seven homers and 30 RBI in 335 plate appearances this season.
The Cardinals are 44-38 when he starts and 27-23 when he doesn't. They trail Milwaukee by 1.5 games in the NL Central and currently hold the top NL wild card spot.

[Chi_archie]

Pirates need to average 36,463 a game for their last 10 home games to tie their 2001 attendance record

a tall order considering their park only holds about 2,000 more than that.

[Shortstop]

Pirates need to average 36,463 a game for their last 10 home games to tie their 2001 attendance record

a tall order considering their park only holds about 2,000 more than that.

Yeah, it will be very close, but I think it will happen...

They drew 37,209 on Friday, 38,023 today and Sunday should be very similar.

The Pirates are only 2 GB in the NL Central and 1 GB in the NL Wildcard.

If PNC isn't packed the rest of the season, I'd be shocked.

LET'S GO BUCS!!!

[EmpireMaker]

'Significant issue' could keep Daniel Murphy out a while
by Chris Towers | CBSSports.com
Mets infielder Daniel Murphy may end up missing much of the remainder of the season due to his calf injury, manager Terry Collins told ESPN.com Friday.
"I'll tell you, Murph's down," Collins said. "It's not about who is playing second base. He had some pretty big goals set, and rightfully so, that he was chasing. Big goals. And now we're looking at quite a lengthy DL stint to where how much is going to be left at the end of the year?"
Murphy had an MRI taken on the calf, and manager Sandy Alderson also noted it is a 'significant issue,' though the exact timetable for his potential return to the lineup. The Mets have just 28 games remaining on the schedule, as of Friday.

[MexicanStallion]

Jonny Venters (elbow tear) shut down

Maybe the 3rd will be the charm!!!!....lol

Speaking the obvious, but that is just insane. What a story it would be if he could come back from 3 Tommy Johns, but that just sounds awful.

[Shortstop]

ONE THOUSAND!!!

[Chi_archie]

Yeah, it will be very close, but I think it will happen...

They drew 37,209 on Friday, 38,023 today and Sunday should be very similar.

The Pirates are only 2 GB in the NL Central and 1 GB in the NL Wildcard.

If PNC isn't packed the rest of the season, I'd be shocked.

LET'S GO BUCS!!!

yes could be close, i'm sure the weekend games will be sell outs or close to it, but the weekday ones could be trouble. I think they have had 40k in there with standing room only so the 38k+ capacity can go up quite a bit more.

[EmpireMaker]

The Chicago White Sox have traded slugger Adam Dunn to the Oakland Athletics for minor-league pitcher Nolan Sanburn, the A's announced Sunday.
Dunn, 34, is hitting .220/.340/.433 (117 OPS+) with 20 homers in 435 plate appearances this season. The two-time All-Star has 460 career homers and his role with the A's seems to be pretty obvious: Go long.
After being one of the best offensive teams in baseball through July, the A's have hit .224/.304/.351 with 22 homers and 3.6 runs per game in August, when they've gone 12-16. Before that, the A's were 66-41 while hitting .253/.329/.405 with 5.0 runs per game and 112 homers in 107 games.
Expect Dunn to slot into the middle of the A's order, probably even in the cleanup spot behind Josh Donaldson.
A side storyline here is Dunn's shot at making the playoffs for the first time in his career. He's played in 1,975 games in his career with zero postseason games. That ranks him 15th in the history of baseball (baseball-reference.com has the full list) and he's easily the active leader, with Alex Rios (1,581 games) coming next.
The A's trail the Angels by four games in the AL West, but still hold the top wild-card spot by four games and are 5.5 games away from not having a postseason spot.
As for the White Sox's return, Sanburn, 23, is 3-1 with a 3.28 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 73 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings for High-A Stockton this season. He's not considered a top prospect, but was the A's second-rounder in 2012.
Dunn is in the final year of a four-year, $56 million contract.

[Shortstop]

Pirates need to average 36,463 a game for their last 10 home games to tie their 2001 attendance record

a tall order considering their park only holds about 2,000 more than that.

Yeah, it will be very close, but I think it will happen...

They drew 37,209 on Friday, 38,023 today and Sunday should be very similar.

The Pirates are only 2 GB in the NL Central and 1 GB in the NL Wildcard.

If PNC isn't packed the rest of the season, I'd be shocked.

LET'S GO BUCS!!!

37,591 today at PNC. Rough loss though.

[Shortstop]

The Chicago White Sox have traded slugger Adam Dunn to the Oakland Athletics for minor-league pitcher Nolan Sanburn, the A's announced Sunday.
Dunn, 34, is hitting .220/.340/.433 (117 OPS+) with 20 homers in 435 plate appearances this season. The two-time All-Star has 460 career homers and his role with the A's seems to be pretty obvious: Go long.
After being one of the best offensive teams in baseball through July, the A's have hit .224/.304/.351 with 22 homers and 3.6 runs per game in August, when they've gone 12-16. Before that, the A's were 66-41 while hitting .253/.329/.405 with 5.0 runs per game and 112 homers in 107 games.
Expect Dunn to slot into the middle of the A's order, probably even in the cleanup spot behind Josh Donaldson.
A side storyline here is Dunn's shot at making the playoffs for the first time in his career. He's played in 1,975 games in his career with zero postseason games. That ranks him 15th in the history of baseball (baseball-reference.com has the full list) and he's easily the active leader, with Alex Rios (1,581 games) coming next.
The A's trail the Angels by four games in the AL West, but still hold the top wild-card spot by four games and are 5.5 games away from not having a postseason spot.
As for the White Sox's return, Sanburn, 23, is 3-1 with a 3.28 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 73 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings for High-A Stockton this season. He's not considered a top prospect, but was the A's second-rounder in 2012.
Dunn is in the final year of a four-year, $56 million contract.

Oakland needs some pop in their offense, Dunn could definitely provide that...

[Chi_archie]

Josh Harrison continues the cinderella season

wonder if he is due for arbitration this off season or next

[koz-man]

Josh Harrison continues the cinderella season

wonder if he is due for arbitration this off season or next

He was born in Cincinnati and was a Bear Cat.

How did the Reds let him slip by??????

[Shortstop]

He was born in Cincinnati and was a Bear Cat.

How did the Reds let him slip by??????

Thank You, Cincinnati!

[Chi_archie]

Harrison tied with Morneau for the batting avg lead now at .311

[koz-man]

Phillies Throw Combined No-Hitter

ATLANTA -- On Labor Day, Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia bullpen spread the workload on a no-hitter.

Hamels and three Phillies relievers combined on the season's fourth no-hitter, blanking the Atlanta Braves 7-0 Monday and giving a last-place team a rare reason to celebrate.

It was all the more unusual in that Hamels left the game with his bid intact after six innings. He was fine with the decision, too, having already thrown 108 pitches at a hot afternoon at Turner Field.


"Just understanding the situation, every time I went out there I was battling control issues," Hamels said. "I wasn't getting ahead of guys. Walking the leadoff hitter will put you in a lot of trouble, and it does. It builds up your pitch count."


Hamels (8-6) struck out seven, matched a season high with five walks and hit a batter.


Relievers Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon each pitched a perfect inning to close out the 11th combined no-hitter in big league history. A smiling Hamels watched from the bench as they finished off what he started.

[EmpireMaker]

Kris Bryant tops Joey Gallo for minor-league home run title

By Dayn Perry | Baseball Writer

September 2, 2014 10:50 am ET

• 
  

All affiliated minor-league regular seasons have concluded, and Cubs prospect Kris Bryant claimed the home run title with 43 bombs on the season. His tally edges out that of Rangers prospect Joey Gallo, who ended the season with 42 homers.
The 22-year-old Bryant this season batted a rather ludicrous .325/.438/.661 with 86 walks and 325 total bases in 138 games at the Double- and Triple-A levels. Against top-20 pitching prospects this season, he batted .278 with nine homers, 23 walks and 44 strikeouts in 161 plate appearances. Meanwhile, Gallo, 20, authored a line of .271/.394/.615 with 87 walks and 270 total bases in 126 games at the High-A and Double-A levels. And here he is against top-20 pitching prospects in 2014: .265 AVG; 11 HR, 54 K, 14 BB in 150 PA.
While Bryant is considered the superior overall prospect, it's worth noting that Gallo is roughly two years younger and put his numbers up in generally more pitcher-friendly circuits. Both are third basemen perhaps not long for the position.
Beyond that, the two phenoms are somewhat different power hitters. Here's the left-handed Gallo's spray chart from this season (via MLBFarm.com) ...

[EmpireMaker]

Outfielder Carlos Gomez has been diagnosed with a sprained left wrist, and the All-Star could be out of the lineup multiple weeks, manager Ron Roenicke said. The Brewers were informed the extent of the injury after Gomez met with head team physician Dr. William Raasch, who indicated there is no structural damage to the wrist.
Roenicke said Gomez won't resume physical activity until at least Sunday, one week after sustaining the sprain during the third inning of a 15-5 loss in San Francisco. From there, Gomez will begin light swinging and slowly work his way back into late-game scenarios, pinch-running or as a defensive substitution.
The diagnosis comes just as the Brewers relinquished first place in the National League Central for the first time in nearly five months. The Crew opens a pivotal four-game series against the division-leading Cardinals on Thursday at Miller Park.
"It's never good to lose a good player, a spark plug leadoff guy that can do some damage in the leadoff spot. So it's bad timing," Roenicke said. "I'm happy it's not something worse. You're not talking about surgery, so I'm glad about that."

[koz-man]

Cory Spangenberg's pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Padres past the Diamondbacks 2-1.

Cory is from Clarks Summit, PA and played his high school ball at Abington Heights. Which is in the same division as the my Alma Mater West Scranton.

Nice to see a local boy do well.

[Shortstop]

Phillies Throw Combined No-Hitter

ATLANTA -- On Labor Day, Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia bullpen spread the workload on a no-hitter.

Hamels and three Phillies relievers combined on the season's fourth no-hitter, blanking the Atlanta Braves 7-0 Monday and giving a last-place team a rare reason to celebrate.

It was all the more unusual in that Hamels left the game with his bid intact after six innings. He was fine with the decision, too, having already thrown 108 pitches at a hot afternoon at Turner Field.


"Just understanding the situation, every time I went out there I was battling control issues," Hamels said. "I wasn't getting ahead of guys. Walking the leadoff hitter will put you in a lot of trouble, and it does. It builds up your pitch count."


Hamels (8-6) struck out seven, matched a season high with five walks and hit a batter.


Relievers Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon each pitched a perfect inning to close out the 11th combined no-hitter in big league history. A smiling Hamels watched from the bench as they finished off what he started.

This is a great story in many ways! Throwing 108 pitches in the Atlanta summer heat is a feat in itself.

Best part is that Atlanta lost!

[Shortstop]

Cory Spangenberg's pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Padres past the Diamondbacks 2-1.

Cory is from Clarks Summit, PA and played his high school ball at Abington Heights. Which is in the same division as the my Alma Mater West Scranton.

Nice to see a local boy do well.

Absolutely! I played high school and college baseball with several guys who made it to The Show.

Very cool seeing their names in the box scores...