Good looking advice in this thread
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Jon HeymanBaseball Insider
Cubs call up infield prodigy Addison Russell to majors
April 20, 2015 11:58 pm ET
Top Cubs shortstop prospect Addison Russell is being called up to the majors, sources told CBSSports.com.
Russell will join top slugging prospect Kris Bryant, who was called up only Friday and is already making an impact with three RBI on Monday night against Pittsburgh.
Russell, who will be one of the youngest players in the majors at 21, will add to the stir on the North Side, where the talented young team has begun 7-5. Cubs manager Joe Maddon said the club is playing with "verve" after beating the Pirates on Monday.
Russell is batting .314 with one home run and seven RBI at Triple-A Iowa, and had a very nice spring training following his excellent 2014 season. He came to the Cubs from Oakland in the big July trade for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, who is back with the Cubs. Russell hit .295 with 13 home runs, mostly at Double-A last year.
Russell can play second base as well as shortstop, so second could be a spot for him in the short term. The Cubs have struggled at second, with Arismendy Alcantara batting .077 and Jonathan Herrera .192 so far. Tommy LaStella is on the disabled list, and another big prospect, Javier Baez, is in the minors. The Cubs have All-Star Starlin Castro at shortstop.
The Cubs very likely have baseball's best stockpile of positional prospects. Outfielder Jorge Soler is up with the big club and has been since late last year. Combine the players already up with Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora and many others in the minors, and that should guarantee the Cubs a superb everyday lineup in the near future, and quite possibly for years to come.Comment -
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Oh wow, was. It expecting Russell till late summerComment -
Anthony DeSclafani Game-by-Game Stats
Season:
==================Regular Season Games through April 20, 2015 Year to Date DATE OPPONENT RESULT IP H R ER HR BB SO GB FB Pit BF GSc Dec. Rel. ERA Apr 20 @ MIL W 6-1 8.0 2 0 0 0 1 5 11 10 91 28 82 W(2-0) - 0.86 Apr 14 @ CHC W 3-2 7.0 2 0 0 0 2 5 9 8 97 24 76 W(1-0) - 1.38 Apr 9 vs PIT W 3-2 6.0 5 2 2 1 1 6 5 12 73 25 59 - - 3.00 Monthly Totals 21.0 9 2 2 1 4 16 25 30 261 77 -- 2-0 0 sv 0.86 IP H R ER HR BB SO GB FB Pit BF AGS W-L S-BS-H ERA Totals 21.0 9 2 2 1 4 16 25 30 261 77 72 2-0 0-0-0 0.86
Boy, I hope this kid stays hot. Definitely making losing Latos a lot easier.
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Nice call!
Despaigne tossed another nice game last night at Colorado as the Padres crushed the Rockies, 14-3.
Despaigne
(W, 2-0)6.2 6 2 2 2 5 0 110-68 1.47 Comment -
The New York Mets have got to be the biggest surprise in MLB so far this year...
New York Mets 11 3 .786 - 8-0 3-3 64 42 +22 W9 9-1 Atlanta Braves 8 5 .615 2.5 3-3 5-2 55 51 +4 L1 5-5 Washington Nationals 7 7 .500 4 5-3 2-4 55 53 +2 W2 6-4 Philadelphia Phillies 5 9 .357 6 4-3 1-6 39 59 -20 W1 3-7 Miami Marlins 3 11 .214 8 1-5 2-6 53 72 -19 L5 2-8 Comment -
Russell was 0-5, but Bryant is really heating up, Rodon had a rough dayComment -
Yeah, didn't see that coming with the metsComment -
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Castro's first time this far above .500
Tuesday night was the first time in Starlin Castro's big league career that the Cubs were as many as 3 games above .500. He made his debut May 7, 2010. The Cubs haven't been 3 games above .500 since Oct. 4, 2009. (via Ed Hartig)
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Wow. was not aware of this fact...Comment -
As a result of his awful start to the year, Mark Melancon is probably out as the Pirates closer.
Tony Watson is the obvious replacement and his showing tonight solidifies the change of roles...
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NEW YORK -- As injured players continue to populate their training room, the Mets extended their impressive winning streak to 10 straight games on Wednesday night, twice coming from behind to take a 3-2 victory from the Braves at Citi Field.
Lucas Duda put the Mets ahead for good with an opposite-field RBI single off Jim Johnson in the eighth inning, after Wilmer Flores twice came through with game-tying hits. That gave the Mets their first 10-game winning streak since July 5-17, 2008.
"It's been amazing that we can keep coming back in situations where it doesn't look good," manager Terry Collins said. "Yet they continue to play the game out right till the end."
Collins on comeback win 4/22/15: Mets manager Terry Collins discusses the comeback victory and extending the overall win streak to 10 games
It also dropped the Braves to their seventh loss in their last 10 games at Citi Field, despite a strong start from left-hander Eric Stults, who retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced while holding the Mets to one run in six innings.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Lagares wows again: Juan Lagares often turns the sensational into the routine in center field, and he did it again in the seventh inning, robbing Atlanta's Jace Peterson of extra bases with an acrobatic over-the-shoulder catch. Peterson drove a Dillon Gee offering deep into the left-center-field gap. Lagares raced back and reached up with his glove as he hit the warning track for the eye-popping grab. More >
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last year's thread had 39 pages and 1355 pages
oh my how this thread will crush those numbers!!!!Comment -
Of course Guerrero homered today. Dodgers need to find a spot for him. The guy is hitting.
Alex Guerrero is starting at third base and batting seventh Thursday against the Giants.
It's his reward for slugging a pinch-hit two-run homer off Madison Bumgarner on Wednesday night. Guerrero has three home runs and 11 RBI in just 17 plate appearances this season and should continue to challenge Juan Uribe for starts at the hot corner.Comment -
Tigers closer Joe Nathan was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and a torn flexor pronator, which will require season-ending Tommy John surgery, CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman confirms. Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported.
Nathan, 40, was working his way back from flexor elbow strain when he aggravated the injury after throwing 10 pitchers in a Triple-A rehab outing on Wednesday. After the outing he told reporters he felt as if he broke his arm.
"There's no good time to have an injury like that. I don't know that Joe's done pitching," manager Brad Ausmus said, per Jason Beck of MLB.com.
The news of his torn UCL comes minutes after the club announced that they recalled the closer from his rehab assignment. Nathan's 2015 season comes to an end with one strikeout in just one-third of an inning. He is not considering retirement and will rehab in attempt to return to the big-league roster next season. He added that he won't be able to pick up a ball for eight months, per MLive.com.
"I'm preparing myself to come back and be a major league player again," Nathan said, per MLive.com. "Regardless of what the future holds for me, I'm going to prepare myself to come back and play this game. Hanging my cleats never crossed my mind."Comment -
I don't see him making it backComment -
Who would want him anyway? Been a while since he was effectiveComment -
The Mets and Familia just rolling along. Not much competition anywhere. An awesome early free agent grab.
Bobby Parnell (elbow) will be shut down for the next week due to forearm soreness.
The Mets don't appear to be overly concerned at this point, but Parnell's velocity has been down and he's been knocked around in his three rehab outings, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks over 2 2/3 innings. Obviously, he's not going to rejoin the big club's bullpen anytime soon.Comment -
Edit: Mark Melancon looks to be back!
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Angels agree to trade Josh Hamilton to Rangers
By Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com
April 24, 2015 7:15 pm ET
The Angels have agreed to trade embattled outfielder Josh Hamilton to the Rangers, according to CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman.
However, there are a few minor issues left to be ironed out, according to Heyman. It will likely take another day or two to finalize the trade.
MLB.com was first to report this afternoon the Rangers were in talks with the Angels about a deal for Hamilton, who was a five-time All-Star for the Rangers from 2008-12.
The Angels have not been happy since the news broke in February that Hamilton suffered a drug relapse. Major League Baseball made the announcement in early April that Hamilton will not be suspended for the relapse since it did not violate his drug treatment program.
Hamilton has yet to play this season, as he is working his way back from shoulder surgery. Hamilton is rehabbing in Houston and could begin full baseball activities next week, sources told FOX Sports.
Hamilton's tenure with the Angels was not a pleasant one. On top of his drug relapse, he hit just .255 with 31 home runs and 123 RBI in 240 games since he signed a five-year, $125 million contract following the 2012 season.
Hamilton had a great run with the Rangers, posting a .305/.363/.549/.912 slash line in five seasons with the club. He won the 2010 AL MVP award with the Rangers as well.
The Angels were lucky to get rid of him.Comment -
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The injury that forced Dodgers right-hander Brandon McCarthy to leave his Saturday night start against San Diego has been revealed to be elbow tightness, MLB.com has reported. Its severity has yet to be determined.
McCarthy called for trainers after giving up three runs in the sixth inning and was removed from the game.Comment -
Oakland Athletics second baseman/outfielder Ben Zobrist tried to play through his knee injury Friday night, but Saturday he was placed on the 15-day disabled list and will have surgery to repair his torn left meniscus (Joe Stiglich). No date for the procedure is yet set, but it'll certainly be pretty soon. Once it's done, his recovery timetable is 4-6 weeks.
Zobrist, 33, is hitting .240/.304/.400 with five doubles, one homer and eight RBI this season. He's set to hit free agency after this season.
Without Zobrist, the A's can use Eric Sogard at second with plenty of corner outfield options. First baseman/third baseman Max Muncy has also been called up from the minors, giving manager Bob Melvin even more options (Brett Lawrie at second with Muncy at third, perhaps?).Comment -
POlanco with 7 steals on the young seasonComment
