HR #2 off Hanson in Atlanta to left-center. And his defense might be even more impressive than his offense. He is unbelievably slick at 1B, esp for a 23 y/o. He will absolutely be among the best 1B over the next decade. Would be shocked if he isn't.
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Yeah kid just might be legit
What is Cubs record since Rizzo joined the team??Comment -
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5-1, they just recorded their first 4-game win streak of the season.
And Rizzo has 4 go-ahead RBI hits over those 5 wins. Unreal.
But it's his defense that's even more stunning. 1B defense is very subtle. It's not about errors. He just creates a huge target, you hardly have to worry about throws in the dirt and his stretch is unreal. He also showed a gun when he fired a runner out at home. He will win a lot of gold gloves.Comment -
3b also. No doubt the Cubs are going to look to make some trades and load up on arms.
Shark was very good today. T Wood has shown a ton lately. If you keep Garza then you may have 3 young prices there. But yeah, Cubs need a few top-notch pitching prospects. Do you keep LaHair for the outfield or do you maybe deal him if he can return a decent arm or two?Comment -
yeah if you can get something for Lahair, go for it.... it won't be selling high, since he has come back to earth and he ain't exactly young.
But you get him for 5 more years at a cheap price.... well 2 more anywaysComment -
I think Vitters and Jackson will be solid additions next year, or for september call upsComment -
I think Lahair will turn out to be like Garrett Jones, decent role player 1b/rf platoon guyComment -
I could be wrong, but I think he kid can and will hit. He isn't every good defensively though. Unless the Cubs are blown away I'd keep him in the lineup in RF for the foreseeable future and bet that he will hit enough to draw increasing interest. I think he will be a starting 1B somewhere else within a couple years, although he isn't great defensively at 1B either and he cannot hit lefties. A team will have to have a RH 1B to platoon with him. Not hard to find a guy like that who can hit lefties. Keep him against the righties and I do think he can hit .300 with power.
Branyan is a .230 hitter. LaHair is better than that without a doubt. Branyan never had a .280 season, ever. LaHair is hitting .329 against RH pitching. Keep him away from the lefties and he will produce when he's on the field.Comment -
Sure, he's not going to be the Cubs 1B. But I think he'd be an upgrade for a bunch of teams fighting for playoff spots. How about the Pirates with Casey McGhee? Dodgers and Giants too. Orioles would be perfect. Reynolds can't hit righties at all. Indians? There are a lot of teams struggling at 1B. If I was one of these teams I'd be looking hard at LaHair.Comment -
im impressed. if only all players were athletic and had power to all fields
cubs will be a serious team in a year or two.. they got samardzija, rizzo, lahair
no doubt all these starters (exception samardzjia) are just playing their role in the bigger picture.. cubs have no interest in maholm, volstad etcComment -
Rizzo has great hand, wrist, forearm strength. huge hands, makes the bat look like a whiffle ball bat.
he could hit 50 in a season in the next few yearsComment -
Boom!Comment -
how did this fukkin guy not make the roster coming out of spring training
good talent evaluation thereComment -
they purposely left him down Brock. strategically, in order to keep him from arbitration and free agency an extra year.
Theo knows what he is doingComment -
Win what? More games or a championship? Besides, he struggled in a callup last season so they wanted him to work on things. You dn't know if these few months oin AAA made him a better player. Considering the Cubs passed on Fielder and targeted him in the off-season I think its fair to say that the talent eval was good. Plus they developed an asset in LaHair. They handled this right. Rizzo is probably going to be one of the best in the league for awhile and now Cubs have him for cheap for many years. Those kinds of assets are gold.Comment -
they KNOW they can't win this year. They want theo to build for 2014. Did anyone really expect the cubs to do well this year?
if rizzo makes the roster out of spring training. Bryan lahair doesn't get a chance and the cubs lose an all-star.Comment -
2012 might not be a total waste
Positives:
Travis Wood might be a solid 3 type starter that we found for a bullpen arm
Anthony Rizzo might be a cornerstone 3rd hitter for years
Garza/Dempster might be overhauled for to further boost our steadily improving minor leagues
James Russell
Starlin Castro is still a glaring negative to me though. When is this kid going to put it together? No way he should be posting an OPS of .725 with that talent.Comment -
Granted, you can only prove yourself over time. But short of some freak injury, I would really be shocked if this kid is not the real deal. Just look at the way the ball reacts off his bat with normal effort. It's not typical. And he certainly seems to have the right personality and approach and maturity for a 22 y/o. He will have to make adjustments over time as all players do. I suspect he's going to go through a phase soon where he doesn't see many strikes. Ie he can then accept the walks then I'll become even more sold. He only has 1 BB in 40 AB, but also only 5 K's. He did draw a lot of walks last season even when he struggled and had a pretty good BB rate in the minors.
Castro is a big disappointment. I'm not sure how coachable he is. He's a free swinger and seems to think he can just get by on his talent alone and swing at everything.Comment -
I like rizzo, it will take some time before pitchers figure out the one pitch he can't hit, then that's all he will get. I watch the mets a lot and now everyone knows how to get nieuenheis out (high fastball), Lucas duda out (low and away slider), Ike Davis ( inside curve). So it takes a while to see if a hitter is good because if he has one big weakness then he is in trouble. So far he looks really good though.Comment -
Not a very good pitcherComment -
he'll make adjustments once the league adjusts to rizzo. baseball is adjustments abd re-adjustments,
I would want 3 stud pitchers from A+, AA and AAA for castro as well as a servivable SS porospect,
it would take alot to trade him IMOComment -
still hanging in thereComment -
Go Rizzo go!Comment
