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Anthony Rizzo’s Raw Reaction To Starling Marte’s Suspension

By
Aldo Soto
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Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Starling Marte was suspended 80 games for violating MLB’s drug policy. The two-time gold glove winner and 2016 All-Star tested positive for nandrolone, an injected steroid. Not only is Marte suspended for 80 games without pay, but he will not be eligible to play in the postseason if the Pirates make the playoffs.

The news of Marte’s suspension was announced on Tuesday afternoon and Yahoo! Sports baseball blog Big League Stew was able to get Anthony Rizzo’s immediate reaction. Rizzo made his Chicago Cubs debut in 2012, the same year that Marte made his MLB debut with the Pirates. Both players have faced each other for the past five seasons in the central division and Rizzo didn’t hold back when he was told about the suspension.

Marte isn’t the first big name to be suspended in recent years because of PEDs. In 2016, Dee Gordon was also suspended 80 games, a season after leading the NL hitting. In January of 2016, the Miami Marlins gave Gordon a five-year, $50 million extension.

Marte received a six-year, $31 million deal prior to the start of the 2014 season.

MLB has made it tougher for players to get away with PED use, but obviously there are still ways to beat the system. It seems like Rizzo wouldn’t mind even more testing, as he brought up the fact that he hasn’t been tested once since the start of spring training. That was back in February.

By the way, Marte issued a statement and it is hilarious.

There’s no excuse when you get busted for PEDs. These guys are with their team for at least seven months in a year and have all the resources available to them to find out if they can or can’t take something. It doesn’t matter if it was injected or not.

Lesson, don’t do drugs. Or you know, don’t get caught, or actually it’s not that big of a deal because even after the fact people really don’t seem to care all that much. So, MLB either needs to hit the players with tougher penalties or they will still continue to use PEDs.

New Bryzzo Ad Pokes Fun At Kyle Schwarber

By
Gus
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Just before Opening Day this year, the second installment of the Bryzzo commercial series was released by the people at MLB.com. In that installment, the Bryzzo Souvenir company was expanding their business and hiring some new employees due to their growing success. Part of that ad showed Cubs Slugger Kyle Schwarber hanging up a plaque of himself with the title, “Employee Of The Month.”

In the latest installment of the Bryzzo ads, the co-founders of the souvenir company have come to question the authenticity of that title Schwarber gave himself.

Check it out.

Well done, MLB.com.

Pirates All-Star Outfielder Starling Marte Has Been Suspended 80 Games For PEDs

By
Sean Sears
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The Pittsburgh Pirates starting centerfielder has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for the drug Nandrolone, deemed a Performance-Enhancing substance by the MLB, per Ken Rosenthal.

Marte will start serving the suspension immediately and will also be ineligible for the postseason, if Pittsburgh qualifies later this season. This is clearly massive blow to the Pirates, who were just coming off a three-game sweep of their division rival Cubs, with Marte expected to be a vital part of the teams success.

Marte, released a statement earlier, explaining how he apparently had no clue he had taken the drug.

“I have been informed that I have tested positive in one of the tests that are regularly done in my job. In this very difficult moment I apologize to my family, the Pittsburgh Pirates, my teammates, my fans, and baseball in general. Neglect and lack of knowledge have led me to this mistake with the high price to pay of being away from the field that I enjoy and love so much. With much embarrassment and helplessness, I ask for forgiveness for unintentionally disrespecting so many people who have trusted in my work and have supported me so much. I promise to learn the lesson that this ordeal has left me. God bless you.”

With no Marte, the Pirates will most likely move veteran outfielder Andrew McCuthen back to center and look to possibly promote top outfielding prospect Austin Meadows. However, Meadows has struggled in Triple A to start, slashing .162/.220/.270 in 41 plate appearances.

Here’s What The Bulls Need To Do To Steal Game 2 From The Celtics

By
Matt Peck
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bulls need steal game 2 vs celtics

Coming into their first playoff game as the East’s #1 seed, the Boston Celtics were reeling from a sudden tragedy. Isaiah Thomas, the team’s driving force, lost his younger sister in a car accident on Saturday morning. The star point guard decided to play despite the extreme emotional weight, and led the Celtics in an inspiring performance with 33 points and 6 assists. It wasn’t enough though, as the underdog Bulls stole Game 1 thanks to Jimmy Butler’s 15 fourth quarter points.

Now the Bulls face the tough task of winning another game in the loud and hostile TD Garden. And yes, Thomas will play in Game 2 tonight. Can Fred Hoiberg and his crew back up their promising victory, or will the Celtics reestablish themselves as the favorites to win the series?

Here’s what the Bulls must do to have a chance at seizing an unexpected 2-0 series lead.

1. As Jimmy Goes

All season long, through ugly losses to bad teams and surprising triumphs over the league’s top contenders, the Bulls’ successes and failures depended on the play of their All Star leader Jimmy Butler. If he’s aggressive offensively from the jump and is knocking down shots, the Bulls are a tough out. On top of that, he sets the tone for his teammates defensively. In the crunch time moments of Game 1, Butler took over the daunting task of guarding Thomas. He might be asked to do that earlier and more frequently in Game 2, because Isaiah looked unstoppable when guarded by anyone other than Butler on Sunday.

If Jimmy can maintain his position as the best two-way player in this series with a well-rounded effort tonight, the Bulls should keep it close and find themselves within striking distance entering the fourth quarter.

Speaking of keeping it close…

[USE ARROWS TO CONTINUE READING]

The 5 Rules of Ryan Pace 1st Round Drafting To Not Forget

By
Erik Lambert
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ryan pace first round

Ryan Pace first round drafting strategy can be a tricky beast. The Chicago Bears GM always does a fine job each offseason of throwing everybody off the scent. By adding several free agents each month preceding the draft, it becomes almost impossible to identify the position and players they’re certain to target. Given how prickly this regime is about secrecy that shouldn’t be a big surprise.

Learning is difficult when the teacher wants the lesson kept secret. Pace freely admitted on a number of occasions that he does this. It’s just part of common draft strategy. The less other teams know about his intentions, the better his odds of getting a player or trade value he desires. Understandable if still a bit annoying. As fans everybody craves information about the favorite team. So here’s the question for the thousandth time.

Who is the Ryan Pace first round target?

Several experts have come forth with the popular names like Jonathan Allen or Jamal Adams or one of the top quarterbacks. All for their own perfectly logical reasons. However, some of them aren’t taking the rules into account. What are the “rules”, you ask? Think of them as the guidelines that each of the previous two first round picks the Bears have made follow.

Here are all five of them and why they must be taken into account.

World Series Base Sets All-Time Record At Recent Auction

By
Gus
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You could almost see this one coming.

The base that was used during the 9th and 10th innings of Game 7 of the World Series just set a record for most amount of money paid for a game-used base.

$101,237.

For a freakin’ base.

This was the base that was used by Anthony Rizzo to end the longest drought in professional sports history so naturally that base would auction for a much higher value then other bases that were used throughout the game. To put that number into perspective, another base that was used during Game 7 auctioned off for “only” $17,000 on MLB.com.

The winner of the $101,237 dollar bag was identified only as “jakejfl.”

I’m not an expert on auctions at all but I’d bet that anything affiliated with the Cubs series clinching win will undoubtedly pull some serious offers through any auction. Kris Bryant’s Game 7 spikes auctioned off for $35,000, early offers topped out at $3,150 for the red 2016 World Series on-deck circle the Cubs used in Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 in Cleveland, and God only knows how much the actual ball would be worth if owner Tom Ricketts decided to put it up for sale.

Which I highly doubt he’ll do.

As nice as it would be to own some of the history from Game 7 of the World Series, I think I’ll just stick to re-watching the game for free from my very affordable DVR player.

White Sox Pitching Staff Impressing Early

By
Matt Spiewak
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The Marlins are in the market for one of the White Sox' starting pitchers. But his name isn't Chris Sale. (Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports)

We have seen a lot of dominate pitchers in the past. From Freddy Garcia and Mark Buehrle to John Danks and Chris Sale, the White Sox have managed to produce their share top quality pitching. And while the 2017 season doesn’t include any Cy Young award winners, there are some exceptional pitchers on the White Sox roster that are VERY underrated and extremely good. In fact, with the combination of all the White Sox pitchers, they combine to form one of the best pitching staffs in the MLB. That said, Jose Quintana, the rock-solid left hander, has been anything but.

After being predicted by multiple MLB insiders to win the A.L. Cy Young Award, Quintana has decided screw over the White Sox by diminishing his trade value. The White Sox No. 1 pitcher has started off the season 0-3, and backing it up with a 6.75 ERA doesn’t make it look any better. The only way that the White Sox pitching staff can be proved to be one of the best in the league is without Jose Quintana.

The White Sox starting rotation goes something like Quintana, Carlos Rodon (DL), James Shields, Miguel Gonzalez, Derek Holland and Dylan Covey if needed. At first glance, this seemed like at the most an average pitching staff, but looks can be deceiving. Looking at the starting rotation and bullpen without Quintana, it is pretty incredible how dominant these guys have been.

Starting Rotation

Carlos Rodon

Ok, even though he hasn’t pitched yet this year due to his injury, its safe to say that he will continue to improve. His slider is absolute filth, and will be fun to watch once he returns.

James Shields

A lot of fans thought that James Shields would continued to get rocked this year, even though he posted 1.78 ERA last July. Shields is starting this year off in the right direction with a 1-0 record, including pitching in the first win of the year for the White Sox. His change-up is his key pitch, and when that’s on fire, he’s on fire. The White Sox will most likely be looking to trade Shields towards the deadline as well, and if he keeps this up, Rick Hahn could be looking at adding even more talented prospects to Triple-A Charlotte.

Miguel Gonzalez

Probably the most underrated pitchers on the team, Gonzalez has started off the year on the right note. Although his ERA right now is above his a career average, he has been dominating on the mound. At age 32, Gonzalez is continuing to dominate opposing batters. He is tied for 2nd with Shields on the team for strikeouts with 11 on the year.

Derek Holland 

A player who Rick Hahn was hoping to be able to flip towards the end of the summer has shown that he is one of the most dominate pitchers in the Central Division, if not the American League. With a 1.50 ERA and a 1-1 record, Holland has never been this good. Did I mention that he one-hit the defending American League champs the Cleveland Indians?

Dylan Covey

Even though Covey will only be used once in a while, and then most likely never once Rodon returns, he shined in his MLB debut, giving up only one run to the division-leading Minnesota Twins.

Bullpen

David Robertson

The White Sox closer must really want to be traded to a postseason contender this year because he is putting up some great numbers. He has 3 saves in 3 opportunities, along with a team high 0.20 WHIP. He has 10 strikeouts to his impressive 0 walks, which is something that killed him last year.

Nate Jones

Jones is probably the only other White Sox pitcher besides Quintana that has started off a little rough. Fortunately, he has started to get back on track. He has only allowed one home run in 6 1/3 innings pitched, and has dragged down his ERA to 4.26.

Dan Jennings

Another solid pitcher in the White Sox bullpen, Jennings is having a comeback season. At age 30, he is well below his career ERA and has started off the season 1-0. He has appeared in 6 games and has given up only 1 run and 4 hits.

A Dominant Staff

So overall, it is pretty easy to say that the White Sox still have a dominant pitching staff, even though Chris Sale is gone, Quintana has not had his stuff, and Carlos Rodon hasn’t even stepped on the mound yet. The White Sox are currently ranked 2nd best in the MLB with a 2.71 ERA, and 5th in Batting Average Against. This is including Quintana.

How about we take out the White Sox #1 pitcher. Without Quintana, the team shows much improvement. Excluding the ace, the White Sox pitchers who have at least one inning pitched have a combined ERA of 1.57. If you don’t believe me, then go and do the math for yourself.

Still not convinced? Try to argue this one. Together, the 13 White Sox pitchers that have seen action this year have an impressive WHIP of 1.20. As you may have guessed, it will be better without Jose. In fact, it is .12 better at a stellar. 1.08, which would put the White Sox 3rd best in the league in that category.

Now the question comes up, should the White Sox trade Quintana while his trade value is still high? Well, one thing is sure is that this is not the permanent Jose Quintana. Like James Shields last year, Quintana is currently in a slump, it just happens to be in the beginning of the season. Remember, this is the same pitcher who no-hit team America through 5 2/3 innings in the World Baseball Classic.

Before that decision can be made, we have to do what the White Sox have been saying throughout the entire offseason: what does the future look like? Down in Triple-A Charlotte, Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito highlight the pitching prospects, backed up by closer Zack Burdi and potential starting pitcher Michael Kopech down in Double-A

As for now, the future pitching staff looks bright for the White Sox. What Rick Hahn will be looking at is how Quintana continues to pitch until the All-Star break and the success of the prospects in the minors.

In short, the White Sox have one of the best pitching staff’s in the MLB, and they are even better and possibly the best without their starting ace Jose Quintana.

James Shields Looks To Be “Big” Once Again

By
Emmet McClain
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CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 08: James Shields #25 of the Chicago White Sox walks to the dugout before pitching against the Washington Nationals on June 8, 2016 at U. S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)

When this White Sox season started, fans pretty much knew what they were in for. Year one of a rebuild for any team is expected to be anywhere from mediocre to downright horrible. With the White Sox sending ace Chris Sale to Boston and highly underrated outfielder Adam Eaton to Washington, the White Sox lost essentially all of their spark. People would go to games to see Sale pitch, regardless of how bad they were. Adam Eaton was a spunky fan favorite. No one wants to spend their money to go watch Avisail Garcia make countless errors in right field an strike out every other at-bat. Or watch James Shields give up four home runs in a game as he struggles to get through 5+ innings. While it is fun to see Jose Abreu slug the occasional dinger, or watch the progression of Tim Anderson, White Sox fans simply were not supposed to have much to cheer for this year.

Except they do.

Avisail Garcia plays every day, so fans by now are for sure aware of his robust MLB leading .465 batting average. One other player that fans should start to take notice to, however, is pitcher James Shields.

Yes, that James Shields. The James Shields that had a 6.77 ERA with the White Sox last year. The James Shields that saw opponents bat .296 against him as he consistently got rocked each start. And yes, the James Shields that gave up 31 home runs in 114.1 innings.

Not exactly ideal numbers.

Before this season started, Shields talked about how he was looking to bounce back. Last year he claimed he was trying too hard after he was traded to the White Sox, but he knew at the end of the day it was just a bad year.

“A lot of emotions were going through my mind at the time. And it was an off year, it was a bad year for me.”

-James Shields On being traded to the white sox

And bounce back he has. So far this season, Shields has started three games for the White Sox. He has a 1.62 ERA and opponents are batting a mild .150 against him so far. For people ready to argue that this is just a fluke (and it very well may be), look at his past seasons. In 2010, Shields has the worst season of his career at the time. He posted career worsts in ERA (5.18), R (128), ER (117), and HR (34). So what did he do in 2011?

He rebounded.

After a forgetful 2010, James Shields came out firing and did not stop. He ended the year with career bests in ERA (2.82), CG (11!), SHO (4), and SO (225). In short, Shields knows what it takes to come back from a bad season.

“I know what I’m capable of doing, and I know what kind of competitor I am. This is a new year and I had a really good offseason, so I’m hoping for big things.”

-James Shields On the 2017 season.

White Sox fans may still only remember the 2016 James Shields. That James Shields is not THIS James Shields. This James Shields is talking the talk and walking the walk. So much in fact, that Rick Hahn may have another attractive trade piece sprouting before his very eyes. We have seen Shields rebound from atrocity once. So far, it looks like he is doing his best to to it again.

So White Sox fans, if you are searching for a pitcher who is currently dominating his competition after everyone had written him off, look to James Shields. They used to call him “Big Game James.” While the games he is pitching in now might not necessarily be classified as “big”, his work ethic and the example he sets for younger players certainly is.

For now at least, that is enough.

Ian Happ’s Trade Value At All-Time High For The Cubs

By
Sean Sears
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While the Chicago White Sox top prospects have been the main talk of promising talent in the minor leagues, the Cubs No. 2 prospect Ian Happ has been steadily picking up where he left off after being designated to Triple A Iowa almost three weeks ago.

Currently, the infielder is slashing .311/.367/.733 with six home runs, 11 RBI, and a stupidly impossible .422 ISO. Happ is absolutely obliterating minor league pitching, just like he was doing while with the Cubs spring training club. While it may be tempting for fans to grow attached to Happ and his budding potential at the plate, the switch-hitting 2nd baseman/corner outfielder is the most enticing trade piece the Cubs have right now.

The Cubs are in need of young, impact arms in their farm system and have been since Theo Epstein took over in 2012. While adding a switching slugger in Happ to the Cubs lineup would be great, the club is already juggling playing time between Javier Baez and Ben Zobrist at second base. And both Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber are entrenched in corners of the outfield, so Happ is blocked entirely if he were to stay on the Cubs.

I sat down with Jared Wyllys, the Editor-In-Chief of Baseball Prospectus’ Cubs affiliated blog BP Wrigleyville, and grilled him on whether or not he thought Happ was a trade piece. (You can listen to the entire interview on the 312 podcast here.)

“I think Ian Happ gets packaged for sure. Happ’s gonna get traded, and I think it’s this summer. He’s gonna be the guy that probably gets flipped somewhere for a pitcher in July.”

Wyllys was confident that Happ’s days as a Chicago Cubs prospect were numbered, however after talking to a few scouts and a source close to I-Cubs, the feeling seems to be that the Cubs are planning on keeping Happ – for the time being. With the Des Moines Register’s Tommy Birch reporting that the I-Cubs plan on giving him time at 3rd base, he seems to think the Cubs have committed to developing the versatile 22-year-old. I’ve also heard the Cubs have had a lot of coaches bouncing back and forth from Chicago to Iowa, as the Cubs want to get a better look at Happ and another Cubs top prospect Jeimer Candelario.

This makes me think the Cubs see Happ more as a potential replacement to both Matt Szczur and Tommy La Stella. Happ’s ability to play the infield and corner outfield spots, along with being a switch hitter, he could make both of those players expendable. But, what do Szczur and La Stella bring back to the Cubs in a deal? Hard to believe that either of those players could net the Cubs the type of pitching they are currently hunting for.

Moving Happ is one of the few moves that could net the Cubs the young pitcher their farm system has been lacking, teams like the Tampa Bay Rays have showed a great interest in Happ this off-season, a deal involving those two clubs would make sense. It’s far too early for a trade of that magnitude to happen, but if the Cubs feel the right deal is in place, expect Happ to be the main piece that brings them their next young pitcher of the future.


Bryzzo Dominates List Of The Longest Cubs Home Runs

By
Gus
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Anthony-Rizzo-Kris-Bryant-Chicago-Cubs

After Kris Bryant hit a goddamn moonshot off the video board during Saturday’s 8-7 loss to Pittsburgh, the people at ESPN released a pretty interesting statistic as it relates to the Cubs and hitting the long ball.

Bryant’s 465-foot shot was the fifth longest home run hit by a Cubs player since 2009. Who are the other four players you ask?

As you can see, the pair that is better known as Bryzzo hold a firm grasp on the five longest home runs hit by a Cubs player since 2009. Please note: this is a list since 2009, not the entirety of Cubs history. I don’t think it’s fair to compare Bryzzo’s shots to the roided up Sammy Sosa or Glenallen Hill. Sure, those two hit the ball farther but they also allegedly were doped up so let’s keep it in perspective here.

It’s wild to think about it but when I saw this statistic, I immediately thought about two of Kyle Schwarber’s bombs that he hit in 2015: the Wild Card home run against the Pirates and the score board shot at Wrigley against the Cardinals.

One of the two of those had to crack the top five right? I mean, one landed in a river and the other bounced on top of the damn video board at Wrigley.

Surprisingly, the Wild Card home run off Gerrit Cole went 450-feet and the video board shot “only” went 419-feet. As you can see, the War Bear is still about 15 feet from claiming one of the top five spots from Bryzzo.

So, I thought I’d dig into the archives and re-visit the top 5 longest home runs by a Cub since 2009 (spoiler alert: it’s Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant)

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