Tag / Ryan Dempster

by jim

Another Carlos Dump For Cubs

The Carlos Marmol era, which started with great promise in 2006 and almost ended over the winter in a trade with the Angels for Dan Haren, officially came to a close yesterday when the Cubs designated the beleaguered reliever for assignment.  Marmol’s Cubs career almost came to an end this offseason, when he was nearly traded to the Angels in exchange for starter Dan Haren, but that trade fell apart at the last minute.  Looking at this performance this year in a Cubs uniform, it may have been best for all parties had he moved on at the time.  Marmol was thought to have lost his role in the beginning of December when the Cubs signed Japanese free agent closer Kyuji Fujikawa.  When Fujikawa was injured early and often, Marmol was given another chance to close and failed spectacularly.

After failing as a starter in 2006, Marmol resurfaced in 2007 as a setup man and helped the Cubs capture back-to-back division titles in 2007 and 2008.  Over those two seasons, Marmol battled Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood for the closer spot, getting his opportunity in both years thanks to injury to the incumbent.  In 2009, he finally replaced an ineffective Kevin Gregg as closer, and that is where he mostly stayed, until now.

Marmol’s strength was in his ability to strike out opposing batters, averaging 16 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, breaking the record for highest K/9 ratio by a pitcher with at least 50 innings pitched, previously held by Eric Gagne.  However, with this came extreme wildness.  For his career, he has also averaged 6 walks per nine innings pitched.  He’s also managed to hit 46 batters over his career.

These past two seasons have seen Marmol start to fall out of favor with Cubs fans and management.  In 2011, he  finished with the worst save conversion percentage of his closing career thanks to 10 blown saves.  2012 got off to a similar start, although he did end up with the second highest save conversion percentage of his career.  This past offseason, the Cubs imported Japanese closer Kyuji Fujikawa to handle ninth inning duties, but elbow reconstruction has put him out of commission and gave Marmol another opportunit to close.  Unfortunately, Marmol failed spectacularly, putting up a 5.36 ERA in 31 games, picking up only 2 saves and averaging 2 HR allowed per 9 innings pitched.

Personally, Marmol ranks third overall and first among Cub pitchers in games pitched that I have attended.  His 7 saves are either tied with or behind such luminaries as LaTroy Hawkins, Kevin Gregg, and Joe Borowski.

Marmol’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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by jim

Active Pitching Leaders – Through 2012

Last week we looked at the active leaders in games I’ve attended through 2012 on the offensive side of the ball.  With spring training winding down, let’s take a look at the pitchers.

Wins

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 31
Gavin Floyd 24
Carlos Zambrano 21
John Danks 14
Ryan Dempster 13

Losses

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 16
Carlos Zambrano 15
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by jim

All Time Pitching Leaders – Through 2012

Last week we looked at the leaders in games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2012 on the offensive side of the ball.  With spring training now in full swing, let’s take a look at the pitching leaders.

Wins

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 31
Gavin Floyd 24
Carlos Zambrano 21
John Danks 14
Ryan Dempster 13
Matt Clement 13

Losses

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 16
Carlos Zambrano 15
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by admin

Another One Bites The Dust

For the second time in less than 4 months, the Twitterverse has exploded with confirmed reports of a confirmed trade involving the Cubs, only to have it fall apart within hours of being confirmed.  The first, back at the trade deadline at the end of July, involved Ryan Dempster being sent to the Braves for one of their top pitching prospects.  Word broke on Twitter after someone in the Braves front office leaked the news, but before Dempster had been told of the trade.  He got angry and ultimately witheld his approval despite previously agreeing to waive his no-trade rights if a deal was made to the Braves.

The second occurence went down Friday night, when Twitter exploded with reports that Carlos Marmol was being traded to the Angels for Dan Haren.  This time, the source was Marmol himself, who had waived his no-trade rights and was giving interviews in his native Dominican Republic about the trade.  The only problem was that the trade was not completed and was eventually scrapped, with the Angels ending up not picking up Haren’s option, making him a free agent and leaving Marmol as a member of the Cubs.

In both cases, the Cubs were not to blame for the trade details leaking before the deal was complete, but they did still come out of both situations with a little egg on their face.  They eventually ended up trading Dempster to the Rangers, but got a worse return than what they were going to get from the Braves.  Time will tell if they will eventually end up moving Marmol this winter and if they can get anything close to Haren.

by admin

Single Game Pitching Leaders

Monday we looked at the single game leaders in offensive stats for games I have attended.  Let’s look at the pitchers, keeping in mind that in some cases, leading a category can be a bad thing.

Innings Pitched

Name Total Date
45 with 9 Most recently on 4/28/2012
Hits

Name Total Date
Homer Bailey 15 7/26/2008
Jose Lima 13 5/2/2000
Glendon Rusch 13 5/12/2003
Carlos Silva 13 4/23/2006
Mark Buehrle 13 7/2/2006
Carlos Zambrano 13 8/14/2007
Tommy Hanson 13 6/22/2010
Gavin Floyd 13 9/9/2010
Edwin Jackson 13 9/11/2010
Roy Oswalt 13 7/3/2012
Runs

Name Total Date
Mark Buehrle 11 7/2/2006
Jeff Suppan 11 4/30/2008
Roy Oswalt 11 7/3/2012
Jose Lima 10 5/2/2000
Clay Hensley 10 4/16/2007
Earned Runs

Name Total Date
Mark Buehrle 10 7/2/2006
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by admin

The Geovany Soto Era

Lost among the hubub of moving Ryan Dempster at last week’s trading deadline was the Cubs cutting of ties with Geovany Soto, the disappointing backstop who had, at one time, held such promise.  After getting brief cups of coffee the previous three seasons, Soto broke through in a big way in 2008, making the All Star team as a rookie and earning the NL Rookie of the Year award while helping the Cubs capture the NL Central title.  Unfortunately, it all went down hill from there, for both the Cubs and Soto.

In 2009, Soto’s numbers dropped across the board, finishing with a .218 batting average and only 11 home runs, as the Cubs dropped 14 games from their win total the year before.  To add insult to injury, it was revealed in July that Soto had tested positive for marijuana during that spring’s World Baseball Classic and had been suspended from international play for 2 years.

The 2010 season was a bounce back year for Soto, but not the team.  Soto improved his average to .280 and managed 17 home runs, but the team fell even further, finishing 12 games under .500.  Last year, Soto fell off again, still hitting 17 home runs but with an average of .228 and he “lead” all NL catchers with 13 errors.  This year, amongst the rebuilding, Soto fell even further, battling injury to hit .199 in 52 games.  His era or the north side officially came to an end last Tuesday when he was traded to the Rangers for a 24 year old minor league pitcher who has a career mark of 27-43 in 6 seasons at Double A or lower.  Oh, and either a player to be named later or cash.

Soto’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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by admin

Goodbye Mr. Dempster

In August of 2003, while the Cubs were making a run that would eventually take them to the NLCS and a mere 5 outs away from their first World Series appearance in nearly 60 years, Ryan Dempster blew out his elbow as a member of the Cincinnati Reds and underwent Tommy John surgery.  Following the season, the Reds, fearing that the one-time all star was done, released him.  In January 2004, the Cubs took a low risk flyer on him, knowing he would spend most of the season rehabbing and hoping to capture lighning in a bottle.  Nearly 9 seasons later, I guess you could say it worked out.

Dempster joined the Cubs in August, one year after his elbow reconstruction, and, for the first time in his career, worked primarily out of the bullpen.  Dempster returned to the starting rotation in 2005, but after 6 starts, he was named the closer after LaTroy Hawkins continued to struggle.  He would prove to be one of the premiere closers over the next three seasons.  In 2008, Dempster finally moved back to the starting rotation, surrendering the closers role to another former starter, Kerry Wood.  Dempster excelled and lead the Cubs to their second straight division title.

As the Cubs fortunes went south following the 2008 season, Dempster remained one of the few bright spots, especially this year, where he is among the league leaders in ERA despite getting little to no run support.  Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, the time to say goodbye has arrived.  Ryan Dempster has been traded to the Atlanta Braves Los Angeles Dodgers New York Yankees Texas Rangers, where he will be reunited with former battery mate Geovany Soto.

In Cubs games I have attended, Dempster is second all time with 13 wins and 68 appearances and tied with Joe Borowski for first all time in saves, with 14.  Dempster’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

by jim

The Dale Sveum Era Begins

The Cubs look to kick off a new era, featuring new manager Dale Sveum, new GM Jed Hoyer, and new team president Theo Epstein, with today’s season opening game against the Nationals.

Starting Pitchers

Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza, Jeff Samardzija, Chris Volstad, Paul Maholm

Ryan Dempster, who gets the Opening Day nod again this year, and Matt Garza are the only holdovers from last year’s staff.  Samardzija had a strong spring and looks to maybe have finally put everything together.  Volstad and Maholm beat out Randy Wells and Travis Wood, among others, for the final two spots in the rotation.

Relief Pitchers

Carlos Marmol, Kerry Wood, James Russell, Rafael Dolis, Lendy Castillo, Shawn Camp

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by admin

All Time Pitching Leaders – Through 2011

Last week we looked at the leaders in games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2011 on the offensive side of the ball.  With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training next week, let’s look at the pitchers.

Wins

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 31
Carlos Zambrano 21
Gavin Floyd 19
John Danks 14
Ryan Dempster 13
Matt Clement 13
Losses

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 16
Carlos Zambrano 15
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by admin

All Season Pitching Leaders – Through 2011

Following up on Wednesday’s look at the offense, here are the pitching stat leaders per season for the all the games I’ve attended from 1984 – 2011.

Wins

Year Name Total
2008 Mark Buehrle 8
2003 Matt Clement 6
2006 Freddy Garcia 6
2003 Mark Prior 6
2004 Greg Maddux 6
2005 Mark Buehrle 6
2008 Gavin Floyd 6
Losses

Year Name Total
2003 Kerry Wood 6
2008 Javier Vazquez 6
2003 Matt Clement 5
2004 Greg Maddux 5
2011 Gavin Floyd 5
2005 Greg Maddux 5
ERA (> 8 IP)

Year Name Total
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