Results tagged ‘ Dale Sveum ’
4/20 Get ‘em over, get ‘em in
The Cubs entered Saturday’s game ranked last in the Majors with runners in scoring position.
“It’s a small sample at this point in the season but the one thing besides some mistakes we’re making in the field, is it’s holding us back from breaking games open and taking leads,” Dale Sveum said. “We just can’t seem to get going with men in scoring position.”
Anthony Rizzo is 2-for-15, while Alfonso Soriano is 1-for-12 with RISP. That’s not the kind of production you want to see from your 3-4 hitters. Is being able to deliver with runners on a tool?
“It is one stat that fluctuates a little bit,” Sveum said. “You’ll see throughout the league certain guys are really good with men in scoring position and they’ll be in the .300s to low .300s for their careers, and other guys will be really good one year and not so good the next year, kind of like pinch-hitting sometimes. It’s a small sample right now and it kind of gets a little contagious.”
The Cubs haven’t been able to drive runners in. They also haven’t been able to move them over and hit to the right side of the field. But, it’s early.
– Carrie Muskat
4/20 Borbon off to quick start
After a whirlwind day Friday, all Julio Borbon had to do on Saturday was get fitted for his new Cubs uniform. On Friday, Borbon found out he was claimed by the Cubs at noon CT, then stuffed all of his belongings in four suitcases, caught an afternoon flight to Chicago, rode a limo to Milwaukee, and arrived at Miller Park in the eighth inning when he ran into manager Dale Sveum in the clubhouse. Sveum had been ejected earlier.
“I was in there, and said, ‘Hey, get your stuff on, there’s a good chance you’re pinch running in this game,’” Sveum said.
Borbon, 27, did enter as a pinch-runner with two outs in the ninth against the Brewers and got the green light, but was thrown out trying to steal second to end the game.
“He got the green light but unfortunately he did a slow slide,” Sveum said. “He had the bag stole easy and he slid too early.”
What kind of player is Borbon?
“People say numbers don’t lie, and it comes down to I’m a guy who relies on speed,” Borbon said. “I like to go out there and put some pressure on the defense. From the second I get up there, I like to bunt. It’s no secret in the American League. I like to get out there, put some pressure on the pitchers.”
Born in Starkville, Miss., Borbon moved to the Dominican Republic when he was 3 or 4, and lives in Santo Domingo in the offseason. He attended the University of Tennessee and played with Darwin Barney on Team USA in 2006. Funny, he didn’t sound like he was from Mississippi.
“There are some words where I definitely have a little Southern accent,” he said.
Sveum said Borbon could get a start if Alfonso Soriano wants a breather but the veteran hasn’t asked for a day off yet. Borbon said he was excited to join the Cubs, and get a front row seat to watch what Theo Epstein does since taking over as president of baseball operations.
“My fiance, she’s from Boston, and she knew him, and she was the first one to tell me he had done great things for the city of Boston,” Borbon said. “From his background and his resume, he’s on his way to doing the same thing here. It’s exciting to become a part of that and know that you’re going to go onto great things. That’s what I see looking around here.”
– Carrie Muskat
4/19 Sveum ejected
Cubs manager Dale Sveum was ejected in the sixth inning Friday night for questioning a call by home plate umpire Chris Guccione. With the Brewers leading 4-3 in the sixth and the count 2-2 to Ryan Braun, Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija threw a pitch that Guccione called a ball. Samardzija said something, and catcher Welington Castillo stepped between the umpire and the pitcher. Sveum came out to argue the call and was ejected. The Cubs manager was ejected four times last season, his first at the helm.
The ejection came on the anniversary of one of Sveum’s best games as a player for the Brewers. On April 19, 1987, Easter Sunday, he hit a two-run walkoff home run to lead Milwaukee to a 6-4 win over the Rangers for their 12th straight victory.
– Carrie Muskat
4/12 Clevenger starts at 3B; Stewart progressing
Steve Clevenger was a middle infielder before he was converted to catcher in the Cubs’ Minor League system, but on Friday, he was back at third base. Clevenger got the start against the Giants’ Matt Cain as the Cubs tried to overload the lineup with left-handed hitters.
“I got my ground balls in,” Clevenger said. “I feel very comfortable over there. I played infield when I was first drafted. It’s nothing new to me, just getting the reps.”
He did play infield this spring than in the past. Last year, Clevenger won a spot on the Cubs’ Opening Day roster as a backup catcher.
“It’s just a reaction position at third,” he said. “It’s basically catch it and throw it.”
He’s also prepared as far as equipment.
“I always keep my infielder’s glove broken in,” he said.
“If he’s going to be here, he has to play,” manager Dale Sveum said of Clevenger, who is the third catcher on the Cubs’ roster. “It’s time to get him in the lineup against Cain and see what happens.”
Third baseman Ian Stewart, on the disabled list with a strained left quad, has been rehabbing at extended Spring Training, and played four innings on Thursday, hitting a couple doubles. Sveum said he expected Stewart would begin a Minor League rehab assignment soon.
– Carrie Muskat
4/7 There’s no place like home
The Cubs play their home opener Monday when they entertain the Brewers. This could be the last home opener before Wrigley Field goes through its million dollar makeover.
The Cubs have outlined a five-year, $300 million renovation plan expected to begin after this season.
“It’ll turn into, obviously, one of the top venues in the league to play,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said of the ballpark, which turns 100 years old next year. “Us, getting a new clubhouse and the batting cages and a new dugout and, if the jumbotron [scoreboard] does come into play, now you’re turning this place into an unbelievable place to go to work every day for all of us.”
The Cubs will finally be able to “keep up with the Joneses,” Sveum said. All of the National League Central teams have gotten new stadiums in the last 12 years.
The work was supposed to begin with the home clubhouse and batting cages.
“As far as the last conversation I had a few months ago, it was going to be ready for Opening Day next year,” Sveum said. “To start digging that much, hopefully there’s nothing in the way, because I think they probably have to work 24/7 to get it done by Opening Day [2014] once the last pitch is thrown this year.”
Are there any aspects of Wrigley that he’ll miss?
“The clubhouse? The batting cages? No, I don’t think anybody can say they’ll miss any of that,” Sveum said.
Still to be determined is whether the Cubs can play more than 30 night games.
“You don’t want to lose that aura about what we have at Wrigley, playing the day games,” Sveum said. “When we get back off road games and things like that, it comes in handy to have a night game.”
– Carrie Muskat
4/7 What to do with Marmol
Last May, Cubs manager Dale Sveum removed Carlos Marmol as the closer, and used James Russell and Rafael Dolis. The Cubs didn’t have that many save opportunities, and Marmol then went on the disabled list May 12 with a strained hamstring. He was reinstated as the closer when he returned in late May but the Cubs told Marmol he could not shake off his catcher. It seemed to work. After compiling a 5.61 ERA in 31 games before the All-Star break last year, Marmol had a 1.52 ERA in 30 games in the second half.
In his three appearances this season, it’s been a struggle for Marmol. He’s retired four of the 13 batters he’s faced in three games. Teams are batting .600 against him, and he’s given up five runs on six hits in 10 at-bats, including the two home runs. Right-handed hitters are 5-for-5 with two walks. Marmol also has shown a pattern that scouts are probably picking up. He throws first-pitch fastballs to batters 80 percent of the time, and when he’s ahead in the count, he’ll go to his slider 75 percent of the time. If he has two strikes, he’ll also throw his slider 90.9 percent.
What are Sveum’s options? Shawn Camp is 12-for-28 in his career in save situations. He had two saves in 2012, his last one coming Aug. 26 against the Rockies in a 5-0 win.
Russell is 2-for-9 in career save opportunities, picking up both last season. He was 0-2 in save situations in 2010 and again in 2011.
By the way, this is the last year of Marmol’s three-year, $20 million contract that will pay him $9.8 million this season.
* About last night: According to Elias Sports Bureau, Justin and B.J. Upton are the first brothers in Major League history to hit a game-tying and walk-off home run in the same inning. The two brothers connected off Marmol in the ninth to give the Braves a 6-5 win over the Cubs. The Uptons are the first brothers to hit a home run in the same inning since Cal and Billy Ripken did so in 1996 with the Orioles.
“That’s what you dream about — to be on the field and have that big at-bat and to come through for your team,” Justin said. “You can’t beat that.”
– Carrie Muskat
4/5 Extra bases
* Friday’s game marked the start of a stretch of 19 in a row for the Cubs against teams that finished .500 or above last year. Thirteen of those games are against teams that reached the playoffs, beginning with the Braves. It’s going to be challenging.
“That was last year playoff teams,” Cubs pitcher Matt Garza said. “Things change.”
* Cubs manager Dale Sveum cringed when he saw the replay of Louisville guard Kevin Ware breaking his leg during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. In 1988, Sveum’s career changed after a freak collision with Brewers teammate Darryl Hamilton. Sveum was playing shortstop and chased a pop fly down the third base line, crashing into Hamilton, who was playing left. Sveum broke his left leg, which had to be refractured a year later because it didn’t heal properly. Seeing Ware go down brought back lots of memories for Sveum.
“I felt horrible about it,” Sveum said of Ware, who was expected in Atlanta with his Louisville teammates for the Final Four. “I went through the same thing. It was kind of a freak accident. His was even stranger to come down and do something like that in such a horrific way. It makes you nauseated, that’s for sure. It was one of the more horrible injuries, if not the most horrible injury, we were able to see and witness. Hopefully, he can come back. I don’t know if he can come back from something like that. That was eye opening to day the least.”
Sveum recalled his injury immediately.
“It’s a flashback knowing exactly how much pain you’re in when something like that happens,” he said. “You basically kind of go into shock. It’s something you’ll never forget. I flashback every time [Darwin] Barney or [Starlin] Castro go down this line for a pop up.
“It’s such a trauma incident that you’ll never forget it,” Sveum said.
* There were too many ballplayers on the field during the Braves’ batting practice. The Cubs relievers were doing their normal pre-game routine, but they were in left field while the Braves were hitting. Atlanta general manager Frank Wren asked the players to get off the field, but they didn’t.
“[Wren] came in and asked me a favor, if I could keep the guys off the field, because they were trying to do defensive work,” Sveum said. “Realistically, two teams can’t be on the field at the same time but we all know that at the end of [batting practice], everybody always goes and throws and everybody’s work is done by then. The [batting practice] times got all goofed up. That’s part of why that happened.”
The Cubs pitchers were amused that they were being chased off.
* Hall of Famer Ernie Banks will sing the seventh inning stretch Monday at the Cubs’ home opener. Another Cubs Hall of Famer, Fergie Jenkins, will lead the crowd in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” on Tuesday. On Wednesday, members of the 1963 Loyola men’s basketball team, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary of the NCAA championship, will sing, and be followed on Thursday by Blackhawks Hall of Famer goalie Tony Esposito.
* The Braves have done some remodeling in the visitor’s clubhouse. However, they didn’t check the Cubs roster very well. Alberto Gonzalez’s name plate said “Alberto Castillo.”
– Carrie Muskat
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