Results tagged ‘ Tyler Colvin ’
8/7 Colvin, Campy & Byrd
Tyler Colvin may play first base sometime this season after all. Colvin has been taking grounders there and Mike Quade said he may insert him into the lineup there before the season ends. Colvin played first base in college but has been used primarily as an outfielder with the Cubs. He did workout at first in Spring Training. Right now, Jeff Baker is the primary backup at first for Carlos Pena.
* Tony Campana, who notched his first big league home run Friday with an inside the park dash, started in left field on Sunday to give Alfonso Soriano a breather.
“I’ll pick my spots for him,” Quade said of Campana, who was 2-for-3 against Arroyo earlier this season. Soriano is 8-for-42 with one home run off the Reds’ starter.
* The Cubs have been waiting for a hot streak like the one they had entering Sunday’s game. The seven-game steak heading into Sunday’s game was the longest since a seven-game stretch Aug. 23-29, 2008. Does the Cubs don’t need to make many roster changes next year?
“It’s way too early for me to concern myself [with that] — and I dodge that [question] all the time,” Quade said.
“There’s plenty of reason to be excited but you still want to put together more than a seven-game streak,” he said. “You want five or six months of good baseball. I couldn’t be happier with what I’m seeing now and how guys are playing.”
* The Cubs totaled 11 runs on Saturday against the Reds, pounding 13 hits, and delivered in the clutch, going 5-for-16. But Marlon Byrd had a tough day. He was 0-for-5 and ended four innings, stranding seven in the game. For the season, he’s batting .207 with runners in scoring position and .200 with RISP with two outs. He has 20 RBIs in 74 games.
“That’s something he’s working like heck to improve on,” Quade said. “He’s getting his hits. People picked him up [Saturday]. He got a couple huge RBIs in Pittsburgh in those same situations. It hasn’t been what he’d like but nobody is working harder to contribute in those situations. Yesterday was a tough day and it surprised me because he’s really had great at-bats against [Johnny] Cueto, but guys make adjustments.
“No one gets it done all the time and he’s working to get better.”
– Carrie Muskat
8/6 About last night …
Some notes from Friday’s 4-3 win over the Reds:
* Starlin Castro has scored a run in a career-high seven straight games. It’s the longest streak by a Cubs player since Ryan Theriot also scored in seven straight Aug. 9-16, 2010. The last to score in eight or more consecutive games was Derrek Lee, who did so in nine straight Sept. 7-16, 2009.
* Castro now has 42 multi-hit games, the most by a Cubs shortstop since Theriot had 51 in 2009. The single-season high for a Cubs shortstop is 58, set by Theriot in 2008.
* Tyler Colvin ended an 0-for-19 skid at Wrigley Field with his home run on Friday. Eleven of his 24 career homers have come at Wrigley. All four of his career hits against the Reds’ Mike Leake have been home runs.
* Aramis Ramirez recorded his 248th double as a Cub, and is seven shy of passing Wildfire Schulte for 14th on the franchise all-time list. Ramirez is hitting .373 with 15 runs, seven doubles, nine homers and 19 RBIs in his last 20 games.
* The Cubs have hit 12 homers in their last four games, the most since also hitting a dozen Sept. 19-23, 2007.
* The Cubs have opened August 5-0 for the first time since they went 6-0 in August 1969.
– Carrie Muskat
7/31 Trade deadline update
The Cubs may not have made a deal by the 3 p.m. CT Trade Deadline, but they can still make a trade in August. Expect some action then.
“To make a trade today to say we made one and get somebody who we don’t think is the caliber that I’d expect in return, I have no problem not moving the people we didn’t move,” GM Jim Hendry said Sunday.
The Cubs did deal Kosuke Fukudome to the Indians for two Minor Leaguers on Thursday. The move was to make room for Tyler Colvin; the Cubs want to find out if he’s an everyday big league outfielder.
It may be hard for fans to stomach any inactivity. They see a team that’s 23 games out in the National League Central. Hendry knows that.
“Everybody says ‘Oh, you didn’t do something by 3 o’clock today — this is a disaster, that’s a disaster’ — I don’t put much stock into that,” Hendry said. “The guys we kept are for the most part guys who still have a chance to be involved next year.
“If we do make a trade or two in August,” he said, “it’s no more or less significant than if we made one today.”
– Carrie Muskat
7/19 Minor League report
Welington Castillo hit his 12th homer and Tyler Colvin hit a triple and drove in a run but it wasn’t enough as Iowa lost to Nashville, 5-3, in 10 innings on Monday night. Alberto Cabrera gave up two runs on five hits and struck out six over six innings. Colvin, DJ LeMahieu, Ryan Flaherty and Scott Moore each had two hits.
Tennessee beat Mississippi 2-1 in 10 innings in the completion of Sunday’s suspended game. Ty Wright had four hits. In the regularly scheduled game, Austin Bibens-Dirkx gave up four runs on six hits over four innings and took the loss, 4-1.
Justin Bour hit his 19th homer and Michael Burgess hit his 12th as Daytona lost 10-5 to Bradenton. Greg Rohan had four hits in his first game with Daytona, and Matt Szczur posted his fourth straight multi-hit game.
Richard Jones had three hits and Matt Loosen threw five scoreless innings but Peoria lost, 5-3, in 10 innings to Fort Wayne. Jones had two RBIs and now has a 13-game hitting streak.
Zeke DeVoss, the Cubs’ third-round pick in June, stole five bases in his first game with Boise in an 8-7 loss to Spokane. The Hawks gave up five runs in the ninth.
Gioskar Amaya and Eduardo Gonzalez each had two hits in Mesa’s 4-3 win over the Dodgers.
– Carrie Muskat
6/29 Byrd, Cashner & Colvin
Some news and notes pregame Wednesday:
* Marlon Byrd could be activated before Sunday. He’s rehabbing with Triple-A Iowa.
* Andrew Cashner, on the DL with a strained rotator cuff, will be examined by the team doctor in Chicago. Said GM Jim Hendry: “We’ll take our time with him.”
Added Hendry on Cashner: “I’m quite confident he’ll be back pitching this year. We’ll do what’s best for his career and future.”
* Tyler Colvin is making progress at Triple-A Iowa. Said Hendry: “He’s doing fine. He’s swinging the bat a lot better. We just want to make sure he’s back to where he was last year before he got hurt. He’ll be a big part of our future.”
– Carrie Muskat
6/7 Extra bases
Tyler Colvin is 0-for-31 in his last 14 games and has not had a hit in the big leagues since he singled in the seventh inning on April 28 in Arizona. He’s not panicked. He isn’t changing his stance or grip. The problem isn’t physical.
“It’s one of those things where I don’t have to hit the ball 800 feet and that’s what was in my head early in the year,” Colvin said Tuesday. “I had 20 homers [last year] and I was thinking I’m going to get them all in the first month and you’re not.
“Last year, I hit line drives and sometimes they went out,” he said. “It took me awhile to see that and now I’m hitting balls hard and I can’t find a hole. They’ll start falling. I’m not worried about it.”
* Kosuke Fukudome’s .417 on-base percentage is keeping him in the leadoff spot although Mike Quade said he considered inserting Tony Campana on Tuesday to try and get the offense going. The catch is that if Fukudome is dropped, he’ll be expected to drive in runs and that, Quade says, has not been his forte.
* Marlon Byrd hopes to be taking batting practice on the field Sunday or Monday. Byrd is recovering from multiple facial fractures suffered when he was hit by a pitch on May 21 in Boston.
– Carrie Muskat
6/7 Cubs lineup
Expect lots of Springboro, Ohio, fans in the stands at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday. Tony Campana is starting in center field for the Cubs in Game 2 of their series against the Reds. Tyler Colvin is getting the day off. He’s scuffling, 0-for-31 in his last 14 games. Here’s the lineup vs. Edinson Volquez:
RF Fukudome
2B Barney
SS Castro
1B Pena
3B Ramirez
LF DeWitt
CF Campana
C Soto
P Davis
– Carrie Muskat
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