The Cubs Problem

When Theo Epstein came over to Chicago in October, one of the biggest moves he made in the offseason was getting 1B Anthony Rizzo from the Padres.  As GM for the Red Sox, Epstein had traded Rizzo for Adrian Gonzalez in 2010. However, Epstein always was high on him. Coming into this season, he looked like the 1B of the future. Rizzo is now tearing up the Minor Leagues with 17 home runs, 44 RBIs, 11 doubles, .354 average, .713 slugging, 35 runs, and 63 hits in 47 games. So, while other minor league studs like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are in the majors, why is Rizzo still in Triple-A?

Bryan LaHair
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In front of him on the franchise depth chart is Bryan LaHair. LaHair had 38 homeruns last year in Triple A, which was first for Minor League Baseball. He was also won the Pacific Coast League MVP and was selected to be a member of Baseball America's Minor League 1st Team All-Star Team. This year, the 29 year old has hit 10 homeruns, 21 RBIs, 9 doubles, and has a .299. Even though he has been slumping for the last week, he is in the top 10 for homeruns, slugging percentage (.584), and OPS (.978). He is also 7th in Isolated Power (.285) and 5th in Secondary Average (.455). He has also done a nice job in the field with a .991 fielding percentage and a 9.10 range factor. 




So, what are the Cubs going to do? Anthony Rizzo has only played 1B in his minor league career. Bryan LaHair is mainly a 1B, but played 135 games in LF in the minors and 1 game in left this year. In left, he has a .992 fielding percentage. Rizzo is also more likely to be the 1B because he is a lefty, limiting spots available to him. LaHair throws righty. The current leftfielder for the Cubbies is Alfonzo Soriano, who is making an outrageous amount of money. But, he can be moved around, having experience in the infield and other outfield spots. 


I believe if the both players are in the same line-up, LaHair must switch positions. LaHair is much older and it less of a risk to move him to as new spot. The position for LaHair can be LF.  Him and Rizzo in the same lineup would be great for run production. They would give the Cubs around 25-30 round-trippers and 100+ ribbies. Those two in the middle of a line-up could be the beginning of a World Series title coming back to the North Side of the Windy City.

National Lacrosse League Finals

The National Lacrosse League held it's championship game, called the Champion's Cup, last night. 

Cody Jamieson
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The Eastern Conference Finals featured the Toronto Rock and the Rochester Knighthawks. Toronto beat the Buffalo Bandits 7-6 to make the Conference Finals. The Rock didn't allow a goal in the 2nd half. Rochester defeated Philadelphia 14-13. The Knighthawks held off a rally by the Wings, who scored 7 goals in the 4th period, to win. When the Conference finals came around the #1 seed Toronto out shot Rochester 64-40. However, the Rock could not pull out the win. Rochester won 17-13. 


In the Western Conference Finals, the Edmonton Rush and the Minnesota Storm. Edmonton were 4th in the West in the regular season with a 6-10 record. Edmonton beat the 1 seed, Calgary, 19-11. Minnesota beat the 2 seed, Colorado, 14-10. The game between the Rush and Storm was not even close. Edmonton dominated 15-3. Ryan Ward had 4 goals and 3 assists, Aaron Wilson had 3 goals and 4 assists, and Shawn Williams who only had 1 goal and 5 assists. The lead at 1 point was 11.


The Edmonton Rush are led by NLL's Defenseman of the Year and NLL's 1st Team All-Pro Kyle Rubisch and NLL 2nd Team All-Pro Goalie Aaron Bold. Rubisch was the league leader in forced turnovers with 43. Bold was 3rd in Saves with 571 and 3rd in Goals Against Average with 10.47. 


2012 NLL 2nd Team All-Pro Cody Jamieson is a leader on this Rochester team. He was 4th in the League in points for the regular season. Rochester has 2 All-Rookie Team members Johnny Powless and Stephen Keogh. Powless also won the Sportsmanship Award. 


Now to the game. 

The goalies after the game
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The 1st half was low scoring. Edmonton's Zach Greer scored the 1st goal of the game in the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, the rush added to the lead while Rochester could only put 1 on the board. Going into halftime, it looked like Edmonton was going to pull away.


The momentum shifted largely after halftime. Rochester blew the game open in the 3rd period. The Knighthawks scored 6 goals in the quarter. Edmonton scored none. Jamieson and Mike Accursi both had 2 goals. Keogh and Powless scored the other goals. Edmonton could not recover as Rochester won the game, 9-6. 


Jamieson was the games MVP. He had 4 goals and 4 assists. Matt Vinc had 46 saves on 52 shots. 

The Philadelphia 76ers Keys To Success

Andre Iguodala was clutch in Game 6
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The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls in a Game 6 last night at home. Andre Iguodala hit 2 clutch free throws to put the 76ers up 79-78 and gave them the win. This sent them to the 2nd Round. It was their 1st NBA Playoffs series win since 2003. Iguodala played a game high 43 minutes, had a game high 20 points, and a team high 7 assists. 


Chicago  won Game 1 of the series. However, Derrick Rose torn his ACL in the game and this put him out for the playoffs. Game 2 went to the 76ers by a convincing 17 points. This showed that the Bulls would need to play much harder. In the 3rd game, Joakim Noah went down with an ankle injury, making it the 2nd crutial injury the Bulls have had this series.  I think this was the turning point of the series. The 76ers knew this was their opportunity to kick the Bulls while they were down. Two of their best, and most important, players on the 76ers were out. They attacked, winning 79-72 and were led by Spencer Hawes with his 21 points and 9 boards. 


Game 4 again went to the 76ers. Chicago was down 3-1 after winning the 1st game. Game 5 was do or die. For the Bulls, they pulled out a not-so-pretty win to continue the series. The Bulls got back to playing really good defense. The 76ers only scored 10 points in the 2nd quarter, only shot 32.1% from the field, and 18.2% from distance. Game 6 was a great win for the 76ers. 


Andre Iguodala really stepped up his game to prove why he is the leader and star of this team. He is averaging 12.0 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, and 3.5 assists per game in this year's playoffs. He has a great assists to turnover ratio at 5.3, which is in the top 5 in the playoffs. He has also played great defense threw out the series. I was very impressed by his play.

The 76ers have a great cast of players including Holiday,
Brand, and Williams
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The supporting players for Philadelphia are outstanding together. Lou Williams is the team's leading scorer in the regular season, and comes off the bench. Williams was the runner-up in the NBA's 6th Man Award. The player ahead of Williams on the 76ers depth chart at Point Guard is Jrue Holiday. Holiday is the team's leading scoring and in assists in the playoffs. He has an average of 18.2 points and 4.7 assists. Evan Turner is the sophomore starting shooting guard. He is in the top 3 in rebounding by a guard in the playoffs with 6.3 per game. Starting Center Spencer Hawes is having a great playoffs. Hawes is averaging 11.5 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game. Elton Brand is averaging 8.0 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game,and 2.5 blocks per game. Thaddeus Young is a key bench player. He had 12.8 points per game in the regular season (3rd on the team) and in the postseason he has 7.2 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game. F/C Lavoy Allen and G Jodie Meeks have not played much in the playoffs this year, but if they get the playing time, the can play really well. 


Philadelphia has one of the most underrated defenses in the NBA. Opponents average 83.6 points a game against the 76ers. Thats in the top 5 in the NBA in the playoffs. In the regular season, opponents scored an average of 89.4, which is in the top 3 in the league. They also held their opponents to a FG% of 42.7%, which is also in the regular season top 3. Opponents grabbed an average of 10.7 offensive rebounds in the regular season. That put them in the top 5 in the category. ESPN's Hollinger Stats put them with a 96.6 defensive efficiency (top 3), and a 75.2 defensive rebound rate (top 5). 


The 76ers are going to face the Boston Celtics in the Conference Semifinals tonight. I like the 76ers to win the series in 6 games. I believe Iguodala will shut down Paul Pierce in the last minute in at least 1 game. With that being said, I would expect all games in the series to be exciting. 

MLB's Unknown Surprise Division Leader

There have been a lot of surprises with teams leading their divisions or on the top of their divisions. The Dodgers, Nationals, and Orioles have been getting a lot of notice for doing this. However, there is another team that is leading their division that is surprising to many. The Cleveland Indians for the 2nd year in a row have had an unexpected head start. They are up 2 games on the Detroit Tigers and 4 up on the Chicago White Sox. Their quick start has been a result of many factors.


One reason for the good start, the Cleveland Indians have done very well after starting off slow in the 1st few games. They were 1-4 after 5 games, including losing 2 heartfelt games in extra inning to the Toronto Blue Jays. After that, they have gone 16-8 since and have played really well. 

Chris Perez has been great this year
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The Indians have also gotten great production from Chris Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis. Perez, the closer, has 11 saves on the year. He has only given up 3 runs since giving up 3 in the 1st game of the year and only 9 hits in total. He has been very efficient in the clutch, which is exactly what he needs to continue to do. The up-the-middle duo of Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kapnis has been outstanding. Cabrera has an average of .340 and Kapnis .288. Cabrera also has an OBP of .426 and .958 OPS. Kapnis has had a lot of power at plate this year. He has 5 homer and 20 RBIs to date. Cabrera has 9 doubles to add to his 3 homers. Kipnis also has 3 doubles and 3 triples. They also have very high fielding percentages.




The Tribe have been very patient at the plate. They are tops in the majors in walks with 136. Thats 20 more then the next team, Tampa Bay. They have 7 players in the top 40 in walks in the AL. These include Carlos Santana (23), Travis Hafner (19), Shelley Duncan (15), Shin-Shoo Choo (13), Cabrera (13) Jack Hannahan (12), and Kapnis (12). That is definitely a sign of a team that can make pitchers throw pitches and strikes


The Cleveland Indians are really rolling, just like last year. Last year, however, they struggled down the stretch. That led to their demise at the end of the year. This team looks to be better fit then last year. They have more experience, especially their young stars. like Cabrera and Justin Masterson. This may be the year that the Indians return to the playoffs.