Illinois Baseball as of April 29, 2019

Illinois Baseball as of April 29, 2019
Vol 1 I 2 2019
Note: WHIP is not tracked for University Teams.

Bloomington Titans /  Illinois Wesleyan   | W 
Record
    18-15     .545
Leaders
    H      43 Shea, Garrett
    H      43 Fletcher, Dalton
    R      33 Ranneklev, Evan
    HR      6 Shea, Garrett
    RBI    29 Shea, Garrett
    AVG  .416 Figus, NicK
    OBP  .496 Figus, NicK

    ERA  1.61 Houghton, Jacob
    Wins    5 Brune, Nick  
    Wins    5 Gudaitis, Quinn   
    SO     57 Brune, Nick   

Chicago Cubs / MLB - National League   C 
Record
    14-12     .538
Leaders
    H      35 Baez, Javier     
    R      23 Baez, Javier 
    HR      9 Baez, Javier
    RBI    22 Baez, Javier
    AVG  .315 Baez, Javier
    OBP  .433 Heyward, Jason

    ERA  3.16 Hamels, Cole
    Wins    3 Hamels, Cold
    Wins    3 Quintana, José 
    WHIP 0.99 Hamels, Cole   
    SO     38 Quintana, José    


Chicago White Sox / MLB - American League SOX
Record
    12-14      .462
Leaders
    H      36 Anderson, Tim
    R      22 Moncada, Yoan
    HR      6 Moncada, Yoan
    RBI    24 Abreu, Jose
    AVG  .375 Anderson, Tim
    OBP  .400 McCann, James

    ERA  4.94 Rodon, Carlos
    Wins    3 Rodon, Carlos
    WHIP 1.39 Rodon, Carlos   
    SO     40 Rodon, Carlos   


Crestwood Windy City ThunderBolts / Frontier League 🗲 
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started

Danville Dans / Prospect League
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started

Decatur Big Blue / Millikin University  M
Record
    19-16    .543
Leaders  - Waiting on update

Evanston WildCats / NorthWestern University N
Record
    18-22    .450
Leaders
    H     54 Erro, Alex
    R     36 Dunn, Jack
    HR     4 Erro, Alex
    RBI   29 Bourbon, Willie
    AVG .349 Dunn, Jack
    OBP .457 Dunn, Jack

    ERA 2.37 Paciorek, Nick
    Wins   3 Lavelle, Quinn
    Wins   3 Hanks, Parker
    Wins   3 Levy, Josh   
    SO    43 Lavelle, Quinn    

Joliet Slammers / Frontier League
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started

Marion Miners / Frontier League
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started
        
Normal Redbirds / Illinois State University ISU
Record
    27-17    .614
Leaders
    H     66 Aeilts, Joe
    R     35 Aeilts, Joe
    HR     9 Aeilts, Joe
    RBI   37 Aeilts, Joe
    AVG .359 Aeilts, Joe
    OBP .451 Libman, Jordan

    ERA 3.21 Johnson, Colton
    Wins   5 Headrick, Brent 
    SO    77 Headrick, Brent     

Normal Cornbelters / Prospect League
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started
        
Peoria Braves / Bradley University B         
Record
    27-13      .675
Leaders
    H     56 Shadid, Luke
    R     39 Bolt, Dan
    HR     8 Bolt, Dan
    RBI   41 Shadid, Andy
    AVG .333 Shadid, Luke
    OBP .459 Rice, Keaton

    ERA 1.47 Janssen, Mitch
    Wins   4 Cook, Cole
    Wins   4 Gosswein, Brooks
    Wins   4 Moscot, Jed 
    SO    48 Janssen, Mitch    

Peoria Chiefs /  MiLB - Midwest League - Single A
Record
    8-13     .381
Leaders
    H      26 Gorman, Nolan 
    R      15 Gorman, Nolan
    HR      6 Gorman, Nolan
    RBI    20 Gorman, Nolan
    AVG  .235 Gorman, Nolan
    OBP  .500 Wilson, Alexis

    ERA  0.30 Parsons, Tommy
    Wins    3 Parsons, Tommy
    WHIP 0.35 Parsons, Tommy    
    SO     24 Seijas, Alvaro     

Rosemont Chicago Dogs             
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started

Sauget Gateway Grizzlies / Frontier League
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started

Schaumburg Boomers / Frontier League 
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started

Springfield Sliders / Prospect League
Record
    0-0       .000  Season has not started

Urbana Fighting Illini / University of Illinois   I 
Record
     28-14     .667
Leaders
    H     52 Massey, Michael
    R     29 Taylor, Zac
    HR     7 Taylor, Zac
    RBI   22 Massey, Michael
    AVG .357 Van Scoy, Grant
    OBP .436 Van Scoy, Grant

    ERA 1.90 Acton, Garrett
    Wins   5 Fisher, Andy
    Wins   5 Leland, Sean
    SO    70 Fisher, Andy     

Cubs 1961 cards update

I had previously posted about my 1961 Cubs cards. https://elfstones69.blogspot.com/2018/02/1961-topps-cubs-cards.html I have since have added two new additions: My complete 1961 Cubs set is now:

Frank Thomas Topps Chi Cubs  1961 Standard  382
Glen Hobbie Topps Chi Cubs  1961 Standard  264


Jim Brewer Topps Chi Cubs  1961 Standard  317
Sammy Taylor Topps Chi Cubs  1961 Standard  253


Moe Thacker Topps Chi Cubs  1961 Standard  012
Danny Murphy Topps Chi Cubs  1961 Standard  214


Ron Santo Topps Chi Cubs  1961 Standard  035
Billy Williams Topps Chi Cubs  1961 Standard  141

That is four Rookie cards I have for that year. Still missing Ernie Banks.

Cubs 21 games into the season

As promised, I was going to do a progress check on the Cubs at 21 games. For the most part, the Cubs have come together. There are problems that have been there from the beginning, KB....YD.... and although most players have stepped up the the plate, Baez and Heyward should not be carrying the team on offense.

   Player           G AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO   AVG  OBP
1  Baez, J         21 89 19 28  6  1  7  18  5 27  .315 .351 
2  Heyward, J      19 59 14 20  1  0  4  11 14  9  .339 .461 
3  Contreras, W    20 59 14 19  5  0  6  16 12 19  .322 .467 
4  Bryant, K       20 77 13 17  7  0  1   8 11 19  .221 .341 
5  Descalso, D     18 55  9 17  5  0  1  10  7 13  .309 .387 
6  Rizzo, A        21 75 15 15  2  1  4  13 14 16  .200 .362 
7  Zobrist, B      18 60  7 15  0  0  0   5  9  9  .250 .343 
8  Bote, D         19 44  7 13  4  0  1   9  5 10  .295 .380 
9  Schwarber, K    18 66  8 13  1  0  3   6  6 21  .197 .264 
10  Almora Jr., A  20 52  4 10  0  0  0   4  5  9  .192 .263 
11  Caratini, V     6 14  4  8  3  0  1   5  3  4  .571 .647 
12  Zagunis, M     12 23  1  7  3  0  0   4  0  8  .304 .304  

Last post I said the Cubs needed to be near 500, and of tonight, they are better than 500. As of tonight with 11 wins and 10 losses for .524 and two games out. The biggest improvement is Cubs pitching. Everyone but Yu has been really doing their jobs well.

Illinois Baseball

Illinois Baseball as of April 22, 2019

Bloomington Titans /  Illinois Wesleyan      
    14-15     .483
    H         Figus, Nick       38
    HR        Shea, Garrett      6
    SO        Brune, Nick       52

Chicago Cubs / MLB - National League
    10-10     .500
    H         Baez, Javier      26
    HR        Baez, Javier      6
    HR        Contreras, Wilson 6
    SO        Quintana, Jose    29

Chicago White Sox / MLB - American League
    9-12      .429
    H         Anderson, Tim     29
    HR        Moncada, Yoan     6
    SO        Rodon, Carlos     35

Crestwood Windy City ThunderBolts / Frontier League
    0-0       .000

Danville Dans / Prospect League
    0-0       .000

Decatur Big Blue / Millikin University  
    15-15     .500
    H         Walters, Jon      34
    HR        Bryan, Frank      5
    SO        Gross, Connor     53

Evanston WildCats / NorthWestern University
    16-20     .444

Joliet Slammers / Frontier League
    0-0       .000

Marion Miners / Frontier League
    0-0       .000

Normal Redbirds / Illinois State University
    25-15     .625
    H         Aeilts, Joe       59
    HR        Aeilts, Joe       9
    SO        Headrick, Brent   66

Normal Cornbelters / Prospect League
    0-0       .000

Peoria Braves / Bradley University         
    24-12     .667

Peoria Chiefs /  MiLB - Midwest League - Single A
    6-11      .353
    H         Gorman, Nolan    22
    HR        Gorman, Nolan    4
    HR        Nootbaar, Lars   4
    SO        Parsons, Tommy   23

Rosemont Chicago Dogs             
    0-0       .000

Sauget Gateway Grizzlies / Frontier League
    0-0       .000

Schaumburg Boomers / Frontier League 
    0-0       .000

Springfield Sliders / Prospect League
    0-0       .000

Urbana Fighting Illini / University of Illinois
    25-13     .658
    H         Massey, Michael   46
    HR        Taylor, Zac       6
    SO        Fisher, Andy      62

Best hitters in Chicago as of April 20th 2019

Best hitters in Chicago as of April 20th 2019 [in order]:

Player        Team  Pos    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   RBI   BB    SO    AVG    OBP
Anderson, T    CWS   SS   16   64   14   27    3    0    4    12    1    12   .422   .439
Moncada, Y     CWS   2B   19   78   17   25    6    0    6    18    5    20   .321   .361
Baez, J        CHC   2B   19   83   16   24    5    0    6    16    3    27   .289   .314
Garcia, L      CWS   LF   17   76   13   21    5    0    1     9    4    22   .276   .313
Heyward, J     CHC   RF   17   56   14   20    1    0    4    11   12     7   .357   .465
Contreras, W   CHC    C   18   53   13   18    4    0    6    13   11    16   .340   .478
Jimenez, E     CWS   LF   19   74    6   18    2    0    3     8    5    23   .243   .300
Bryant, K      CHC   3B   18   71   12   17    7    0    1     8    9    18   .239   .349
Descalso, D    CHC   2B   16   51    9   16    4    0    1     9    6    12   .314   .386
Abreu, J       CWS   1B   19   74   10   14    4    0    3    12    8    22   .189   .274
Alonso, Y      CWS   1B   19   65    9   13    2    0    3    10   12    12   .200   .325
Zobrist, B     CHC   2B   16   52    5   13    0    0    0     5    9     7   .250   .355
Rizzo, A       CHC   1B   19   68   13   12    1    1    3    11   14    15   .176   .349
Schwarber, K   CHC   LF   17   62    8   12    1    0    3     6    6    19   .194   .265
Bote, D        CHC   3B   18   40    7   11    4    0    1     8    5     9   .275   .370
Almora Jr., A  CHC   CF   18   47    4   10    0    0    0     4    5     9   .213   .288
Sanchez, Y     CWS   3B   16   50    6   10    2    0    0     2    7    15   .200   .298
McCann, J      CWS    C    9   33    4    9    2    0    1     1    3     7   .273   .333
Caratini, V    CHC    C    6   14    4    8    3    0    1     5    3     4   .571   .647
Zagunis, M     CHC   RF   11   21    1    7    3    0    0     4    0     8   .333   .333
Lester, J      CHC    P    3    3    1    2    1    0    0     2    2     1   .667   .800
Rondon, J      CWS   2B    9   26    3    8    2    0    1     3    2     8   .308   .357
Castillo, W    CWS    C   12   35    2    6    1    0    2     6    8     9   .171   .356
Cordell, R     CWS   CF    7   13    4    6    1    0    2     4    1     3   .462   .500
Engel, A       CWS   CF   15   29    3    4    2    0    1     1    2    13   .138   .194
Palka, D       CWS   RF   13   35    0    1    0    0    0     2    6    15   .029   .190

The best players of the MLB

The best players of the MLB for the first 20 games of the season. Looking like Spring will be ruled by the Brewers in NL Central.

Player        Team  Pos  G  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR  RBI BB  SO  AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS
Bellinger, C  LAD   1B  18  67  22  29  4  1  9  23  10   9  .433  .513  .925  1.438
Santana, D    SEA   RF  20  82  12  28  4  0  4  24  10  22  .341  .413  .537   .950
Andrus, E     TEX   SS  16  67   9  27  4  1  3  13   2  14  .403  .420  .627  1.047
Peralta, D    ARI   LF  17  70  11  26  9  0  2  10   4  11  .371  .413  .586   .999
Semien, M     OAK   SS  20  77  16  25  6  0  3  10   9  11  .325  .391  .519   .910
Yelich, C     MIL   LF  18  70  18  25  4  0  9  25  11  13  .357  .446  .800  1.246
Anderson, T   CWS   SS  14  57  11  24  3  0  3  10   1  12  .421  .431  .632  1.063
Mancini, T    BAL   LF  18  71  18  24  6  0  6  12   7  17  .338  .392  .676  1.068
Haniger, M    SEA   RF  20  85  19  23  9  1  5  15   3  26  .271  .312  .576   .888
Martinez, J   BOS   LF  18  68   9  23  5  0  3   9   7   8  .338  .408  .544   .952
McNeil, J     NYM   2B  16  55   8  23  5  1  0  10   4   6  .418  .484  .545  1.029
Merrifield, W  KC   2B  17  74  14  23  3  2  2   8   4   9  .311  .342  .486   .828
Rendon, A     WSH   3B  15  58  18  23  8  0  6  18   7   9  .397  .463  .845  1.308
Albies, O     ATL   2B  16  66  11  22  3  1  2   3   7   9  .333  .397  .500   .897
Altuve, J     HOU   2B  17  67  12  22  2  0  7  13   6  14  .328  .378  .672  1.050
Baez, J       CHC   2B  16  70  13  22  5  0  5  14   3  22  .314  .342  .600   .942
Cain, L       MIL   CF  18  72  14  22  5  0  2   4   8  10  .306  .378  .458   .836
Galvis, F     TOR   SS  18  67   9  22  4  0  5  11   3  15  .328  .357  .612   .969
Jones, A      ARI   CF  17  68   8  22  6  0  4  10   4  12  .324  .387  .588   .975
Moncada, Y    CWS   2B  16  66  15  22  6  0  5  16   4  17  .333  .371  .652  1.023
Polanco, J    MIN   SS  14  53   9  22  3  3  3   5   5   9  .415  .467  .755  1.221
Segura, J     PHI   SS  16  67  13  22  5  1  1  10   5  11  .328  .384  .478   .861
Beckham, T    SEA   SS  18  66  14  21  7  0  4  12   8  18  .318  .392  .606   .998
Conforto, M   NYM   LF  17  67  15  21  7  0  4  10  10  17  .313  .418  .597  1.015
DeJong, P     STL   SS  17  68  16  21  7  1  4   9   6  16  .309  .382  .618   .999
Grandal, Y    MIL    C  16  52  13  21  2  0  5  10   5  12  .404  .458  .731  1.188
Meadows, A     TB   CF  16  60   8  21  3  0  6  17   8  14  .350  .426  .700  1.126
Santana, C    CLE   1B  17  54  12  21  5  0  1  11  14   9  .389  .515  .537  1.052
Villar, J     BAL   2B  18  74  13  21  2  1  3   9   6  13  .284  .338  .459   .797
Alonso, P     NYM   1B  17  61  13  20  7  0  6  17   9  22  .328  .423  .738  1.160
Chapman, M    OAK   3B  20  70  10  20  4  0  5  12   7   8  .286  .367  .557   .924
Davis, K      OAK   LF  19  74  12  20  1  0 10  20   4  17  .270  .316  .689  1.006
Eaton, A      WSH   RF  15  65  11  20  3  0  1   5   6  14  .308  .384  .400   .784
Freeman, F    ATL   1B  16  60  15  20  6  0  1   8  14   9  .333  .459  .483   .943
Gordon, A      KC   LF  16  58  13  20  6  0  3  13   7   6  .345  .429  .603  1.032
Gordon, D     SEA   2B  19  68  10  20  1  1  1  11   4  11  .294  .324  .382   .707
LeMahieu, D   NYY   2B  15  53  10  20  5  0  0   8   5   8  .377  .433  .472   .905
Myers, W       SD   LF  19  63   9  20  3  0  5   9   5  20  .317  .368  .603   .971

The Cubs 14 games into the season.

Trying to keep my word, here is what the Cubs look like at 14 games into the season, and it is not good. Below are the fielding players sorted hits.
Team Leader
Second best on team

Player          Pos   G   AB   R    H  2B   HR  RBI   BB   SO    AVG    OBP
Baez, J         2B   14   61   9   16   4    4   12    3   21   .262   .297
Heyward, J      RF   12   40  12   15   1    4   10    8    4   .375   .460
Bryant, K       3B   13   52   8   12   4    1    6    7   15   .231   .333
Contreras, W    C    13   38  10   12   2    5    9    7   13   .316   .435
Descalso, D     2B   12   38   8   12   2    1    5    3    9   .316   .366
Zobrist, B      2B   12   39   5   12   0    0    4    9    5   .308   .438
Almora Jr., A   CF   14   41   4   10   0    0    4    2    9   .244   .279
Rizzo, A        1B   14   52  12   10   1    3   10   10   13   .192   .344
Schwarber, K    LF   14   52   7   10   1    3    6    5   17   .192   .263
Caratini, V     C     6   14   4    8   3    1    5    3    4   .571   .647
Bote, D         3B   13   26   4    7   2    1    4    3    6   .269   .367
Zagunis, M      RF   10   20   1    7   3    0    4    0    7   .350   .350

The Cubs are out hitting the Reds and Pirates while the Brewers and Cardinals are out hitting the Cubs. Baez is the only player hitting over 15 hits. Rizzo and Bryant are not the most reliable players. Baez, Heyward, and Contreras are the heavy hitters. Pitching is getting much better, but still not on top of their game as a whole. The Cubs will not remain on the bottom, but it is hard to see them on the top of the National Central.

I'm going to look again at game 21. If the Cubs don't find .430 by then, the season might be over for them.

Cubs 1 week Progress

Every season I do three check point evaluations of the Cubs. First week, end of July, and the end of the season. This is the worst first week for the Cubs I have seen in quite a while. Actually can't remember when the cubs went 1 win and 6 losses. The Cubs pitching is not pretty

RK	Player	Team	Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP
1	Baez, J	CHC	2B	7	31	6	8	0	0	3	7	1	11	2	0	.258	.281
1	Bryant, K	CHC	3B	7	30	5	8	3	0	1	5	4	7	0	0	.267	.353
1	Descalso, D	CHC	2B	6	16	4	8	1	0	1	4	1	3	0	0	.500	.529
4	Contreras, W	CHC	C	7	18	6	7	2	0	2	5	6	5	0	1	.389	.560
4	Heyward, J	CHC	RF	6	24	4	7	0	0	1	5	1	3	0	0	.292	.308
4	Rizzo, A	CHC	1B	7	25	6	7	0	0	2	5	6	4	0	0	.280	.455
4	Schwarber, K	CHC	LF	7	25	4	7	1	0	2	4	3	7	0	1	.280	.357
8	Almora Jr., A	CHC	CF	7	25	3	6	0	0	0	3	1	5	0	0	.240	.269
8	Zobrist, B	CHC	2B	6	23	3	6	0	0	0	2	5	4	0	0	.261	.393
10	Bote, D	CHC	3B	6	14	2	5	1	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	.357	.438
10	Zagunis, M	CHC	RF	4	11	1	5	3	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	.455	.455
12	Caratini, V	CHC	C	3	7	2	3	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	.429	.500

The hitting is not the best in MLB, but it is not the problem. They are putting out the numbers to win games. Starting and relief pitching is agreeably the issue.

RK  Player        Team   W   L  ERA  
1   Brach, B       CHC    0   0   2.25 
2   Lester, J      CHC    1   0   3.00 *
3   Hendricks, K   CHC    0   1   4.15 *
4   Rosario, R     CHC    0   0   4.50 *
5   Kintzler, B    CHC    0   0   7.36 **
6   Darvish, Y     CHC    0   1   8.10 **
7   Hamels, C      CHC    0   0   9.00 **
8   Strop, P       CHC    0   1   9.00 **
9   Chatwood, T    CHC    0   0   9.82 **
10  Cishek, S      CHC    0   1  10.13 ***
11  Quintana, J    CHC    0   1  10.29 ***
12  Montgomery, M  CHC    0   0  16.88 ***
13  Edwards Jr., C CHC    0   1  32.40 ***

Lets see how things are in 14 games.