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jksander · 01-27-2024, 05:30 PM

MARCH 21, 1957 . . . We wound up making a deal with Milwaukee to send Bob Porterfield to them, retaining half of Porterfield’s final year contract in addition to sending $10,000 cash. In return we’ll receive left-handed reliever Matthew Peoplis, a 22-year-old unranked prospect who will give us some pitching depth in the minors. In the end we’ll still be saving approximately $10,000 over outright releasing Porterfield, and he’s able to get a shot at still getting innings with the Braves. This is one of those trades that won’t draw much attention, but it gets the job done.

APRIL 15, 1957 . . . Based on spring training results, we’re looking quite good again this year for our defense of our titles, with Philly and the Redlegs looking like they’ve managed to improve their teams significantly as well. I’m pleased to see that Sandy Koufax seems to have developed to the point where he should be able to compete as a starter for us. He made seven spring training starts, throwing 28.2 innings, and came out with a 4-0 record, 40 K’s, a 3.45 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. He’ll still give up plenty of hits, but he struck out 12 batters per nine inning stretch while only walking three. It’s time to give the 21-year-old time as part of the rotation and not in the bullpen.

Unfortunately, our first-round draftee Bob Miller, who was just named the 67th best prospect in the majors, developed bone chips in his elbow and will miss at least three months of the season. He was solid in spring training games, however, going 2-1 in spring training games with a pair of holds, throwing 16.2 innings with a 2.70 ERA, a 1.50 WHIP and six strikeouts. He may be ready for a call-up to the majors later in the summer if he recovers well from the injury.

The BNN Top Ten Prospects list has been released, and Pittsburgh’s Jim Gentile (1B) remains the #1 prospect in baseball, though the Pirates still have him in single-A for the upcoming season. It’ll be interesting to see if he develops enough to move up in the ranks and get a shot at the bigs. St. Louis’ Bob Gibson comes in #4, and they tested him out in their bullpen in two spring training games but it looks like he’ll be joining their big-league rotation this season as either their #4 or #5 starter. It’ll be hard for them not to improve over the last few seasons -- they haven’t had a winning season since 1952, and the last two seasons they’ve COMBINED for 92 wins. Don Demeter remains our top prospect, ranked 20th overall, with reliever Mike McCormick coming in 26th, and Bo Belinsky, Dick Drott and Larry Sherry coming in within the top 50. Our second round pick Stan Johnson is ranked 146th overall, not bad all things considered.

This year with our starting core of pitchers having developed well, we’re looking at using a core five of Cohen, Rogovin, Pascual, Purkey and Koufax, with a trimmed down bullpen based around the idea that we’ll be expecting our starters to handle most of their innings. That will allow us to have a stronger bench of hitters and back-up fielders, which I am hoping will help us in the long run, particularly in tight games where we didn’t often have as many pinch-hitting options last season.

1957 Chicago Cubs Opening Day Roster

BATTERS
C - Del Crandall
1B - Al Rosen
2B - Jack Poppell
3B - Jackie Robinson
SS - Ernie Banks
LF - Roger Maris
CF - Willie Mays
RF - Al Kaline

Bench: Les Moss, Ed Bouchee, Jerry Bunyard, John Killorean, Al Gionfriddo, Mike Krsnich, Don Demeter, Bob Will

STARTERS
Hy Cohen
Saul Rogovin
Camilo Pascual
Bob Purkey
Sandy Koufax

BULLPEN
Stopper: Carl Erskine
Middle Relief: Mike McCormick
Long Relief: Larry Jansen
Spot Starter: Dick Drott -- Will primarily start in double-header situations, filling a long relief role otherwise.

01-27-2024, 05:30 PM	#305
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,474	MARCH 21, 1957 . . . We wound up making a deal with Milwaukee to send Bob Porterfield to them, retaining half of Porterfield’s final year contract in addition to sending $10,000 cash. In return we’ll receive left-handed reliever Matthew Peoplis, a 22-year-old unranked prospect who will give us some pitching depth in the minors. In the end we’ll still be saving approximately $10,000 over outright releasing Porterfield, and he’s able to get a shot at still getting innings with the Braves. This is one of those trades that won’t draw much attention, but it gets the job done. APRIL 15, 1957 . . . Based on spring training results, we’re looking quite good again this year for our defense of our titles, with Philly and the Redlegs looking like they’ve managed to improve their teams significantly as well. I’m pleased to see that Sandy Koufax seems to have developed to the point where he should be able to compete as a starter for us. He made seven spring training starts, throwing 28.2 innings, and came out with a 4-0 record, 40 K’s, a 3.45 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. He’ll still give up plenty of hits, but he struck out 12 batters per nine inning stretch while only walking three. It’s time to give the 21-year-old time as part of the rotation and not in the bullpen. Unfortunately, our first-round draftee Bob Miller, who was just named the 67th best prospect in the majors, developed bone chips in his elbow and will miss at least three months of the season. He was solid in spring training games, however, going 2-1 in spring training games with a pair of holds, throwing 16.2 innings with a 2.70 ERA, a 1.50 WHIP and six strikeouts. He may be ready for a call-up to the majors later in the summer if he recovers well from the injury. The BNN Top Ten Prospects list has been released, and Pittsburgh’s Jim Gentile (1B) remains the #1 prospect in baseball, though the Pirates still have him in single-A for the upcoming season. It’ll be interesting to see if he develops enough to move up in the ranks and get a shot at the bigs. St. Louis’ Bob Gibson comes in #4, and they tested him out in their bullpen in two spring training games but it looks like he’ll be joining their big-league rotation this season as either their #4 or #5 starter. It’ll be hard for them not to improve over the last few seasons -- they haven’t had a winning season since 1952, and the last two seasons they’ve COMBINED for 92 wins. Don Demeter remains our top prospect, ranked 20th overall, with reliever Mike McCormick coming in 26th, and Bo Belinsky, Dick Drott and Larry Sherry coming in within the top 50. Our second round pick Stan Johnson is ranked 146th overall, not bad all things considered. This year with our starting core of pitchers having developed well, we’re looking at using a core five of Cohen, Rogovin, Pascual, Purkey and Koufax, with a trimmed down bullpen based around the idea that we’ll be expecting our starters to handle most of their innings. That will allow us to have a stronger bench of hitters and back-up fielders, which I am hoping will help us in the long run, particularly in tight games where we didn’t often have as many pinch-hitting options last season. 1957 Chicago Cubs Opening Day Roster BATTERS C - Del Crandall 1B - Al Rosen 2B - Jack Poppell 3B - Jackie Robinson SS - Ernie Banks LF - Roger Maris CF - Willie Mays RF - Al Kaline *Bench: Les Moss, Ed Bouchee, Jerry Bunyard, John Killorean, Al Gionfriddo, Mike Krsnich, Don Demeter, Bob Will STARTERS Hy Cohen Saul Rogovin Camilo Pascual Bob Purkey Sandy Koufax BULLPEN Stopper: Carl Erskine Middle Relief: Mike McCormick Long Relief: Larry Jansen Spot Starter: Dick Drott -- Will primarily start in double-header situations, filling a long relief role otherwise.* __________________ "Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty "The Rockies' Baseball Horror Show" -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Last edited by jksander; 01-27-2024 at 05:33 PM.