2012 Cubs Preview: Infield

Shortstop Starlin Castro

Rebuilt, unproven group looks to make lasting impact

If there's one thing for sure about this infield, it's that the times are a-changin' at Wrigley.  None of the four starters on the infield from just two years ago are still in the organization.  On Opening Day 2010, Derrek Lee started at first base, Mike Fontenot started at second, Ryan Theriot started at shortstop, and Aramis Ramriez started at third.  Lee, Fontenot, and Theriot were all traded midseason; Ramirez played through 2011 before leaving as a free agent and signing with Milwaukee.  The starters now are less familiar to the Cubs faithful, a younger group that will work hard all the same.

Starting at first base, for the time being, will be 29-year-old Bryan LaHair, a career minor leaguer who has had very little playing time in the majors.  In fact, the only major league action he's seen besides last year's 20-game trial was in 2008 with Seattle.  

First baseman Bryan LaHair

LaHair has a chance to prove he should have been in the major leagues all along, however, if he produce with his massive power potential.  He has hit at least 25 homers in each of the last three seasons in the minors in AAA, including 38 last year to make him the Pacific Coast League MVP.  He also boasted a .331 average and a .405 OBP, rounding out an excellent season overall. This hard work earned him a trip to the major league Cubs, and he didn't disappoint, blasting a huge game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to ruin Cincinnati pitcher Mike Leake's shutout.

With LaHair, the power potential is there.  His defensive and all-around offensive skills, however, remain to be seen at the major league level.  He will most definitely have to make adjustments as the season goes on; pitchers aren't going to leave a hitter like this with too many fastballs in the middle of the plate.  His key will be hitting breaking pitches; namely curveballs, which he seemed to have some trouble with last season.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo

LaHair is exciting in his own right, but top prospect Anthony Rizzo is waiting in the wings to steal his job.  Rizzo was acquired from San Diego for another top prospect in starter Andrew Cashner.  Rizzo has monster power potential as well.  Last season he hit .331 with 26 homers and 101 RBIs for AAA Tucson in only 93 games.  The Theo & Jed brain trust resonate well with Rizzo, as Theo drafted him in Boston, then traded him to Jed in San Diego in the Adrian Gonzalez trade, and now they have gotten him back together.  

Some critics point to his major league trial in 2011 and raise red flags on his potential.  In 153 at-bats

 Rizzo batted only .141 with one home run, and I think all of the hype surrounding himself may have gotten to him.  That is not enough playing time for him to be judged on his future.  He still has the most polished talent of any prospect in the Cubs' system right now, and he'll make an impact soon.  The Cubs brass has said he'll start the season in the minors, but he hopes to change their minds with a strong Spring Training.

At second base, the story one year ago was the battle between Blake DeWitt and Darwin Barney.  There was DeWitt, the chronic underachiever in the big leagues who offered little offensive value and not as much effort as you would like on the field, and Barney, the younger option who was unknown offensively.  I endorsed Barney, and I'm still glad with that choice.  Although Barney isn't a great hitter, he made great contact last year and showed 100% effort all the time, using his superior athleticism. 

Second baseman Darwin Barney

I expect Barney's offense to continue to improve after it tailed off at the end of last season.  DeWitt's role this season, if there is one for the major league Cubs, remains to be seen.  He saw time at second base, third base, and left field last season and should again play numerous positions.  His .385 career slugging percentage shows he doesn't have hardly any pop in that bat; if he wants to make himself more valuable to the team, I suggest he become more patient to draw more walks and get on base.  

I also like what I've seen and heard about second baseman Adrian Cardenas, who could oust DeWitt for the utility role.  Cardenas has never played in the major leagues but did play left field, shortstop, third base, and second base for AAA Sacramento in the Oakland A's system.  He is two years younger than DeWitt at 25 and was claimed off waivers from Oakland earlier this month.  To make room on the 40-man roster, DeWitt was designated for assignment.  

Cardenas has a career .303 average and a .368 OBP in the minors, both good marks for a middle infielder.  Overall, if the Cubs are going younger and newer, Cardenas is the guy that should make the roster.

Second baseman Adrian Cardenas

As shortstop, the situation isn't nearly as confusing.  The cornerstone of the franchise (for now, at least) is the shortstop Starlin Castro who will be entering just his third season in the major leagues.  After a superb, All-Star 2011 season in which he nabbed the NL hits crown, Castro looks to build both offensively and defensively to become an MVP candidate sometime in the future.  Despite being super-athletic, agile and speedy, he has a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball.  

Offensively, he needs to develop more power to take his game to the next level.  If he could reach 20 homers per season, he would be in the same conversation as elite shortstops like Hanley Ramirez.  Defensively, he definitely needs to work on his accuracy.  He can fire the ball across the diamond like any other raging 22-year-old, but finding the glove is obviously key.  If he could even get his arm accuracy into the average range, his wide range at shortstop would make him an elite defender overall.  This kid doesn't need too many days off, but Dale Sveum should sit him at least once a month.  He was only yanked from a game after starting it once last year and that was in the 12th inning, so I wouldn't expect to see much of that, either.

Third baseman Ian Stewart

At third base, newcomer Ian Stewart will get the bulk majority of the playing time.  Stewart replaces the long-standing Aramis Ramirez who spent over eight seasons at the hot corner for the Cubs.  Stewart is coming off a horrible 2011 in which he didn't hit any homers in 48 games for Colorado.  He was highly-regarded as a prospect in the Rockies system, however, and hit 25 homers for the 2009 Wild Card champion team.  In Baseball America's 2005 prospect rankings, Stewart was #4 overall with vast power potential, coming off a 30-homer season in A ball at the age of 19!  In that same 2004 season he threw in 19 steals and a .398 OBP, but he hasn't been able to match that success since.  He has still been good with home run totals in the high teens, but couldn't recreate that monster season.

Stewart returned to the minors in 2011 for the first time since 2008.  He definitely showed that his injuries hadn't erased his talent with 14 homers and 42 RBIs in only 45 games, and he does walk more than most third basemen.  If he can unlock his power potential he showed early in his career and in 2009, this 27-year-old could be primed for a career year.

Cardenas and Jeff Baker should provide backup here.  I have never been a fan of Baker's because he's such a non-factor offensively, but I do have to admit that he has nice value to give lefties a day off against a lefty starter.  Baker has drastic righty-lefty splits, and his numbers against lefties are far more impressive.  In his career he's batting .309 against lefties and .239 against righties, while slugging a respectable .526 against lefties but only .364 against righties.  Of the 11 home runs he has hit while on the Cubs over two and a half seasons, all but one have come off a southpaw.

Well, there will be a lot of new faces around the infield this summer for the Cubs.  Of the seven players mentioned here, three were acquired this winter.  It's definitely a younger group, as Baker, 30, is the oldest player out of the entire group.  Although losing one of the team's core players over the last decade in Ramirez was a big loss to some, it was the right move in the long run.  The team needs to get younger and more athletic to build its own culture.  If Ramirez were one of the 'nice guys' of baseball and pledged to help the young kids learn the ropes, we might have a different story.  But then again, Carlos Pena is a 'nice guy', and he was let go of anyway.  It's up to the 22-year-old Castro to welcome his new teammates in.  He should get used to them too, because most of them are here to stay.    

Why Reed Johnson Should Have Gone Out On Top

I'm probably not on the same page as most other Cubs fans on this issue, but I think there's something to be said against the resigning of Reed Johnson, which took place a couple weeks ago.  So far I've been complementing the Cubs on pretty much all of their offseason moves, including the signings of Manny Corpas and Andy Sonnanstine and the trades of Sean Marshall and Tyler Colvin.  I did have reservations on the David DeJesus deal, but there are some things I like there, like his versatility and consistent approach.  The Johnson deal, however, simply doesn't make sense to me.  I'll explain why.

Johnson will be 35 in 2012, entering his fourth out of five seasons with the Cubs (he played with the Dodgers in 2010).  An unquestioned fan favorite who has a knack for clutch offensive skills and all-out, aggressive defense, he is a fundamentally strong baseball player.  Of the five tools, only his contact hitting and defense stand out.

I was formally introduced to Johnson in June 2005 as he hit a three-run homer at Wrigley Field with the Toronto Blue Jays.  He made a much bigger name for himself, however, once he came to a market that would truly appreciate his talent in the North Side of Chicago.

I have always been a Reed fan myself; it's hard not to be when he's the only one who operates at 110% of his ability on defense.  However, the Cubs just recently had a logjam in the outfield in 2010 as Kosuke Fukudome and Tyler Colvin battled for at-bats in right field.  Seems like the Cubs are asking for another one.  Sure, Johnson doesn't need many at-bats or hardly any starts, but he also shouldn't warm the bench for a week straight.

Personally I'd rather see Tony Campana, who was projected as the fourth outfielder, to fill the role that Johnson will in 2012.  Campana, although raw and unknown in potential, is young and has something to prove, unlike Johnson.  Campana's speed factor, which produced 24 steals in very limited playing time last year, is very valuable to a roster that seriously lacks it.  While Johnson plays hard on defense to the naked eye, his defense stats tell that he doesn't field it like he used to.  Johnson's range factor and fielding percentage were both below league average, not to mention a -.1 defensive wins above replacement compared to Campana's .9, even though Johnson got more playing time.

I don't need any statistics, however, to tell you that Theo and Jed are exercising a youth movement.  New Cubs regulars will include Ian Stewart, Travis Wood, and Bryan LaHair/Anthony Rizzo, all of whom are younger than those that they replaced in Aramis Ramirez, Rodrigo Lopez, and Carlos Pena, respectively.  Even though Johnson is a role player, his role is a misfit to me.      

Homestand Analysis: Houston, Milwaukee

Starlin Castro narrowly missed
getting his 200th hit at home.

Record: 4-2
Final Record: 69-87

Carlos Lee, despite all odds, has actually had a really great season.  Call me crazy, but the Astros former outfielder (now part-time outfielder and part-time first baseman) has a WAR this season of a full 7.0 points higher than last season!  For comparison, Ryan Braun's 7.2 WAR is 4th in the NL.  Unfortunately for Lee, however, his WAR last season was -2.5, making this season's at 4.5.  Still a very impressive turnaround, and the move to first base definitely hides his defensive weaknesses.  His defensive WAR this season is up 4.0, from -2.0 to 2.0.

Lee hit a solo homer in Friday's game at Wrigley Field for what should have been the only run off Matt Garza.  Even though it was only his 17th of the season, he has been very clutch and improved his walk rate to the point where his OBP improved nearly 50 points compared to last season.  With two outs and two strikes in the ninth on Lee with a 3-1 Cubs lead and a man on base, Lee tagged Garza, who was a strike away from a complete game win, for a two-run game-tying home run.  Marlon Byrd drove in the winning run with an infield single in the 12th.

Despite Lee's great season, the Astros have undoubtedly been the worst team in baseball.  Even though they haven't won the division since 2001, their franchise history reveals that even when bad, they've managed to stay mediocre and avoid disastrous, 100-loss seasons.  Only eight times in the franchise's 50-year history has the team finished with more than 90 losses.  But this seasons, all bets were off and the 'Stros were on pace to lose around 115 games even in May.  Although they definitely won't lose that many now, they lost their 100th on Saturday against the Cubs.  Rodrigo Lopez dominated and Bryan LaHair homered for the go-ahead run early but the lead stood 2-1 at the end.

Bleacher fans celebrate the last home win of the season.
Attendance was down for the fourth year in a row at
Wrigley, but hope is on the horizon this offseason.

Ryan Dempster had one of his typically awful first innings on Sunday but calmed down after that, giving up just those first three runs.  In the 8th, a three-run homer by Carlos Pena appeared to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead, but official review revealed the ball bounced off the yellow rope which divides the home run line and came back into the park, which is in play.  The tying (Starlin Castro) and go-ahead (Pena) runs had to stay at third and second, respectively.  Byrd failed once again with runners in scoring position (surprise, surprise) and that was the only chance the Cubs would have.  The Cubs took two of three, but should have swept.

Geovany Soto drove in all five runs on Monday night against Milwaukee on two homers and a single.  His first homer got onto Waveland Ave, making him the first Cub to reach Waveland this season.  Jerry Hairston Jr. homered off Casey Coleman for his only earned run, and Carlos Marmol performed his routine over-dramatization of a 'save' with a four-run lead by allowing Casey McGehee a 9th inning homer then putting on a few baserunners.  But with the tying run at the plate, the Cubs escaped, winning 5-2.

Mike Quade expects to be back next season, but the
new GM will probably have other (better?) ideas

Tuesday's game was a mess as los Cerveceros put up four on Randy Wells in the 4th inning.  Wells' late season hot streak is definitely over.  Castro was the only Cubs run in the 6th when he homered off Shaun Marcum, who was otherwise practically untouched.  Aramis Ramirez left early with an injury in what could be his last game at Wrigley as a Cub.

In the final home game of the season Wednesday afternoon, the Cubs passed 3,000,000 in attendance.  At 3,017,966 (an average of 37,258), the Cubs just barely passed the mark for the eighth year in a row.  Although 3,000,000 is a great feat achieved by a lucky bunch of larger-market teams, the extra empty seats at Wrigley was no secret.  Through April and May, it didn't look like the Cubs had any chance to get back to 3M, but consistent crowds of 39,000+ in the summer months pushed it through.

In 2008, the Yankees and Mets both had over 4,000,000 in attendance, but higher ticket prices and a recession saw no more 4M teams since.  There won't be any of them this season either; not even close.  The Phillies, MLB's attendance leader, would have to have around eight more home games to reach that.    This season, seven teams have reached the 3M mark and the Angels will by the end of the season.  The first seven in order are the Phillies, Yankees, Giants, Twins, Red Sox, Cubs, and Cardinals.

Matt Garza celebrates his complete game win
to close the 2011 home schedule.

D.J. LeMahieu doubled in two in that home finale as part of a 7-1 blowout.  Byrd hit a three-run homer and Garza got his complete game this time, ending the home season on a high note.  Castro, hot in the pursuit of 200 hits on the season as the NL's hits king, had three chances to get it but was intentionally walked, grounded out to short, and walked.  He got his 200th leading off Friday's game in St. Louis, so not to worry.

The last road trip of the season features St. Louis and San Diego.  The Cubs can really hurt St. Louis' playoff chances with even one win, which they got Friday night.  The Padres aren't playing for much, but the Cubs should be able to close out the season with a series win there.  It's hard to believe the Cubs are done at Wrigley in 2011, but Opening Day feels like years ago.  Watching baseball at Ye' Olde Wrigley was less fun than usual without an alcoholic aid...but big change is coming this offseason and it definitely won't get any worse than it was this season.  Financial flexibility will make us a better team next season, so I foresee games at Wrigley being a significantly hotter ticket next summer than this one.

Road Trip Analysis: New York, Cincinnati

Cubs steal emotional finale in New York on 9/11's 10th anniversary

Record: 3-4
Final Record: 65-85

Ever since the Mets traded Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers in July, the search has been on for the closer of the future.  Hard-throwing Bobby Parnell couldn't handle the job in his trial, so Manny Acosta got the honors on Friday night with a 4-3 lead in the ninth.  Darwin Barney's RBI single gave Acosta a blown save and a wide round of boos from the Citi Field crowd, but the offense redeemed him in the bottom of the inning on Justin Turner's walk-off double.

Late in the game Saturday, the Mets looked to win another tight game.  Jason Bay came through with a two-out RBI single to give the Mets a 4-3 lead in the eighth.  After Acosta's blown chance the night before, the Mets staff came crawling back to Parnell to save the next game.  Parnell blew yet another lead, as the Cubs continued their recent comeback trend.  Aramis Ramirez's two-run single to give the Cubs a deciding 5-4 lead came on a 98 mph fastball from Parnell to knot the series at one.

It's not everyday that ESPN shows a Major League Baseball game, in its primetime Sunday night slot no less, between two teams that are a combined 45.5 games out in their respective divisions.  For the Cubs, that's all Sunday night's game in New York was.  A game.  For the Mets, it was much more.  It was practically a mourning, an emotional anniversary of a terrorist attack in their community.  Many fans in the stands were personally connected to those that died on 9/11, and a big pregame ceremony was held in remembrance.  I thought the game would be sold out for sure, and it sure as hell would've made a greater statement if it was.  But apparently much of Queens didn't get the memo, as only 33,502 came to watch another tight game.

Tyler Colvin had three RBIs by the fifth inning when the Cubs held a 4-1 lead, but the Mets started chipping away on Matt Garza, eventually tying it in the eighth off Jeff Samardzija.  It would remain tied until the 11th, when rookie Josh Stinson gave up the lead followed by a two-run double each for Alfonso Soriano and Barney off Ryota Igarashi.  A Geovany Soto sac fly made it 10-4 and this insurmountable lead won the game and series for the Cubs.

Rodrigo Lopez was far from perfect in his start at Cincinnati Monday night.  Luckily, he didn't have to be perfect, as the Cubs offense put up 12 runs in support.  Lopez, who has always had problems with allowing home runs, gave up a 502-foot moon shot over the right field bleachers and into the Ohio River to Juan Francisco - the fifth homer of his Major League career.  But Jeff Baker, Starlin Castro, and Ramirez would all homer later as a washed up Dontrelle Willis really struggled.  The 12-8 win gave the Cubs 22 runs in two games.

Unfortunately, the first game of this four-game series in Cincy was the only winner for the Cubs.  In his last start of the year before being shut down by an innings limit, Mike Leake shut down the offense and narrowly outdueled Ryan Dempster in a 2-1 win.  Brandon Phillips, aka 'Dat Dude BP' (his nickname and twitter account), homered in the first.

Ramon Hernandez hit a three-run homer off starter Casey Coleman to open the scoring Wednesday night and the Reds never looked back in a blowout win.  Reds starter Johnny Cueto had to leave early with an injury, but that did nothing to awake the suddenly silent Cubs bats.

Just as suddenly as they fell silent, the bats woke up in the first inning of the series finale.  Marlon Byrd and Carlos Pena both hit two-run homers in the first inning off Homer Bailey.   Then it fell silent once again until the ninth, when the 4-0 lead had turned into a 6-4 deficit.  An exciting rally ensued; Barney drove in his second ninth inning game-tying run of the road trip.  As is typical, the Cubs stranded runners in the 10th and 11th innings before James Russell curiously blew two lefty-on-lefty matchups.  Joey Votto began the 11th with a double and Jay Bruce ended it with a walk-off two-run homer.

I don't know you about you, but this losing stuff ain't sittin' right.  Still.  Many fellow Cubs fans I know have regressed into that 'I've moved on' phase recently, but many times I can call them out on this bluff.  The best hope for a winner right now in Chicago may be the Bears, but losing still hurts.

Including wins in the first two games against the Astros, the Cubs need to go at least 8-2 to match last season's record.  They have clinched a losing season, but can avoid losing 90 games by going at least 6-4.          

Homestand Analysis: Pittsburgh, Cincinnnati

Cubs catcher Koyie Hill awaits the throw from Reed
Johnson to tag Edgar Renteria out at the plate late in
Wednesday's game.

Record: 3-3
Final Record: 62-81

As weird as morally wrong as it sounds, the Pirates marched into Wrigley Field last weekend as the statistically better team.  Being a young Cubs fan, I still felt the Cubbies mysterious aura of superiority against the Bucs, seeing as they've had it for, like, the last 20 years.

But the Pirates came to play.  Recently called up starter Brian Burres' only blemish was a Carlos Pena home run before the Pirates bullpen was perfect for nearly four innings, holding their 3-1 lead to the end.  A typical, forgettable game which wasted a great start from Ryan Dempster.

Derrek Lee returned from the DL on Saturday and started at first for Pittsburgh.  His only two homers as a Pirate came against the Cubs in that four-game series in early August, which was actually his Pirates debut.  His third homer also came against the Cubs, a grand slam off Carlos Marmol in the 9th of a 5-3 game.  The Pirates took the lead and the win thanks to Marmol finding yet another method to lose a game.  This was his ninth blown save of the season, an unacceptable mark by any measurement.  After being fooled last season, I've come to the conclusion that he isn't made to be a closer.  Marmol is an 8th inning guy, and should be treated as such for the rest of his career.

You know the whole 'get in front of the ball' tactic coaches
teach outfielders starting in T-ball?  Apparently Alfonso
Soriano (still) hasn't gotten the technique down.

Marlon Byrd picked up two RBIs and Randy Wells won his seventh game of the year as the Cubs beat Pittsburgh to end the season series between the teams, with the series ending tied 8-8.  Next came the Cincinnati Reds, out of the pennant race and relevance again as the NL Central will have a different champion for the fourth year in a row.

Dontrelle Willis made his first start at Wrigley Monday afternoon since May 29, 2007, except this time he started for the Reds.  After a sharp first few innings, he lost it during a rally in the 5th inning, where five straight batters got on base.  The Cubs' 4-1 lead barely held up to the 9th, when Marmol rebounded with a 1-2-3 inning, which was surprising to say the least.  Vegas oddsmakers must be stumped on how to gauge this guy.

Mike Leake started Tuesday, and the Cubs basically gave him a complete-game shutout.  Swinging way too aggressively, the Cubs were hanging on to their last hope in rookie Bryan LaHair in a 2-0 game with a man on when LaHair launched a ball onto Sheffield to tie the game with two outs in the 9th.  The Cubs would lose in extra innings, but this LaHair dude is some kind of exciting.  38 home runs this season alone in the Minor Leagues?!  His power numbers are unheard of and were leading the Minors by a wide margin when he was called up.  At 28, many would call him a late bloomer.  But with this ridiculous power, I hope he finds a bench spot on the roster next year while they decide which defensive position for him will cause the team the least damage.

The Reds were the ones who came back on Wednesday, but the 3-3 tie game was short-lived.  Pena launched a three-run monster blast over the bleachers.  Marmol got save #33 and the Cubs took the series from the Reds.  This series was very tight and each game came down to the end, but I really liked the starting pitching they displayed here.

The Cubs now need to go 19-0 the rest of the season to get to .500, 14-5 to match last season's record, and 11-8 to avoid losing 90 games this season, which is big from a moral standpoint.  Given the easy schedule remaining, hopefully it will be somewhere around the third option, as the first two are unrealistic for this team.

Next up for the Cubs is the Mets in New York, where they haven't played since April 2010.  The streak of not playing there for that long was the longest among NL teams.  Because of September 11, the Cubs and Mets, two teams well out of contention, will be ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.  I can't remember the last time ESPN showed a September game between two teams a combined 40 games out of their divisions or whatever.  Not that I'm complaining, but the producers definitely were hoping it would be the Yankees hosting the Rangers or some other contender for the ceremonious ten-year September 11 shindig.  Hey Cubbies, just don't embarrass yourselves on national TV like you have a knack for doing these days (see: Starlin Being Starlin?).

Road Trip Analysis: Atlanta, Houston

Record: 3-3
Final Record: 54-70

This road trip began like many other for the Cubs, as they were mauled on Friday night in Atlanta.  Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak with two homers, both off Carlos Zambrano.  Chipper Jones, Jose Constanza, and Freddie Freeman also homered off Zambrano, who took out his frustration on Jones by throwing at him twice, hitting him the second time.  The Braves won 10-4.

Zambrano was thrown out and walked out on his team, earning him a 30-day suspension on the rarely-used disqualified list which could mark the end of his Cubs career.  Apparently anger management classes last year didn't hold up, and Zambrano started telling everyone in the clubhouse he was going to retire immediately before he cleaned out his locker and beat it.  Later, calling in on Chicago Tribune Live on CSN, he said he was upset that word of his potential retirement escaped the clubhouse and got to the media.  Either way it was a stupid thing to say so he doesn't have much of a right to be mad.

The Cubs won on Saturday thanks to an array of RBI singles and doubles, but Uggla extended his hitting streak to 33 with a home run.  I was impressed at how the Cubs attacked Derek Lowe, knocking him out of the game after six, allowing ten hits.  Final score was 8-4.

They also won on Sunday 6-5, ending Uggla's hitting streak at 33.  The Braves rocked Matt Garza for four runs in the first four innings, but the Cubs fought back and eventually tied the game on a wild pitch. Although Alex Gonzalez got the Braves the lead back on an error in the next half-inning, Carlos Pena blasted a long two-run homer to take the lead.  With the tying run on second base in the ninth, Carlos Marmol got Martin Prado out to take the series 2-1 from the NL's second-best team.

As shocking as that series win was, I was even more excited for the Cubs to head to Houston to play MLB's worst team and hopefully go for the sweep.  The Cubs should've swept too, but the Astros took two one-run games to sneak out the series win.

Two two-run doubles were enough, barely, to beat the Astros 4-3 on Monday night thanks to a save from Kerry Wood, his first as a Cub since 2008.  The loss for the Astros dropped them to 19-41 at home.  On Tuesday night, the Cubs played a solid game and took a 5-2 lead into the ninth.  Tyler Colvin and Aramis Ramirez both hit homers in the game, but Ramirez's shot will be on highlight reels all season long as it landed on the train tracks above the wall in left field, an estimated distance of over 450 feet.  But what will most be remembered from this game will obviously be Brian Bogusevic's walk-off grand slam off Marmol to win the game 6-5.  I bet the Cubs wish they had used Wood again.  Marmol has this remarkable ability to somehow find a way to lose a game, and showed right here.  Brian Bogusevic?  Really??  And did I mention that this was his second career Major League homer, and his first ever at home?

Casey Coleman gave the Astros the lead in the 4th of Wednesday afternoon's game, and they would never give it back.  The Cubs offense was shut out for four innings by the Astros bullpen, which featured David Carpenter, Sergio Escalona, Fernando Rodriguez, and Mark Melancon, only one of whom has thrown more than 40 innings in the Major Leagues.  I might as well just have named four construction contractors.  Added with Bogusevic, and the Cubs lost a series to a team to a team that will be 50 games under .500 by the end of the year because of five nobodies.  Nice going, guys.

Cub fans should be pleased with their effort in Atlanta because they're not an easy team to face at all.  The important thing was that they scored early to avoid having to battle against the bullpen which is, in my opinion, the most dominant in baseball.  Hardthrowers Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel are two of the most toughest pitchers in the league because everything they throw is hard, hard, and harder.  Kimbrel hasn't allowed a run since June.  The results of the Houston series, however, is pretty much unacceptable.  Marmol found a way to lose then so did the offense the next day.  Although these two events probably didn't directly have anything to do with Jim Hendry's dismissal, it definitely didn't cheer up the franchise's outlook at all.

Homestand Analysis: Cincinnati, Washington

Record: 4-2
Final Record: 51-67

Fresh off that major sweepage in the Steel City, the Cubs returned home to face a reeling Cincinnati team that had pretty much knocked themselves out of postseason contention.  The underperforming Reds, expected by many to battle the Cardinals and Brewers for the division all season long, came into Friday's game at 57-61 and 10 games behind division-leading Milwaukee.  The Cubs wouldn't make it any easier for them either, as the Cubs, or Tony Campana rather, motored past the Reds in a 4-3 win to open the series.

Campana's first-inning inside-the-park-homer, which also scored Starlin Castro, was the first home run of his career.  In fact I remember Len and Bob once remarking on a broadcast that it was as likely that Campana's first homer came in the park as it was over the wall.  It was just an amazing sight to behold and one of the most exciting plays in baseball, although near the end there was little doubt the little guy would make it.  The left fielder was a first baseman named Yonder Alonso who apparently hadn't adapted well to his temporary position, as he ran into the wall and let the ball skip right past him.

Tyler Colvin homered an inning later to make it 3-0.  Ryan Dempster ran into a bit of trouble in the 4th, allowing two runs, but the Reds never got the lead back despite a late homer by Ramon Hernandez which cut the lead to one.  Carlos Marmol saved the win, but Campana's clutch catch in the center field ivy (Sam Fuld-style) robbing Brandon Phillips of extra bases gets the real save.  A solid, solid victory.

On Saturday, the Cubs beat the Reds in blowout fashion.  Carlos Zambrano earned his ninth win of the season which could be his last win as a Cub.  Zambrano homered, Castro picked up four RBIs, and Carlos Pena picked up three in the 11-4 win.  On Sunday, Sean Marshall's midseason slump appeared to pack in one last stand as Marshall blew a one-run lead in the 8th, allowing the Reds to win 8-7.  The win snapped the Cubs' season-high seven-game winning streak.

Following the Monday rainout, the Cubs played the first of three against Chien-Ming Wang and the Nationals on Tuesday.  Wang stymied the Cubs offense, allowing hardly any baserunners and no runs while Matt Garza on the other side continued to receive the world's worst run support.  This one of Wang's first few starts in over two years, so the effort by the Cubs offense is pretty disappointing.  Golden boy Castro homered in the 8th, but the rest of the lineup stayed quiet in the 3-1 loss.

Batboy?  Nope, the dude in the middle is
the scrawny little Campana.

Homers by Reed Johnson, Geovany Soto, and Alfonso Soriano were enough to put away the Nats on Wednesday, thanks to a solid start by Rodrigo Lopez.  Although Lopez is just a short-term fix for this season's lack of rotation depth, it's good to see the Cubs be able to win with him on the mound.

Dempster again had great stuff in his Thursday start against the Reds, a 1-1 tie until homers by Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena made it 4-1.  A late rally nearly tied the game for the Reds, but a huge clutch performance by Carlos Marmol got the Cubs their third series win in a row and left them 9-2 in their last 11 home games.  Rick Ankiel hit an all-or-nothing blast to deep center that was caught near the warning track with the bases loaded and everything on the line with two outs in the 9th, giving the Cubs the win.

The phrase 'home cookin'' hasn't really applied to the Cubs this year or the last, but their 'road cookin'' in Pittsburgh carried over and kept on rolling back to Wrigley anyway.  This homestand just had a fun, positive feel to it which made it so fun to watch.  MVP honors goes to Dempster, who gave the Cubs everything in two very solid starts.  After the tough summer this has been for the Cubs and their fans, it's about time for some winning.  And according to Mike Quade, this could still be the year!

Homestand Analysis: Florida, Philadelphia, Houston

Record: 5-5
Final Record: 42-60

Fresh off a trip to the All-Star Game, Starlin Castro returned to Chicago to rejoin his team for a four-game set against the Florida Marlins, who were making their last trip to Chicago under that name before they become the Miami Marlins next year.  The Marlins went out with a bang too, taking three of four games and outscoring the Cubs 27-13.

Two of the three losses should have been wins for the Cubs, and only one of those two was actually the Cubs' fault.  A typical Carlos Marmol ninth inning implosion blew the lead and the game in both teams' first game after the break on Thursday night.  After a win on Friday and a blowout loss Saturday, the Cubs were robbed of at least extra innings by second base umpire Lance Barrett, who blew the call on a pickoff play that would have gotten Kerry Wood out of a serious jam in the 8th.  Wood and the Cubs were livid, but there is no instant replay on those calls and they just had to deal with it.  Wood went on to walk in the go-ahead run and the Cubs would never get the lead back.

While losing three of four to Florida might have seemed bad, the Cubs had an even taller task ahead of them when the Phillies came to town on Monday.  But for the second year in a row, the Cubs beat Phillies ace Roy Halladay and opened off the series with a surprising win.  Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena added home runs in the game.

While Ramirez and Pena and known sluggers, it would still be a surprise to see one of them homer of Phillies southpaw Cliff Lee, widely regarded as one of the best pitchers in baseball known for his impeccable control.  But it was a kid with five career homers heading into the game who would homer off the veteran Lee on this night.  Castro's two-run first inning blast gave the Cubs a lead that would hold up until the 8th, when Sean Marshall blew it on a double by Chase Utley.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, Mike Quade has taken a lot of blame for leaving in pitchers too long.  Perhaps preparing for potential extra innings, Quade left in the demoralized Marshall to pitch the 9th, and a two-run double by Michael Martinez gave the Phillies a lead they wouldn't give back.  The mistake by Quade was inexcusable, and I was highly disappointed that this problem still plagues Quade.

After the Phillies finished their series win with a blowout in nothing-to-see-here fashion, the stumbling Houston Astros came to Wrigley Field.  The Astros had gone 9-3 in their last 12 games at Wrigley Field before this series, but that was certainly bound to change.  This year's version of the Astros is unprecedentedly bad and on pace for around 110 losses, which would be a franchise worst.  In fact, the Astros have never lost 100 games in the franchise's 50 year history, but that will change at this rate.  And a sweep from a fifth-place Cubs team definitely won't help them avoid it.

The Cubs took the Friday matinee by power, as Alfonso Soriano and Ramirez had key homers to take it 4-2.  Randy Wells, pitching for his life in the rotation, came through with just one run allowed Saturday and was allowed to stay in the rotation.  Marlon Byrd and Geovany Soto joined the homer party in support.  Speaking of homer party, Carlos Lee gave the Astros the lead 4-3 on Sunday with a shocking two-run homer in the 8th.  Lee, a notorious Cub killer, has 36 career homers against the Cubs, which is 17 more than he has against any other opponent!  But my immediate reaction to Lee's homer on Sunday was, 'Isn't this guy too old for this now?!'  Lee's homer, just his eighth of the season, was quickly forgotten by Cubs fans, however, as a Soriano single tied the game just a half-inning later.  In the 10th, Jeff Baker singled to left to win the game and begin the walk-off celebration.

And just like that, the Cubs took their first three-game sweep of the season.  Oh, and that was also their first three-game winning streak in nearly four months of baseball.  See, it wasn't that hard guys.  Does it really count against a team like the Astros?  For our purposes, yes.

For how ugly the homestand started, you have to give the team credit for rebounding and sweeping the Astros.  But the Cubs should have taken three of four from the Marlins and two of three from the Phillies, counting the game that Marshall and Quade unintentionally colluded to blow.  Counting the sweep of the Astros, that would've been an 8-2 homestand.  But the past is the past, and as the all-mighty Da Coach says, the past is for cowards.  Point being the Cubs have to take the positives and work forwards to have any chance of a late-season rebound like last year's.  

Homestand Analysis: Colorado, San Francisco, Chicago (AL)

Record: 4-4
Final Record: 35-50

Against the Rockies, the Cubs finally got their first series sweep of the season.  Unfortunately, it was a one-game series, as in a makeup game for the rainout back in April.  This means the Cubs have yet to sweep a three-game series, and also haven't even won three in a row.  But play later in the week was encouraging for the Cubs.

Behind two homers each by Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena, the Cubs rolled past the Rockies 7-3.  The four homers would be the first four of 12 homers on the eight-game homestand.  Something was definitely in the water, as even backup Koyie Hill added one to the tally.  The annual weather swing has struck Wrigley, with that summer wind blowing out to the bleachers.

In the Colorado game, starter Matt Garza gave up a deep fly ball to left field by Carlos Gonzalez.  Alfonso Soriano went back to the track at his typical, lackadaisical pace.  Soriano eventually just pulled up and stopped, facing the wall, waiting for the ball to drop.  Garza, standing on the mound and thinking Soriano couldn't see the ball, raised his arms and said, "What are you doing?!"  Sure enough, the ball landed in the bleachers for a home run.  Garza, like most of the rest of the players, was shocked.  This evidence of the bandbox that Wrigley Field becomes in the summer has to come as a big surprise to the newcomers like Garza, who thought this ball would be a routine flyout.

The jetstream helped the Cubs for the rest of the homestand.  Ramirez hit six homers on it, en route to a well-deserved National League Player of the Week award.  But even that couldn't help the Cubs from looking absolutely dreadful in the doubleheader against the Giants on last Tuesday.  The Cubs were blown out by baseball's worst offense, reminiscent of their similar drubbing of the Cubs at Wrigley Field last year.  For the Cubs, Doug Davis and Rodrigo Lopez started the two games and the results are history.

Thankfully, the Cubs salvaged the last two games in impressive fashion.  A 1-0 ninth inning lead was blown by Carlos Marmol, but Ramirez singled home the winning run just a half-inning later on Wednesday night.

On Thursday afternoon, the Cubs put together one of their most complete wins since 2008.  Marcos Mateo pitched five incredible innings of relief after Carlos Zambrano's injury allowed him just one inning.  Ramirez erased a 1-0 deficit on a 95 mph fastball off Giants closer Brian Wilson.  Darwin Barney hit a huge clutch double in the 13th inning to tie the game at two after the Giants took the lead in the top half.  Geovany Soto stepped up and, two pitches later, ended the game with a three-run walk-off homer that was one of the most amazing moments the Cubs have had in the last decade.  The game was intense throughout and the Cubs trailed twice facing a loss, coming back both times.

In their millionth attempt to win a third game in a row, the Cubs were again denied, this time by the White Sox.  The Cubs didn't commit any errors on Friday in the series opener, according to the box score.  A mental error by manager Mike Quade cost the Cubs the lead in a tie game.  Quade has been sharply criticized this season for leaving in starters too long, and although much of this criticism is unfair, there's a case for this game to be examined.  Randy Wells gave up the two-run lead he had in the seventh, increasing his runs allowed total to four.  After Alex Rios reached base, Quade allowed Wells to pitch to Juan Pierre who lined a two-run triple to gave the Sox a lead they wouldn't give back.  Quade's mental error wasn't something major on his part, but I believe it was just the wrong decision.

A blown call at second base on a double play ball prevented the Cubs from tying Saturday's game at one, and the Cubs lost 1-0.  Garza threw a complete game despite losing, a sign I love to see.  Back in the Lou Piniella days, Garza would've been yanked after eight regardless of his low pitch count and the fact that his performance had earned him another inning.  Garza has been the beneficiary of some serious bad luck this season, and his value to the team has been far underrated thus far.

The Cubs finally got a win on Sunday, which salvages all Cubs fans everywhere from having to hear those Sox fans yappin' their yappers about how they swept us in our own park, yadda yadda yadda.  Thank God.  A Starlin Castro RBI triple and Ramirez two-run homer built a small lead, and although Kerry Wood allowed the bases loaded in the 8th, the Cubs escaped, avoiding the sweep.  The Sox now lead the Crosstown Series 12-6 since 2009.

On this homestand, Cubs pitchers really started throwing strikes.  In the case of Wells, Lopez, and Davis, who was released after his latest shellacking, this tactic didn't work so well.  In the case of Garza and Ryan Dempster, this worked very well.  Keeping a lower pitch count should allow the starters to go later in games, which is something the Cubs need.  Garza's performance on Saturday was incredible; but not as incredible as the fact that he lost.    

Crosstown Showdown: White Sox 4, Cubs 3

Alfonso Soriano steals his first base of the season,
beating the tag from shorstop Alexei Ramirez

Peavy returns from DL, wins despite ineffective start

CWS leads 2-1

It was yet another one-run loss for the Cubs, who have lost in this fashion in three of their last four losses.  A comeback attempt for the third straight game fell short and the Cubs dropped their second in a row.

The Sox got their first two runs off Doug Davis in the fourth when A.J. Pierzynski tripled home two runs.  The Sox also got a third run in the inning from a squeeze play by utility man Brent Lillibridge.  This play represents the Sox' best attempt to play smallball.  But the truth is that such a play wasn't even necessary in that situation, especially considering Lillibridge's knack for clutch plays this season.

A Starlin Castro RBI single put the Cubs on the board, but the Sox got an insurance run just a half-inning later thanks to an error by trippin' second baseman Blake DeWitt.  Of course, Davis could have prevented the run from scoring by not hitting Lillibridge with a pitch, but the bottom line is the inning should have already been over.

Incredibly, Carlos Pena hit his third homer in as many days, as if competing head-on with counterpart Paul Konerko, who actually didn't homer in this game to end his consecutive-game-with-homer streak at five.  Pena has gathered respect from all of his teammates as the calming influence as well as the defensive leader of this team, and it's great to see him catch fire offensively, too.

Jeff Baker redeemed himself for his big strikeout last night and singled home a run in the rally that knocked Peavy out of the game in the 6th.  Unlike the night before, the Cubs were very patient with Peavy, who had serious trouble locating his breaking pitches and gave Pierzynski a workout behind the plate.  His slider was all over the place, including bouncing in the dirt.  Much of Peavy's success in his career can be attributed to the fact that everything he throws, from his running fastball to his changeup to his slider, is hard, hard, and harder.  He's got a 'hot' heater and a power slider, a lethal and winning combination.  But when he loses control, everything kind of flies off the end.  The result: 104 pitches and 10 baserunners allowed through only 5.1 innings.

The Cubs bullpen was absolutely perfect on this night, throwing three innings and striking out four while allowing no baserunners between rookie Chris Carpenter, Jeff Samardzija, and Sean Marshall.  Unfortunately, the Sox bullpen almost equally as good.  Sox closer Sergio Santos has a save in each of the last two games; he has thrown a total of 26 pitches between the two games, including only three balls, no baserunners, and five strikeouts.  This, this is the definition of dominance out of the 'pen.

Overall, this was a very entertaining series, with intriguing battles between the first basemen and Ozzie Guillen and Geovany Soto's catcher's mask.  The Cubs lost two of three but now head to Kansas City for a weekend series against the Royals who are only one game better than the Cubs record-wise.  They're also only 20-21 at Kauffman Stadium and have the bottom end of their starting rotation going, so the Cubs could capitalize.  After all, the Cubs will finally be playing someone at their own level.


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Crosstown Showdown: Cubs 6, White Sox 3

Three key Cubs step up big in win over streaking Sox

CHC leads 1-0

Last night the Cubs and Sox met for the first of six games this season.  The news coming up to game time and in the 1st inning was all about Carlos Zambrano and his temper tantrum last season at The Cell, which nearly led to him being kicked off the team.  But a different Zambrano emerged, despite another bad first inning.  He gave up three in that first inning before calming down and staying as cool as the other side of the pillow for most of the game.  Through 8 innings, Zambrano allowed only those three runs.

The blow up actually came from the other side as Ozzie Guillen was ejected arguing a fair or foul call on home plate.  These disputes are rare because such an instance was very rare but nonetheless the umpire called Alexei Ramirez out after Geovany Soto tagged him with the ball which the ump thought he had picked up off home plate.  The Sox claimed the ball had rolled off and Soto grabbed it in foul territory.  Guillen, in his frustration, kicked Soto's catcher's mask towards his own dugout, prompting eruptions of laughter and hysteria from the Cubs dugout.  Even Soto, standing near Guillen behind home plate, pointed and laughed along with his teammates.

The three keys to winning the game for the Cubs were Zambrano, Starlin Castro, and Carlos Pena.  Castro knocked in the first three runs with a two-RBI single and a solo homer, and Pena gave the Cubs the lead for good with a big three-run homer to the right field bleachers off a stumbling Gavin Floyd.

Carlos Marmol, who puts the fire in fireman, aka closer, gave up singles to catcher A.J. Pierzynski and center fielder Alex Rios just to give Cubs fans a headache before retiring Mark Teahen and left fielder Juan Pierre.

This win was huge in my opinion.  It proved that the Cubs' improved competitive play against the Yankees wasn't a fluke, and that they can hang around with an American League team.  Also, the current Chicago fad of hating on the Cubs takes a big hit with every win they get over the White Sox.  It's as if the bandwagon shrinks, if even just a little.

Homestand Analysis: Milwaukee, NY Yankees

Record: 4-3Final Record:  29-42

Although the Yankees slowed down the Cubs in the last two games of this homestand, the Cubs overall played much better baseball, even in the losses.  Fans also arrived in sellout or near-sellout fashion on this homestand and the Cubs definitely benefited from it.  The Cubs are still only 16-22 at home, but their play at Wrigley could heat up with the weather and fans.  

A pumped Carlos Marmol pumps his fist
after getting the save Friday against the Yankees

Against Milwaukee, team chemistry was evident as the team came through with two clutch wins in a row.  Ryan Dempster shut down one of the top offenses in baseball in the Brewers' offense, and Darwin Barney scored the only run of the game in the first game and the Cubs won 1-0.  On Tuesday night, the Cubs trailed late but rallied and won 5-4 on Starlin Castro's walk-off single.  Although the Brewers took one on Wednesday, the Cubs offense came back and put on a show Thursday, scoring 12 including homers from Carlos Pena, Kosuke Fukudome, and Alfonso Soriano.  These three wins sent the first place Brewers to Boston having barely hung on to first, and shocked at these losses.

The Yankees came to town on Friday for the first time since 2003 and second since the 1938 World Series.  The rare matchup attracted national attention, just like the Cubs-Red Sox series in May.  And the series couldn't have begun any better for the Cubs, who put together their most complete win of the season in the opener with Doug Davis surprising everyone including himself in limiting the most powerful offense in the league to just one run over seven plus innings.  Early runs were put on the board, and Reed Johnson saved the day with an amazing diving catch robbing Robinson Cano of extra bases late.

However, the Cubs would lose tight games in the late innings on both Saturday and Sunday.  Perhaps the lack of being able to close these games is due to the fundamental difference between these teams.  The Yankees were just teetering on the edge of breaking the game wide open pretty much the entirety of Sunday night, it seemed.  Putting in rookie Chris Carpenter to face Nick Swisher with two men on in the 8th was just what the Yanks needed to finally come through.  Not the greatest call on Mike Quade's part.  Swisher homered for the first three of six runs that allowed the Yankees to pull away in the 8th and 9th inning on national TV.

Curtis Granderson follows through on an
extra-base hit late Sunday at Wrigley.

Overall, signs of progress have to be looked for from this homestand.  Although the Cubs should have won six instead of just four games, the last two games against the Yankees were no pieces of cake, either.  So the fact that the Cubs played competitively for most of the game is a good sign.

Attendance for the three game series totaled over 126,000, which set an all-time Wrigley record for attendance in a three game set, beating the previous record of almost 125,000 set in July 2007 against the Astros.  Friday and Saturday's attendance both were over 42,000, a mark that hasn't been reached since the 2007 and 2008 playoffs.  But Saturday's attendance, 42,236, surpasses all three of the home playoff games from those two seasons.  Because the bleacher expansion of 2006 added about 3,000 seats to the ballpark, that number also surpasses all of the 2003 playoff games.  This means that Saturday's attendance could be the largest in decades, although I don't know how many.

The improved play came just in time for the series with those evil White Sox, who lost the first game last night 6-3.  Watch for the next couple weeks to decide the season for the Cubs, who will need to determine trade deadline status soon.

Road Trip Analysis: St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia

Record: 2-8
Final Record: 25-39

As the Cubs finished this road trip, they watched their spot in the standings drop to becoming one of the NL's worst teams.  The last loss to Philadelphia Sunday afternoon left them 3-13 in their last 16 games.

Albert Pujols didn't help the Cubs in their quest to return to .500 at all.  Walk-off home runs on back-to-back days at Busch Stadium propelled the Cardinals to a sweep.  The first homer, off Jeff Samardzija, was a well executed changeup below the knees.  The pitch was a ball, but Pujols homered anyway.  A moment like this mandates a sportsmanlike tip of the cap.

But on Sunday, Pujols had a much easier path to victory.  Rodrigo Lopez left him a fastball right down the middle, and Pujols had no issues driving it out of the park to become just the second player since Ron Santo in 1966 to hit walk-off homers in back-to-back games.  The Cubs were just simply beaten at the end of the day, although having been beaten in such a preventable manner was disturbing.  If Pujols can hit Cubs pitching that well, imagine the damage he could do in batting practice if he came to play for the Cubs.  Not that he will or anything, but an interesting thought.

The team showed a variety of ways to lose on this trip while the injury bug continues to infect the entire roster.  The Cubs were without Alfonso Soriano for the entirety of the trip, and weren't too impressed with the continued return of Randy Wells.  Giving up grand slams to scrubs like Miguel Cairo can never be a good thing.  And the only two bright spots on the entire trip were the highlights of the two wins.  Ryan Dempster shut down the Reds in seven innings, Carlos Pena launched a 443 foot blast to right field in Cincinnati, and Tyler Colvin hit what should have been the go-ahead homer in the opener of the Philly series, breaking an unbelievable 0-for-34 slump.

Besides these things, there weren't many positives that came out of this trip for the Cubs.  So I won't bore with complaints about the losing, because it's become more routine.  At least we know what we're getting here.  Nowadays, the phrase goes 'bad teams find a way to lose'.  With this brand of baseball, it appears Cubs fans will just have to Wait Till Next Beer yet again.  

Road Trip Analysis: Cincinnati, Florida, Boston

Record: 3-4
Final Record: 20-25

The Cubs made their first trip to Cincinnati this season when they headed there last week for the first of the two scheduled two-game series on the Cubs schedule this season.  I'm not going to sugar coat it; the results of the trip to Cincinnati were catastrophic.  Two winnable games, which had we had won we would now be mere percentage points below .500, were thrown away by lack of effort and the worst defense you will see in the Major Leagues.

The first game was winnable by all means.  The Cubs had a 4-0 lead until the 6th, when Carlos Zambrano began his regularly scheduled blowup inning.  But he remained out there, and the Reds continued to hammer him while the bullpen struggled to get warm.  Zambrano had been carrying a three-hit shutout through five innings.  A walk, five hits, four earned runs with more to come on the bases with just one out later, Zambrano was relieved by Marcos Mateo.  But the damage was already done, as threw a wild pitch to score the go-ahead run and then a two-run homer to Jonny Gomes.  It wasn't just the ill-timed decision making that cost the Cubs this game; it was the lack of effort and the sense that they had given up.  Too many times I see this team sulking and just going down without a fight.  This is exactly what happened here, as if the Reds coming back was inevitable.

Just when it looked like it couldn't get any worse, of course, it did.  The Cubs came out the next night and the pitching staff, led by the starter that night Matt Garza, shut out the Reds.  In earned runs, at least.  The futile Cubs defense allowed the Reds to literally tie and win the game with seven runs, all of which were preventable by not throwing the ball away!  An error in the 4th by Carlos Pena was magnified after Garza hurriedly whipped the ball into the dugout throwing it home to get a runner.  That scored all three runs to tie the game.  Then in the 8th, the Cubs held a 5-3 lead, which Kerry Wood blew when he threw Ryan Hanigan's sacrifice bunt down the left field line trying to aggressively get the force at third.

I've only seen one other play like this one before, and it was in Game 5 of the 2006 World Series when Justin Verlander threw David Eckstein's bunt into left field trying to do the same thing.  But unlike that play, the ball this time got all the way down the line and to the wall.  Two more runs scored and the game was tied again.  Watching this play live, it's hard to describe the frustration that a Cubs fan feels when watching this stuff.  Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks was known as 'The Human Highlight Reel' for his stunning ability to light up a highlight reel.  The Cubs as a team basically create the Human Incompetence Reel.

These two games should have been won.  They were key division games early in the season and the weather nullified much of the home field advantage.  This is a series the Cubs needed to win if they are going to get back into the NL Central mix.  They put together wins here and there this season, but they aren't going to win anything if they ever have another game like this (photo, left) or allow seven unearned runs.

After all of this, the Cubs headed to South Beach for their last series ever at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.  Surprisingly, the Cubs won both games there in efficient fashion.  Not so surprisingly, it was their first sweep of the season, albeit a two-game series.  The Cubs did not commit an error in either game.

This led to the Cubs' first trip to Fenway Park in Boston since the 1918 World Series.  News of this World Series came up recently, when a report stemming from a document released by the Chicago History Museum suggested that the Cubs blew the Series for money, much like the White Sox did a year later.  I don't know the truth to this document, and it very well could just be the Sox player hassling the Cubs indirectly about something else.
 
Marlon Byrd was interviewed by Comcast SportsNet on Thursday night after the win against Florida and, when asked on his outlook for the Boston series, he replied, "Sweep Caroline."  I agree that the whole Sweet Caroline tradition at Fenway is really annoying, but hearing this stuff out of him gets tiring to be honest.  Last season, Byrd guaranteed the playoffs in May when the team was falling out of contention.  Well, you saw how that turned out.

The Cubs seemed overwhelmed by an American League offense in the first round on Friday night.  All three games were on national television, with WGN, FOX, and ESPN handling the games, respectively. After an uneventful 15-5 loss Friday, the Cubs bats woke up in the 8th inning of the game Saturday night, and the Red Sox collapsed which was reminiscent of the Cubs' defense collapses.  In a stunning change of momentum, the Cubs put up eight in the 8th and won 9-3.  As the Cubs closed out the bottom of the 9th, the huge contingent of Cubs fans that had traveled to Boston were chanting 'Let's Go Cubbies' at Fenway Park, an action pretty much unprecedented.  Every game at Fenway Park since April 2003 has been a sellout, so it's always full of Red Sox fans.  But Cubs fans took over Fenway late on Saturday.  Although that was nice, it was the only win in the series loss.

The Cubs were quietly shut down by knuckleballer Tim Wakefield on Sunday night.  Such a loss can be expected from the Cubs, as this is one of those games I notice where they just give up at a certain point.  The indifference of the group makes them less interesting to watch for sure, and this is the primary factor in the Cubs attendance struggles of this season.  But either way, this road trip was very up and down.  Mostly down, though, and the Red Sox-Cubs series generated nothing more than publicity for historical content, not a key turning point like it could have been.

Believe it or not, I have faith in the Cubs coming up in the next few weeks.  A nice, long homestand against three bad teams in the Mets, Pirates, and Astros is the perfect time to get into a groove, especially as the ivy will be grown, the weather will be nice, and the fans will be there.  And they'll need to get into a groove, because they then play 20 straight games against teams who had winning records last year.  But I have faith they will, because this team has hung in there despite slow starts from Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena, who are both hitting very well now.  Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner will be huge to this team, as the Cubs will no longer have to deal with immediate five-run deficits by way of James Russell every fifth day.  Hopefully, the Cubs will get lucky for once.
 
  

Don't Be Sori

Alfonso Soriano's play has been very surprising and borderline inspirational this season.  In Arizona earlier tonight, Soriano blasted home runs #8 and #9 to left-center and right-center, respectively.  While Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney have been great offensively just hitting and getting on base, Soriano has been the only one so far in the power department to show up.  Geovany Soto, Carlos Pena, and Aramis Ramirez, who were probably expected to hit around 75 homers this season combined, have so far combined for three.  Soriano, on the other hand, has been great.  Except for the fact that, as usual, he hasn't been good in the clutch.  Soriano is batting .174 with runners in scoring position so far with only one homer in that circumstance.  With the bases empty, Soriano is hitting .316.  But for Soriano, the one thing that will keep his power in respectable numbers is a simple, yet elusive, characteristic.  Swagger.

Swagger is a mood.  Swagger is a way of life, and Soriano relies on it to do well.  When on one of his famous hot streaks that haven't really come around lately until this month, Soriano shows off his swagger by showing off at the plate after a home run.  Whether it's a little hop or its just a quick walk before the slow jog, one can watch on TV as Soriano shows his swag, if he has it.  Because Soriano is a hitter that goes on hot and cold streaks so much, he is susceptible to confidence swings and questionable effort.  Often times sans swagger, like all of last year, he would just give up some at-bats and chase the slider in the dirt low and away that everyone knows is coming.  But now, standing alone in second on the NL home run leaderboard to only Ryan Braun's 10, Soriano is fighting and working every at-bat.  If we can get this Soriano for an entire year, like the Nationals did in 2006, the haters will be forced to lay off him because he could show us finally what he is still capable of.

Scouting Report on 2011 Cubs

The following is a report on the 2011 Cubs by an anonymous baseball expert contacted by Sporting News.

"First baseman's Carlos Pena's lefthanded bat adds to the offensive balance, but this team still has enough holes to prevent it from winning.  I expect the Cubs to be far more competitive than last season, but they don't have a particularly strong rotation and they have a big offensive hole at second base.  This team may go as afar as Carlos Zambrano takes it.  That's a little unsettling base on Big Z's injury problems early last season.  He's also capable of becoming a distraction.
"(Marlon) Byrd, (Alfonso) Soriano, (Tyler) Colvin and (Kosuke) Fukudome offer depth in the outfield.  Starlin Castro is going to be an outstanding player, I believe.  Is Blake DeWitt the answer at second?  I don't know.  And the Cubs probably don't, either.
"The Cubs used to roll out a dominant rotation.  They can't say that anymore.  You don't know what you're going to get out of many of these guys. ... To me, the Cubs are missing another anchor for the rotation."

This guy is absolutely right on a few things, and a little out of date on some others.  But I couldn't agree more with his point about the offensive hole at second base, which will be manned by a platoon between Blake DeWitt, Jeff Baker, and even a bit of Darwin Barney.  The future of second base for the Cubs is Barney.  He's a career .286 hitter in the minors and a terrific contact hitter.  And although he isn't ready for the starting job to break camp this season, I think he will steal the job by the end of summer or Spring Training next year.  Not only is that a compliment to his talents, it speaks towards the Cubs' lack of quality players there.  DeWitt is a career .259 hitter with no speed and little power, although he too is a decent contact hitter.  Baker can only hit lefties, and even then he isn't anything special.  How a guy with his talent level plays in the Majors I don't understand.  So while Barney might hit for a good average, the Cubs will have to go through a season of DeWitt and Baker.

Just a note about this report is that it was written before the Cubs acquired Matt Garza.  That acquisition probably would have drastically changed this report.  The part where the scout says, "the Cubs used to roll out a dominant rotation.  They can't say that anymore," is no longer valid.  First of all, the Cubs haven't rolled out a dominant rotation since 2008.  Second of all, the current rotation isn't quite dominant, but is the second best in the division behind on Milwaukee's.  When he says, "[about Zambrano] he's also capable of being a distraction," he's making a serious understatement.  For the last few years, Zambrano has been a ticking time bomb that goes off at some point in summer.  But the powers of anger management will be put to the test this summer, and we could see a sane Carlos for once.

Overall, the scout pegs them somewhat accurately.  He thinks "this team still has enough holes to prevent it from winning," but that's probably a pessimistic look at this team.  With bad defense, no speed, a decent bullpen, average offense and an above average rotation, I see the Cubs finishing no worse than .500 and giving Milwaukee and Cincinnati a run for their money in this weak division.

2011 Profiles: Carlos Pena

The Profile posts, which begin with this one on Carlos Pena, will continue for the rest of March as the Cubs' 2011 season approaches.  Each one focuses on an individual player with a key question pertaining to the player at the beginning, right below this paragraph in this case.

Can Carlos Pena prove that his glove and power will outweigh the unsightly number of strikeouts and the low batting average he produces?

Writer's Take: Simply, I think he will.  Pena has never homered at Wrigley Field, but he and those bleachers should become acquainted in no time.  I think it says a lot about somebody, either him or the Rays or both, that he was able to hit .196 on the season and still hit 28 homers and 84 RBIs.  If it says anything about him, it should be that he is basically an all-or-nothing type hitter who isn't going to go on any extended hitting streaks.  His walk total (373 since 2007) is nice, but his strikeout total (628) and batting average (.238) are not.  If it says anything about the Rays, it's that they felt significantly safer with Pena than Dan Johnson, the next in line for the job last season.  Pena's fielding is one of the top reasons why the Cubs even acquired him in the first place, and his skills will definitely be an improvement over those of Xavier Nady or Tyler Colvin.  Derrek Lee's strong fielding at first base probably made the Cubs front office realize that great fielding at that position is an asset valuable to the team, especially considering how Starlin Castro struggled fielding last year.  Pena provides stability defensively as a guy who has been at first base for a long time and not someone converted to the position like Nady or Colvin.  The acquisition of Pena meant the Cubs no longer needed Nady, and he signed with Arizona.

Right field at Tropicana Field is friendlier to lefties than Wrigley Field's right field is, but those howling winds which are obviously not a factor in the dome should make things interesting.  Pena also was not a good hitter within his own division; you can't blame him considering the talent the Red Sox, Yankees, and even Blue Jays have rolled out in recent years.  A move to the friendlier NL Central will do him some good.  Pena has to be a consistent power hitter for this experiment to work; a slump-buster who can wake the offense out of its tri-weekly mid-game nap.  Pena has something that the Cubs front office was surely looking for in patience and plate discipline for a team that lacked it on the 2010 version.  Basically, strikeout or no strikeout, Pena is a guy who goes up to the plate with a plan and makes adjustments to it on the fly.  Starlin Castro, whose lack of plate discipline was notable in his rookie season, could use some of that adjustments stuff.  In a lineup where three of the starters are unproved and raw offensively in Castro, Colvin, and Blake DeWitt, Pena's arrival should show results through other players, too.

Ideal Production (what the Cubs need from him to win): .250+ batting average, 30+ homers, 80+ RBIs, 90+ walks, .375+ on-base percentage.

Expert Opinion: While I may think Pena will be effective in what will probably be his one and only year on the North Side, ESPN.com's A.J. Mass doesn't agree.  Pena could be a bust like Mass suggests, or Pena could be one of the best bargains of the offseason.              

  

Cardinals, Pujols Strike Out Looking

In what will be the most anticipated free agent in baseball history, Albert Pujols will probably become a free agent after this season just nine months after LeBron James served the same title for basketball.  Pujols and the Cardinals were nowhere close to a deal when his deadline of Wednesday at noon came and passed.   Pujols is looking to cash in the biggest deal in baseball history, which was not what the Cardinals were offering.  Pujols could very well likely become the first player ever to earn more than $30 million per season.

Statiscally, Pujols deserves the largest contract in the history of baseball especially considering that inflation has caused the dollars to mean less.  However, this is still disappointing to me to the point where I cringe when I hear Pujols could be paid $32 or $33 million per year.  To the point where I scowled violently at former Braves manager Bobby Cox last season when he suggested Pujols should earn $50 million a year.  Future Hall of Famer or not, I can't help but wonder if Pujols is worth any of these figures.  He has led the National League in the last two seasons, but had never done it before that.  Ryan Howard, who has actually outhomered Pujols by 22 since 2006, will only be making near $25 million per year on his new deal.  Sure, Pujols is a better average hitter with a much better eye and doesn't strike out much, but is that worth the near $10 million extra he will be paid?  Or is it just part of the fame of being a free agent in such a position of power?  Even with Pujols, is it arrogance?

I think Albert Pujols is a great person and although he isn't the funniest or most interesting guy to listen to in a press conference or interview, that's not a bad thing.  Pujols has never been pegged as arrogant before and isn't one to get into confrontations with anyone, including opposing players.  But with this stubbornness about getting the largest deal ever, I can't help but to be disappointed that he is turning down this path of greed and selfishness that many free agents go down.

Luckily for the Cubs, the ridiculous $32-$34 million price range could be money the Cubs would be willing to spend.  With plenty of money coming off the books after 2011, including the bloated contracts of Kosuke Fukudome and Aramis Ramirez, there will be room in the budget to go after Pujols.  Signing Albert Pujols would be unbelievable, and the media attention that would follow would rival insanity.  In case you were wondering, the contract with Carlos Pena is for only one year, leaving room for the Cubs to go after Pujols or their Plan B, Prince Fielder.  Was this an intention move by GM Jim Hendry for exactly that purpose?  Food for thought.  Many fans will be happy to see Pujols be paid 'what he deserves', but I won't be one of them.  I don't know how much money Pujols really 'deserves', and nobody does.  Nobody can.  But two-time MVP, World Series Champion, future Hall of Famer or not, $33 million a year is hard to stomach.

Also: Read Mike Wilbon's article on why his hometown Cubbies should sign Pujols.