Monday, April 27, 2009

Cubs lineup was pathetic, lose to Diamondbacks 7-2

I know most people weren't watching the Cubs game tonight and that was probably a good thing. Manager Lou Piniella put together one of the worst lineups I have ever seen. I know we have a number of injuries, but come on! Reed Johnson batting cleanup? This is not a good idea, ever. Piniella batted him there to break up left-handed hitters: Fukudome and Micah Hoffpauir. This was incredibly stupid. First, Johnson can barely hit, and has no power (he went 0-3). Second, the Diamondbacks have only one lefty in their bullpen, so why worry? As is happened, we only got to face one of their pitchers, Dan Haren, who threw a gem: 9.0 IP, 3H, 2ER, 10Ks. The lone bright spots for the Cubs tonight were Alfonso Soriano and Mike Fontenot who both hit rather meaningless solo homers.

Cubs starter Ted Lilly was brutal: 5IP, 6H, 5ER. But it was the walks that killed him tonight, he had four. Jeff Samardzija did pitch a scoreless 8th.

As much as I like Fontenot as a hitter and second-baseman, I have to say that he is not a good third-baseman. He just is not tall enough to play there and does not have the arm to make the throws that position demands. Luckily Aramis Ramirez should be back either Tuesday or Wednesday. Carlos Marmol had a throwing session on Tuesday afternoon and Piniella said if his knee responds well to the workout, he could be back in the bullpen by Tuesday. Milton Bradley should also be returning to the lineup by Wednesday.

Two Guys who need to sit on the bench: Geovany Soto (.119) and Aaron Miles (.182). Soto is out of shape and just looks foolish at the plate, not to mention baserunners are running wild on him the last few games. Miles couldn't hit his way out of a paper bag, seriously why is getting so many at-bats?

1 comment:

  1. In response to one of my readers, here is the lineup I would have put out there (not that it mattered because this group got smoked anyways):

    1. Soriano
    2. Theriot
    3. Fukudome
    4. Hoffpauir
    5. Soto or Hill
    6. Fontenot
    7. Johnson
    8. Miles
    9. Lilly

    I know Lou said he was going to keep Soriano in the leadoff spot for the remainder of the season, but for one game he could have done this maybe they could have scored more runs?:

    1. Theriot
    2. Johnson
    3. Fukudome
    4. Soriano
    5. Hoffpauir
    6. Soto/Hill
    7. Fontenot
    8. Miles
    9. Lilly

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