Friday, July 10, 2009
What the new Cubs owner should do...
Cuba has confirmed that prized LHP Ardolis Chapman has defected. He managed to defect while the Cuban team was playing in a tournament in the Netherlands. Chapman is said to have a a fastball that touches 100 mph and is rated as one of the top left-handed pitchers in the world. If I were new Cubs owner, Tom Ricketts, I would make a strong effort to sign this guy. Chapman is only 21 years old (allegedly) and is the best pitching prospect to leave Cuba since Jose Contreras. The Cubs could really use a young, talented left-handed starting pitching prospect with this kind of potential. The Cubs are not really as deep at starting pitching beyond this season, I do not expect Rich Harden to remain a Cub beyond this season. Who knows how good Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, or Kevin Hart will do over a full season? Who knows how good Randy Wells will be beyond this season, or even in the second half? Carlos Zambrano's early retirement in a few years? With all of these question marks, the Cubs should make it a priority to sign Chapman, it is going to cost a lot of money, but it would be worth the risk.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Cubs Roster Move
The Cubs sent down P Kevin Hart today and called up reliever Jeff Stevens from Iowa, Stevens was acquired from Cleveland in the Mark DeRosa trade. I really do not know much about Stevens other than the fact that he is 0-3 at Iowa with a 2.18 ERA, who knows how this will translate in the big leagues? The Cubs called him up because they needed an extra reliever for the 4-game weekend series with the Cardinals, including a double-header on Sunday. With the All-Star Break coming up, Hart was no longer needed here, he is set to return to the Cubs and start a game after the break. The Cubs need to be careful with Hart, I am not sure how many more options he has left.
Also, Jason Waddell is due to come off of the DL, and will return to Iowa. I assume if he pitches well down there, he will return to the Cubs as their lefty specialist out of the bullpen, and Sean Marshall can return to the rotation to replace injured Ryan Dempster, instead of Hart. I would much rather have Waddell back in the pen over Neal Cotts or B.J. Ryan.
Also, Jason Waddell is due to come off of the DL, and will return to Iowa. I assume if he pitches well down there, he will return to the Cubs as their lefty specialist out of the bullpen, and Sean Marshall can return to the rotation to replace injured Ryan Dempster, instead of Hart. I would much rather have Waddell back in the pen over Neal Cotts or B.J. Ryan.
I am tired of Shaq's Bullshit
Shaq is asking fans on Twitter what his new nickname should be: The Big Witness or Shaquilier (a not so clever play on the word Cavalier). My question is who gives a shit? I am so tired of Shaq, all he does is bounce around from contender to contender just so he can get a shot to one-up Kobe Bryant with another title. Too bad Shaq is not that good anymore, all he does is latch on to superstars see: Penny Hardaway, Kobe, Dwyane Wade, and Steve Nash. I wish this clown would just retire so I don't have to hear about his Twitter updates on Sportscenter anymore. Seriously what a jerk, I bet he sucks in Cleveland too.
Cubs lose to Braves 4-1in a real yawner
The Cubs game yesterday was a real yawner, I know because I was there. Their lone run came on a Fukudome solo HR in the 6th inning. Kevin Hart was recalled from AAA- Iowa to replace injured starter Ryan Dempster who is on the DL with a broken toe. Hart was not too bad: 5IP, ER, 4H, 5BB, 3K. It could have been worse for Hart, he pitched out of a few jams, and did not get much help. Hart did not get much help defensively as Derrek Lee let a grounder get over him, it was ruled a double, but it should have been an error, he is supposed to make that play. Fukudome and Jake Fox (who started in LF) also both let balls get by them, Fox's lack of defensive skills are starting to show. The umpires, specifically the second base umpire, blew multiple calls that favored the Braves. The first was when Fukudome was ruled out at second on a double play ball hit by Ryan Theriot, it was clear from my seats that Fukudome was safe. Then later in the game Casey Kotchman was ruled safe on a similar play, when he was clearly out, if you follow the in the neighborhood "rule" at second base. Derryl Cousins needs to get his eyes checked, he is a complete ass. Nevertheless, the Cubs never really deserved to win the game yesterday, they did not hit the ball, again.
With Ryan Dempster on the DL we need to do something about the rotation, Kevin Hart is not the answer. I would like to see Lou Piniella either bring Sean Marshall or Jeff Samardzija into the rotation, preferably Marshall of the two. If Mitch Atkins starts to perform better at Iowa, he could be a possibility as well, especially since Marshall has been pitching so well out of the pen, and he is our only lefty in the pen. The Cubs would have to add another lefty to the pen if they move Marshall to the rotation, I am not sure when Jason Waddell is due back from the DL, or if Neal Cotts is still considered a big-league pitcher. I have heard rumors that recently released B.J. Ryan (Toronto and fomerly of Baltimore) could be had for the league minimum, similar to Jim Edmonds' deal last season. Ryan likely is not the answer, he has battled major arm injuries the last few seasons, and does not have much left in the tank, I guess it could be worth a look though.
I was wondering why Geovany Soto was not in the line-up yesterday, especially since Koyie Hill started the night before, apparently fat-boy strained his oblique in batting practice. The club is not sure if he will have to go on the DL yet and Fox is the backup there for now. If Soto does have to go on the DL the Cubs will be in trouble, we do not have much depth at Catcher in the organization, it would be similar to our catching situation of 2007. I hope he is ok, but oblique injuries can be troublesome.
Furthermore, Jeff Baker sucks. Why did we trade for this guy? What happened to Andres Blanco? I know he does not hit all that well, but he can really field, unlike Mike Fontenot and Baker. Blanco deserves to play over both of these clowns.
The Cubs are off today and they need their rest, they start a 4-game weekend series with the Cardinals tomorrow. This is a huge series, if the Cubs do well, they'll be right back in the division race. The Cubs are back to .500, again, at 41-41.
I did go to the game yesterday, it was fun, and cheap. My friend Nick and I scored Standing Room Only Seats for $15 and snuck in a flask of Vodka which we mixed with Tropicana Lemonade. We were easily able to sneak down to seats in section 231 and enjoy the game. Also, the Italian Beef Sandwiches at Wrigley are pretty tight. It is rare that I go to a game, have a good time, and spend less than $40, which in these economic times, is a really good deal.
My personal 2009 Cubs record: 6 and 3.
The next game I am going to as of right now: Sunday July 12th at 12:05pm vs St. Louis.
*There is a possibility I will be going to both games of the double-header on Sunday. As of right now I have bleacher tickets for the morning game so I will be waiting in line early on Sunday morning with an alcoholic beverage in hand.
With Ryan Dempster on the DL we need to do something about the rotation, Kevin Hart is not the answer. I would like to see Lou Piniella either bring Sean Marshall or Jeff Samardzija into the rotation, preferably Marshall of the two. If Mitch Atkins starts to perform better at Iowa, he could be a possibility as well, especially since Marshall has been pitching so well out of the pen, and he is our only lefty in the pen. The Cubs would have to add another lefty to the pen if they move Marshall to the rotation, I am not sure when Jason Waddell is due back from the DL, or if Neal Cotts is still considered a big-league pitcher. I have heard rumors that recently released B.J. Ryan (Toronto and fomerly of Baltimore) could be had for the league minimum, similar to Jim Edmonds' deal last season. Ryan likely is not the answer, he has battled major arm injuries the last few seasons, and does not have much left in the tank, I guess it could be worth a look though.
I was wondering why Geovany Soto was not in the line-up yesterday, especially since Koyie Hill started the night before, apparently fat-boy strained his oblique in batting practice. The club is not sure if he will have to go on the DL yet and Fox is the backup there for now. If Soto does have to go on the DL the Cubs will be in trouble, we do not have much depth at Catcher in the organization, it would be similar to our catching situation of 2007. I hope he is ok, but oblique injuries can be troublesome.
Furthermore, Jeff Baker sucks. Why did we trade for this guy? What happened to Andres Blanco? I know he does not hit all that well, but he can really field, unlike Mike Fontenot and Baker. Blanco deserves to play over both of these clowns.
The Cubs are off today and they need their rest, they start a 4-game weekend series with the Cardinals tomorrow. This is a huge series, if the Cubs do well, they'll be right back in the division race. The Cubs are back to .500, again, at 41-41.
I did go to the game yesterday, it was fun, and cheap. My friend Nick and I scored Standing Room Only Seats for $15 and snuck in a flask of Vodka which we mixed with Tropicana Lemonade. We were easily able to sneak down to seats in section 231 and enjoy the game. Also, the Italian Beef Sandwiches at Wrigley are pretty tight. It is rare that I go to a game, have a good time, and spend less than $40, which in these economic times, is a really good deal.
My personal 2009 Cubs record: 6 and 3.
The next game I am going to as of right now: Sunday July 12th at 12:05pm vs St. Louis.
*There is a possibility I will be going to both games of the double-header on Sunday. As of right now I have bleacher tickets for the morning game so I will be waiting in line early on Sunday morning with an alcoholic beverage in hand.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Cubs Win again, other thoughts
Last night the Cubs hung in there and defeated the Braves 4-2 against a very tough pitcher, Jair Jurrjens. We were lucky to avoid Jurrjens when we went to Atlanta, he has been one of the best pitchers in the league this season. Last night however was not one of his best days and the Cubs made him pay for it. It seemed as if Jurrjens was having control problems, although you could sense he was not too happy with the home-plate umpire. From what I could tell, the umpire did miss a few calls, but it was even for both teams, he was not calling low pitches for strikes either way. Jurrjens was just a little bit off last night and the Cubs took advantage scoring 4 runs off of him.
Our new lead-off guy, Fukudome got things started last night with a nicely hit single to left, and was then sacrificed over to second base by Ryan Theriot (I loved this play, playing for the one run against a good pitcher is never a bad idea!). Then Derrek Lee hit yet another HR to left field to make 2-0. That was Lee's 5th HR in the last 6 games and his 16th this season, he also has 53 RBIs, both lead the team. Lee is hitting as well as I have seen him hit since his monster season in 2005, no joke, I do not remember the last time Lee looked so confident at the plate, or hit with this kind of power. If Lee keeps this up, 30HR and 100 RBI is within reach, something I never thought he could do before the season started, or even after May. Seriously though, if this team is going to go anywhere this season, Lee needs to hit the baseball.
The Cubs then added two insurance runs in the second inning, all with two outs. Mike Fontenot (who I thought could have been sent down) got the rally started with a single, which was followed by a Randy Wells single. Fontenot would then score on a Fukudome double (a very hard hit ball). Wells would later score on a Theriot infield single to make it 4-0 and that was all the Cubs would need.
Four runs was plenty last night, especially with Randy Wells pitching for the Cubs: 6IP, 2ER, 7H, 4K, BB, just another typical Wells start, he improved to 4-3, 2.48 ERA. Wells probably did not have his best stuff last night, but he battled. He got into a big jam in the 4th after Fontenot could not get to a grounder and a high-line-drive that hit his glove (Andres Blanco makes at least one of those plays if not both). Then Wells himself made a rare error, his first, to load the bases with one out. Wells was able to escape allowing only one run. Wells also allowed a solo-HR to Nate McLouth in the 5th. Wells did his job last night, his team spotted him a few runs early (something they seem to rarely do for Wells), and he gave them a chance to win the ballgame with yet another quality start. Eventually when Wells has enough innings pitched to qualify, he will be among the league leaders in ERA. He is flying so far under the radar it is ridiculous, seriously! This guy should be a lock for N.L. Rookie of the Year, but I am sure he will continue to go unnoticed. Example: Head SI.com Baseball Writer, Jon Heyman (Big-time East Coast Bias) wrote his Mid-Season Awards article yesterday and listed his top-five ROY candidates in each league, and he failed to mention Wells. His list was ridiculous and sad, here it is, with my comments on each player:
1.) Colby Rasmus, St. Louis: .282 avg, 13HR, 32 RBI, not that impressive, not enough run production, despite playing in a hitters park.
2.) Tommy Hanson, Atlanta: 4-0, 2.26 ERA in 6 starts. Very comparable to Wells and has only made six starts, this kid is supposed to be the real deal though.
3.) Casey McGehee, Milwaukee: .343 avg, 6HR, 27 RBI. Seriously Jon? MLB generally does not vote older journeyman rookies as ROY. Also, I would be shocked if McGehee continues to hit, unless he faces Jeff Samardzija every time.
4.) Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh: .295 avg, HR, 20RBI in 31 games. McCutchen was not called up until the Pirates dealt McLouth. He looks pretty good, but I would need to see more, he may not have the numbers at the end of the season, expect the average to fall slightly, plus he plays for the Pirates.
5. Ronald Belisario, Los Angeles: 1-3, 2.42 ERA. Has anyone ever heard of this guy? Has very similar numbers to Angel Guzman (is he still considered a rookie?). When I saw his name, I thought we were talking about Donald P. Bellisario, creator and producer of Magnum P.I. It seems like Heyman was really reaching on this one.
Heyman's list looks like it was lifted from some pre-season list of candidates, based purely on numbers, I do not understand how he could not have included Wells?
Finally back to the Cubs... I really like the roster moves they made yesterday. I had no problem sending down Sam Fuld or Kevin Hart. David Patton going to the DL seems a little fishy to me, I know they can not send him down because he was a Rule-5 pick, but what ever it takes to keep him I guess. It was good to see Aramis Ramirez, who was 0-4 and was the only Cub starter to not reach base, back in action last night, our line-up missed him dearly. I like the Cubs decision to only have 11 pitchers on the staff right now, especially considering how well our rotation has pitched all season, here's to us not playing a bunch of extra-inning games before the All-Star Break! I also really like Lou Piniella's decision to drop Alfonso Soriano in the order and moving Fukudome to lead-off, well played. Soriano was killing this team, let him figure things out lower in the order, and he did get a double last night. Fukudome has looked great leading off, it looks like he is comfortable there, and that his work with Von Joshua has paid off. The only question I have for Lou is who bats lead-off against lefties? Reed Johnson? And lastly, Congrats to Ted Lilly on making the All-Star team! He deserves to go more than any other Cub, well maybe I could argue for Theriot or Wells.
Up Next: The Cubs and Braves play game two of a three game series tonight at 7 pm on WGN. Ryan Dempster (5-5, 4.09 ERA) faces off against Javier Vazquez (5-7, 3.05 ERA). Dempster is coming off of a win over the weekend, although he allowed 5 runs. Vazquez has been solid all season, but is just not getting enough run support, let me get my violin. I would think this game has the makings of another low scoring game, especially considering the Cubs never hit Vazquez all that well, but who knows. Luckily the Braves are not playing very well right now, so there is a chance Dempster can shut them down, not to mention the Cubs are on a roll at home right now. But I am not getting too excited, the Cubs are under .500 this season when playing on WGN. The Cardinals and Brewers are playing each other, lets see if we can make up some ground!
Our new lead-off guy, Fukudome got things started last night with a nicely hit single to left, and was then sacrificed over to second base by Ryan Theriot (I loved this play, playing for the one run against a good pitcher is never a bad idea!). Then Derrek Lee hit yet another HR to left field to make 2-0. That was Lee's 5th HR in the last 6 games and his 16th this season, he also has 53 RBIs, both lead the team. Lee is hitting as well as I have seen him hit since his monster season in 2005, no joke, I do not remember the last time Lee looked so confident at the plate, or hit with this kind of power. If Lee keeps this up, 30HR and 100 RBI is within reach, something I never thought he could do before the season started, or even after May. Seriously though, if this team is going to go anywhere this season, Lee needs to hit the baseball.
The Cubs then added two insurance runs in the second inning, all with two outs. Mike Fontenot (who I thought could have been sent down) got the rally started with a single, which was followed by a Randy Wells single. Fontenot would then score on a Fukudome double (a very hard hit ball). Wells would later score on a Theriot infield single to make it 4-0 and that was all the Cubs would need.
Four runs was plenty last night, especially with Randy Wells pitching for the Cubs: 6IP, 2ER, 7H, 4K, BB, just another typical Wells start, he improved to 4-3, 2.48 ERA. Wells probably did not have his best stuff last night, but he battled. He got into a big jam in the 4th after Fontenot could not get to a grounder and a high-line-drive that hit his glove (Andres Blanco makes at least one of those plays if not both). Then Wells himself made a rare error, his first, to load the bases with one out. Wells was able to escape allowing only one run. Wells also allowed a solo-HR to Nate McLouth in the 5th. Wells did his job last night, his team spotted him a few runs early (something they seem to rarely do for Wells), and he gave them a chance to win the ballgame with yet another quality start. Eventually when Wells has enough innings pitched to qualify, he will be among the league leaders in ERA. He is flying so far under the radar it is ridiculous, seriously! This guy should be a lock for N.L. Rookie of the Year, but I am sure he will continue to go unnoticed. Example: Head SI.com Baseball Writer, Jon Heyman (Big-time East Coast Bias) wrote his Mid-Season Awards article yesterday and listed his top-five ROY candidates in each league, and he failed to mention Wells. His list was ridiculous and sad, here it is, with my comments on each player:
1.) Colby Rasmus, St. Louis: .282 avg, 13HR, 32 RBI, not that impressive, not enough run production, despite playing in a hitters park.
2.) Tommy Hanson, Atlanta: 4-0, 2.26 ERA in 6 starts. Very comparable to Wells and has only made six starts, this kid is supposed to be the real deal though.
3.) Casey McGehee, Milwaukee: .343 avg, 6HR, 27 RBI. Seriously Jon? MLB generally does not vote older journeyman rookies as ROY. Also, I would be shocked if McGehee continues to hit, unless he faces Jeff Samardzija every time.
4.) Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh: .295 avg, HR, 20RBI in 31 games. McCutchen was not called up until the Pirates dealt McLouth. He looks pretty good, but I would need to see more, he may not have the numbers at the end of the season, expect the average to fall slightly, plus he plays for the Pirates.
5. Ronald Belisario, Los Angeles: 1-3, 2.42 ERA. Has anyone ever heard of this guy? Has very similar numbers to Angel Guzman (is he still considered a rookie?). When I saw his name, I thought we were talking about Donald P. Bellisario, creator and producer of Magnum P.I. It seems like Heyman was really reaching on this one.
Heyman's list looks like it was lifted from some pre-season list of candidates, based purely on numbers, I do not understand how he could not have included Wells?
Finally back to the Cubs... I really like the roster moves they made yesterday. I had no problem sending down Sam Fuld or Kevin Hart. David Patton going to the DL seems a little fishy to me, I know they can not send him down because he was a Rule-5 pick, but what ever it takes to keep him I guess. It was good to see Aramis Ramirez, who was 0-4 and was the only Cub starter to not reach base, back in action last night, our line-up missed him dearly. I like the Cubs decision to only have 11 pitchers on the staff right now, especially considering how well our rotation has pitched all season, here's to us not playing a bunch of extra-inning games before the All-Star Break! I also really like Lou Piniella's decision to drop Alfonso Soriano in the order and moving Fukudome to lead-off, well played. Soriano was killing this team, let him figure things out lower in the order, and he did get a double last night. Fukudome has looked great leading off, it looks like he is comfortable there, and that his work with Von Joshua has paid off. The only question I have for Lou is who bats lead-off against lefties? Reed Johnson? And lastly, Congrats to Ted Lilly on making the All-Star team! He deserves to go more than any other Cub, well maybe I could argue for Theriot or Wells.
Up Next: The Cubs and Braves play game two of a three game series tonight at 7 pm on WGN. Ryan Dempster (5-5, 4.09 ERA) faces off against Javier Vazquez (5-7, 3.05 ERA). Dempster is coming off of a win over the weekend, although he allowed 5 runs. Vazquez has been solid all season, but is just not getting enough run support, let me get my violin. I would think this game has the makings of another low scoring game, especially considering the Cubs never hit Vazquez all that well, but who knows. Luckily the Braves are not playing very well right now, so there is a chance Dempster can shut them down, not to mention the Cubs are on a roll at home right now. But I am not getting too excited, the Cubs are under .500 this season when playing on WGN. The Cardinals and Brewers are playing each other, lets see if we can make up some ground!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Cubs Roster Move
The Cubs made a trade with the Colorado Rockies today sending P Alberto Alburquerque to the Rockies and getting IF Jeff Baker in return. Baker is a second baseman who can also play at 3B or 1B if needed, he bats right, and throws right. This season in 12 games, Baker is hitting .130 with 3RBI, he sounds like he will fit in just fine with the Cubs. Baker has been on the DL since late April, he is set to join the team today. The Cubs have not said if he will remain on the DL, start his rehab stint, or join them immediately. He is coming off of his best season in 2008 with 12HR and 48 RBI and he will be a bench player for the Cubs. The Cubs will have to make a corresponding roster move to make room for Baker, my guess is that Aaron Miles or Ryan Freel is finished (YES!). I do not know anything about Alburquerque other than that he was a pitcher for us at A- Daytona.
So we took care of the Pirates, big deal
The Cubs took 2 of 3 games from the Pirates in Pittsburgh to finish up 3-7 on their road trip. This was a terrible road trip for the Cubs, losing to Atlanta in a make-up game, getting swept by Detroit, and losing 2 of 3 to the White Sox. The Pirates are not a very good team (as evidenced by their recent trades) so we were supposed to beat them. Now the Cubs are back in Chicago for an 11-game home stand which includes a 4 games vs Milwaukee, 3 vs Atlanta, and 4 vs St. Louis. This is their most important stretch of games so far this season, if the Cubs are going to make any noise in the Division, now is the time to make a move.
Last night the Cubs beat the Pirates 4-1 behind a strong pitching performance by Randy Wells: 7IP, ER, 6H, BB, 4K, his record is now 3-3 with a 2.43 ERA. Wells has been very consistent since being called up from AAA, in his 10 starts only one could be considered bad. It feels like every time he goes out there, the Cubs have a very good chance of winning. Wells is quietly building up quite the case for Rookie of the Year. Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless 8th, he beaned the lead-off hitter, but got out of the inning unscathed. Kevin Gregg pitched an efficient 9th for his 14th save.
Offensively the Cubs looked good, and why shouldn't they, I mean they were facing Virgil Vasquez. Sam Fuld, who started in place of Alfonso Soriano, and lead-off, got the game started with a double down the line. Fuld looked like a real lead-off man! This is what your lead-off hitter is supposed to do, not swing at anything, and always look for homers. Fuld would come around to score on Derrek Lee's towering HR to center, his 12th of the season, he is also the first Cub to reach 40 RBI this season, so he is kinda like a dwarf among midgets. But the HR was great to see, Lee seems to be back on track for good, I hope he can keep it going on this upcoming home stand. The Cubs did not score again until the 6th when Fukudome hit a solo-HR to right, he hit the ball hard 3 times off of Vasquez, and looked like he was really seeing the ball clearly. Then in the 8th Geovany Soto hit a clutch single with RISP to score Milton Bradley from second, he was safe by a split-second at the plate. Four runs was enough to win the game easily, considering how well Wells pitched. Generally when the Cubs score at least 4 runs they are very successful.
Sam Fuld had a very good night 2-4, 2B, BB, R. He collected his first MLB hit and made a great throw to the plate to prevent a would-be Pirates run from scoring. I am by no means suggesting we sit Soriano (unless they wanna put him on the DL) but Fuld looked like a real lead-off hitter last night, which was nice to see. Fuld plays a little bit like Scott Podsednik, but is a better fielder, with a better arm. I would not be surprised at all if Fuld played again tonight. Ryan Theriot, Fukudome, and Soto each had two hits apiece, Soto had a 3B, the third of his career. Theriot and Lee both grounded into double plays, Theriot has done that a lot this season, I would not be surprised if he leads the team, for Lee it was only his 3rd of the season. Lee has improved greatly in that category from last season, the reason: he is hitting more fly-balls. Len Kasper said Lee hit a career high 240 ground balls last season and this season Lee made an effort to hit the ball in the air more often.
Furthermore, how could I forget Lou Piniella! Lou treated us with his first outburst/ejection of the season in the 6th inning of last night's game. He was arguing a play at first where Wells was called out but appeared to be safe on a close play. Earlier in that sequence Wells hit a ball right down the third base line that was ruled foul, it seemed as if Lou thought it was fair. Lou went out to argue these calls to stand up for his rookie pitcher. Wells responded nicely throwing a scoreless 6th and 7th innings where he looked very sharp. It was not one of Lou's best or funniest blow-ups, but he had to go out there, those were questionable calls at best.
Up Next: Cubs vs Brewers @ 7:05 on CSN and MLB Network (its the Thursday Night Baseball Game with Matt Vasgersian and Dan Plesac calling the game). Ryan Dempster (4-5, 4.09 ERA) is pitching agains Seth McClung (3-1, 3.55 ERA). You know how I feel about Dempster, so I will not bash him here, but he needs to start performing. I really do not expect much out of Dempster anymore these days, I would take a quality start, but I do not expect one. The Cubs have seen a lot of McClung the past few seasons, but as a reliever, not a starter. I am not exactly sure why they converted him to a starter anyway? But anywho, the Cubs should be able to score a few runs off of him, he is not that good of a pitcher. This is the first game of a four game series, the Cubs come in at 37-38 and 3.5 games behind the first-place Brewers who are 42-36. Now would be an ideal time for the Cubs to start playing well and get back in this Division race. Beware though, the Brewers are a good road-team with a 20-18 road record this season. The Cubs will not have to face the Brewers' ace, Yovani Gallardo in this series.
Last night the Cubs beat the Pirates 4-1 behind a strong pitching performance by Randy Wells: 7IP, ER, 6H, BB, 4K, his record is now 3-3 with a 2.43 ERA. Wells has been very consistent since being called up from AAA, in his 10 starts only one could be considered bad. It feels like every time he goes out there, the Cubs have a very good chance of winning. Wells is quietly building up quite the case for Rookie of the Year. Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless 8th, he beaned the lead-off hitter, but got out of the inning unscathed. Kevin Gregg pitched an efficient 9th for his 14th save.
Offensively the Cubs looked good, and why shouldn't they, I mean they were facing Virgil Vasquez. Sam Fuld, who started in place of Alfonso Soriano, and lead-off, got the game started with a double down the line. Fuld looked like a real lead-off man! This is what your lead-off hitter is supposed to do, not swing at anything, and always look for homers. Fuld would come around to score on Derrek Lee's towering HR to center, his 12th of the season, he is also the first Cub to reach 40 RBI this season, so he is kinda like a dwarf among midgets. But the HR was great to see, Lee seems to be back on track for good, I hope he can keep it going on this upcoming home stand. The Cubs did not score again until the 6th when Fukudome hit a solo-HR to right, he hit the ball hard 3 times off of Vasquez, and looked like he was really seeing the ball clearly. Then in the 8th Geovany Soto hit a clutch single with RISP to score Milton Bradley from second, he was safe by a split-second at the plate. Four runs was enough to win the game easily, considering how well Wells pitched. Generally when the Cubs score at least 4 runs they are very successful.
Sam Fuld had a very good night 2-4, 2B, BB, R. He collected his first MLB hit and made a great throw to the plate to prevent a would-be Pirates run from scoring. I am by no means suggesting we sit Soriano (unless they wanna put him on the DL) but Fuld looked like a real lead-off hitter last night, which was nice to see. Fuld plays a little bit like Scott Podsednik, but is a better fielder, with a better arm. I would not be surprised at all if Fuld played again tonight. Ryan Theriot, Fukudome, and Soto each had two hits apiece, Soto had a 3B, the third of his career. Theriot and Lee both grounded into double plays, Theriot has done that a lot this season, I would not be surprised if he leads the team, for Lee it was only his 3rd of the season. Lee has improved greatly in that category from last season, the reason: he is hitting more fly-balls. Len Kasper said Lee hit a career high 240 ground balls last season and this season Lee made an effort to hit the ball in the air more often.
Furthermore, how could I forget Lou Piniella! Lou treated us with his first outburst/ejection of the season in the 6th inning of last night's game. He was arguing a play at first where Wells was called out but appeared to be safe on a close play. Earlier in that sequence Wells hit a ball right down the third base line that was ruled foul, it seemed as if Lou thought it was fair. Lou went out to argue these calls to stand up for his rookie pitcher. Wells responded nicely throwing a scoreless 6th and 7th innings where he looked very sharp. It was not one of Lou's best or funniest blow-ups, but he had to go out there, those were questionable calls at best.
Up Next: Cubs vs Brewers @ 7:05 on CSN and MLB Network (its the Thursday Night Baseball Game with Matt Vasgersian and Dan Plesac calling the game). Ryan Dempster (4-5, 4.09 ERA) is pitching agains Seth McClung (3-1, 3.55 ERA). You know how I feel about Dempster, so I will not bash him here, but he needs to start performing. I really do not expect much out of Dempster anymore these days, I would take a quality start, but I do not expect one. The Cubs have seen a lot of McClung the past few seasons, but as a reliever, not a starter. I am not exactly sure why they converted him to a starter anyway? But anywho, the Cubs should be able to score a few runs off of him, he is not that good of a pitcher. This is the first game of a four game series, the Cubs come in at 37-38 and 3.5 games behind the first-place Brewers who are 42-36. Now would be an ideal time for the Cubs to start playing well and get back in this Division race. Beware though, the Brewers are a good road-team with a 20-18 road record this season. The Cubs will not have to face the Brewers' ace, Yovani Gallardo in this series.
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