Okay..Let's Assess the Damage...There's a Hurricane?
Ok, not to make light of those suffering during Hurricane Dennis, I was speaking of the damage done by the beloved Cubs over the first 87 games.
The Cubs are 43-44, 13.5 back of the Cardinals in the Central Division, and 6.0 games back of Atlanta in the Wild Card. They are tied for 6th in the NL in Runs, are 13th in OBP and SB %, 2nd in HRs, 8th in stolen bases, last in wlaks taken, and 13th in strikeouts(hitting). They are also 7th in errors, tied for 11th in saves, 10th in ERA, 3rd in HRs allowed, 4th in walks allowed(most), and lead the league in strikeouts.
In short folks, this is a mediocre team, with a capital M!
Lets take a look at the lineup, postion by position:
C-Mike Barrett: batting .264, OBP of .323, SLG .448...9HR and 38 RBI....18BB/28K...
A pretty solid 1st half for Mike. Let's hope that, with some rest, he can continue to play well, and maybe end up with...say....15HRs, 55 RBIs, and get that avg up around .275 or so.
1B:Derrek Lee: He is very, very good. Despite what Joe "Sack of Shit" Morgan says, he is the MVP of the NL right now. That may be a different story at the end of the year, but we will see.
peripherals of .452/.733/1.185 are just sick!!!! 45 HRs is not out of reach, and if the guys at the top of the order get on base at all in the second half, 135 -150 RBIs is not unreachable either.
2B: Todd Walker: He has been pretty good, but not great. He's starting to get his rhythm back after the knee injury, and could have a strong second half in the 2 hole hint, hint!
.358/.468/.926 will do nicely, and his defense is adequate too. With Grudzelaniek cooling off, Walker will look even better as the year goes on.
SS: Neifi Effing Perez...Guh!! What is he still doing in this lineup?? I'll give props for a tremendous April, but he has just been horrible since!!!! I mean Mario Mendoza-Bad, Hal Lanier bad.....sheesh...
look at these numbers:
April:.397/.569/.966
May: .277/.370/.647
June: .241/.312/.553
July: .209/.220/.429.(only 10 games, but yikes!!!) Anyone notice a pattern?? Dusty? Anyone??
I do not want to hear any bullshit about how he is a good fielder, and that Cedeno is too young, or whatever. The rest of the month of July should belong to Cedeno..let's see what he can do, because Neifi is sinking faster than the Lusitania.....and if Cedeno falters, hopefully Nomar will come back as scheduled. Cedeno cannot be this much worse than Neifi...its just not possible.
3B: A-Ram...Other than a few lapses in the field, and the lingering groin injury, he has had a good 1st half. He deserved his All-Star berth, and is one of the top 4 3B's in the game.
Locking him up for 4 years was a smart decision, for a change...one we'd like to see continue.
.356/.549/.905 are really good numbers.
LF: Everyone knows how I feel on this. I will be brief.
Hollandsworth:.316/.423/.739...he is hitting .324 over his last 10 games, with 2HR and 7RBIs..
nice....he is still the 4th OF, and should be played that way!!! God....his career numbers of .335/.446/.781 are average, at best for a LF, and he ain't gonna reach those, folks!
He's been so hot lately, that he is up to .269 avg...with 5 HRs and 29 RBIs...gee, he's just great....
Rookie Kelly Johnson, of Atlanta, is batting .258, 6HRs and 24 RBI in 132 ABs (compared to 208), with peripherals of .376/.447/.823...yep, Mulletsworth ain't that good.
Dew-boy got 75 ABs in May to prove himself....75!! Well, if you can't cut it after that many at-bats....I hope that Murton continues to produce, or he'll be riding the pine himself.
CF: Patterson....he stunk. Didn't hit for power or average, struck out a lot, and couldn't get on base to save his life. Iowa is a good place for him to spend July and August. Hairston must have really pissed off Dusty, because he flatly refused to play him regularly until he was forced to do so.
Hairston gets on base, has a decent arm, and no clue how to run the bases. If he continued his pace of .361/.400/.761, I'd be satisfied. I'll keep my fingeres crossed, just in case.
RF: Jeromy Burnitz. He has been steady, if not spectacular, at the plate and in the field. He is just off his career averages at .342/.475/.797. If he doesn't make any more horrible baserunning gaffes, he'll have a solid year here, or be traded if the Cubs fall further out of the race. He is an upgrade over the Sammy of the last 2 years, at a bargain price.
The bench: Well..its really thin...Hank White can't hit me with a bat...Macias has played fairly well, but still gets too many spot starts, and Cedeno is miscast here, as he should be playing every day....Ben Grieve anyone? Oh, Greenberg can sure take a pitch, can't he?
The rotation has been pretty good, even if they can't stay healthy.
Wood looks like he might have a good second half, Prior and "Z" need to get consistent, and Maddux..well...hmm. He looks great some starts..terrible on others....in other words, a typical #5 starter. Glendon Rusch looked solid as the 5th starter, and Jeome Williams looks promising as well. If 5 of these guys can put it together a little, and stay healthy, there will be plenty of positives in the second half.
The bullpen is horrible. Plain and simple. The only consistent one has been Dempster.
Weurtz has shown flashes, as has Novoa, but neither is ready to be the guy in the 8th yet.
Ohman scares me when he comes to the mound..but shows promise as a LOOGY.
Rich Hill got sent down, but pitched a hell of a game in relief of Zambrano, with 4 1/3 scoreless innings, 6Ks and 2 BB. He would look good as a starter too. Leicester spread napalm wherever he pitched, and Wellemeyer just is not consistent enough. Remlinger should be traded...immediately. He stinks....he was good with the Braves, not so good with the Cubs.
I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Jermaine Van Buren hasn't been brought up yet!!
He is pitching very well at Iowa, with a 2.31 ERA, 45K's vs. 16BB's in 35 innings, and 12 saves.
He must not have the pictures of Dusty and Hendry that Macias and Neifi have.
The outlook is cautiously optimistic here. I almost hope that the Cubs stumble a bit, just so they can see what they have in Murton, Greenberg, Cedeno...hmm..maybe Rich Hill, Mike Fontenot, and Geovany Soto too. The wild card isn't out of the question, but it will take a mid-level miracle to catch the Cardinals....right?
Go Cubs!!!
The Cubs are 43-44, 13.5 back of the Cardinals in the Central Division, and 6.0 games back of Atlanta in the Wild Card. They are tied for 6th in the NL in Runs, are 13th in OBP and SB %, 2nd in HRs, 8th in stolen bases, last in wlaks taken, and 13th in strikeouts(hitting). They are also 7th in errors, tied for 11th in saves, 10th in ERA, 3rd in HRs allowed, 4th in walks allowed(most), and lead the league in strikeouts.
In short folks, this is a mediocre team, with a capital M!
Lets take a look at the lineup, postion by position:
C-Mike Barrett: batting .264, OBP of .323, SLG .448...9HR and 38 RBI....18BB/28K...
A pretty solid 1st half for Mike. Let's hope that, with some rest, he can continue to play well, and maybe end up with...say....15HRs, 55 RBIs, and get that avg up around .275 or so.
1B:Derrek Lee: He is very, very good. Despite what Joe "Sack of Shit" Morgan says, he is the MVP of the NL right now. That may be a different story at the end of the year, but we will see.
peripherals of .452/.733/1.185 are just sick!!!! 45 HRs is not out of reach, and if the guys at the top of the order get on base at all in the second half, 135 -150 RBIs is not unreachable either.
2B: Todd Walker: He has been pretty good, but not great. He's starting to get his rhythm back after the knee injury, and could have a strong second half in the 2 hole hint, hint!
.358/.468/.926 will do nicely, and his defense is adequate too. With Grudzelaniek cooling off, Walker will look even better as the year goes on.
SS: Neifi Effing Perez...Guh!! What is he still doing in this lineup?? I'll give props for a tremendous April, but he has just been horrible since!!!! I mean Mario Mendoza-Bad, Hal Lanier bad.....sheesh...
look at these numbers:
April:.397/.569/.966
May: .277/.370/.647
June: .241/.312/.553
July: .209/.220/.429.(only 10 games, but yikes!!!) Anyone notice a pattern?? Dusty? Anyone??
I do not want to hear any bullshit about how he is a good fielder, and that Cedeno is too young, or whatever. The rest of the month of July should belong to Cedeno..let's see what he can do, because Neifi is sinking faster than the Lusitania.....and if Cedeno falters, hopefully Nomar will come back as scheduled. Cedeno cannot be this much worse than Neifi...its just not possible.
3B: A-Ram...Other than a few lapses in the field, and the lingering groin injury, he has had a good 1st half. He deserved his All-Star berth, and is one of the top 4 3B's in the game.
Locking him up for 4 years was a smart decision, for a change...one we'd like to see continue.
.356/.549/.905 are really good numbers.
LF: Everyone knows how I feel on this. I will be brief.
Hollandsworth:.316/.423/.739...he is hitting .324 over his last 10 games, with 2HR and 7RBIs..
nice....he is still the 4th OF, and should be played that way!!! God....his career numbers of .335/.446/.781 are average, at best for a LF, and he ain't gonna reach those, folks!
He's been so hot lately, that he is up to .269 avg...with 5 HRs and 29 RBIs...gee, he's just great....
Rookie Kelly Johnson, of Atlanta, is batting .258, 6HRs and 24 RBI in 132 ABs (compared to 208), with peripherals of .376/.447/.823...yep, Mulletsworth ain't that good.
Dew-boy got 75 ABs in May to prove himself....75!! Well, if you can't cut it after that many at-bats....I hope that Murton continues to produce, or he'll be riding the pine himself.
CF: Patterson....he stunk. Didn't hit for power or average, struck out a lot, and couldn't get on base to save his life. Iowa is a good place for him to spend July and August. Hairston must have really pissed off Dusty, because he flatly refused to play him regularly until he was forced to do so.
Hairston gets on base, has a decent arm, and no clue how to run the bases. If he continued his pace of .361/.400/.761, I'd be satisfied. I'll keep my fingeres crossed, just in case.
RF: Jeromy Burnitz. He has been steady, if not spectacular, at the plate and in the field. He is just off his career averages at .342/.475/.797. If he doesn't make any more horrible baserunning gaffes, he'll have a solid year here, or be traded if the Cubs fall further out of the race. He is an upgrade over the Sammy of the last 2 years, at a bargain price.
The bench: Well..its really thin...Hank White can't hit me with a bat...Macias has played fairly well, but still gets too many spot starts, and Cedeno is miscast here, as he should be playing every day....Ben Grieve anyone? Oh, Greenberg can sure take a pitch, can't he?
The rotation has been pretty good, even if they can't stay healthy.
Wood looks like he might have a good second half, Prior and "Z" need to get consistent, and Maddux..well...hmm. He looks great some starts..terrible on others....in other words, a typical #5 starter. Glendon Rusch looked solid as the 5th starter, and Jeome Williams looks promising as well. If 5 of these guys can put it together a little, and stay healthy, there will be plenty of positives in the second half.
The bullpen is horrible. Plain and simple. The only consistent one has been Dempster.
Weurtz has shown flashes, as has Novoa, but neither is ready to be the guy in the 8th yet.
Ohman scares me when he comes to the mound..but shows promise as a LOOGY.
Rich Hill got sent down, but pitched a hell of a game in relief of Zambrano, with 4 1/3 scoreless innings, 6Ks and 2 BB. He would look good as a starter too. Leicester spread napalm wherever he pitched, and Wellemeyer just is not consistent enough. Remlinger should be traded...immediately. He stinks....he was good with the Braves, not so good with the Cubs.
I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Jermaine Van Buren hasn't been brought up yet!!
He is pitching very well at Iowa, with a 2.31 ERA, 45K's vs. 16BB's in 35 innings, and 12 saves.
He must not have the pictures of Dusty and Hendry that Macias and Neifi have.
The outlook is cautiously optimistic here. I almost hope that the Cubs stumble a bit, just so they can see what they have in Murton, Greenberg, Cedeno...hmm..maybe Rich Hill, Mike Fontenot, and Geovany Soto too. The wild card isn't out of the question, but it will take a mid-level miracle to catch the Cardinals....right?
Go Cubs!!!
posted by Dusty Baylor at 9:35 PM
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