It figures that they'd have the bad fortune to face the one playoff team without much lefty pitching. Jim Edmonds becomes a crucial player against the Dodgers' glut of righties ... I accept that the networks dictate the hour at which every non-WNBA sporting event will be played, but an 8:30 p.m. local start for Game 2 of Dodgers-Cubs still seems willfully stupid ... Of course Cubs fans should be worried about Carlos Zambrano. The team would be better off right now if somebody had singled off Big Z during the early innings of his no-hitter, which would've allowed Lou to remove him from the game (and preserve his arm) without enraging the masses.
09/23/2008
2
3
I don't buy into the argument the Cubs have some moral obligation to bust their humps this week against the Metsies and Brewers, lest they taint the race for the final two playoff spots. They got themselves in this position by playing smart and hard all season; they've earned the right to loaf or hold auditions for the playoff roster or play Pictionary in the dugout ... Eddie Vedder's All the Way, written by the Pearl Jam frontman/pure-hearted Cubs devotee, sounds like a mopey, personality-free version of The Super Bowl Shuffle ... Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano aren't injured, but they need to rest their shoulders. Does that make any sense?
09/16/2008
3
3
The most amazing aspect of Carlos Zambrano's performance on Sunday? There was only a single instant -- Geoff Blum's liner to right in the eighth inning -- in which the no-hitter was in doubt. ... Situations evolve quickly. A week ago, the Cubs were running scared and wondering what they'd get the rest of the way from Zambrano and Rich Harden. Now they have a cushy division lead and, if they win four more games, should snare home-field advantage for the playoffs in plenty of time to rest their regulars. ... Speaking of whom, I can't think of a single possible reason why Kosuke Fukudome should be in the lineup on even a semi-regular basis. He doesn't hit for power, isn't an appreciable defensive upgrade over Mark DeRosa and, given the language barrier, probably isn't rousing his mates with inspirational outfield chatter.
09/09/2008
3
1
One day, you're cruising. Next thing you know, you've lost seven of your last eight, prompting an entire time zone to revert into a combination of Chicken Little and Anne Heche. ... When a team's manager skips out on the media in the wake of a brutal loss, as Lou Piniella did on Sunday, it sure doesn't send the right message about the importance of accountability. ... Carlos Zambrano is "feeling better," just as he was before he yanked himself from the Astros game with arm pain. I admire the moxie, but maybe the Cubs should just rest the guy and hope he can give them something come October.
09/02/2008
1
1
The run differential sits at a dominant plus-189 heading into September ... According to the Chicago Tribune, Carlos Marmol is on pace to become the first pitcher to surrender fewer than four hits per nine innings over the course of a season. That's impressive, especially given how Lou Piniella worked him ragged earlier in the season ... Of course the Cubs should be easing up on Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden as they careen towards the post-season. I mean, duh ... Koyie Hill had four fingers reattached last year in the wake of what was vaguely described as a "saw accident" and now he's back in the majors. That, friends, is commitment ... They're 9-0-2 in their past 11 series, with Houston and Cincy up next on the slate.
08/26/2008
1
1
Rich Harden (4-1, 1.47 ERA, .162 BAA, 13 K's/9 innings as a Cub) has been every bit as dominant as CC Sabathia, even as the team continues to limit him to five or six innings per game. If Harden's arm is going to forcibly detach from his torso in a cloud of blood and volcanic ash, you want it to happen in October against the Diamondbacks, not against the NL's weak sisters in August. ... Here's why Carlos Marmol is unhittable once anew: Lou Piniella doesn't feel compelled to use him 13 times a week now that Jeff Samardzija has emerged as a legit late-game option. ... Baseball players are tougher than you or I, Vol. LXXVII: A tooth explodes in Carlos Zambrano's mouth, and he spits it out and finishes the game. Had the same thing happened to me, I'd have told my editors that I needed the rest of the week off -- that is, if I were able to stop sobbing long enough to convey my discomfort -- then spent the rest of the afternoon soliciting sympathy from the perky oral hygienist.
08/19/2008
1
2
They get lost amid the Soriano and Lee and Ramirez heroics, but the center field platoon of Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson leads all other NL center fielders in OPS. Nice work by GM Jim Hendry in acquiring them both for free. ... Note to Ryan Theriot and his grit-drenched uniform: Stop trying to steal bases. You're not particularly good at it (only 18 successful swipes in 31 tries) and you're hurting your team by running into outs when the mashers are at the plate. ... Nine games against the Reds, Pirates and Nationals are on the slate for the next two weeks, so the Cubbies could be 35 games over .500 before too long.
08/12/2008
2
2
Kosuke Fukudome brings OBP wisdom and quiet dignityishness and God knows what other kinds of silliness to the table, but at some point the Cubs have to think about platooning him and giving extra at-bats to Mike Fontenot (.944 OPS vs. righty pitching). Mark DeRosa's ability to play a passable right field makes this a no-brainer move. ... Adjectives I never expected to use in describing Ryan Dempster: "reliable," "ace-ish," "fit." ... I might have been wrong about Jeff Samardzija a few weeks back when I suggested that hitters would soon learn to sit on his fastball. His secondary offerings are much more refined than I thought they were. No hard feelings, guy.
08/05/2008
2
7
That Brewers series was a good old-fashioned curb-stomping. ... Their 41-16 home record seems almost impossible, yet it's barely baseball's best (Tampa is 43-17, despite playing before 3,000 fans most nights). ... I see no reason to rush Kerry Wood back, especially now that Carlos Marmol has rediscovered his fastball and his smile, but he'll be good to go tonight against Houston.
07/29/2008
7
2
Huge, huge win Monday night to set the tone for this series. ... 30 K's for Rich Harden in his first 17 innings as a Cubbie. ... Please join me and the good folks at Microsoft Office in welcoming "Samardzija" to my spell check. That said, given that he lacks anything vaguely resembling an out pitch, hitters will start teeing off on his fastball before too long. ... Yeah the Cubs have a better record than their crosstown peers, but they have compiled it in the short-bus league. Right now, I'm operating under the assumption that every NL team would be at least three games worse if they played in the junior circuit. Whadda say we put the numbers guys to work on an AL/NL equivalency stat?
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/28/2008
8
-
Only our third NL team in the top eight, but this team is a few pieces from being among the elite. They have questions in center, right, catcher and at closer, but all four spots can be more-than-adequately filled with up-and-comers (Felix Pie, Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto and Carlos Marmol) or Kerry Wood.
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