Chicago's Inside Pitch

It’s a day of shaking hands and saying goodbye. For some, it’s goodbye for good, and for others, it’s see you next year. Both Jim Hendry and Lou met the media this morning. Both seemed as enthusiastic about putting this year behind them as they are looking forward to next year.

Since it’s been in the news lately, Ryne Sandberg will be heading back to the minor leagues to manage next year. What happens beyond that is anybody’s guess, but look for him at Class AA Tennessee, where he led the Smokies to the Southern League championship series.

DETROIT _ What's not to like about Chone Figgins?
The Los Angeles Angels' sparkplug can play third base, second base and the outfield, he's batting .298 this season and he ranks first in the American League in runs (114) and walks (101).
The 31-year-old Figgins also ranks third in the AL with 42 stolen bases and seventh with a .396 on-base percentage.
Yeah, go get him Kenny Williams.
It seems like Figgins name comes up every year, and he's out there again.
But here's the problem with Figgins and the White Sox.

Quiet morning around these Wrigley Field parts today. D-Lee is back, and so is Tyler Colvin as Lou gives him a start in center this afternoon.

Lineup
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, RF
Lee, 1B
Ramirez, 3B
Baker, 2B
Johnson, LF
Soto, C
Colvin, CF
Wells, P

Wells is 11-10 with a 3.18 ERA, and although he'll fall short in Rookie of the Year voting, he's been the most pleasant surprise on the Cubs this year.

The Cubs welcomed minor-league player of the year Kyler Burke (Peoria), minor-league pitcher of the year Casey Coleman (Tennessee) and No. 1 draft pick Brett Jackson to Wrigley this morning.

On this day when Chicago's Olympic dreams were dealt a first-round KO, Lou talked of the Cubs finishing second in the NL Central and what they might learn from it. We'll get to that, and I'll point you to my Daily Herald colleague Lindsey Willhite's take on Carlos Zambrano in his blog today:

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/2696

D-Lee isn't here again today as he tends to some personal issues. Lou says he'll be back tomorrow.

Lineup
Fuld, CF
Fukudome, RF
Ramirez, 3B
Fox, 1B
Baker, 2B
Scales, LF
Hill, C
Blanco, SS
Gorzelanny, P

Rain-delay management has never been the strong suit of the Cubs, but they tell us we have a “window” large enough to start tonight’s finale with the Pirates. We’ll see. Aramis Ramirez is back in there at third base, but D-Lee is a late lineup scratch because of “personal reasons,” according to the Cubs.

Lineup
Theriot, SS
Taguchi, LF
Ramirez, 3B
Fox, 1B
Baker, 2B
Johnson, RF
Soto, C
Fuld, CF
Samardzija, P

Lou says that if the game gets rained out, he’d like to get a start for Samardzija somewhere over the final three games against Arizona.

Let’s play another one. We got all kinds of stuff from between games, including a night-game lineup. First, Derrek Lee is back in there after missing Game 1 of the day-night doubleheader. He fouled a pitch off his left foot last night and went for X-rays today. Those proved negative, and D-Lee is good to go. On the other hand, third baseman Aramis Ramirez is not ready to go, and he may be next in what’s becoming a long line of Cubs to be shut down for the rest of the year.

“I'm not going to say that, but we'll see," Lou said.

Aramis is suffering lingering soreness from the dislocated shoulder he suffered in May.

Lineup
Fuld, CF
Theriot, SS
Lee, 1B
Hoffpauir, LF
Baker, 3B
Johnson, RF
Fontenot, 2B
Hill, C
Zambrano, P

News and notes as the White Sox play Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians in front of an estimated 14 people at Progressive Field Wednesday afternoon:
*Jake Peavy was originally scheduled to start Game 2 vs. the Indians tonight, but he'll now go against the Tigers on Friday.
I've heard from a lot of people on Peavy's situation, and the common denominator is: Why is he even pitching this season?
Peavy missed three months, first with an ankle injury and then with a sore right elbow, which was hit by a line drive during a minor-league rehab outing with Class AAA Charlotte.
I've asked about it several times, and the Sox and Peavy have said the return this season should pay benefits in 2010.

We're in it for the long haul today with a game at 1 and another at 7 tonight. It figures to be a relatively small crowd for Game 1. The Cubs have a makeshift lineup, with D-Lee suffering from a sore left foot, courtesy of a foul ball last night. First, the lineup, then talk about quality starts.

Lineup
Theriot, SS
Fukudome, CF
Baker, 3B
Hoffpauir, 1B
Fox, LF
Scales, RF
Soto, C
Blanco, 2B
Lilly, P

Last night, Ryan Dempster turned in the Cubs' 93rd quality start of the season. The Cubs are 60-33 in quality-start games, with the starters having a sparkling ERA of 1.98 in those starts. When the Cubs don't get a quality start, the team is 22-41.

Here is the breakdown among pitchers:

Lilly: 21 quality starts
Dempster: 19
Zambrano: 17
Wells: 17
Harden: 14

Although Kevin Gregg said he still wants to pitch, he is the latest pitcher to be shut down by the Cubs. Gregg had an MRI done Monday on his left side, and it revealed a crack in the cartilage connecting the rib cage and breastbone, the Cubs said. Gregg lost his closer’s job to Carlos Marmol last month, but Lou had nothing but praise for Gregg.

“He took the ball, and he did well," Lou said. "He had a lot of success early and into midseason. He was pitching very well, and he gave up a few home runs. I have a long-term memory, and the memory that I have is a guy that competed well and took the ball and never complained about anything. That’s all you can expect as a manager from your players.”

The Cubs already have shut down Rich Harden and Angel Guzman.

Lineup

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was obviously frustrated by six months of shabby baseball when he went off on his team after Saturday night's ugly loss to the Tigers.
Without mentioning any names like, say, A.J. Pierzynski, Guillen lashed out at his players for watching college football in the clubhouse after blowing a 5-0 lead to Detroit and falling 12-5.
Ozzie was calm and collected Sunday morning at the Cell, and he explained what really set him off.