School's out, and June's no picnic
Lou was breathing a sigh of relief yesterday that his Cubs got out of May with a record of 15-13. Seems a lot worse, doesn't it?
Things don't figure to get easier. Tomorrow, the Cubs embark on a three-city road trip to Atlanta, Cincinnati and Houston. Then things get really interesting.
The next homestand features games against the American League's Twins, White Sox and Indians. Then, the Cubs get to go to Detroit and face the Tigers, who lead the AL Central. Then it's back to Chicago for three at the Cell against the Sox before the Cubs head to Pittsburgh.
The Cubs don't face a National League opponent at Wrigley Field until the Brewers come to town July 2.
In another scheduling oddity, the Cubs have only one home night game in all of June. That's the Tuesday, June 16 series opener against the Sox. Clark Street will be a lot of fun that night, don't you think?
A little later today, I hope to have posted tomorrow's newspaper story. I took a look at Lou's optimistic comments of yesterday about the rising batting averages going to make everything all right for the Cubs. Well, some of them are rising, but the water level is still pretty low.
Here are a couple of not-so-great stats from Lou's two week-period that he referenced:
--Soriano has exactly no homers and no RBI in the last two weeks. Zero. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Maybe Lou can sit Sori and his sore knee tomorrow and find a way to get keep Reed Johnson and his six-game hitting streak (10-for-22) in the lineup. But I bet it doesn't happen.
--D-Lee has 1 homer and 1 RBI in the last two weeks.
Lou is rightly worried about Soto's throwing. The Dodgers stole two bases last night, and Soto is 6-for-32 in that department. His OBP is slowly rising, but the .272 slugging percentage and 1 homer for the season are big reasons to worry.
Made every wrong move! Like we are on Lee, Soto, Soriano, and Bradley we should be on him. Bradley would not be here if not for him!
A year ago, I would be popping blood vessels, but this team is just bad. It's that simple. Way too many flaws, and I have no clue how anyone can think they are better then last year, or even good enough to contend in the NL. THey might win the NL Central, because this division is a joke.
Yes, Jabba, aka Hendry, did get this team in the playoffs a lot, but unlike his predecessors he was given money to spend. Huge difference. His long term deals, and giving away no trade clauses will come back to haunt this team. Maybe, like David Ortiz, Derek Lee is on the downside of his career, and gave everything in 2005 to get a long term deal? Since then he has done jack crap, and we can't keep blaming a wrist injury from 3 years ago for his downfall.
Anyone excited about Aaron Miles? Aaron Heilman? How about Kevin Gregg? Wait until this team starts playing well, and the bullpen melts down and kills this team over and over again. Last year, the bullpen withstood a lot of late inning rallys, but unless Marmol pitches everyday, they are in deep trouble.
Prepare yourselves. 85 wins would be a huge success at this point.
Plus he dumped Wuertz! Boy would he look better then Hielman...Hmmmm...Miles or Derosa? Miles or Hudson...Lowe over Dempster.
Bruce, any clues on when this experiment will end? 5 baserunners allowed last week in 3 innings.
I had heard rumblings of this ending a couple weeks ago, but nothing since. I've blogged on this a few times. It demonstrates the folly of a 12-man pitching staff, and it does Patton no favors. As of now, I don't know when this will end.
How's this for a trade?
Oswalt is in the doghouse in Houston, and Zambrano should be in the nuthouse in Chicago. So we swap pitchers even steven.
According to Cot's Baseball Contracts here's how their salaries compare.
Oswalt. 5 years 73 mil (2007-2011)
08-13m, 09-14m, 10-15m, 11-16m, 12 club option at 16m
Zambrano 5 years 91.5 mil (2008-2012)
08-15m, 09-17.75m, 10-17.87m, 11-17.87m, 12-18m, 13 player incentive option
Here's how their stats compare.
2008 Oswalt 208 innings, 17-10, 3.54, Zambrano 188, 14-6, 3.91
2007 Oswalt 212, 14-7, 3.18, Zambrano 216, 18-13, 3.95
2006 Oswalt 220, 15-8, 2.98, Zambrano 214, 16-7, 3.41
2005 Oswalt 241, 20-12, 2.94, Zambrano 223, 14-5, 3.26
2004 Oswalt 237, 20-10, 3.49, Zambrano 209, 16-8, 2.75
The only drawback is age. Oswalt is 31, Zambrano 28, otherwise I'd make the trade in a heartbeat.
No Oswalt..no how. Case closed.
Elsewhere, yes, that is a rough schedule in June. I certainly hope Soto wasn't a flash in the pan. Don't think he is... maybe his injuries are still bothering him.
Now D. Lee...there's something to be concerned about.
I think we'll know by the end of this month if they're contenders or pretenders.
IF this team is NOT in contention then it will fall on 4 guy's shoulders: Soto, Lee, Soriano, and Bradley. 2 of these 4 have to get hot. I have ZERO faith in Lee. I think Bradley and Soriano (last June was when he went on that ridiculous tear, correct?) are good bets.
Cubs need Harden back quickly. They are gong to need to grind out wins with great pitching, and pray that somebody in that bullpen can get an out.
As long as Reed Johnson is hot, you have to play him. At this point of the season, it's beyond a bad start, it's becoming a bad season.
Can't wait for the first DeRosa homer vs Cleveland, and 1000 posts that will follow about how he shouldn't have been traded.
It's Zambrano's full no-trade clause, which he got in exchange for giving up many millions.
Who views Oswalt like a son. I believe he gave him some sort of suped up tractor for his home in Mississippi. I can't see Drayton EVER trading Roy O.