Don’t bet on the Cubs coming back
By Doug Upstone
The National League baseball franchise residing in the Windy City is looking all too familiar for its long suffering fans. Picked to finish second in the extremely weak NL Central, the Cubs have the look of a team North Siders are accustomed to, with its usual refrain “Wait till next year”.
Chicago stands at 31-38, in third place in their dreadful division, stocked with the likes of Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Houston. The Cubs are worst wager in the senior circuit at -17 units for a number of reasons.
Coming out of spring training, it was clear the Cubs bats were going to have to carry this club, as the starting pitching was somewhat suspect and the relief pitching uncertain.
The Chicago pitching is rated middle of the road with 3.92 ERA; however that has been helped a great deal by an unexpected source in Carlos Silva, who is 8-2 with 3.01 ERA. Silva’s reincarnation has been about pitching coach Larry Rothchild showing him tapes of his best Minnesota Twins days, when he was more aggressive in throwing strikes and to his credit, has embraced this approach.
Carlos Zambrano (3-5, 5.10 ERA), despite yesterday’s 12-1 rocking chair performance over the Los Angeles Angels, and Randy Wells (3-5, 4.92) have been significant disappointments. Zambrano has lost three and more miles per hour on his fastball and his breaking stuff lacks the bite of younger days. Wells fast start a season ago was considered a mirage by scouts, since his stuff is mostly generic.
Ted Lilly (2-6, 3.42) and Ryan Dempster (5-5, 3.67) have been inconsistent and invariably, their best games have been when the Cubbies other largest problem has arisen.
Chicago is 11th in the NL in runs scored, with a faulty aging lineup.
For years the Cubs ownership was more interested in making money than putting out a quality product at 1060 W. Addison Street. They sold the sunshine, Harry Carry, Sammy Sosa and benefitted from the neighborhood setting that has just a “few” watering hole establishments.
However, today’s world demands a good product and to sell 40,000 seats daily, winning has to be part of the equation. The Cubs front office went to the other end of the spectrum and has been like Notre Dame with Charley Weis, where a little success meant they were willing to spend a lot of money.
Alfonso Soriano (34 years old) is at 19M this season, being a mediocre fielder, no longer a factor to steal bases and declining hitting skills. Derrick Lee (34) is hitting .234 with 10 home runs in the No. 3 slot in the lineup, while cashing checks for 13.25 M in 2010. Aramis Ramirez (31) should still be in the prime of his career, but again is injured, which probably is a blessing for a supposed slugger with .168 BA. Kosuke Fukudome (33) makes 14M, becoming increasingly a platoon player and according to FOX Sports, is on the trading block.
After a big splash, Geovanny Soto is settling in a decent catcher, but not the star the organization had hoped for after being 2008 Rookie of the Year.
Chicago is 11th in on-base percentage and takes the fifth fewest walks in the NL and has almost no capability to manufacture runs, ranked next to last in stolen bases and lacking speed.
The Cubs are a squad sorely lacking in leadership. Players like Lee and Ramirez are “lead by example guys” and it is clear this group has followed in there inept ways.
Other specimens of poor offense are 15th ranked BA (.233) with no runners on base and 14th ranking with runners in scoring position (.253) among the sixteen clubs in their league.
These supposed “lovable losers” are just as bad or worse in the field. Check these numbers out.
Errors – 14th in fielding percentage
Assists – 14th
Putouts – 14th
Total Chances – 14th
The Cubs have permitted the most unearned runs in the NL.
Even venerable manager Lou Piniella looks tired. He’s picking on White Sox announcer Steve Stone (former Cubs analyst) for the oldest and lamest reasons for voicing opinion about his club.
"And Steve Stone? He's got enough problems doing what he does with the White Sox. What job has he had in baseball besides talking on television or radio? What has he done?"
It sure looks like Sweet Lou is more ready to hang them up then Atlanta’s Bobby Cox.
Can the Cubs return from the dead? Sure they could, however there is little to support a reason as to why. They are .500 at Wrigley and 13-20 on the road.
Against right-handed opposing starters they are 18-28 and in their own division, a floundering 13-20. If the Cubs are favored, the best advice is to run and hide with 22-29 record (-19.4) and they are 1-6 in last seven series.
The future isn’t bright either, beyond unproven youngsters Starlin Castro and Tyler Colvin. As we head towards the All-Star break, playing against these Chicago Cubs is your best bet.