There are 1,000 reasons why Cubs frustrate their fans
By Mark Johnson — Imperceptive Insight
-
mjohnson@morrisdailyherald.com
As a Cubs fan, I supposed I should be pleased with the weekend's all-Chicago series, since my prediction going in was a three-game White Sox sweep.
Somehow, even though the Cubs came right out and grabbed Game 1, I still found myself disappointed by their 2-1 series loss. I'm also finding fewer and fewer reasons for optimism as we rapidly approach the midway point of the season ... even as Milwaukee, St. Louis and company refuse to take control of the NL Central.
Even .533 baseball, which is the clip at which the division-leading Brewers were playing heading into Monday, should be plenty to hold off 2008's best regular-season team in the National League. Space limitations will prevent me from detailing everything that's wrong with the Cubs, but I'll try and hit on the big ones.
The center of attention at U.S. Cellular Field this week ... naturally, for all of the wrong reasons ... was Cubs right fielder Milton Bradley. Personally, I'm much more upset that Bradley went 0-for-the-weekend with runners in scoring position than his getting into a shouting match with manager Lou Piniella on Friday.
You wanna know a good way to get Piniella and everyone else to stop calling you a piece of expletive, Milton? START HITTING THE BASEBALL. Even the people most pessimistic about the Bradley signing when it first happened couldn't have predicted that he'd have 16 RBI — SIXTEEN RBI — on June 28. Given the decline of the Cubs since Bradley joined him, this is starting to look like one of the worst signings in baseball history, not just franchise history.
Alfonso Soriano weighed in after the Bradley blowup, saying that the Cubs don't need him if he's not fully on board with the team concept. That's all well and good, Alfonso, but you know what else the Cubs don't need? A leadoff hitter that, through the end of the Sox series, has an on-base percentage of .300. He homered exactly zero times between June 7 and Sunday, and he's stolen a whole seven bases on the year.
And don't look now, but Soriano is hardly the only problem at the top of the lineup. This will definitely upset the legions of people that fawn over him as the ultimate do-the-little-things guy, but Ryan Theriot hasn't been Mr. Top of the Order himself lately. He'd drawn a total of seven walks since May 14 when the current series at Pittsburgh began, and stolen two bases — while being caught three times — since May 8. When you weigh his average-at-best range at shortstop, Theriot's quietly been about as unproductive lately as his higher-profile teammates.
Then you have Theriot's buddy, Mike Fontenot, who I was very happy to see get more at-bats when Mark DeRosa was traded during the offseason. Fontenot has done absolutely nothing with his opportunities. He entered Monday with a .219 batting average, and the guy that once drove the ball remarkably well for his size now has trouble hitting the ball out of the infield. Play Jake Fox at third base all you want, Lou, because Fontenot's defense there isn't much better anyway, and his bat is severely inferior.
Even the starting pitching that has been so good most of the year has started to slip. Ryan Dempster's forgotten how to locate his pitches, especially his fastball, his last few times out. He's been decent this year, but certainly not good enough to justify the four-year, $52-million dollar deal he signed last offseason.
Carlos Zambrano similarly has had a pretty good year, but not one that really qualifies as ace-worthy. Rich Harden came to the Cubs with a reputation that he'd be dominant when healthy, but he's been far from dominant, or even effective at times. Even Ted Lilly, who's been so good all year long, was hit hard his last time out.
Then there's the bullpen, which includes an often clueless Carlos Marmol and a less-than-reliable closer in Kevin Gregg. Aramis Ramirez's return will help, but it won't compensate for so many deficiencies all around the diamond.
Comments
