Cubs | The Baseball Zealot

Cubs at a low point but hey, the Pirates are comin’ to town

I’ll go on record here. If, god forbid, the Cubs don’t win the NL Central in 2009, the 2010 review mags and books will point to their series with the Philadelphia Phillies in mid-August and call it one of turning points of the season. A “lowlight” if you will.

And there would many reasons to do so.

The Cubs extended their losing streak to five games after getting swept by the Phils. When they lost 4-3 in a heartbreaking 12-inning affair in which Rich Harden was perfect into the sixth and the Cubs outhit the Phils 10 to 3. And when they were out-slugged 12-5 on Jeff Samardzija’s first career start.

And today, when Ryan Dempster saw his August ERA go sky high (Kudos to Jeff Baker, though who went 2 for 2 and has 11 hits in his last 5 games). Today’s rout of 6-1 puts the Cubs at 4.5 back in the NL Central.

No timing, no patience, no luck, and no clutch.

Oh as if the players weren’t having a tough enough time, who invited this fan into the park??

God, this kind of stuff puts me in a bad mood. There’s nothing anyone can say (including “I was drunk”) that excuses this.kind of behavior. If you can’t treat people with decency, then stay home. Chicago, the Cubs, and baseball doesn’t need need to make the news for this kind of crap.

But all will be fine again. Word has it Ted Lilly is ready to come back on Monday after his surgery. He threw five scoreless innings in Peoria A ball.

And this weekend, the Pirates are coming to town. This year, they’ve gone 4-2 against them. The last three years? Same ratio… 26-13.

So say it loud, Cub fans, The Pirates are comin’ to town and all will be fine again!

Rejoice!

Cubs minor league pitcher sentenced for brawl incident

Justice moves slow in the minor leagues. Just ask Julio Castillo.

Julio Castillo was the pitcher who was involved in the bench-clearing brawl during the Dayton Dragons-Peoria Chiefs game in Dayton last July. During the brawl, Castillo threw a ball into the stands and injured a fan.

Well, over a year later, he’s finally getting his due. An Ohio judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail and three year’s probation.

Castillo hasn’t pitched all year and it looks like he’ll have to wait till next year before he throws again.

Prior finished?

The San Diego Padres gave Mark Prior his walking papers. After a last failed rehab stint, The Prior Experiment is over. Finally.

I’ve never been a real Prior fan. Even when he was with the Cubs, he never thrilled me. His lack of fire for the game not to mention his continual trips to the disabled list didn’t endear me to him.

Back in the day, many non-Cub fans would lump Prior in with Kerry Wood. Both were talented pitchers with potential but were prone to injury. In my mind, the similarities stopped there. Wood played with much more passion and identified with the team. (Wood had another thing going for him too. He was a favorite of GM Jim Hendry).

So when there were rumblings a few years back of a Prior trade (one rumor had him going to the Orioles for Miguel Tejada), I was all for it. A lot of my friends thought I was nuts but all I saw was a pitcher who had one great year in 2003 and hadn’t backed it up since. I was ready for a change.

Prior got a lot of media press and attention from the fans after his 2003 season but all told, he just won 18 games in the next three seasons.

Bitter? Not much.

Prior got his chance with the Padres. It just wasn’t going happen. Will another team take a chance on him? I highly doubt it.

Personal note to Cubs management: Don’t Think About It!

Would Sandberg want Rose on his staff? You bet he would.

Cubs minor league manager and uber-legend Ryne Sandberg came out publicly in support of re-instating Pete Rose back into baseball. He went as far as to say he wouldn’t mind having him on his coaching staff.

I know Sandberg is just talking out his –ss but who knows? And with rumors of re-instatement surfacing once again, Pete might remember those words.

And unless things change for Sandberg, that would make Pete Rose a Cub.

Generally, I’m favor of re-instating Pete Rose back into baseball but I’m not THAT ready.

Cubs’ Fukudome finding leadoff spot quite comfortable

Cubs’ beat writer Carrie Muskat tells us what most Cub fans having been thinking for years now…

…put Kosuke Fukudome or more precisely, anyone other than Alfonso Soriano, in the leadoff spot. In this case, Fuk has fit the bill quite nicely. In the 11 games he’s led off he’s done what leadoff hitters are supposed to do.

Fuk is hitting .317 (13 for 48) in the top spot. More importantly, he’s taking the walk up there, too (6 walks). Yes, it’s a relatively small sample size but it’s a good trend and a sign that the Cubs management is open to change in the matter.

Now, finding a spot where Soriano can excel is key. Soriano is the kind of player who likes consistency… he wants to know he’s penciled in a particular spot every day. Perhaps that’s why he was so wedded to the leadoff role.

One more thought on Soriano and regarding Monday’s game. Give me an 0 for 4 performance and flawless fielding over his 3 hits and his atrocious play in left. The look on Piniella’s face after Soriano butchered that ball… I see that look on my wife’s face sometimes.

I hope that Soriano felt the wrath from Lou later.

Does Triple-A Cub catcher Robinson have a chance to make it to the bigs soon?

I’m trying to find a silver lining in the dark cloud that surrounds the catcher situation in the Cubs’ clubhouse. Piniella’s quote, "We’re not scared of using Fox.", does not inspire confidence.

If there is indeed a silver lining, it would be that perhaps it might give Triple-A Chris Robinson a shot at the majors.

Robinson, who plays for the Iowa Cubs and hails from my alum, the University of Illinois, would certainly be qualified. He just was named to the PCL All-Star team and is hitting the ball well (.317). Robbie is known as a very good defensive catcher.

I’ve seen Robinson play. Yes, he can hit (not a lot of HR but plenty of gap power) but what I was impressed with in his college days was his leadership skills, how he took charge of a game and how he handled the pitchers.

And the Cubs certainly could use a catcher like that at least in the interim while Soto is on the DL however long THAT will be.

Bleacher Nation has some thoughts on the Cubs’ catcher situation. Their coming away with the idea that the Cubs are probably going to look elsewhere to solve their backstop problems in the meantime.

But Robinson was always noted as a defensive catcher, and he just happens to be hitting this year. Certainly the Cubs aren’t expecting a great deal of offense out of a backup catcher (see the current starter, Koyie Hill), so why the diss of Robinson? It’s really hard to figure.

Perhaps the answer is that the Cubs aren’t just looking for a temporary backup catcher. Maybe they’re hoping to land a temporary starting catcher who can become a backup when Soto returns. That would explain the looking around, though it, too, would be a bit strange given Hill’s excellent handling of the staff, if not excellent hitting.

Time will tell. Most importantly, we’ll need to find just how bad Soto’s oblique strain really is and how long he’ll be out for. No doubt, those who really need to know, probably already have a good idea.

And more than likely, Robbie will get some more time to season in Triple-A before Chicago decides what to do with him.

Strange Cub injuries

Here’s a mildly interesting slideshow of Strange but true Cubs injuries in recent history.

…brought to by none other than KPLR-11 TV based in, you guess it, St Louis.

The timing is impeccable.

Pujols vs Chicago: Is he a Cub beater?

With the upcoming Chicago St Louis series almost upon us, let’s take a look at how Albert Pujols has done against the Cubs.

As it is, Pujols has played pretty much the equivalent of a near-full season against Chicago. He has 503 at-bats and 590 plate appearances versus the good guys.

How has he done?

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
138	503	92	147	25	1	39	104	6	4	72	59	.292	.385	.579	.963

A pretty solid “year” I’d say though I will point out his averages are all down from his total career numbers. Still nothing to sneeze at. And that homerun figure of 39? That’s the highest number he’s hit against any opponent. NL Central opponents Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Houston are all very close, though. Milwaukee, however has only surrendered 26 to Albert.

For what it’s worth, his Wrigley numbers are .282/.369/.563.

Soto tested positive for pot at WBC games

So Geovany Soto has been found tested positive for marijuana earlier this year at the World Baseball Classic.

Great. I drafted a stoner with my first pick in my APBA league last year.

Of course, the media is handling the way they always do. They trot out their trite template they use for articles in these situations. Such articles include the apology from the player (“I fully understand the ramifications of my actions. I have and will accept any and all consequences”.. blah blah), how disappointed the team and league is in the player but they will support him and meaningless accolades in this inappropriate time (Asst GM Randy Bush: "I think he would never make excuses. That’s the kind of guy he is…").

Of course in this situation we can’t neglect the over-analyzation by countless journalists and bloggers of Soto. Jjust maybe this all might have to do with his year long slump, right??.

ESPN’s Nick Friedell seems to think so.

In all seriousness, though, this news is embarrassing for everyone involved, most notably Soto. The Cubs’ catcher is hitting just .228 on the year and looks like a shell of the player that was the NL Rookie of the Year last season. He doesn’t look nearly as powerful, or as fit, as he did when he clubbed 23 homers and 86 RBIs in 2008. In short, he’s been a disappointment, and now with this news being public plenty of fans will wonder if all the adulation got to his head.

A little over two years ago we had a similar situation when then White Sox pitcher Freddie Garcia was found to have been found to have tested positive for pot at the WBC. We all know what happened to Garcia’s effectiveness after that.

Maybe Friedell has a point.

Wrigley fuss

Lots of hatin’ on Wrigley Field (and its fans) going on lately…

Why Your Stadium Sucks: Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field Bleacher fans are a bunch of slobs

[Oh, and I can’t leave this one out]

Wrigley Field makes Ozzie Guillen puke

Ozzie does have a flair for the dramatic.

This weekend, I’m going to see the Cubs first hand for the first time this year so I guess I’ll judge for myself.