Well, we’ve reached the All Star break: The unofficial midway point of the season. And, let’s be honest, it couldn’t have come any sooner for the Chicago Cubs. Sitting at .500 through 86 games, and 3.5 games behind the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals, the 2009 Cubs have seen it all in just half a season.

Where to begin? From Soto’s and Soriano’s struggles, to Bradley’s chucking of balls into the bleachers with two outs, Zambrano’s best Peyton Manning impression for not getting an out, Dempster’s failed attempt at an Olympic hurdling career, Sean Marshall playing left field for one batter on Sunday night, oh, and the Gatorade cooler was recently seen filing for health insurance, the first three and a half months have been both surprising and eventful for the Cubs, to say the least. With the Midsummer Classic upon us it is time to grade the first half of the 2009 Chicago Cubs…. unofficially, of course.

Last season at this time the Cubs had the best record in baseball and did it with the best offense in baseball. They were even doing it without Alfonso Soriano for most of their games. This time around the team is 15th in the National League in runs scored and Soriano’s presence in the lineup is more of a burden than anything else. Batting just .233 and without a home run in over a month, skipper Lou Piniella finally did what was long overdue—drop Soriano in the batting order last week. It’s hard to produce runs when your leadoff man is getting on base at a .298 clip. Unfortunately for the Cubs, Piniella waited far too long to see if Soriano could turn it around. Managerial mishap? America, you decide.

What helped the 2008 Cubs overcome Soriano’s absence was the performance of players like Geovany Soto and Mark DeRosa. Soto was batting .288 with 16 home runs at the break, and DeRosa was at .283 with 11 and 50, respectively. 2009 has featured Soto playing the role of the invisible man, batting a mere .230 (right on par with Soriano) with six homers and 28 RBIs, and in the midst of his second DL stint of the year. Fan favorite “DeRo” is now a Cardinal, the ultimate slap in the face.

But enough about 2008. That year is dead and gone and ended with a first round sweep anyway. Let’s just focus on 2009. The Cubs can’t seem to do everything right at once. The hitting is never in sync with the starting pitching, and then when the two are, the bullpen goes and blows a lead.

Take, for example, Carlos Zambrano. He has unfairly been ridiculed this season. Yes, his temper tantrum in that May 27th Pirates game was way over the top, but that doesn’t mean he has become a liability. In 16 starts he has a 3.53 ERA and only a 5-4 record to show for it. He has thrown at least six innings in 13 of those 16 outings, and 12 of them have been for quality starts. Remove the May 3rd start against Florida, where he had given up two runs through five innings and had to be removed after pulling his hamstring trying to beat out a groundball, and he’s at 12 quality starts in 15 games. The run support hasn’t been there. Last Tuesday’s game against Atlanta he allowed two through six and got the loss when the Cubs could muster just one run.

The starting pitching is not the problem. Ted Lilly (9-6, 3.18 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) has been superb and absolutely deserves his All Star selection. Ryan Dempster (5-5, 4.09 ERA) isn’t what he was last year, and may need some agility training, but has pitched well enough to at least give the Cubs a chance to win when he pitches. Dating back to May 30th, he has given up three runs or less in six of seven starts, going at least six innings in all six of those starts, including holding the Dodgers and Reds scoreless in back-to-back games. On the year he has gone six or more innings in 15 of his 17 starts.

Randy Wells, the surprise player of the year, has a 2.72 ERA through 12 starts. If he keeps playing like he has, the Cubs will have found a diamond in the rough.

Even Rich Harden isn’t playing that bad. His overall numbers (5-6, 5.47 ERA) suggest otherwise, but on the road he has been dominant. In five games he has posted a 2.59 ERA. Moreover, he continues to play a Jekkyl and Hyde act between day and night. In day games his ERA is 7.38 compared to 2.87 at night.

With that being said, the current Cubs record rests primarily on the shoulders of the hitters. No one could have imagined Milton Bradley would be hitting .243 with only six home runs and 21 RBIs at the All Star break. Things are looking up for the enigmatic outfielder, however. In Sunday’s doubleheader he drew three walks in game one, and went 2-3 with an RBI double in game two, tacking on one more base on balls.

Bradley has been working with hitting coach Von Joshua and said after Sunday night’s loss to St. Louis, “I understand what I'm doing wrong now. I went and checked out my tape from last year and I feel it now, so when I tell you that I'm back, I'm back. You can mark it down: I'm gonna be hitting for the rest of the year." Encouraging words after an encouraging performance.

And as we head into the second half of baseball, we should be encouraged as Cubs fans. The aforementioned pitching is there, and the offense is finally getting healthy again. Derrek Lee, who had a very slow start, is now back to being one of the best first baseman in baseball, batting .280 with 17 home runs and 57 RBIs. 12 of those home runs and 38 of those RBIs have come since June 1st.

The young guys have shown they are up to the major league challenge. Sam Fuld got two hits from the leadoff spot on Sunday night, and Jake Fox is batting .313 with four home runs through 29 games, and even filled in at catcher in the late innings of Sunday night’s game. Randy Wells has been great nearly every time out, and Kevin Hart gave up one run in five innings of work in an emergency spot start last week.

The Cubs played most of their first half without star third baseman Aramis Ramirez. All they were expected to do during his absence was stay afloat—and that’s what they did. They may be just 43-43, but they are only 3.5 games out of first place. They have better pitching than the Brewers, Cardinals, and Reds. Now that everyone is getting healthy again, they are in position to make a run in the division. The Cubs could use some more bullpen help, and recently released closer B.J. Ryan has piqued their interest. A trade for a utility infielder is also likely before the deadline. The Cubs have four games in Washington, who just fired Manny Acta, after the break, before facing the defending World Champion Phillies, who are about to sign Pedro Martinez.

If one thing is for certain it is that the MLB Playoffs are a crapshoot. The best team does not necessarily have the best chance of winning. Whoever is hot at the right time is the team that moves on. Last season the Cubs ran into a buzz saw in the Los Angeles Dodgers, on a hot streak at season’s end. If this is the Cubs year, maybe they will be one of those teams like the 2008 Dodgers, or 2007 Rockies, that catch fire in September and ride that momentum through October. Lou’s crew can do themselves a favor by getting the boulder rolling now.
 

TrackBack URI for this entry

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment