Big Z to the 'pen?

I'm going to defer to Lou on this one. Honestly, Z or Dempster has the best pure stuff in our rotation. Dempster has been the 'go-to guy' for the last few years, along with Lilly. I don't think that Gorzellany, Wells, or Silva can throw 98 to put away a batter. For that reason, I think this is a good move. However, as is always the case with Z, this could prove to be a psychological problem. Z has said that he's on a mission to be more focused this year, and for my money, he's proven that so far. He has had a chance to melt down in a couple of different situations, yet the water coolers are still safe. For that reason, I'm buying his "new and improved Big Z" talk. I think he can remove all doubt with a good spell in the bullpen. I think (and forgive my eternal Cubs optimism here) that he will do well there, but I worry about a couple of things.

1). Everybody in the NL has seen his stuff. Sure, he's probably going to be throwing four-seamers at 96 - 98 rather than his trademark sinker. But you have to think about how many NL batters are familiar with his splitter and his slider.

2). Will his mind hold up? I think he's out to prove he's not a hothead this year. This move to the 'pen can prove it. Can he put up and shut up, like Demp did? Or will this be a distraction? Again, like I said above, Z has sounded and pitched differently this year. You add a guy of his calibre to the bullpen and I think it can't hurt. I don't think it's permanent, I think that Gorzellany will be there at some point to replace him. But I applaud his professionalism, and I hope he proves to be the salve in the wound so that we can win some damn games!

Still, I'm shocked at this move. Z would be the last one I would have expected to be moved. I hope this doesn't indicate some ideas of a trade, because I think Z is one of the best pitchers in the NL. He needs to figure out a way to pitch, and a way to succeed, and I believe the bullpen may be a good place to do that.

Bullpen Woes

Man, it seems that 'woes' has entered into my blog-cabulary much too often this early in the year. After the umpires' terrible showing - of which Jeff Stevens had another one in Game 1 against the Mets - the Cubs' bullpen has continued to be atrocious. However, I think there is a much simpler, time-tested solution in the wings, if Piniella is willing to go against the traditional grain of MLB thinking.

1). The Cubs' starting 5 has been wonderful. They're among the league leaders in quality starts. I can't think of a start offhand except for Opening Day against the Braves where a Cub starter hasn't given the team a chance to win or even left the game with a lead. Silva looks like he has resurrected his career; Gorzellany has been relatively solid; and the only one who has had 'trouble' is Big Z, and most of that was really one start. In his other starts, he has done everything necessary to give him team a chance to win. That's all that you ask of your starting pitchers.

2). Our bullpen has been awful. Samardzija has reverted, the only reliable middle reliever we have is Marshall, and even Marmol blew up the other day. We all knew there would be bullpen issues going into the season (pretty much everyone else in the BP is a rookie or very close to it), but I think the bullpen has blown more games than it has won. That's not going to work.

3). There aren't any good relievers to be had via trade. It's very early - so temper your traditional pessimistic rants, Chicago Tribune - but I do agree that if the Cubs can't figure out a 7th-8th-9th inning bullpen rotation, then the team will be in trouble. But, as I said before, there are other solutions:

A) LEAVE THE STARTERS IN, FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! These guys make $8 - 18 million bucks a year (ballpark). They have the best medical staff that money can buy. They have access to ice, heat, whirlpools, cortizone shots, masseurs, and anything and everything else. They're not paid to pitch 5 innings. Let them pitch until the prove they've run out of gas. Zambrano is listed at 260 pounds. He can throw 160 pitches a game if need be. If Sam Fuld was pitching, I understand not having him throw 160 pitches in a start. But all the Cub pitchers are strong guys. With the bullpen the way it is, let the starters pitch until you absolutely HAVE to take them out. There are obvious signs when a pitcher is tiring, but let them try to work through some of them.

*Also, remember it is APRIL. I'm not suggesting we implement this program right now; let's wait until needed. It's a long season. Nobody should freak out about a 5-9 start. Especially with 148 left to go.

Thanks for reading, and Go Cubs Go!

Umpiring woes

The Cubs lost again to the Houstons today, 3-2. Yet for the second game in the series, the HP umpire was absolutely abysmal. In the second game of the series, Angel Campos was behind the plate and he brought to mind memories of the 1997 NLDS when HP umpire Gregg called pitches in the middle of opposite batters box strikes for Livan Hernandez. Chris Guccione did it again today. The strike zone had been reasonable all day long - he gave the pitchers a couple of inches off the outside corner, which is fine. However, in the 10th inning he called a FB from Lindstrom that was 6 inches off the ground a strike. On Ryan Theriot. And it changed the entire complexion of the game. If Theriot walks then there is a runner on first with 1 out with Byrd and Lee due up. I'm not saying the Cubs would have won. But the batters on both teams had spent the last 3 hours seeing things done one way and then, when the game is on the line, everything changes. Honestly, I don't give a damn what the strike zone is as long as it is consistent. If you're a MLB umpire, your entire job depends on consistency. And while I don't routinely face the challenge of determining whether or not 97 mph fastballs were strikes, these guys have trained years upon years to do so. Yet they still can't do it consistently. I used to be 100% against the idea of the K-Zone or whatever the computerized strike zone that checked the umpires' strike zone was called, but now I'm reconsidering. I used to think that human error was a compelling part of the game that distinguished baseball from the lesser sports. Umpires have a tough job, and many of them do their job very well. Yet there are still guys out there calling games and drawing MLB salaries and pensions who are embarrassments to the game. Campos and Guccione, from what I saw in the last two days, are foremost on that latter list. I'm an educator. If I do a shitty job - which I define by not being prepared and being inconsistent - I get fired. In any given term, I have around 60 college students who function academically on the (very fair) assumption that I will grade their work based on a consistent set of standards. If I don't do that - if I show favoritism, if I get lazy at the end of the papers or exams and change my grading structure, whatever it may be - then I cheat students who, in the most part, have put forth a good effort. Furthermore, I don't have the luxury of ejecting them if they argue. I have to answer their questions and answer to the professor I'm working for, the head of the graduate program, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and ultimately the dean. If this is the kind of oversight that functions in my job, then I hope to Christ in works the same way for people who make 500x the salary that I do. So, MLB: get your stuff in order. If these guys can't do the job, find people - or computers - who will.

No-hitters, 20-inning games, and losing to the Houstons

First off, congratulations to Ubaldo Jimenez on his no-hitter last night. I only caught the bottom of the 8th and the 9th innings, but his last pitch was as 97 mph. Wow. And no-hitting that Braves lineup might temper some of the expectations of Braves fans - I think they're a good team, but I still think they'll be battling the Marlins for second place in that division. Halladay makes the Phillies just too good. Still, it was Jiminez' night - congratulations again.

Secondly, the Cards and the Mets played a 20-inning game last night and I'm SHOCKED that LaRussa didn't run out of pitchers by the 6th inning. This is a guy who uses the lefty/lefty and righty/righty bullpen matchups so wantonly I really can't believe he only had to use two position players as pitchers.

And the Cubs lost to the hapless Astros yesterday, but there were encouraging signs. For the second straight day, the Cubs made a late inning comeback and nearly pulled it off in the ninth. The Cubs didn't do much with Oswalt, but most of the time nobody does much with Oswalt. When he's on, he's filthy, and he was on yesterday. I don't really mind losing to Oswalt, but we really need to pull out a series win today. The bullpen pitched better and Marshall was fantastic once again. It was also good to see them on TV out the night before at the Blackhawks hockey game - from everything I've read this is a chemistry event that never would have happened last year. I'm glad to hear that Gorzellany escaped relatively unharmed from what could have really been a nasty moment in the 3rd inning, when a liner came right back up the box and nailed him. Apparently he just has a bruise, but that doesn't really help his chances to stay in the rotation - I think he'll have to be pushed back a couple of days, just to be safe, and by then Lilly will be back. Combine that with the way Silva has pitched and I think TG is bullpen bound to take what was Marshall's spot. It now looks like Marshall will be the 8th inning guy for the forseeable future.

I'm also getting tired of the reception Soriano is getting at home. We knew when we got him that his defense was a problem, so don't expect Torii Hunter in left with him. His hitting has been respectable, and he will still have streaks where he carries the team for weeks at a time. I think the reaction he's gotten has goaded him into pressing, into trying too hard. Byrd will patrol most of center and left, and he has taken control over the outfield - Friday's gaffe with The Fuke nonwithstanding. Soriano will be fine - the guy has too much of a track record to cast off, as SI has been suggesting the Cubs want to do. Just understand what he brings to the table and what he lacks, and accept that. The guy is a proven commodity when healthy, and one of these days Jaramillo will teach him to identify a slider. Go Cubs Go!

Game 3 of Mil series and Game 1 of the Houstons

Things have been going relatively well on the Cubs front the last few games. Encouraging signs have been the starting pitching, which has kept us in every game since Opening Day in Atlanta. Big Z battled yesterday and threw 120+ pitches (which he should do more often, by the way - I hate 260 lb. pitchers being on pitch counts). Once again, our bullpen let us down in the 8th. Samardzija needs to throw strikes. Grabow needs to learn how to throw good strikes instead of leaving everything over the middle of the plate. But those are things that can be remedied - it's April, after all. I think they'll both figure it out and if they don't, I think Hendry will find someone who will. The Cubs have led in every game this year - I really think that all the experts have underestimated a Cubs team that won 97 games two years ago and were decimated by injuries last year. Marmol has been outstanding. If the Cubs can find an 8th inning shut-down guy, which we lost in Spring Training with the injury to Guzman, I think that the Cubs become a very difficult team in the NL. I don't buy the Cardinals - way too thin in the SP and I don't think that Franklin is going to be as lucky this year. The Brewers don't have any SP to speak of. The Cubs may be the deepest team in the NL in starting pitching. Look at it this way - Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Silva (the way he's been pitching), and Wells - those are 5 potential 15-game winners there, barring injury (knock on wood). Zambrano has been the only one who needs to step up and pitch like he's capable. I'll take my 5 against your 5 any day of the week in the NL.

The offense is also impressive. The Cubs have traditionally lived and died by the HR, but lately they've been playing small ball and capitalizing on power when necessary. Last year we didn't hit - this year Lee's been hot, Rami is hitting for power, and Byrd is looking very good in center (not to mention an all-around great guy, which solves the chemistry problem created by Hendry's asinine Bradley signing last year). It's only April, but this Cubs team is playing the way it needs to play - and if we can find some middle relief, than this is a very, very dangerous team in the NL.

Milwaukee series

The Cubs try to polish off the Brewers and move above .500 for the first (and hopefully, only) time this season. The Cubs got an offensive explosion in Game 1, and while Dempster wasn't sharp, he did what he had to do to win. With a big lead, you want to throw strikes and make the other guys put the ball in play. When you do that, chances are you're going to get outs. Braun hit a 3-run HR, but you can't keep both him and Fielder down indefinitely. He can hit all the 3-run HRs he wants as long as we have a 7-run lead. In Game 2, the Cubs made a fantastic comeback against former Cub LaTroy Hawkins. With none on and two outs in the 8th, the Cubs scored 4 runs to take a 7-6 lead and win the game. Marmol was fantastic again in the ninth, striking out the side for the 3rd straight outing. Here's to today's game, and let's get out brooms out!

Thoughts on Braves series

I managed to scrounge up tickets to all three games of the Braves series in Atlanta. Weather was perfect for all three games in Atlanta - a rarity - although the pollen was fun to deal with. According to weather.com, an "extremely high" pollen count is when over 120 particles of pollen congregate in a cubic meter of air. For the Wednesday game in Atlanta, the pollen count was 5,733. That's 5,733. Once more, 5,733. Needless to say, my nice black car collected a interesting yellow tint by the time we were through there. As for the baseball, about everything that could go wrong in Atlanta did. Game 1 was a disaster - Carlos pitched like he usually does in Opening Day games (poorly), and despite a promising start, we got shellacked. The umpires didn't help much, either - Ramirez got doubled off on an absolutely atrocious call in center. Incidentally, had the call been made correctly, the Cubs would have had the tying run at the plate. These things tend to even themselves out over the course of 162 games, but that's a tough call to stomach and the guy wouldn't even ask for help. Pathetic. The bullpen was also atrocious. After Marshall's masterful performance***, the bullpen couldn't get anybody out. Samardzija walked anyone who came into the stadium. Grabow was bad. Ugh. Terrible. Game 1 is a big blue flag, 16-5.

Game 2 started out much better. Dempster pitched extremely well. We managed to lead for most of the game until the bullpen decides to implode again, giving up a GW HR to Jones. Waste of a great performance by Demp.

For Game 3, I think Wells had seen enough, and he turned in a great outing of 6 shutout innings. The bullpen held together, and Marmol made Heyward look very, very, VERY bad on a three-pitch K in the 9th. I was really ready for that. The Braves fans seemed to think that Heyward was going to hit about .576 with 312 HRs and 9,873 RBIs this year, which may have been a record or something. It was about damn time we did something to that guy - he had gotten belt-high sinkers all series long before Marmol. About damn time somebody brought him down a peg.

One thing I really like about Turner Field is that there really isn't a bad seat anywhere. I'd been there a couple of times before - for 2 games in the 2003 NLDS and once for a 4th of July series with a buddy of mine from Emory University. For Opening Day we splurged and had great seats, in the 7th row behind the tarp on the 1st base side. The next two games we had upper deck seats, but they were right behind home plate. Great, fun weekend all around - sponsored (of course) by our good friends at Pabst Blue Ribbon. I think we helped their flagging stock prices significantly this weekend!

***Marshall is the unsung hero of the Cubs pitching staff. What I like about the guy is that he's been shuttled back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen, but he's never complained or moped about it. All he does is go out there and do his job, and he's been very successful in both roles. He's really a class act and a great guy to have on a pitching staff - I wish we had a few more Marshalls on the team.





href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3PM0jpAofMylj3pey_tMeBAq2lukukyZNKGGgHN5EFmxGDWT7R_kU7pGrGB076e-neMemaFZUvUoX-vQIUuxvm1scgDEwts9qZy5s1Qi7OS_Xmd1GHDlebAPqu1jlMfFeHLinEfU_3g/s1600/2010-04-05+at+15-59-30.jpg">

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9SB57Bwr0gxmb5Sx7rukshEaAb2XAe9vh1NMpZNXEMxFip-c6LcZIIc9MHyivNwqO2zcQkrUaBDDN2qC3f41NYaCjCF29mh-XcjNvFtJmP4GlyyDA0oetojqs0mE0arxv9IdEsfB04U/s1600/2010-04-05+at+15-59-27.jpg">