the cubs: pretty much dead.

[sinicalypse]

i went to the cubs game yesterday, i left feeling kind of sick. baker has started up the good ol boys network at wrigley (aka the veterans association)

the cubs lineup had grudzielanek, trenidad hubbard, moises alou, and damian miller. what the hell is trenidad hubbard doing on the cubs? really.. there's just absolutely no point to having this guy play.

i always thought that hubbard was one of those 27-30 year old guys who toiled in the minors for 8 years then came up to the bigleagues. but he's even worse! he's a **37** year old guy who has 16 homers throughout spackles of time in 12 major league seasons. argh. this was the first time in my life that i remember wanting to see tom goodwin play, since he could be pretty darn useful for steals if he got to play every day and even hit .250 with a minimal amount of walks. he has 17 steals in limited playing time this season. but instead we get a guy who doesn't have any speed, power, or hitting for average upside. a solid arm in center... but i mean, when you've got alou generally hitting, karros hitting, and sosa doing his sam-ME impression and belting out solo HRs at an alarming rate, don't you want guys getting on base and getting into scoring position when your 3-4-5 hitters are producing?

when i went to a heap of cubs games in april, their 1 and 2 hitters were on a roll, both batting around .330-.350, and they scored a bunch of runs, usually like 4-6, and the cubs were winning like 60% of their games. now those guys have both come down to earth, dropping their averages to .280 and .250 (so they've been like .200-.225ish for the lsat month or two) and slowed down that run production. then the cubs are hard pressed to score, the pitchers get nervous and overcompensate, and you have yourself a bonafide losing streak.

i think it'd do wonders for the cubs' pitching staff stats and for goodwin and the 3-4-5 hitters fantasy stats if they could acquire a player like luis castillo or desi relaford (if the royals fall "out" of it) to set the table for the guys who are already hitting.

until then, i'll puke if i keep seeing lenny harris in there when the game is on the line. if you're only as strong as your weakest link, it looks like lenny harris is the standard by which you can judge the cubs for the rest of the season.

not to mention, goodwin could probably one of the top 5-10 steals guys in the league if he got to play consistently. it wouldn't be pretty, but he could be around the alex sanchez level.

[DieHardCubbie]

then the cubs are hard pressed to score, the pitchers get nervous and overcompensate, and you have yourself a bonafide losing streak.

That about says it all, When you only score 1 or 2 runs a game your pitchers try to pitch a perfect game and end up give up 3 or 4. And the way the pen has pitched recently makes the SP's that much more nervous.

until then, i'll puke if i keep seeing lenny harris in there when the game is on the line. if you're only as strong as your weakest link, it looks like lenny harris is the standard by which you can judge the cubs for the rest of the season.

I agree, I just hate the days when he when he comes to the park...muchless when Dusty wants to start him....


Anyway, it was fun to be in the race almost til the allstar break...guess there is always next year...