This just in: The Cubs are pathetic
| Word: |
pathetic |
| Type: |
adjective |
| Definition: |
sad |
| Synonyms: |
affecting, commiserable, crummy, deplorable, distressing, feeble, heart-rending, heartbreaking, inadequate, lamentable, meager, melting, miserable, moving, paltry, petty, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, plaintive, poignant, poor, puny, rueful, sorry, tender, touching, useless, woeful, worthless, wretched |
Yeah. That about says it all right there.
Ok, it's time to start pointing fingers. The Cubs were pathetically 2-hit today by a complete no-name, and in the process dropped their 14th game in their last 16 tries. 0-7 against the Padres this year. Just awful. Who's to blame for this mess? First and foremost, you have to blame Hendry. Lee's injury is certainly a huge huge problem, but that's not the only thing wrong with this team. In fact, let's look at all the reasons for the losing streak:
- Derrek Lee - They miss his bat, his glove, his presence...everything. I can't blame Lee for breaking his wrist, but there's no denying that his loss is the single biggest reason for the collapse.
- Poor offseason by Hendry, namely...
- Jones, Neifi and Rusch all getting multi-year deals when a market didn't exist for them to get such deals. They were competing with the Royals for these guys.
- No big bat. With a commitment being made to Murton, they had to get a monster bat for right field. Nobody was available, you say? Too bad, it's your job to find somebody.
- No proven starting pitcher, when one was clearly needed with such a frail staff
- Actually, this should count for two. He had to know both Prior and Wood would miss significant time. A rotation of Zambrano, Maddux, Rusch and two rookies isn't going to get it done.
- Aramis Ramirez's slump - Neither Hendry nor Baker should be blamed for this one. This hurts, bad.
- Wood and Prior - third verse, same as the second, same as the first.
- One lousy start by Jerome Williams forcing him out of the rotation. Angel Guzman got four tries, yet he had practically no experience in AAA. And the experience he had was lousy. Jerome Williams has 23 career wins at the age of 24, with a sub-4.00 ERA. It's ridiculous to give Guzman starts ahead of Williams.
- Prospects not living up to the hype, and sticking with them even when they stink. Namely Guzman, but Rich Hill might get added to this list as well. .
- Dusty Baker - I blame Baker for a lack of motivation, primarily. Some of his lineup choices and in-game decisions are head scratchers, but he hasn't been flat-out awful in either regard this season. I thought he was far worse last season. But this year he's a) stuck with Murton and Cedeno, b) kept the dreck (Neifi) at the bottom, and c) kept Walker in the lineup. His in-game pitching decisions have mostly been the right ones as well (though I disagree with at least half of his double switches - he's got to stop that.) I'm not a big Freddie Bynum fan nor am I pleased seeing Neifi start ahead of Ryan Theriot, but at this point these quibbles are minor.
- The rest of the slumping hitters.
So there you have it. It's Hendry's fault. The question is, can this season be salvaged? Should they nuke the team and start over? Questions for another day, my friends. I just wanted to bitch for a while, because staying positive wasn't working. Till next time...