Things I've noticed about the Cubs lately
The Cubs are beating the Padres as I write this, and have I mentioned that I love west coast road trips? Not so much for the typical outcome, as the Cubs historically do not do well against California teams. I just love the late baseball. Kids are in bed, chores are done. There's time to settle down and watch the game with no interruptions. I'm a night person, what can I say?
Anyways, I've noticed a few things lately that I thought were interesting.
-
Derrek Lee has been pretty bad for the last four weeks. In that time, he has exactly 3 walks (after having 18 in his first 4+ weeks when he absolutely crushing the ball.) His overall line in May was .234/.269/.411 for a lousy 681 OPS. Lee really needs to step it up in June because this month isn't going to be nearly as friendly for the Cubs as the first two months were.
-
Jim Edmonds may not be done after all. He's hit the ball hard the last few games, and he might be a viable platoon candidate after all. Who knew?
-
Carlos Zambrano pitches better when he's swinging the bat well. I know it drives Brenly nuts, Carlos overly concerning himself with his hitting, but you take the good with the bad with Carlos. Hopefully he'll put some good wood on the ball so he'll say focused on the mound. His triple tonight was a rocket.
-
Neil Cotts is back and throwing the ball very well. The Cubs might win the trade of losers with the South Side after all!
-
Mark DeRosa still isn't very clutch. Yes, he had that awesome lead-grabbing home run on Friday (which I must point out would have been a routine fly out had the wind not been gusting out), but I can't tell you how many times I've seen him come up with runners on and he swings out of his shoes. Bases loaded, close and late, scoring position w/2 out...all sub .200 BA. Yes, I cherry-picked a bit but still...the numbers don't lie. He's a good enough player to win with, but he's really just an average second baseman at best, and not a long-term solution.
Not to belabor the point, but 22 of the next 31 games are on the road. If they can even play .500 ball in this stretch, I'll be very confident that this team is for real. Till then, I'll still be waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Till next time...