Pitching Ends 7 game win streak

June 30th, 2007

Cubs; FOX; vs. Brewers; 10-2, bottom 6; Rocky Cherry vs. Ben Sheets

Well, not yet, but we're down by 8 in the 6th. That's not the worst thing. Sean Marshall gave up 7, 6 earned, over 2 innings. That's worse than Rich Hill yesterday. That leads me to my next point. You know why we've had a 7 game win streak? Both our pitching and hitting picked eachother up. If we pitched bad, we came back, if we pitched good, we scored enough to win.

Now, we have to ride our hitting further than ever. Our pitching is going. These are the stats of our last 4 starts. Lilly, 6 innings, 4 earned. Zambrano, 6 innings, 2 earned. Hill, 5 earned, 3 innings. Today, Marshall, 2 innings 6 earned. Where has this pitching gone? Unbelievable. Our pitching was so good earlier this year when we couldn't score. Now our pitching is so bad when we can't not score.

The Cubs just added 2, 10-4. Going to the top 7th. Another thing I want to say is that Scott Eyre is in a deep funk. Today, when we called up Cherry, we sent down Petrick. Billy Petrick is a rookie who has had an OK stint with the Cubs. Let me tell you this though; his ERA wasn't 7. That is what Scott Eyre's ERA is after today 2 inning appearance, yielding 2 earned.

Scott was good last year, Lou, get over it. Don't look at last year's stats, look at this year's. They don't even compare. Last year: 3.38 ERA, 2nd in relief appearances. This year: 3rd in relief appearances, 7.00 ERA. That is what I'd say to Lou, or Rothschild, or whoever sends down chubby, sucky relief pitchers.

So, to make my point all the clearer, The Cubs need to pull their heads out of their arses and find a way to pitch and hit good at the same time. That is the only possible way the Cubs have of contending. Craig Counsell homered, 11-4. Top 7 still.

Now, let me bring attention to another thing that could setback the Cubs 1,000 years. Zambrano motioned to reporters for them to look at a pair of red catchers shingaurds. He then told the reporters it was a gift for his next catcher, Yadier, refering to cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. I have a few theories on this.

First of all, the Cubs starting catchers, Rob Bowen and Koyie Hill, are both hitting under .200, and this could mean that Hendry is shopping for a catcher, and Yadier is his target. This doesn't seem too unlikey to me, as Yadier is a good defensive catcher, which we could use in the post Barrett era.

Another theory is that Zambrano is angry he hasn't been given a contract extension yet so he is trying to get under the Cubs' skin out of anger. This is also possible, as Zambrano does have a fiery temper.

My third theory is that he has been talking to the Cardinals about signing a contract with them at years end, or is being traded there at the trade deadline. This is reasonable for Hendry to do because: a) it saves 12 million, and b) SI said the Cubs could contend with out him. This wouldn't fit for the Cardinals though, because then they'd have 2 aces in a 1 ace rotation.

My last theory is this. The All-Star game. Yadier is making it as a backkup catcher. Zambrano should make it as a starter. He said he was available for the ASG. This is another theory because everyone plays in the ASG except reserves. Yadier is a backup, Zambrano most likely won't start, so there you go, my 4 theories.

Thanks,

Ryan

Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

June 29th, 2007

Cubs; FOX; vs. Brewers; Ben Sheets, 9-3. 3.09 ERA, vs. Sean Marshall, 4-2, 2.44 ERA.

The Cubs won in another 9th inning comeback, beating F-Cord, the 27 save closer, who leads the league in that stat. He didn't give up a run in his last 5 appearances until tonight. It's just a wonder. The Cubs have run off 7 in a row, and I expect it to end at that, with Ben Sheets starting tomorrow. Rich Hill had a horrific game though, my only complaint.

I'll do a brief recap for those who missed the game. Theriot pops out for Bobby Howry. 1 out. Soriano up to the plate. He singles to left. Fontenot up. He singles to right, Soriano to third. Then D-Lee hits a sac fly. 2 outs, 5-4. A-Ram comes up to the plate. He hit it so hard, I knew it was gone off the bat. 6-5 Cubs. Game. Gotta run!

Thanks,

Ryan

Cubs vs. Brewers: Series Preview

June 28th, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; June 29th, 2:20 PM ET; Rich Hill, 5-5, 3.13 ERA, vs. Yovani Gollardo, 1-0, 2.70 ERA

Life of Luxury, people. Get used to it. Now that the Cubs have won 6 in a row, we have the mometum on our side to possibly win a series against the Milwaukee Brewers. They have momentum, too, winning 3 in a row (a sweep). That puts them 7.5 games ahead of us in the NL Central. Wildcard you ask? 6 games out. It looks a little grim, until you realize that our pitching sucks, sure, but in this series, just 3 games, we scored 24 runs. That, people, is 8 runs a game. If we can score 8 runs a game I don't care if we give up 6 over 9 innings and have the worst team ERA in MLB history, we'll win ballgames. An 8-6 win is still a win right?

Back to the point though, which is a side by side comparison of the Cubs and Brewers. I'll most likely be wrong, you know that surely if you read my Cubs vs. Rockies preview. I said statistically, the Rockies win the series 2 games to 1. The actual outcome was that the Cubs sweep. I choose to do this either way so you, my loyal viewers, don't have to think. You don't have to look on MLB.com and tire your arthritis riddled bones. I'm doing it for you. Enjoy!

Pitchers Preview:

Game 1: Rich Hill vs. Yovani Gollardo. Gollardo has 2 starts this year. He has gone 13.1 innings this year, averaging 6.2 per start. He has 4 earned runs. If he goes 6.2 against us and gives up 2, like the averages say, it'll be a tough game to win. Hill had 5 starts in April. His ERA for that month was 1.77! In June he had 5 starts again. His ERA for May was 4.66, raising his ERA to 3.06. This Month, June, he has had 5 starts, tomorrow is 6, and his ERA is 3.26 for this month. He's gone into the 6th inning all but once, against San Diego on the 17th, giving up 5 earned in 3 innings. Overall though, Hill has had 15 starts, 10 quality starts, 3.13 2007 ERA, which leads me to believe 1 thing: Advantage Cubs.

Game 2: Ben Sheets vs. Sean Marshall. Sheets is 9-3 with a 3.09 ERA. If the year ended today, I'd give him Cy Young. He is a talented pitcher, the anchor of the Brewers staff, and he is going to be a key to the further success of the Brewers this year. Marshall last year had 24 starts, and a 5+ ERA. Every start I ask myself, "Today will we see old Sean or new Sean?" This year, all but 1 quality starts in 7 total starts. That game he gave up 4 runs over 4 innings. Other than that, he has given up 2 at most in every start this year. This game's outcome? Too close to call.

Game 3: My guess is as good as yours. Marquis vs. To be determined. Marquis has been amazing this year, well, early at least. I think we are starting to see shades of his '06 season, and I hate it. He and Ted Lilly need to just settle down and give up fewer runs. Lilly's ERA is up to 4.03, Marquis' is up to 3.46, both were in the low 2's.

Sorry I ran out of time to do the hitters comparison right now. It's 10 o'clock now, and I just don't have time, but I promise on my next Series Preview edition, which I do on off-days, like I did against the Rockies, with hitters, will have hitters.

Thanks,

Ryan

Sweep.. again!

June 27, 2007

Cubs; Off Day; upcoming series vs. Brewers

Today the Cubs completed a sweep of the Rockies, what looked like an impossible feat to me. I credit our pitching, and congratulate Billy Petrick for a 1.2 inning, 2 run debut. That's better than I'd do any day.

Tomorrow I plan to do a scouting report on the Cubs vs. Brewers series. Right now the "Cubs Win Streak Pedometer is up to 6, hopefully we can get it up to, ohi don't know, maybe 8? 9? Right now the 6 game win streak the Cubs have puts them at 38-39. The last time they were this close to .500 was when the played the White Sox in game 42! At that point, they were 20-21. Now they have played 77 games. The bad news, friends, is that the Cubs haven't won in this situation all year. They always loose.

If I had a nickel for every time...

If I had a quarter for every time the Cubs lost last year, I'd have $24. This year it looks like I might only have 2/3 of that. Let's hope for the best, Cub fans.

Thanks,

Ryan

Is any lead safe?

June 27th, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; 2:20 PM ET; Hirsch, 3-6, 5.06 ERA, vs. Zambrano, 8-6, 4.27 ERA

Yesterday when Marmol came on in the 9th inning with an 8-4 lead, I felt deja vu. Not to mention the fact that after that he gave up a double, an RBI single, and a bunt single to Willy Tavares.

A key difference, though, is that Marmol bounced back. That was something neither Bobby Howry or Chubbs Eyre can say. He struck out Tulowitzki looking, and Matt Holliday lunging. 2 outs. Will Ohman in to face Todd Helton, the tying run, who just happens to be a .330 career hitter who also has that power you need to hit homeruns.

Ohman did his job, though, he popped up Helton on the first pitch. I seem to be calling the shots, so far, saying in a previous post that we'd win if Helton went "1-15, or if Derrek Lee went..." Well Cubs fans, Helton is 1-7, with a run and no RBI.

Our pitching was better yesterday, even though Lilly is on the verge of giving me a heart attack everytime he give up 4 runs in 6 innings, or 5 in 7, but it's mostly 4s and 5s every start. Yesterday it was 4 in 6, before Mike Wuertz came in for 2 easy relief innings. Lilly's ERA now is above 4. My prediction during Spring Training was that his ERA this year would be 4.42. It's looking more and more like I might be right.

Thanks,

Ryan

4 Games

June 26th, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; 8;05 PM ET; vs. Colorado Rockies; Rodrigo Lopez, 4-0, 2.93 ERA, vs. Ted Lilly, 5-4 ,3.90 ERA

Yesterday's win was not good. Yes, we won the ballgame, and that matters. I applaud Alfonso Soriano, Mike Fontenot, Kazuo Matsui, Koyie Hill, and Jacque Jones for it, but we shouldn't have to win games like that. Who wants to win a game like that? It's exciting, and that's all the credit I can give to that kind of baseball. Scott Eyre has an ERA of 6.92. Bob Howry's ERA is up to 4.30 again.

Bullpen struggles are going to be the downfall of this club. No one is on top of their games right now. Everytime Mike Wuertz comes in, I'm a little worried- and he's the reliever I'm most comfortable with! Our best reliever, though- statswise- is Carlos Marmol, but I'm shaking every time he pitches. Do we Cub fans remember the '06 season? His ERA was over 6!

Well, all I can say is, hey, we won game 1. Now we need to have a stronger bullpen, maybe reel in some help or call back up Cotts, or even Super Bob Novoa. Well, cya at tonight's game.

Thanks,

Ryan

Question and Answer

June 25th, 2007

Cubs; CSN Chicago; vs. Rockies; Currently Top 7th, 7-3 Cubs

I was thinking that if anyone, if anyone reads this blog, has any Cubs related questions, like where players or draft picks are, the outfield situation or just any question in general, just e-mail me at ryan.schaitkin@comcast.net and I'll e-mail you back and post it in a question and answer post, which should be coming in the next month or so, depending on how fast e-mails come in.

Thanks,

Ryan

Cubs vs. Rockies: Series Preview

June 25th, 2007

Cubs; CSN Chicago; 8:05 PM ET;
Jason Marquis, 5-4, 3.38 ERA, vs. Jeff Francis, 7-5, 3.44 ERA

Today there are no new trade rumours, no injuries, nothing new and stirring for the Cubs. That is why I am doing a full preview of the Cubs series with the Colorado Rockies. It should be a good series. Game 1 it's Marquis vs. Francis. Game 2 it's hot Rodrigo Lopez vs. cold, cold Ted Lilly, and game 3 is Jason Hirsch vs. the man with a plan, Big Z, Carlos Zambrano.

Pitchers Preview:

Game 1: June is for sure Jeff Francis' month. In 4 starts this month, he has given up 5 total runs, and gone 26 innings. That is around 6.5 innings per appearance, which isn't possible, but that's the math. Also, that's not to mention that his 2 most previous starts were against the Yankees and Red Sox, where he went 12 innings total yielding 1 run. Ouch. And that said, Marquis hasn't won since May 9th, which is 8 starts and 47 days. His ERA in that time is 7.36, compared to a previous 1.70. His ERA in June is 5.19. Advantage Rockies.

Game 2: Lopez in june is 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA. That is slightly worse than his rest of the year 2-0, 2.93 ERA. Also, he has never faced the Cubs in his career yet. Lilly gave up 5 earned in 7 innings striking out 10 in his last outing against the Rangers, a 6-5 loss, where he had a no decision. His ERA has gotten considerably worse since the beginning of the season, where his ERA was closer to 2.75. In his only other appearance vs. the Rockies, he lost, yielding 6 runs, 5 earned, in 1.2 innings pitched. Advantage Rockies.

Game 3: Jason Hirsch, 3-6, 5.06 ERA vs. Carlos Zambrano, 8-6, 4.27 ERA. Hirsch has never faced the Cubs into his sophomore year. Last year he was an Astro, going to Colorado for Jason Jennings. He was one of the Astros top prospects. This year, with, so far, a full season under his belt, he's been far to streaky for the likes of the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies, who just swept the Yankees, would've been so lucky if Hirsch pitched. Zambrano is hot. Zambrano is very hot. In his 7 starts with Barrett calling, he had a 5+ ERA. In 9 starts otherwise, his ERA is 1.24. Good Stuff. He also is 4-2 in those 9 starts with other catchers, and now that Barrett is gone we may jut see that 1.24 ERA more often. Advantage Cubs.

Pitching-wise, it looks to me as if the Rockies have the advantage. If pitching was all that counted and numbers meant everything, I'd say the Rockies win this series 2-1. To prove myself wrong, however, I'm going to compare the hitters by position.

Kings of Swing:

Matt Holliday vs. Alfonso Soriano: Holliday is young, he has a consistent .300+ average, and he is a legitimate homerun threat. This year? .355 average, 13 shots. Soriano is over 30, his average is consistent, however, under .300 career, and he is more of a power threat than Holliday. This year? above .300 average, 15 homers, and 3 homers in 3 days. Advantage Rockies.

Willy Tavares vs. Felix Pie: Tavares, also in the trade for Jennings, is having a career year for himself, .311 average, even though his career average is .289. Not a power threat, 6 career homeruns. Pie is young, his average is getting better by the minute, his arm in CF is completely indispensible, and he also is not a major power threat. Advantage Cubs.

Brad Hawpe vs. Cliff Floyd: Hawpe is hitting .291 who has 51 RBI so far, and who's career best HR total is 22. Floyd is a former 30+ HR hitter, who is aging, injury prone, and having a fantastic year for the Cubs. Advantage Cubs.

Garrett Atkins vs. Aramis Ramirez: Atkins has a .243 average, not a power threat, 51 HRs career, 8 this year, and is known best defensively. Aramis' average just dipped to the .290s, but he is hitting many homeruns, good power hitter, can flash the leather when the heat is on and it boils down to defense. Advantage Cubs.

Troy Tulowitzki vs. Ryan Theriot/Cesar Izturis: Troy this year is .274 hitter as a starter, and .265 hitter career. Theriot's average is about the same ths year, neither of them power hitters, and Izturis' average is rising, he is a streaky hitter, no power, and that is the SS dillema. Advantage Rockies.

Kazuo Matsui vs. Mark DeRosa: Matsui is having a breakout year after being horrific as a Met. I think it may just be luck, but he is so hot right now. DeRosa is hitting in the .250-.260 range all year so far after hitting .296 last year. Currently; Advantage Rockies.

Todd Helton vs. Derrek Lee: Both are fascinating to watch, it's amazing to see the crank homeruns like they do, but the average is the difference. Lee is a career .278 hitter, Helton a .300+ hitter. Advantage Rockies.

Yorvit Torrealba vs. Rob Bowen: This year .234 average, career .247. Phenominal defense. Rob Bowen is hitting .253 this year. Unfortunately, .225 career. Ahh! @$#%! Advantage Rockies.

Well, unfortunately, unless Marquis and Lilly step it up, and Big Z stays hot, it looks like a series win or even sweep for the Colorado Rockies. That's just the numbers, though. Maybe Helton will go 1-15 on the series. Maybe Derrek Lee will go 7-18 with 3 homers. I sure hope so. Go Cubs!!

Thanks,

Ryan

I Like What I See

June 24th, 2007

Monday; Cubs; CSN Chicago; 8:05 PM ET;

Jason Marquis, 5-4, 3.38 ERA, vs. Jeff Francis, 7-5, 3.44 ERA

Well, today the Cubs completed a 3 game sweep of the White Sox, where in we declared to the nation that we were the better team from Chicago. Anyways, I saw a lot of good baseball today. For example:

1. Shutout
2. Best Defensive game for the Cubs all year
3. Soriano homered-again-for the third night in a row
4. We got the consisten Sean Marshall
5. Good relief pitching

Now, with that being said, I also was troubled by a couple things. Well, actually, just one thing made me scratch my head. Sean Marshall left after 6.1 innings, even though he was in the 7th inning and retired the first man. I know it's only fair to Marmol, who had been warming up since the 6th inning, but, c'mon, Sean was throwing a gem. Not like he was throwing a 1 hitter or anything, and he wasn't striking a lot of guys out*, but he walked only 1 and gave up only 5 hits.

I don't remember who was up at the time of the switch. Perhaps it was to get an advantage on a right-handed hitter. After all, Marmol is a great reliever**, well this year anyways***. So, back to the main idea, here. I liked what I saw today, and if the Cubs keep playing this well, and actually win 7 or 8 in a row, like all winning teams do****, the division could be led by the Cubs by the all-star break*^.

*- Sean struck out 4

**- His ERA in '07 is o.93

***- Well, remember '06? His ERA was 6+

****- Not a winning team, not just yet (35-39)

*^- Knock on wood

Thanks,

Ryan

Cubs vs. White Sox Game 3: Preview

June 24th, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; 2:05 PM ET; vs. Chicago White Sox

Sean Marshall, 3-2, 2.84 ERA, vs. Jose Contreras, 5-7, 4.81

Today the Cubs finish off the interlague series with the Chicago White Sox. Sean Marshall, who has had a handful of quality starts this year, faces off against Jose Contreras, who, as I recall, was a big part of the '05 World Series White Sox.

Well, for whatever reason, this year the White Sox just aren't good. Not to say that the Cubs are the '01 Mariners and that Sean Marshall is Randy Johnson, because neither of that is true. All I'm saying is that Interleague play has been very good to us this year, with the exception of the Rangers, who, by the way, have onw of the third worst records in the majors.

So, lets talk about Sean Marshall. He was called up in May, and mde 2 stellar starts for the Cubs, yet, like I say, the offense is streaky, and he took the loss in both. In those 2 starts, he went 13.1 innings pitched, gave up 4 earned runs, K'd 14 while walking 4, and had a 2.70 ERA. This month, which I call June, you can call it whatever you like, Sean has still been fooling hitters, hurling 24.2 innings in 4 starts, giving up 8 earned runs, 17 K's, 6 walks, and managing a 2.92 ERA.

Out of these 6 starts, 5 have been starts you expect out of Carlos Zambrano, and 1 was a start we were seeing out of Carlos Zambrano at the beginning of the year. That being said, the bad start, 4+ innings, 4 ER, 3 HR, was his most recent start. Hopefully it was just a fluke and he got it out of his system. My stomach tells me otherwise, however.

I keep wondering when we will see 2006 Sean Marshall on the hill. Last Tuesday was my first flashback. I hope it's my last for a long, long time. Of all people I want to see struggle, or could take seeing struggle, he isn't on that list. When he is good, he is great, but when he is bad, I want him to walk around wearing a paper bag over his head so he can't see people flicking him off. Last year he had a 5.59 ERA in 24 starts, averaging between 5 innings and 5.1 innings a game.

All I can say, though, is that if we can have Sean, Big Z, Lilly, Marquis, and Richie Rich pitching well, then we can do good, especially when D-Lee starts hitting homeruns again^.

^Knock on wood, so that I don't curse him and he will start hitting homeruns again.

Thanks,

Ryan

Barrett for Bowen

June 23rd, 2007

June 24; Cubs; WGN 9; 2:05 PM ET; vs. Chicago White Sox

Today: Win; Chicago White Sox 2-1;

Friday: Win; Chicago White Sox 5-1;

Have won 2 straight

Sorry I'm just commenting on this now. Yesterday I forgot to, due to the fact that I had just gotten home from vacation. I'll admit it; I, a Chicago Cub and Michael Barrett fan, am glad he got the boot. Not to say he is an under-achiever or anything, he is in the MLB.

Anyways, we got Rob Bowen for him. Here are the plus sides. Rob Bowen is young. Don't get me wrong; in a game where people play till they are 45, Barrett is young, too, but Bowen is younger. Bowen is also a switch hitter. Barrett hits better against lefties, and Bowen hits against both. Barrett's defense is atroscious. 8 passed balls already?!? Barrett's hitting is not even comparable to his 2006 version.

So, you might not like this trade, and probably a lot of you dont, but I see the only downside as being that Bowen is younger and less experienced, but atleast he won't get into scuffles with Big Z and Richie Rich.

Thanks,

Ryan

Vacation

June 22nd, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; 4:05 PM ET; vs. Chicago White Sox

Last Night: Loss; Texas Rangers 6-5;

2-4 in last 2 series vs. Padres and Rangers

Well, I flew in from Atlanta yesterday, ending a vacation that took me to the U.S. Virgin Islands. As relaxing as it was, no Cubs. They had a TV in the lunch shack that was always on ESPNews, and I got a paper every morning, so I always knew the Cubs record, but I felt a void in me, not knowing how we lost or why. Now I'm home though, tired as heck, and ready to watch a Cubs game for the first time in a long time.

Now back to the Cubs. Zambrano vs. Buehrle. Now, if you look at this season as a whole, I'd bet on another Cubs loss. However, Zamby is hot! Look at his ERA; it's dropping quicker than you might expect after 13 decisions. Also, he's coming off of a 1-0 complete game loss. The complete game looks good; the shutout scares the crap outta me. This offense is streakier than (your choice of something streaky).

In good news though, Ken Griffey Jr. said that if he was traded he would like to be traded to the Cubs. It strikes me that we could trade a man named Jacque for him, and start him with a back up of Floyd, who has been platooning for the most part this year anyhow. Comments or other rumours or something; leave em

Thanks,

Ryan

Go Cubs!

June 13th, 2007


Cubs; WGN 9; 8:00 PM; vs Seattle Mariners

Last Night: Loss; Seattle Mariners 5-3; 13 innings

This is my first blog, and as you probably can tell, I am a Chicago Cubs fan. It is 5:00 PM ET, and we are currently 5.5 games back of the undeserving Milwaukee Brewers. I don't have any connection professionally with the Cubs, but have my opinions, and can do my best to answer your Cubs questions. If I fail to answer, go to http://www.goatriders.org/, also a Cubs blog, and ask them, or http://www.cubs.com/, and beatwriter Carrie Muskat can answer for you. I'll also give you TV schedule for the Cubs when they are on FOX, ESPN, WGN.

Thanks,

Ryan