Ivy Optimist...or Bumming from the Bleachers

Hideous...

2006-05-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a little over a week since I last posted something...and you know what...there hasn't been anything worth saying in the meantime. The Cubs have stunk it up royally since then. I know the loss of Derrek Lee has put its pressures on the rest of the lineup, but 8 runs in 7 games is not going to cut it! I think its time for Dusty to start tweaking with the lineup card, something that once he starts doing, he rarely stops.

This has been a pet peeve of mine since Baker came to the midwest from San Francisco. It seems he rarely keeps the same lineup from day-to-day. If you ask me, this doesn't help our cause at all...it can only add confusion to a hitter when, on any given day, they could bat anywhere from the 2-hole to the 8-hole. Everyone knows you see a different sequence of pitches depending on where you are at in the lineup. Why complicate things and throw a #2 hitter (which I would argue Todd Walker is) into the #3 spot? The whole reason they're #2 is because they have success moving the runner along. The 3-hole is the RBI/Power man. I'm not saying Walker sucks, he's actually done a decent job since Lee's injury, but if you are stating that Walker is the best option we have for RBI/Power, then I give up. Either move Walker to #2 (which I would argue is not the best option) or down in the lineup.

Hell, why not drop Murton in the 3 and see what he can do. Until recently, he has shown an above average eye for the strike zone and has layed off of some really enticing pitches to shrink his strike zone. I would much rather see Murton here and Walker moved to #5 to give Ramirez some much-needed protection. Perhaps pitchers will give Ramirez something to hit knowing that they have Todd Walker waiting on deck. Who knows, maybe Ramirez will actually start to do something...(I know he just had a home run and a few hits the other day, but batting around .200 is not going to cut it).

And I don't know what to do with Jones. So much for his +.300 season. To me, it looks like this guy's strike zone is about as big as Randall Simon's....except Jones can't make consistent contact like Randall could. One homerun every 10 days isn't going to cut it with offensive numbers like that.

While I'm complaining...what's happened to Michael Barrett? Has he had an RBI since the second week of the season? Is everyone in this lineup trying THAT hard to get a hit that they are swinging at EVERYTHING!?! How about everyone try to NOT swing at the first ball they see and start trying to locate the release point from the opposing pitcher. I know this team isn't as bad as they've looked these last 7 days, now try and show us that this team is worth a $100+ million payroll. I'm sure ready to see it.

Courtesy Flush Please.

2006-04-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I last posted, and it seems like a lot has changed in this season already...

Here I am, sitting down during this rainy day and watching the Brewers, THE FREAKING BREWERS!, take batting practice off of Cubs pitching. This 3 game series has definitely taken its toll on our pitching staff. Milwaukee's batting has looked like All Stars playing against a high school team. I'm not going to candy coat the last couple of days...it's been downright awful baseball.

Since my last psot, the team hasn't played too bad (with exception of this latest series). The loss of Derrek Lee has taken its toll, but I can't complain about Todd Walker's play since his move. I can, however, complain about a few others...

Juan Pierre - I thought this was the answer to our leadoff problem. I know it's only a month into the season and there's plenty of time to turn it around, but last time I looked, a sub-.300 batting and on-base average is not what a team usually expects out of a leadoff hitter. His defense has been very good at times, but any runner is going to run off of his under-productive arm. It seems like the games I don't watch are the ones where JP goes 3-for-4 whereas the ones I catch are usually 1-for-4. Pick it up!

Aramis Ramirez - When are you going to realize that 4 balls = a WALK? Just b/c you have 3 balls doesn't mean that you are going to get one knee-high down the middle of the plate! How many times have you had runners in scoring position and pop one up in the infield? Relax and take some pitches.

Carlos Zambrano - Another horrible outing today. You're supposed to be our Ace. What happened to the pitch we saw last year? Did the 20 lbs you drop contain the great pitching that we have seen in the past? And I know you are emotional, but every time your fail to pitch over 5 innings is another game our bullpen has to make up the slack and be worn out till an off day. Is it mechanical? Maybe you need to review some of your outings and see where it went wrong (besides the obvious of giving up 1+ walks and hits an inning).

Dusty Baker/Larry Rothschild - How many times can we have a pitcher go out there and let them allow base hit after base hit, and then walk a few batters only to throw 30+ pitches in an inning and DO NOTHING! No, short trip-small talk at the mound. How about a little pow wow? Obviously, some of our pitchers need to either get their arse chewed our, or reminded that they are being paid to get hitters out! The team has the most come from behind wins after the 7th inning, but we can't expect that day-in-and-day-out. 5+ run deficit is a problem...and has been since you started managing the team.

Looking on the brighter side...
Greg Maddux - 'nough said. If anyone has caught any of his games, he's looking downright nasty out there. Maybe the others could learn something...

Sean Marshall - Now here's a ROOKIE that was thrown into the spotlight vs. STL on an ESPN Sunday Night Game. Didn't look all that bad and really had spectacular stuff in his other outings. He might be another force to be reckoned with once our whole staff is back.

Small ball offense - When it's working, it's working. When it's not, better change the channel. I like not relying on the long ball, (now the critical) but it takes more than 1 hit per inning to get some runs.

One more note -
I have to throw the umpires from the Brewers series under the bus. How can playing out a game in the rain that was basically decided by the third inning be helpful? And then do the same thing the very next day for one that was over by the fifth. I want send you big guys a big THANK YOU for allowing our bullpen to be taxed that much more. Next time, where your Anti-Cubs shirt on the outside of your pads. Thank you and please pull around.

First Impressions

2006-04-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised with the start of the 2006 Season. Not only did the Cubs post a 4-1 record, but they did something they haven't done in a few years...sweep the St. Louis Cardinals.

I must admit that I did not get to enjoy every inning of every game so far, but from what I have seen so far, the Cubs might turn some heads this year. Perhaps this is my optimistic attitude rearing its head, but this team seems different than those from the previous years. This team is supposedly not so dependent of the long ball and comprised of speed and singles hitters. However, that has not been the case and many of the runs scored uptil now have been from the benefit of a four-bagger. Not that I'm complaining...a win is a win. I just had my mind set on little bump-and-run small ball team.

And I must also note that I was pleasantly surprised with the rookie, Sean Marshall. It's amazing what happens when you throw first-pitch strikes to the majority of batters you face, and although he got screwed out a couple of calls from the home plate umpire, he pitched one heck of an abbreviated game. Let's hope his arm holds up.

So, in hopes of keeping this as a quick read, I'll leave my marks to keep a watchful eye on:

--Can only get better--
Aramis Ramirez : 4-for-19, .211 ave. : Likely to turn it around sooner rather than later. I'm not too worried with this one b/c he'll probably be heating up when others are cooling down.

Jacques Jones : 2-for-16, .125 ave. : He hasn't looked good during the few at-bats that I've seen. Hopefully his 3-run shot off Ponson can get his bat to wake up.

--Nowhere else to go but...--
Ronny Cedeno : 10-for-18, .556 ave. : Looked real good in the St. Louis series (esp. Sunday night where he went 4-for-4), but I won't bet the farm that he'll keep up this pace for much longer.

Todd Walker : 6-for-14, .429 ave. : I have no expectations for Walker, who mostly benefits from batting in front of Lee, but I'm sure he'll start trying to pull the ball and hitting pop-ups soon enough.

Coming up :
Apr.11-13 vs. Reds
Apr.14-16 at Pirates

Frist Psot!

2005-12-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

I'm just getting this out there to see how it looks. I need to do some massive re-formatting of my blog layout and color scheme.

More to come...