box
Cubs rebound to 54-73
Phillies drop to 64-63
POTG: 3B A RAM (3B, HR, 3 H, 2 R, 3 RBI)
Runner Up: 2B Ryan Theriot (2 H, R), 1B Phil Nevin (HR, 3 H, 2 R, RBI), LF Matt Murton (H, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), C Michael Barrett (HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), RF Angel Pagan (HR, 2 H, 3 RBI), SP Z! (7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K, QS, W 14/62), RP Jae Kuk Ryu (2 IP, 2 H, 1 K, 0 R)
This game was good, but I had trouble paying attention to this series (or knowing when it ends.) I also liked how Dusty’s now making sure to play the guys they’ve called up ASAP so he doesn’t hear about it later.
“On-base percentage is great if you can score runs and do something with that on-base percentage,” Baker said. “Clogging up the bases isn’t that great to me. The problem we have to address more than anything is the home run problem.”
OMG!!!!! Dusty said the same thing he’s said five times before! What a shocking turn of events. This means oh so much since Dusty is not in charge of getting players and not going to be part of the team in 5 weeks.
I don’t think I saw someone actually print the home/away HR numbers (which Dusty cited as the Real Problem); maybe it was just in the print editions? Here they are, for my sake
Home: Cubs have hit 62 HR (17th in the ML), given up 101 HR (tied for 1st in the league) and have a 27-36 record
Away: Cubs have hit 66 HR (20th in the ML), given up 67 HR (tied for 21st in the league) and have a 27-37 record
The HR rate is much higher at home, but with no apparent effect on the record. I think this team needs some more power, but the bigger problem is giving up the home runs.
Home allowed HR rates by pitcher
name Home IP Home HR IP Per HR Jae Kuk Ryu 4.3 4 1.08 Glendon Rusch 20.3 14 1.45 Mark Prior 20 9 2.22 Roberto Novoa 27.6 12 2.30 David Aardsma 16.3 6 2.72 Kerry Wood 11 3 3.67 Scott Eyre 24 5 4.80 Rich Hill 29.6 5 5.92 Juan Mateo 12 2 6.00 Will Ohman 24.6 4 6.15 Scott Williamson12.6 2 6.30 Bob Howry 33.6 4 8.40 Angel Guzman 27 3 9.00 Sean Marshall 46 5 9.20 Greg Maddux 71.3 7 10.2 Carlos Zambrano 104.6 10 10.5 Carlos Marmol 31.6 3 10.5 Michael Wuertz 14.3 1 14.3 Ryan Dempster 30 2 15.0
The problem has been Glendon Rusch and/or putting guys on the mound who are not prepared to pitch effectively at a major league level (JKR’s first start, Prior’s last comeback, Novoa in general, Aardsma when he was up at first). If they drop Glendon (who’s given up 21 HRs total), they drop to 5th in the category.
Note Dusty and I both will have the same influence on this offseason, so who really cares what he thinks about what kind of players they should sign.
Far more amusing than the Dusty’s usual anti-OBP talk was Dusty going on a big speech about how he’d love to play young guys, and every beat writer making fun of him about it. I don’t think this team is going in a major young player movement, so I wonder who he’s trying to change his image for. Seattle? (The word there is no chance.) Back to the Giants? (Gotta still have hurt feelings.)
Also more interesting is Paul Sullivan stealing obvious column idea from me. Perhaps great bitter minds think alike, but I doubt it.
This ChiTribune article, I’m not so high on. Z wasn’t good in April, but if you can actually remember back to April, the Cubs were doing fine then. Z was pitching great in May and June when the team actually collapsed, so the central theory in the article is completely erroneous and shouldn’t have made the paper
Why were their four Cubs articles in the Chicago Tribune on the day before a huge White Sox series and the only preseason Bears game that matters? I dunno.