Cubs struggle to stay afloat with early injuries

The 2011 Chicago Cubs appear ready to change the outcome they had last year when they finished 12 under and in 4^th place. Interim manager Mike Quade became the full time manager and they made a few big offseason moves including getting Carlos Pena and Matt Garza from the Rays. Starlin Castro continues to be the starting shortstop and future all star, with youngsters like Tyler Colvin, Darwin Barney, and Andrew Cashner also showing a strong future for the team. The Cubs also added longtime Cub and fan favorite Kerry Wood to set up for Marmol in the bullpen.

With the team ready to go the Cubs opened at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although they ended up losing the series the team showed potential to fair well as long as they stay healthy. Unfortunately they haven’t stayed healthy, with injuries to their 4^th and 5^th starters Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner in consecutive starts. Both had to go on the disabled list until May leaving their spots to be filled by minor league starters and young relievers they want to stretch out.

So far their replacements have been okay; reliever James Russell got hammered by the Astros in his first career start but minor leaguer Casey Coleman picked up the slack a little by only giving up 4 runs in 5 innings and was in line for the win until Kerry Wood gave up the lead in the eighth.

Despite the injuries the Cubs have stayed around .500 so far this season. On the first home stand of the year they went 3-3 winning one series and losing the other. They then went on the road for 6 games and split 3-3 again. They haven’t always looked great, but besides for the 11-2 loss to the Astros they haven’t looked horrible yet this season. Hitting has been clutch at times and Carlos Marmol has been really good in the 9^th inning except for the rubber game against the Pirates when he blew the save and the game.

Ryan Dempster started slow losing his first two starts of the year before finally getting that first win against the Astros despite not pitching very well. Carlos Zambrano has been off to a hot start winning 2 of his first 3 starts and hit his first homerun of the season Wednesday against the Astros. New acquisition Matt Garza had a successful debut, tying a career high with 12 strikeouts through 7 innings while only giving up 3 runs against the Pirates. He had a less successful outing against the Brewers, giving up 5 runs in 5.2 innings while also striking out 8.

The bullpen has looked pretty good, specifically the 7-8-9 combo of Sean Marshall, Kerry Wood, and Carlos Marmol. Despite being responsible for 2 of the teams 6 losses the combo has looked very strong at times and appears to be one of the more feared end of the bullpens in the National League. The Cubs will do really well if they can get leads into the 7^th inning, with that combo to close it out.

Offensively Starlin Castro has been extremely impressive, hitting .389 with a major league leading 21 hits and team leading 11 runs. Marlon Byrd and Aramis Ramirez have also started strong, hitting .353 and .326 respectively and Byrd has also scored 10 runs. The power production has come from Alfonso Soriano who has 4 homeruns and 10 R.B.I.S to lead the team in both categories despite only hitting .250. Carlos Pena and Tyler Colvin are off to a slow start average wise, but have both driven in 6 runs and hit home runs. The Darwin Barney-Jeff Baker second base combination has worked out really well with Baker hitting .500 against lefties and Barney hitting .345 with six runs.

Despite their 6-6 record the Cubs have played well to start out the season and have the potential to be a good team when injuries clear up and they play to their potential. Starting pitching needs to improve, and the offense needs to be consistent for them to win more than they are now, but they have flashed moments of greatness, specifically Starlin Castro who could be on his way to an All Star season. If the rest of the team produces like they should, and they get leads into the 7^th it should be over almost every time with the ending combination of Marshall-Wood-Marmol. Look for the Cubs to improve their record and start competing for the Division in the upcoming months.

As season approaches, Cubs already in turmoil

We are currently about three weeks from the beginning of the 2011 regular season, and it looks as if the Cubs are going to need every single one of those days in order to fully prepare themselves for the upcoming season. 

During the last couple months of the 2010 season and then this past off season, the Cubs have made several moves that have changed the face of the organization. Most notable of these changes are the new manager and first baseman.  In August of last season, when the Cubs were widely considered out of the playoff race, Lou Pinella announced his retirement.  Pinella managed the Cubs to back to back division titles in his first two seasons with the Cubs, including a 97 win team in his second year. However after those seasons the Cubs slumped back into their normal selves, and one and a half years later they were second to only Pittsburgh for the worst record in the NL central. 

Over the off season, the Cubs made the move to remove the interim tag from Mike Quade’s title and make him the full time manager over Cubs hall of famer and fan favorite Ryan Sandberg.  Although this move upset the Cub faithful, the players seemed to be behind Quade, and were pulling for him to get the job.

In the first few weeks of spring training, Quade has already had to deal with what some managers only have to deal with once the entire summer.  In four days, the Cubs managed to make fourteen errors and looked like a little league team that was just beginning to learn how to pick up a ground ball. This awful stretch peaked when the Cubs made three errors in the first inning of a game against the Milwaukee Brewers that lead to six runs off Carlos Silva.  After this horrid inning was complete, Silva and third baseman Aramis Ramirez had a heated conversation in the dugout the eventually needed to be broken up by multiple players.

The second big move includes really two changes. Part one is the addition of a new possible ace in Matt Garza. Garza is coming over from the Tampa Bay Rays and should be able to dominate the NL central. Coming with him via free agency is Carlos Pena. Pena is a left-handed power hitting first baseman that will step in to replace fan favorite Derek Lee. Pena will be the first legitimate power hitting left-handed hitter for the Cubs since the early 2000’s.

What ever happens this year it looks to be an interesting year in the NL central.

Cubs bolster rotation by trading for Matt Garza

When the off season began, Chicago Cubs GM  Jim Hendry had three issues he needed to solve. He needed a first baseman, a starting pitcher and help for the bullpen.  He kicked off the off season by signing Kerry Wood, and Carlos Pena. These signings fixed two of the three problems. The most recent and biggest move of the off season for the Cubs was a trade for Matt Garza, an elite pitcher formerly for the Tampa Bay Rays.

 It was widely known that the Rays were trying to move Garza in order to shed salary and pick up new prospects.  The Cubs were one of  multiple teams who were trying to make a move for Garza. In the end, the Cubs beat out the Yankees and Rangers by adding top pitching prospect Chris Archer to their proposed package that included four other players. The Rays who were looking for a top pitching prospect in return, quickly agreed to this deal. In return the Chicago Cubs received Garza and two minor league prospects.

At first glance this trade looks lopsided in favor of the Rays. But after taking a closer look, it is a pretty balanced trade. The Rays receive more prospects to fill up their already elite farm system, while the cubs receive an “ace” as well as some prospects to replace the ones given up.

Garza is coming off his best season with the Rays going 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA. 

This trade helps the Cubs both in the short term as well as in the long term. In the short term, Garza can become an immediate top of the rotation pitcher for the Cubs. He is making the switch from the American League East to the National League Central.  Not only is the National League considered easier to pitch in, but also the N.L. Central is widely considered as one of the easier divisions to play in. This trade makes the Cubs an immediate threat to challenge for the division crown.

In the long run, Garza’s contract doesn’t expire until after the 2013 season. This means that the Cubs don’t have to spend any extra money on Garza for the next two years or so.  Garza is also only 27 years old, and has the potential to be the Cubs ace of the future.

Hard to predict Cubs season

After all of the success the Chicago Cubs had the past two years, they appeared to be ready for a playoff run deep in to October. All the players and fans were geared for the season in the spring. With the addition of free agent Milton Bradley and a pitching staff that was predicted to be tops in all of baseball, 2009 could finally be the year to end the long drought without a World Series title. 

It is now September, going on October, and all the optimism is gone. The Milton Bradley experience went worse than expected, and that is an understatement. Bradley had a .257 batting average with only twelve home runs before being suspended for the rest of the year by Cubs manager Jim Hendry for publicly criticizing the Cubs. His stability was also a big question because of the many minor injuries he sustained throughout the year. This is not the kind of production the Cubs expected from a player making seven million dollars a year. 

Bradley was not the only disappointment in the Cubs lineup. Three all-stars from the previous year were hitting under .255 as of September 22. Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Geovany Soto all came off All-Star seasons with huge slumps. Fukudome’s defense is one reason his year has not been a complete disaster, but the same can not be said for Soriano. His many miscues teamed with a lack of hustle showed by Soriano combined for one big problem in left field. His bat was not much better than Soto’s, who was hitting below .200 for the early months of the season. 

A few bright spots in the Cubs lineup leave hope for next year. Rookie Jake Fox has been a force in the Cubs lineup since about July. He was hitting over .285 with 11 home runs in under 200 at bats as of September 22. In other words, he put up better power numbers than Bradley despite 200 fewer at bats. The always dependable Derrek Lee had another great year with 35 plus home runs and 100 plus RBI’s, while maintaining a .300 batting average. Aramis Ramirez was very productive when in the lineup, but a back injury kept him out of the lineup for over a month during the middle of the season. 

The pitching staff was average, but did not live up to expectations. Ted Lilly emerged as the lone Cubs all-star and staff ace. The previous holder of that position, Carlos Zambrano, had a down year that combined injuries and the lack of hard work put in. Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden were merely average, despite having been solid the previous year. 

The brightest spot in this rotation was rookie Randy Wells. His 10-9 record is misleading, but his ERA hovering around 3.00 is not. Wells had little run support and several sure wins that were blown by the inconsistent bullpen. Look for the 27 year old to have more solid years ahead of him. 

Of course, there will be the same high expectations for next year’s club. The pressure to end their World Series drought will be as high as ever. With many players returning next year, the Cubs should be in the thick of things come October. But then again, should be does not always mean they will be.