A second-best season, a statistic, and a surgery

Monday: Cubs 2, Brewers 0


Derrek Lee now has seven home runs in his last 10 games, and has essentially guaranteed himself the second best season of his career. His 33 home runs rank second behind the 46 he smashed in '05, and his 98 RBI are tied for second, also behind '05 when he knocked in 107. His .303 average, by the way, ranks third behind '05 and the .317 average he had in '07.

Kudos to Ryan Dempster, who reached double digits in wins for the fifth time in his career, and has now allowed zero earned runs in three of his last five starts. Dempster is the third Cubs starter to get his 10th win, and both Harden (9 wins) and Zambrano (8) are within striking distance.

***ALERT*** The following statistic took me FOREVER to find, so please read it. Thank you for your cooperation.

The Cubs have not had five pitchers with double-digit wins since 1972. Their rotation when they accomplished the feat?

Fergie Jenkins
Burt Hooton
Milt Pappas
Bill Hands
Rick Reuschel

Think about that. The Cubs very well could accomplish a rather impressive pitching feat, one that requires both talent and depth. Going into the season, no one would have compared this year's rotation to the one listed above (and in fairness, that rotation combined for 69 wins, whereas this year's has 50 right now), but it might become the first group with five double-digit winners in nearly 40 years. And yet the team is just six games over .500 and has had quite a disappointing season.

See you in 2010

Alfonso Soriano will have knee surgery today and is out for the season. First Urlacher, and now this?

Okay, so maybe this news won't make quite as many waves in the Chicago sports world as did Urlacher's dislocated wrist. In fact, one could argue that this is good news:

1) Piniella has coddled Soriano for the last three years, and no doubt he'd be playing if he were medically cleared to do so. But the surgery means Piniella can't possibly put him in the lineup any more. That will give guys like Fuld, Scales and Fox the opportunity to get some audition time down the stretch.
2) Maybe, just maybe Soriano's struggles at the plate and pathetic defensive performance this year were related to his knee problems. The fact that he needs surgery reinforces this possibility.
3) This goes back to the silver lining to the season that I mentioned earlier--several players, including Soriano and Zambrano, will have played fewer than normal innings this year, perhaps resulting in a healthy and reinvigorated 2010.

A tale of two attitudes

Friday: Twins 7, Cubs 4


While the Twins were busy hitting sac flies, bunting (including pitcher Kevin Slowey, who has 11 career at-bats), and putting the ball in play, the Cubs were hard at work whiffing, running into outs and throwing the ball into the stands at inappropriate times. It was quite a contrast in focus and fundamentals, and the result was an ugly 7-4 loss to Ron Gardenhire's Twins.

I'm not going to lament Randy Wells's poor start, partly because it was his first of the year, and partly because there's just no time for it considering all the Milton Badly ridiculousness we have to get to.

Bradley, who is batting .222 in June, had an inexcusable mental lapse in the 8th inning when he threw the ball into the stands despite there being just two outs and a runner at first. He also lost a ball in the sun (more excusable) and had a baserunning gaffe.

I could deal with Bradley getting hurt every now and then; I could deal with him being a streaky hitter; I could deal with him having a brain fart every now and then; I could deal with him being a bit of a nutcase; I could deal with him mouthing off through the media sometimes. But all of these combined? Aren't we payin' this guy like $30 million?

Bradley's miscues overshadowed his 2-for-4, 2 RBI performance at the plate. Derrek Lee drove in the other two runs to tie Soriano for the team lead in RBI with 27.

There weren't a whole lot of other positives to take from this one. The Cubs are back at the .500 mark, and Rich Harden returns on Saturday and will try to get the Cubs back above sea level.

Bobby Scales was sent down to make room for Harden, giving the Cubs 13 pitchers and just four bats off the bench: Hill, Hoffpauir, Blanco, and whoever doesn't start in center (Johnson or Fukudome). With the team struggling to score runs, I'm not sure that losing a bat is the way to go.

Cubs can't unload in the ninth, fall to 4.5 back

Thursday: Dodgers 2, Cubs 1

-First, I must say that I disagree with MLB's six-game suspension of Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano acted childish, no doubt, but Mark Carlson initiated the contact. Luckily, the Cubs have an off day Monday and Zambrano will simply start two days later (Thursday) than he would have were it not for the suspension.

-Can someone please tell me why the switch-hitting Andres Blanco keeps batting left-handed against left-handed pitchers? All four of his at-bats have been against lefties, yet he's batted lefty in his last three at-bats.

-While I've become more understanding of Soriano batting leadoff, it's a damn shame that he can't be asked to bunt. Trailing 2-1 with runners at first and second and nobody out in the eighth, he faked as if to bunt on the first pitch and then quickly struck out swinging on two breaking balls outside. With Theriot on deck, a bunt would have put the Cubs in a great position to at least tie the game.

-You've gotta tip your hat to Randy Wells: seven innings, two runs against the highest scoring team in the majors. He also struck out seven and walked just one. He's kept the Cubs in every game he's pitched, and his ERA is a sparkling 1.80. I still think Piniella will have to move him to the 'pen when Harden returns from the DL (which, by the way, could still be a couple weeks away, according to the Tribune), but hopefully Wells can translate his success into a relief role.

-Raise your hand if, when the season started, you predicted that on May 28, Bobby Scales and Jake Fox would come up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to win the game.

Major impact

Thursday: Cubs 11, Padres 3

You really gotta hand it to Bobby Scales. After playing over 1,000 minor league games, the 31-year-old is making the most of his chance with the big club. He has now played in six games, and has recorded at least one hit in every game. He is 8-for-18 (.444 average) with a home run, five RBI, and six runs scored. Every team has to deal with injuries, and you just hope that something positive comes from them. Scales was originally brought up when Zambrano went on the DL, and was able to remain on the team when Ramirez was shelved. Those are two guys you'd love to have on the active roster, but it's nice when an injury leads to someone unexpectedly showing the ability to be a key contributor. Even if Scales ends up back in Iowa at some point, you can rest assured he'll be at Wrigley in September when the rosters expand.

Thursday's key number: 10. Padres pitchers walked 10 Cubs, including four in a row to walk in a run in the fifth. Ryan Dempster, who had walked three or more in five of his seven starts this year, walked just two. Here's a recipe for a sweep: three quality starts, 23 runs by the offense.

The Cubs look to be regaining some of that Wrigley magic from last year--they're now 11-6 at home and 7-1 in their last eight at the friendly confines.

Quote of the Day

"I finally have an average (.105). Yay!"

-Ryan Dempster, after his first two hits of the season.

This weekend the Astros will come calling, and I'll be there Sunday with the Illinois Wesleyan University alumni group. The pitching matchups for the three-game series:

Friday: Brian Moehler (0-2, 8.44) vs. Randy Wells (0-0. 0.00)
Saturday: Roy Oswalt (1-2, 4.50) vs. Sean Marshall (1-2, 4.06)
Sunday: Felipe Paulino (1-3, 6.93) vs. Rich Harden (4-1, 4.54)

Thank you sirs, may we have another?

We all love a walk-off home run, a ninth-inning comeback, or a comfortable blowout victory, but wins like Tuesday's are still my favorite--solid starting pitching, quality relief, and offensive production from multiple players. The 6-2 win over the Padres puts the Cubs back at their high-water mark of four games over .500 for the third time this season.

Rich Harden gave the Cubs another quality start, going six innings and allowing just two runs (why he would throw Adrian Gonzalez--the only good hitter in the entire lineup--a pitch to hit with first base open, I have no idea) in the first inning and nothing else. It was the 18th quality start of the season for the Cubs, tied for third in the majors.

Milton Bradley pounded a Jake Peavy pitch out to straightaway center, a shot that may have hit someone who was buying a hot dog. It was measured at 450 feet, just 20 feet shorter than the longest home run hit in the majors this year.

As Bob Brenly mentioned on the broadcast, Bradley really seems to be finding the strike zone again. He was swinging at bad pitches early in the year, which is not the calling card of the man who led the AL in OBP last season. Bradley's average has now gone up in every game he's played since May 5, and while he's still hitting just .186, his OBP has been at least .325 in both April and May, and he's on a six-game hitting streak during which he's batting .303. He's starting to look a little more like the outfielder we paid $30 million for, and that's a good thing with Ramirez out and Lee and Soto still struggling.

Thirty-one-year-old career minor-leaguer Bobby Scales saw the bite Bradley took out of that pitch and decided he was hungry for his first major league home run. By hitting a pinch-hit solo blast, he made sure he didn't have to slide into any bases and repeat his patented dive-and-bellyflop move.

And finally, Kosuke Fukudome sneaked into the top 10 in NL batting. His 3-5 day moved his average up to .333 (10th) and his OBP up to .455, good for fifth in the NL.

Cubs notes
-The top teams in the NL Central are nice and cozy right now, as four teams are within 1.5 games of first place. St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and the Cubs all have either 13 or 14 losses.

-One of the coolest things in Tuesday's game was Soriano's RBI single through the right side of the infield--you just don't see him go the opposite way very often. In fact, that was just Soriano's second hit to right field this season.

-Though Zambrano is eligible to come off the DL Tuesday, the Cubs are planning to have him return next Friday in San Diego. That means Randy Wells, who will start Friday, will likely make one more start after that, though the Cubs could shuffle the rotation and have Marshall make an extra start (on regular rest) instead.