Week seven awards: Still stressful, but in a good way (like Lost)

Gonna have to make this a short one after a long night of Lost. The Cubs had a 5-2 week, their best week of the year and their first winning week since Week Four when they were 4-3. The Rockies were a game over .500 entering their series with the Cubs, which means the Cubs played three above average teams and managed to sweep a series, split a series, and win another. The last four games were one-run affairs, and it was nice to see the Cubs on the positive side of a couple close decisions.

Ryno of the Week: If there's one thing I hate, it's being repetitive. But even though the one thing I hate is being repetitive, this week's winner is the same as last week's: Sean Marshall. The 6'7 lefty had two wins and two holds, and lowered his ERA from 2.46 to 2.01 in the process. In the month of May, he's 4-0 with a 0.79 ERA. I shudder to think where the Cubs would be without him this year.

I have to give special props to some great offensive performances as well: Starlin Castro had at least one hit in all seven games en route to an 11-for-29 week with five RBI and four runs. And in limited duty, Tyler Colvin went 6-for-11 with four runs and two RBI.

Honorable mentions: Carlos Silva, Alfonso Soriano

Goat of the Week: This is a tough one, but I'm going to go with John Grabow. He appeared in four games this week and was very consistent--he allowed at least one run in every outing. He also walked five guys in just 3.1 innings, and had a 10.80 ERA. He is completely and utterly useless.

I'm giving Aramis Ramirez a pass this week only because one of his two hits directly resulted in the Cubs winning a game. But as my dad said, he's fast-approaching permanent Goat of the Week status; he was 2-for-18 with seven strikeouts. Here's a stat that will bring a tear to your eye even if none of those Lost montages did: Ramirez has struck out 40 times this year; in 2006 he played 157 games and struck out 63 times. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIM?

Dishonorable mentions: Geovany Soto, Derrek Lee

Week six awards: "Why are they doing this to us?"

Despite a win to finish out the week, the Cubs lost two more series in the last seven days. They've won three series this year and lost nine. It's like people always say: just win one of out of every three and you'll be in good shape at the end of the season. No wait, that doesn't sound right.

The Cubs needed two nail-biter 4-3 victories to keep from getting swept in back-to-back series and to stave off an to 0-6 record against the Pirates this year, a team they lost to eight times the last two years combined. The 2-4 week leaves them six games under .500 with three teams ahead of them in the division. At the top of the heap is a team that wears red but not the one you'd expect: Dusty Baker's Reds. Incidentally, the Cubs have scored just three fewer runs than the Reds and have a better ERA. Either the Reds are over-performing, the Cubs are under-performing, or both.

Here's the other good news: though it may have felt like 50, the Cubs were outscored by only five runs in the last two series. They lost two one-run games and also a two-run decision as they failed to turn the corner offensively. While it's good they're not getting blown out, their tendency to lose pretty much every close game they play is immensely frustrating and the reason for the title of today's post. Why, Cubs? Why must you torture us?

They still have two more games at Wrigley to try to get momentum on their side before hitting the road again.

Ryno of the Week: Tom Gorzelanny went 1-for-2 at the plate, and he was pretty much the Cubs' offensive star. Okay, okay, Soriano did go 8-for-22 with five RBI, which ain't bad. But Sean Marshall gets the nod this week after he earned a hold and a win, playing an instrumental role in both of the Cubs' wins. The man quietly goes about his business every year--he has a 2.45 ERA and a miniscule 0.87 WHIP, which would be the lowest in the league if he had logged enough innings to qualify.

Honorable mention: Carlos Silva

Goat of the Week: Though I feel badly for him after he got plunked on the elbow and had to miss Sunday's game, Ryan Theriot was just 3-for-17 last week with no walks. He also had a chance to tie Saturday's game in the ninth inning, needing only a fly ball to do so. Instead, he struck out.

Dishonorable mention: Carlos Zambrano

Gorzelanny and Silva to begin season in starting rotation

This according to Carrie Muskat over at cubs.com. Gorzelanny stole the fifth starter spot from Sean Marshall--Marshall had a strong outing on Wednesday to lower his spring ERA to 1.64, but Gorzelanny followed with six strong innings yesterday to lower his ERA to 3.07. I think Marshall's career splits played a role as well (4.86 career ERA as a starter, 3.15 as a reliever). It's likely that my prediction from February 5 that Gorzelanny would start the season in the rotation played a role as well. Right? Yeah, it's likely that my prediction played a role.

Silva has had a solid spring while Jeff Samardzija (who will go to the bullpen) did not. I still don't think the Cubs will need a fifth starter until April 19 (though they may prefer one), so it will be interesting to see which back-end starter will get the bulk of the starts before Lilly returns.

Piniella also said that lefty James Russell (0.00 ERA in nine innings) is very likely to make the team as a reliever.

The good, bad and ugly of the Cubs' offseason thus far

The good:

It's good to know they can share a mic, since they'll now be sharing a professional sports franchise. And it's interesting to note that even when viewed in a still, photographic format, Todd looks like a douche.

The transition of team ownership into the hands of its eighth owner, the Ricketts family. There's something soothing about real, live human beings sitting there and talking about the team. Something comforting about the fact that the owners don't have an opening and a closing price.

The new owners pretty much said all the things you'd expect at their opening press conference (save one super awkward moment when Tom's brother Todd said Jim Hendry "knows way better than" to eat part of Milton Bradley's contract. He then winked (seriously), cementing his status as The Really Creepy Brother Who Will Keep Trying to Share His Ideas with the Other Siblings but They'll Just Nod and Not Really Pay Any Attention to Him, Which They've Probably Been Doing for Twenty Years Because, as Was Just Explained, He's Creepy. And Weird.).

And while growing up watching and rooting for a team does not by any means guarantee that you will be successful as an owner of that team, it is really nice that Tom used to live just beyond the Wrigley walls and spent many a summer day in the bleachers. I have no doubt that he'll treat the Cubs as a business, because he has to. But I also have no doubt that part of him will treat the Cubs as his favorite team, a team that he desperately wants to win the World Series. And that's a very good thing.

Also a good thing is that according to the Windy City Times, Tom's sister Laura Ricketts is the first openly gay owner in all of American professional sports. I think that's a pretty neat "first" for the Cubs to be a part of.

The bad:

The decisions by Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan to return to their perches at Busch Stadium for 2010. These guys continually enable the Cardinals to get way more bang than should be humanly possible for that much buck (2009: 17th highest payroll, 92 wins), and unfortunately there was never much more than a fleeting glimmer of hope that the two wouldn't return for next year.

Question now is, will the Cards pony up the BIG bucks for Matt Holliday? His agent, Scott Boras, has made a point of comparing him to Mark Teixeira, whom the Yankees gave eight years and $180 million last year.

The ugly:

Since when did Ted Lilly need shoulder surgery? That came as a bit of a surprise. Back by April, they say.

Most pitchers get a month of spring training to work their way up to regular action. So Lilly may not be at full strength until mid- or late May. Not a great development to begin the offseason, especially since Lilly was clearly the ace of the staff in 2009. If the season started tomorrow (and, of course, it doesn't, and things will likely change), the Cubs would come out of the gates with Zambrano, Dempster, Wells, Marshall and Gorzelanny. Does this mean Hendry will need to seriously consider trying to re-sign Harden? Hurry back, Ted ...

And the winner is ...

Well, the season's over. Let's see, something positive to say ...

Ah, I got it: It wasn't a June swoon that cost the Cubs!

Unfortunately, it was an August one that did them in. While the Cardinals got as hot as the color of their jerseys, the Cubs struggled and stumbled and sank to second place on their way to a disappointing 83-78 season.

Given the expectations, the injuries, the horrific fundamentals, the apparent lack of passion, and the fact that the Cubs never really put together any real good stretches save when they beat up on the Nationals and Reds right after the All-Star break, this was one of the least enjoyable Cubs seasons I can recall. Again, I factor expectations into the equation here. Sure, Cubs fans always look forward to each season with rose-colored glasses, but deep down, we often know it ain't gonna happen. This year, everyone just knew it was going to happen. So, wha' happened?

What happened is that Soriano batted 37 points below his career average and had just 55 RBI. What happened is that Geovany Soto had a sophomore slump that Van Wilder would be proud of. What happened was that Zambrano and Dempster combined to win 11 fewer games than they did in 2008. What happened was that Aaron Miles was one of Lou's first options off the bench.

But you know all this already. What you don't know is how Trevor Sierra, Andrew Kapral and I did in our annual prediction challenge. And I know you're on the edge of your seat with anticipation.

But first, one more note about the 2009 season: Last Thursday's rainout resulted in the Cubs playing fewer than 162 games for the second straight season. The last time the Cubs went back-to-back seasons without playing 162 games was from 1984-87, when they played 161, 161, 160, and 161 games, respectively. The Cubs also played just 160 games in 1991, and played an extra game in 1998 due to the play-in game versus the Giants.

And now, the results you've been waiting for ever since 12 seconds ago when you read the paragraph that indicated I was about to share with you the results of our annual prediction challenge:

Cubs wins
Brandon 92
Trevor 89
Andrew 90

Actual: 83

All three of us correctly assumed that the Cubs wouldn't be able to match their gaudy win total from 2008. We did not assume, however, that they would tread water most of the season and finish just a touch above .500. Andrew is notorious for being pessimistic in our challenge, but this year it was Trevor's dire outlook on life and general hatred of all things Cubs that got him a win in the biggest category of all. I hope you're happy, Trevor. By the way, all three of us picked the Cubs to win the Central, but with the Cardinals having won 91 games, only my predicted total would have resulted in a division title. So I have no choice but to assign additional blame to Andrew for the Cubs' disappointing season. I don't know how you guys sleep at night.

Zambrano wins
Brandon 17
Trevor 17
Andrew 19

Actual: 9

It's almost as if Andrew underwent some sort of significant, life-changing experience that made him more optimistic. Perhaps around, say, April 4 of this year? Well, that optimism is admirable and should generally be applauded, but for the purposes of this prediction challenge, it's really biting him in the ass. Trevor and I split this one despite our stunningly inaccurate prediction of 17 wins.

Fukudome average
Brandon .274
Trevor .271
Andrew .280

Actual: .259

Remember how at the end of last year we all said the Cubs had overpaid for Fukudome? That he was just an average player despite his $12 million salary? Well, we're all eating our words now--Fukudome raised his average two whole points this year! And ... wait for it ... he hit one more home run! Way to go, Kosuke! Trevor wins again on account of his xenophobia and attendant hatred of Asian people.

Gregg saves
Brandon 31
Trevor 29
Andrew 23

Actual: 23

Gotta hand it to Andrew on this one. We'll never know if he thought the Cubs would win a lot of blowouts and therefore deflate Gregg's save total, or if he looked into his crystal ball and saw a glimpse of Gregg being demoted in favor of Carlos Marmol. Either way, he nailed it.

Soto home runs
Brandon 29
Trevor 27
Andrew 24

Actual: 11

Um, what the hell? We all predicted Soto would hit at least twice the number of home runs that he did. Eleven? Seriously? You know who hit more than 11 home runs? Will Venable. Sorry, not familiar? How about Laynce Nix? That guy doesn't even know how to spell his name! Neither does Jonny Gomes, but he outhomered Soto too. Did you have the legendary Miguel Montero on your fantasy team? More home runs than Soto. You get the point. Andrew takes this sorry excuse for a category.

Marshall wins
Brandon 12
Trevor 12
Andrew 10

Actual: 3

If the last one was a sorry excuse for a category, what does that make this one? We all had Marshall ticketed for a strong season as the fifth starter, but he went to the 'pen and Randy Wells put the fifth starter spot on lockdown. Of pitchers who threw at least 60 innings for the Cubs, only Carlos Marmol had fewer wins (2) than Marshall. What was I saying about Andrew and his newfound optimism? The optimism tank was apparently emptied right about halfway through his 2009 predictions.

Team double plays turned
Brandon 149
Trevor 128
Andrew 128

Actual: 144

With a few games to go, I thought I might actually nail this prediction exactly. But the Cubs didn't turn any twin killings in their last two games, and the rainout took away another game. This could have gone down as the greatest prediction in the history of sports ... but no. Still, thank God for this category; it stands as my only solo victory on the year.

Final tally:

Trevor: 3
Andrew: 3
Brandon: 2

We also predicted the final NL Central standings, but that doesn't solve matters as all three of us flipped the Cubs and Cardinals and then accurately predicted two other teams while flip-flopping two others. Oh well, a tie it is!

Congratulations to Trevor and Andrew on their Debbie Downer, tag team effort as they double-handedly ruined the Cubs season for reasons that are not readily apparent to me. Congratulations to all others who participated (me), and best of luck next year!

Crosstown Class-ick

Thursday: White Sox 5, Cubs 0

I got it! I got it! I don't got it.

Carlos Torres? Seriously?? A 27-year-old rookie making his third major league start and shooting for his first major league win? And all he does is throw seven scoreless innings in 2009's final installment of the Crosstown Craptastic.

This loss is on Alfonso Soriano. Congratulations to Derrek Lee, who was attending to the birth of his second child, but it's a shame he had to miss the game, as Jake Fox was then forced to play first base instead of left field. Down 1-0, Soriano came to the plate with runners at first (Fox) and third and one out ... and struck out. Then, still in a 1-0 game, he came up in the seventh with a runner at second (Fox) and nobody out, needing to move him over to third ... and struck out. Baker then singled to right, but Fox was thrown out at the plate. Because Soriano didn't move him to third. Because small ball isn't really his thing. Because he's not a team player.

Oh, and he's not a real dynamite fielder, either. Soriano fell down as he attempted to catch a ball in the eighth, resulting in a three-base, run-scoring error. I'm not even going to feign shock; this is what he does. Even Ron Santo called Thursday's performance "embarrassing." I honestly can't believe we have this guy for five more years (Soriano, not Santo). Five more years! That's 2014! We will have had another presidential election, a summer Olympics, two winter Olympics, and two World Cups by then. And I'll be 32! Maybe some AL team would like to have an aging DH.

Dempster did his part, pitching what should have been eight scoreless innings except for Soriano's dunderhead play out in left. With the first three Sox runs being unearned (due also to an error at first by Fox), the Cubs had pitched 30 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, and the bullpen racked up 22.2 straight scoreless innings. That all ended, however, when Sean Marshall allowed two runs of the earned variety in the ninth.

-------------------------

College football started last night. To all those teams with championship aspirations: if you're going to lose, you'd better do it now. Lose late in the season and the ridiculous BCS will get ya! And I'm not talking to you, non-major conference teams. You have no right to have championship aspirations you ... you ... you non-major conference teams you!

Zambrano scratched, Cubs overmatched

Friday: Rockies 6, Cubs 2


It was a day of bad news for the Cubs.

First, the Cardinals came back to beat the Pirates 6-4.

Then, Carlos Zambrano was scratched from his start when his back stiffened up while playing long toss before the game. How he made it five days--including a bullpen session--without any trouble, only to be scratched minutes before his start is beyond me. We'll see if Zambrano will be placed on the DL for the second time this season. Because his last start was August 1, he would already be halfway done with his DL stint if they make it retroactive.

Sean Marshall stepped in on (very) short notice, but showed why his career ERA is 2 1/2 points higher as a starter than as a reliever. He needed over 60 pitches to get through two innings, allowing three runs in his short outing. The Cubs may need to make a roster move this weekend, as four relievers were forced to throw all eight innings in the first of four games at hitter friendly Coors Field.

Let's get to the lineup changes: though the Cubs only tallied two runs on Friday, I like Bradley batting second. When the Cubs signed him, they thought they were getting an on-base guy with some pop in his bat. But so far, he's only lived up to the first part of that reputation. Despite a .252 average, he's got a .394 OBP, better than that of Adrian Gonzalez, Raul Ibanez and Ryan Braun (and nearly 50 points higher than Ryan Theriot's as well). For that reason, he's much better-suited for the two-hole, where he can get on base for Lee, Ramirez, Soto and Soriano.

However, I'm not sure why Theriot was dropped all the way to eighth. He's hitting 60 points higher than Fontenot, and has the highest average on the team. It's a waste of his ability to have him right in front of the pitcher where he won't see many pitches to hit. I'd prefer to see Theriot seventh and Fontenot behind him.

The Cubs have started a lot of positive trends in the second half, but here's a negative one that they need to buck: they're now 2-5 against teams above .500.

Predictive analysis

The All-Star break is not only a time to look back at how the Cubs have done--it's also a time to see how me and my fellow predictors have done. With 53 percent of the games in the books, it's time to see how Trevor, Andrew and I are doing in our annual prediction challenge, originally posted here.

Cubs wins
Brandon 92
Trevor 89
Andrew 90

The Cubs are on pace for 81 wins. Obviously, we all hope the Cubs find a groove at some point in the second half, something they never really got around to in the first half. That said, the Cubs would need to go 48-28 in their remaining games for me to even tie this one, 47-29 in Andrew's case. Trevor's sitting pretty.

Zambrano wins
Brandon 17
Trevor 17
Andrew 19

Historically, Trevor and I always predict about 19, 20, or even 22 wins for Big Z. Andrew, always the realist, goes lower. But something went terribly awry this year and Trevor and I dipped below Andrew with our predictions. Zambrano is sitting on just five wins, however, so Andrew might have to hand over his Zambrano Wins Prediction Trophy in a few months. (Note: that trophy does not really exist, though it'd be pretty sweet if it did.)

Fukudome average
Brandon .274
Trevor .271
Andrew .280

Fukudome was batting .338 at the end of April. He was down to .309 at the end of May. Two months into the season, none of us were even close. But who knew that the player who's probably least in tune to the history of June swoons at Wrigley Field would be the biggest June swooner of them all. Fukudome hit .169 in June to drop his average below all of our predictions, to .256. He's dropped even more since then, and stands at .251 at the break. I'm completely Fuked on this one, as Trevor and Andrew sandwiched me, and Trevor's pessimism looks like it might once again take the day.

Gregg saves
Brandon 31
Trevor 29
Andrew 23

Oooh, this is a good one. Gregg is on pace for 30 saves (16 currently). If the Cubs do indeed improve in the second half, and Gregg stays healthy, I've got a chance to take it. Andrew needs a Gregg implosion to have a shot, but he's allowed just 2 ER in his last 18 appearances (Gregg, not Andrew).

Soto home runs
Brandon 29
Trevor 27
Andrew 24

Uh-oh. Perhaps this should be our collective mulligan. Soto has just eight dingers, and Andrew's looking good on the low end. You would have THOUGHT that Soto might IMPROVE upon last year's 23 HR, but nooooooo, he had to go and suck it up in the first half, and now he's out for 3-4 weeks meaning 29 HR is pretty much completely out of the picture. Stupid Soto.

Marshall wins
Brandon 12
Trevor 12
Andrew 10

Dammit. Marshall has just three wins, and he appears to be in the bullpen for good with Randy Wells holding down the fifth starter job with aplomb. Andrew can take this one to the bank. Though a bank probably wouldn't assign much monetary value to a baseball prediction.

Team double plays turned
Brandon 149
Trevor 128
Andrew 128

The Cubs have been terrible in this statistic for several years, and though they're still 22nd in the majors, there has been a noticeable difference. With 77 DPs turned thus far, they're on pace to turn 145 when all's said and done. Keep those twin killings comin', Cubbies!

So here's how the final standings would look if everyone played exactly the same way in the final 76 games as they did in the first 86.

Trevor 3
Brandon 3
Andrew 2

There's an extra one in there because Trevor and I are headed for a tie in the "Zambrano wins" category.

But enough predicting, let's play the games!

Split doubleheader nets 6-5 homestand; Cubs within shouting distance at the break

Sunday, Game 1: Cubs 7, Cardinals 3

Prior to the game, Pujols accepts his mission from the baseball gods.

Ted Lilly is awarded his 2009 All-Star jersey.

Hoffpauir celebrates his three-run homer in the first.

Zambrano revels in his go-ahead (and game-winning) home run.

For some unknown reason, I love when this happens. Deuces wild.

The Cubs Quintet serenades the fans.

Hey, they're right--the Cubs did win today!

Sunday, Game 2: Cardinals 4, Cubs 2

This was the sign at Murphy's Bleachers in between games. Why it says Dan Brown blows, I have no idea.

For some odd reason, Jake Fox brought out the lineup card.

First pitch. We had a sweet view.

Jake Fox catching. And we didn't even get hit with any wild pitches!

Sean Marshall, after moving from pitcher to left field in one of the stranger double switches you'll ever see.

And now Marshall's back on the mound.

So there's the photographic recap of Sunday's doubleheader; here's the written one:

Every time you go to the ballpark, there's a chance you're going to see something you've never seen before. In Game 1, that was Albert Pujols popping one up on the infield, seeing it get dropped by Theriot, then heading for second only to have Jeff Baker pick up the ball with his barehand, spin around and--after getting over his surprise at seeing Pujols about 10 feet away from him--tagging him out. From a pop-up to an error to an out, all in about 15 seconds.

Pujols did his damage in Game 1, going 1-for-4 with a 2-run double and a run. But Hoffpauir's 3-run blast (his first since June 25) off just-returned-from-the-DL Kyle Lohse got the Cubs out to an early lead, and Zambrano's third home run of the year gave the Cubs the lead for good. It was a close game the whole way until errors by both members of the Cardinals' right side of the infield allowed three unearned runs to score in the 7th inning (and the 7th errors of the year for both Schumaker and Pujols, weird).

The win guaranteed that the Cubs would be no further back in the standings at the end of this 11-game homestand than they were when it began: 3 1/2 games out. The home runs and the Cardinals' errors allowed the frenzied Wrigley fans to ignore the fact that the Cubs were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. A win over the Cardinals on a sunny, 75 degree day washes away just about any negative elements. For at least the next four hours, it was "Go Cubs Go."

...

Game 2 didn't start off quite so well. The 1st inning home run this time went to the Redbirds, as Ryan Ludwick absolutely unloaded off of Randy Wells to put the Cubs in a 2-0 hole. The Cubs got one right back in the bottom of the inning as back-in-the-lineup Fuld notched his first of two hits, and Lee drove him in after Theriot bunted him to third.

Both Wells and Wainwright continued to hold serve until the 6th, when--after Wells had retired Pujols for the third consecutive time--Ludwick smashed another 2-run homer to make it 4-1. Bradley would drive in Aramis Ramirez with a hard-hit double (batting lefty!) in the bottom of the inning, but alas, that would be the end of the scoring for both teams on this night. It was not, however, the end of the story.

First, Fukudome pinch-hit for Koyie Hill in the 7th, which meant we were destined to see Jake Fox strap on the catcher's gear in the 8th. He did just fine behind the dish, blocking a couple balls and never having to attempt to throw out any base stealers.

The other Cubs player who found himself out of position in Game 2 was Sean Marshall. When Piniella went to take Marshall out of the game after he'd loaded the bases in the 9th, everyone at Wrigley (including Marshall, presumably) was perplexed to see Marshall walking out towards left field. Soriano left the game, and Heilman came on to pitch.

Brendan Ryan (who was probably doing everything he could to hit it to left field just to see what would happen) struck out, and Piniella emerged from the dugout to make another pitching change. And lo and behold, Little League-style, Lou summoned Marshall from left field back to the mound, and he was replaced in left by Reed Johnson. Marshall then struck out the Cardinals' version of a Hoffpauir (Jarrett), and then got Colby Rasmus to fly out to left (though I understand from my TV-viewing friends that Johnson's catch was questionable at best).

So the Cubs got out of the bases-loaded, nobody out jam with one of the most clever and most risky managerial moves I've ever seen. If you count Game 1 and Marshall's two pitching stints in Game 2, he essentially pitched three separate times on Sunday. Once again, you don't exactly see that every day.

The split doubleheader left the Cubs 3 1/2 games out at the break, exactly where they were before The Homestand. They sit right at .500, 43-43, an underperforming team with a surprisingly good chance of sneaking to the top of a weak division as the second half unfolds. We've seen glimpses of the team we expected heading into the season, and we've seen performances and statistics more appropriate for RFK Stadium than Wrigley Field. Everyone but Ted Lilly will take a few days off and prepare for 76 more games, starting with the Nationals on Thursday (who, by the way, just replaced Manny Acta with former Cubs manager Jim Riggleman). The Cubs are tied with the Brewers and just one behind the Cardinals in the loss column, so here's to a second half that goes exactly like the first ... was expected to go.

33% of the way through the season, I ask: Are the Cubs giving 100%?

The Cubs had a big 14-inning victory over the Reds Sunday, pulling back into a tied for third and back to within 3.5 games of first. With that said, this may seem like a strange time to go negative, but I just have to say:

Is it just me, or does there seem to be a palpable lack of passion on this 2009 Cubs team? Piniella seems disinterested at times, and I don't say that simply because he hasn't thrown the third base bag at an umpire, but also because despite mental lapses, a lack of hustle, and bad decisions by his players, he seems calm and content. He doesn't need to throw a baseball bat, but I would like to know that he's concerned about the Cubs' performance.

Soriano runs out ground balls and pop-ups about as often as the Lions win football games; he plays defense like left field is his vacation home--he might as well have a margarita next to him; Derrek Lee didn't even go halfway down the line on a flyout to center Sunday; Marmol, the supposed lockdown 8th inning guy, can't focus enough to throw any strikes; the outfielders just loooove to throw to the wrong base; Bradley talks more than he hits; Ryan Theriot has completely gone away from his patented inside out swing; no one seems to know how to bunt--the Cubs are 15th in the NL in sacrifices; the list goes on.

There was a lot of talk at the beginning of the season about the Cubs walking away with this division, that the regular season was a mere formality. Perhaps some of that talk seeped into the Cubs' mental approach, because we haven't seen much fire (nor fundamentals) from most of the Cubs thus far; instead, they look flat as a pancake.

I'm not saying this can't change: the Cubs looked lazy for the first few months of '07 and then did a 180 in the second half. We've reached the one-third point of the season, and the Cubs are 27-25, within 3.5 games of first; at the one-third point in 2007, the Cubs were just 23-31, 7.5 games back. But I'd just like to see a little more focus and effort--I know the players aren't always going to succeed, but I at least want to know they're trying, and that they want to win as much as I want them to.

Sunday: Cubs 6, Reds 3, 14 inn.

Randy Wells just continues to get people out, though he got yet another no decision to show for his efforts. In six starts, he's allowed just eight total earned runs. Piniella took him out after five scoreless innings in his first start, but his five starts since have all been quality starts. Cubs starting pitching in the series versus the Reds: 19.1 IP, 2 ER, an ERA of 0.93.

Despite the phenomenal starting pitching, the series was a nail-biter because the Cubs offense struggled to come up with the big hit. The Cubs rank just 13th in the NL in both runs scored and batting average. Perhaps the biggest hole in the lineup right now is at the top: Soriano is hitting just .214 since the start of May. Though he did hit the go-ahead home run Sunday, he was 1-for-6, and has 25 strikeouts and just 12 hits over his last 18 games.

I'm very glad we didn't allow Bronson Arroyo to get the win. I say that because a win for Arroyo would have given him the league lead in wins all by himself, despite the fact that going into Saturday's game, his ERA was fifth worst among qualified NL pitchers, and he had allowed the fourth most home runs in the league.

Cubs notes

-Ryan Theriot did something he's never done before: hit a home run in a stadium not named Wrigley Field.

-Derrek Lee's two-run single in the third inning broke an 0-for-22 streak for the Cubs with runners in scoring position. Oh, Aramis Ramirez, please come back soon.

Saturday: Reds 4, Cubs 3, 11 inn.

In the four games on this road trip, all have been one-run games and three have gone into extra innings. This brings to mind the inordinate number of close games the Cubs have played this season. Of their 53 games, 33 have been decided by three runs or less. Additionally, 13 of the Cubs' 27 wins have been by two or fewer runs. The Cubs have also played six extra inning games, a full 11 percent of their schedule.

The Cubs lost despite the fact that for the second straight game, the starting pitcher did not allow an earned run. Unfortunately, Dempster allowed three unearned runs in the first after an error by Mike Fontenot, and though they clawed back to tie the game, a poor throw home by Fontenot in the 11th cost Sean Marshall and the Cubs the loss.

Perhaps the best sight from Saturday's action: Geovany Soto absolutely launched one off the foul pole in left--it was just his second home run this season, and hopefully he'll be sending the ball into orbit a lot more often in the coming months.

And let's give credit where credit is due: Derrek Lee hit .313 in May and after a 2-for-5 day Saturday, he's hitting .438 in June; his average is up to .270 overall. He's also grounded into just one double play this season after racking up 27 last year.

Cubs notes

-Zambrano says he will retire after his current contract expires. Huh? His contract is up in 2012, with a vesting option for 2013; he'll be 32 when the 2013 season ends. First of all, I don't put much stock in these comments. Zambrano's been in a goofy mood all week after his suspension, and most of the things he says don't matter a week later, let alone four years later. The other issue is that if he continues to play after his current contract, there's no guarantee it would be with the Cubs, anyways. So let's check back in with Z regarding his retirement plans in about three years.

-It looks like Marshall will probably be making at least one more start for the Cubs. Rich Harden was scratched from his rehab start Sunday due to a stomach virus, and hopes to do the rehab start Monday and return to the Cubs' rotation Saturday.

Randy Johnson gets win #300, Zambrano gets #100

On Thursday, Randy Johnson became the 24th player to win 300 games, which of course begs the question: will he be the last to accomplish this feat? Only one pitcher won over 500 games (Cy Young, 511), and only one other pitcher won over 400 games (Walter Johnson, 417). Obviously those milestones will never again be reached, but how about 300?

Here are the active pitchers with more than 200 wins, with their ages in parentheses:

Jamie Moyer, 250 (46)
Andy Pettitte, 220 (36)
Pedro Martinez, 214 (37)
John Smoltz, 210 (42)

Moyer would need to be Nick Altrock to get to 300. Pettitte keeps talking about retiring, but keeps coming back. If he plays until he's 41, he'd need to average about 16 wins per season. Pedro is not technically active at the moment, but expressed a desire to pitch this season while pitching in the World Baseball Classic. He'd need to average 17 wins even if he played another four years--that's not going to happen. And Smoltz is too old to have a shot at 90 more wins.

So we probably won't be seeing any more 300-game winners for a while. But what about the younger pitchers out there? The first few names on the "all-time wins" leaderboard that pop out to me are:

Roy Halladay (32): 140 wins

If Halladay pitches until he's 43, he'd need to average about 14.5 wins per season (I don't know why I picked age 43; it just seems like a nice mid-point between "too young to have a good shot at 300" and "older than the vast majority of pitchers when they retire"). He's a workhorse, which either means he's got the makeup to pitch well into his 40's, or that he's logging so many innings early in his career that he'll run out of gas before he can get there.

Roy Oswalt (31): 131 wins

If he pitches until he's 43, he'd need to average 14 wins per season. He's had just one season in his first eight in which he didn't win at least 14 games. He's off to a slow start this year, however, with just two wins. Some think he's already slowing down, which would certainly preclude him from reaching 300 wins.


Mark Buehrle (30): 128


Would need to average 13 wins per season if he pitches to age 43. He has averaged 14.75 over the last seven years.



Barry Zito (31): 124

His huge contract with the Giants appears to be a huge bust, but I put him on the list anyways because if he were to regain his past form, he's within range. Keep in mind that when Randy Johnson was 31, he had just 83 wins.



CC Sabathia (28): 122

If he pitches 15 more years, he needs just 12 wins per season. It's some of the younger pitchers that are really in range of 300, though whether they can maintain a high level of performance over the next decade-and-a-half is the question.



Johan Santana (30): 116


The lefty would need 14 wins per season over the next 13 years.




Carlos Zambrano (28): 100


It seems like Zambrano could have racked up more wins by now, but even 300 game winner Tom Glavine had "just" 107 wins at the end of the season in which he turned 28. Z would need to average 13 wins if he pitches 'til he's 43.


Jake Peavy (28): 91

We're getting pretty young here with Peavy and Zambrano. It's pretty difficult to project someone to get 300 wins when they haven't yet cracked triple digits. But we'll throw Peavy on the list anyways, as his career is off to the kind of start one needs in order to have a chance.


What do you think? Will baseball ever see another 300 game winner?

Friday: Cubs 2, Reds 1

Speaking of Carlos Zambrano and wins, Big Z earned his 100th career win with 6.2 scoreless innings, dropping his ERA to 3.72 along the way. In classic Zambrano style, he drove in more runs than he allowed by virtue of a solo home run, his second long ball of the season.

The bullpen once again made things interesting: Marmol allowed a hit, two walks and a run in his inning of work, and Gregg allowed a hit and another baserunner via a dropped third strike, but when all was said and done, the Cubs picked up the win and improved to two games over .500.

I don't think a whole lot of people (including myself) are ready to start believing in the Reds, but for now, this series matters in the standings. The Cubs entered the series one game behind the Reds for third place in the NL Central, and thus drew even with Friday's victory.

Hitter pitcher Micah Owings had one of his better starts of the year, allowing just two runs in six innings of work, but it wasn't enough, and his record dropped to 3-7. He is still batting .290, though.

Cubs notes

-With Thursday's rainout and subsequent makeup game June 22, the Cubs will now play on 23 consecutive days starting June 16. They will finally have an off day July 9, and will then play a doubleheader just three days later. Fortunately, the All-Star break immediately follows the doubleheader.

-The rainout also means that Zambrano, Dempster and Wells will start this weekend, and Marshall is officially a member of the bullpen. Harden hopes to return to the mound Friday.

-With Milton Bradley hurt, will Jake Fox get a chance to start and play in the field?

MLB notes

-Outman has to be one of the best names for a pitcher, ever. (hat tip: Brian Brennan)

-Quick: Who has the second best ERA in each league, behind Zach Greinke and Johan Santana, respectively?

AL: Jered Weaver (2.26)
NL: Matt Cain (2.27)

-Tony La Russa is suing Twitter. Does someone who fell asleep at a stoplight because he was driving drunk really need to defend his reputation? Perhaps the impersonator angered La Russa by suggesting that he was going to bat the pitcher ninth?

-The White Sox were shutout on Friday for the ninth time this season.

Central Intelligence

The Cardinals' Kyle Lohse is headed to the DL; Brad Thompson will fill in.

Cubs-Dodgers all-time remains tied, 1,014-1,014

Sunday: Dodgers 8, Cubs 2

WTF, Sean Marshall? Marshall's outing was uglier than Susan Boyle in the morning. The train wreck raised his ERA to 4.73. The silver lining is that our bullpen threw 4.2 scoreless innings, including the major league debut of Jason Waddell, who struck out two batters in his one inning of work.

And wtf, offense? Eric Freakin' Milton? A bad outing by Marshall, a loss to the Dodgers, fine. But letting Eric Milton get the win with a strong performance? Not cool.

The other good news, though, is that the Cubs split a series with the best team in baseball, outscored them by one run in the series, and held the Dodgers to 11 runs in four games. Let's hope the Cubs can carry some of that success onto the road, where they've struggled mightily of late.

While Marshall will start at least once on the upcoming nine-game road trip, he's headed back to the bullpen when Harden returns, according to the Sun Times:

Manager Lou Piniella said Sunday the day off allows him the flexibility of giving Dempster an extra day of rest, using Sunday's starter, Sean Marshall, on Friday in Cincinnati and Dempster on Saturday. Dempster pitched seven scoreless innings Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers but has been battling the blister most of the season.

''If he needs an extra day, we're going to give it to him,'' Piniella said. ''He'll get an extra day regardless. It could be an extra two days.''

Piniella also confirmed that Marshall will return to the bullpen, where Piniella desperately needs a reliable left-hander, once right-hander Rich Harden returns from the disabled list in the next 10 days to two weeks. That means right-hander Randy Wells (0-2 with a 1.80 ERA) will stick in the rotation as the fifth starter.

With off days on the next four Mondays, including today, it sounds like the Cubs may go to a four-man rotation next week until Harden comes back. One would assume Jason Waddell will be the odd man out when Harden's return forces a roster move.

The Cubs had a 15-13 May after a 10-11 April. On to June! For a healthy dose of optimism, I give you Rick Morrissey.

Saturday: Cubs 7, Dodgers 0

The trifecta:

-Pitching: in the first three games of this series, the Cubs have held the highest-scoring offense in the National League to just three total runs. Ryan Dempster was Saturday's hero, notching his best start of the year with seven innings of three-hit ball.

-Hitting: the offense showed up as well, pounding out 10 hits and drawing seven walks, five against journeyman Jeff Weaver--why teams keep signing him I'll never know. Bradley had three of the hits, the first time he's done that all year. His average is up to .223.

-Defense: the infield turned two double plays after turning three on Friday. With 43 twin killings thus far, the Cubs are on pace to turn 145 this year. That's almost exactly what I predicted.

Gatorade dispenser lasts all of two months

When Carlos Zambrano showed the dispenser who's boss last week, it was some of the best contact any Cub had made in quite a while. And because of temper tantrums like that one, the dispenser is now a relic of the past.

Did you know ... (stats courtesy of Sports Illustrated)

-The Dodgers have three walk-off wins on bases-loaded walks.

-The Yankees lead the majors with six walk-off wins and 17 come-from-behind wins.

The streak is over: Cubs Marshall a wet win

Tuesday: Cubs 6, Pirates 1 (6 inn.)

The Cubs got an assist from Mother Nature to end their eight-game losing streak, and we'll take it. The offense scored in four of the five innings they came to the plate, and Sean Marshall was on cruise control when the rain washed the rest of the game away in the top of the sixth. It goes in the books as a complete game, and it's just the first of the season for the Cubs (they only had two all of last year).

I hate to dwell, but the two players who could have pinch-hit instead of Carlos Zambrano on Monday were Kosuke Fukudome and Mike Fontenot; Fukudome blasted a homer in his first at-bat, and Fontenot doubled to right in his. Fukudome walked as well and scored two runs, while Fontenot went 2-for-3 and is now 5-for-9 in his last three games.

Fontenot's recent string of success is nothing, though, compared to fellow shorty (he's 5'10) Freddy Sanchez. After a 6-for-6 game Monday, Sanchez went 2-for-3 Tuesday, making him 8-for-9 at the plate over the last two days.

Zambrano takes the hill today in his second start since coming off the DL, while Zach Duke (5-4, 2.77) gets the nod for the Pirates. Duke won 10 games in 2006, but struggled in '07 and '08; he's off to the best start of his career this year. Hopefully Derrek Lee will be healthy and ready to go today, because though Hoffpauir has played well of late, he's batting just .182 against lefties this season.

Cubs notes

-With the Cardinals' win over the Brewers, the Cubs are back to four games out of first.

-Marshall's win means that every Cubs starter now has at least three wins on the season.

-After their horrendous six-game offensive malaise, the Cubs have now racked up 14 runs on 18 hits and 11 walks in their last 13 innings.

MLB note

-Zack Greinke pitched a complete game six-hitter against the Tigers, allowing just one run ... and his ERA went up! It was Greinke's fifth complete game of the year, and he's now 8-1 with a 0.84 ERA.

On Wells, wins and poop

Randy Wells is now 2-0. No, wait, check that--he's 0-0 because the bullpen has blown leads in both of his starts. Wells's performance thus far is a great example of how overrated wins are in baseball. Despite having pitched five scoreless and six scoreless innings respectively in his first two starts, Wells has no wins to show for it. On the other hand, Sean Marshall recorded a win Saturday despite facing exactly one batter.

Let's play a little game. Here are the win-loss records for four major league pitchers; rank them in order of who you'd want most on your team:

Pitcher A: 5-3
Pitcher B: 0-0
Pitcher C: 0-3
Pitcher D: 0-5

Now rank them again after accounting for the following information:

Pitcher A: 6.56 ERA
Pitcher B: 0.00 ERA
Pitcher C: 3.16 ERA
Pitcher D: 3.22 ERA

Your rankings probably changed a bit, no? Pitcher A is Bronson Arroyo, who has allowed five earned runs or more four times this year, but has still amassed five wins. Pitcher B is Randy Wells, of course, who has yet to allow a run this year. Pitcher C is Jorge de la Rosa of the Rockies, who has allowed three or fewer earned runs in five of his seven starts, but has no wins to his name. Pitcher D is Doug Davis of the D'Backs--his team has scored a total of seven runs in his five losses.

Sometimes the pitchers with the most wins are also the best pitchers, but many times that is far from the case. I believe ERA and WHIP (walks + hits per inning pitched) should be given much stronger consideration than wins in the Cy Young voting, and in how we analyze pitching success in general. You can't control what your team does on offense (especially in the AL, where pitchers don't get to bat), and while wins do mean something, they mean a lot less than ERA and WHIP.

So back to Randy Wells--after two great starts, Piniella has a decision to make. He has already stated the Wells will remain with the team in some capacity. Here's the choice as I see it:

1) Wells remains in the rotation, Marshall goes to the 'pen (though he will start Thursday against the Cardinals either way) and Neal Cotts goes down.

2) Marshall remains in the rotation, Wells goes to the 'pen, and Jose Ascanio goes down.

Here's the problem with option #2: though Ascanio did struggle Sunday, the right-handed reliever who should be the odd man out isn't him--it's David Patton. Yes, David Patton is still on the Cubs. He's pitched just three times in May and has an ERA over eight. But as a Rule 5 pick from the Rockies, the Cubs would lose him back to Colorado if they demote him at any point this season.

What I hope the Cubs do is option #2 with Patton being demoted instead of Ascanio. That way the Cubs would still have two lefties in the rotation and Wells could provide strength in the long reliever role, something the Cubs roster currently lacks.

Here's the bottom line, though: both Wells and Marshall are versatile, and whatever decision Piniella makes can always be altered down the road, as Piniella pointed out. And it doesn't seem like the Cubs can really go wrong here--they've got an established starter in Sean Marshall who has three quality starts to his name this year, and another starter who has yet to allow a run in two outings. These are the tough decisions managers love to face.

Rich Hill takes the hill


Rich Hill, whom the Cubs traded to the Orioles in February, started Saturday for the first time this season. He went 5.2 innings against the Royals, allowed two runs and got the win--his first since April 18 of last year.

Hill was considered an "untouchable" just a couple years ago, and while things didn't pan out for him in Chicago, I wish him all the best in Baltimore. Back in 2007, Hill won 11 games and struck out 183 batters, good for 14th in the majors. He struggled with his command in '08 and was ultimately demoted and then traded. He started this season in Baltimore's minor league system and is now back in the majors getting another opportunity to prove himself.

So you could say he's gone through a lot in the last couple years, but that was nothing compared to what happened to him just a couple weeks ago in his final minor league tuneup. While on the mound for the Norfolk Tides, Hill was pooped on. Seriously.

(hat tip: Bleed Cubbie Blue)

Cubs get slammed

Holy cow.

Back in the '90s, that phrase was uttered (get it? cuz cows have utters) by Harry Caray on the heels of something positive, with an exclamation point after it. But I use it today to express my dejection over yet another lackluster performance by the Cubs.

Where to begin? The Cubs lost 8-2 Saturday, with one of their runs resulting from an error on an easy grounder.

The three "power guys" in the lineup--Soriano, Lee and Soto--were a combined 0-10 with four strikeouts. The Cubs have not hit a home run since Tuesday.

Seldom used David Patton showed why he's seldom used, coming on in a 3-1 game and proceeding to give up a single, a walk, and another walk to load the bases for Albert Pujols. He then threw a giant meatball right over the plate on the first pitch, and Pujols launched a grand slam out to left to put the game out of reach. The cameras didn't show it, but I assume Patton took a tape recorder out of his back pocket and said, "Note to self: Don't walk the bases loaded to get to Albert Pujols." The grand slam gave Pujols over 1,000 RBI in his career.

I'm not out on the ledge or anything, but it's worth noting that this four-game losing streak has pushed the Cubs four games back of the Cardinals and into fourth place in the Central.

With Ramirez, Bradley and Marmol sidelined, Lou Piniella is essentially operating with a 22-man roster. Even when Bradley does step into pinch-hit (as he did Friday), he has to be replaced with a pinch-runner when he reaches base (as was the case Friday). Why on Earth did we not DL Bradley earlier? He has started once since incurring his injury April 12, and there seems to be no timetable whatsoever for his return.

Joey Gathright, who seems to have one role on this team--pinch-hit rarely and pinch-run slightly less rarely--got picked off Saturday. While it's still early, Gathright seems to be a completely pointless offseason addition.

There's no question that the Cubs' recent struggles can be partly blamed on injuries. But it's also clear that this roster has some serious question marks. Bradley seems destined to spend significant time out with injury, and that leaves us with the apparently useless Gathright and Micah Hoffpauir--who may as well not bring his glove with him to the outfield--as backups. When Ramirez gets hurt, we're forced to use either Miles or Fontenot at third, and while they're serviceable at that position, the infield defense becomes highly suspect in that scenario.

Al Yellon over at Bleed Cubbie Blue made a very interesting suggestion today: release Gathright and pick up Jim Edmonds. Despite his 19 HR and 45 RBI in 85 games with the Cubs last year, Edmonds was not picked up by anyone in the offseason. Granted, Edmonds will turn 39 this year, but if Gathright is really going to be limited (due to Piniella's preference of Gathright's own ineptitude) to such trivial duty with the Cubs, picking up Edmonds couldn't hurt.

Let's find a silver lining in this mess:

Fukudome had two more hits and is batting .345.

Sean Marshall pitched a real solid game. He had one bad inning in which he gave up three runs, but he had a quality start with six innings pitched, three runs, one walk and five strikeouts.

The Cajun Connection reconnected with a combined 4-8, and both Cubs runs were driven in by Theriot.

So, we move forward. Harden will take the ball Sunday against former Cub Todd Wellemeyer, who has had one good start sandwiched between two bad ones this season. The Cubs need a win to avoid falling under .500 for the first time.

MLB notes
We can all agree that sometimes the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is overhyped and that their games are overly ubiquitous on national broadcasts. However, you have to admit that the matchups live up to the hype more often than not.

Friday, the Yankees took a two-run lead into the bottom of the 9th at Fenway, but Mariano Rivera blew yet another save against the Sox when Jason Bay hit a two-out home run over the Monster to tie it. Kevin Youkilis later won it for Bahstin with a solo shot in the 11th.

Saturday's game featured A.J. Burnett against Josh Beckett, but you wouldn't know it by the 16-11 final score in favor of the Red Sox. Stay with me here: the Yankees went up 6-0 early, but the Sox put up five in the 4th to climb to within one. The Sox added three more in the next inning to go up 8-6, but the Yankees responded by tying it up in the 6th. Boston promptly took the lead in the bottom of the inning, but the Yankees took the lead right back in the 7th, going up 10-9. But the Sox would have none of it--Mike Lowell hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning to make it 12-10. Robinson Cano hit a home run in the 8th, but the Sox tacked on four more in the 8th to win it 16-11.

In case you weren't counting, that's five total lead changes. The game, which took 4 hr 21 min to complete, featured six home runs and 28 total hits. At least one run was scored in nine of the final eleven half innings. Already this season, the Yankees have allowed run totals of 10, 15, 16 and 22.

Did you know ...
The Red Sox have won nine straight.

The Cardinals and Dodgers are tied for the best record in baseball (13-5).

2009 Cubs predictions

I would like to share with you not only my predictions for the 2009 Cubs season, but also those of my good friends Trevor Sierra and Andrew Kapral. The three of us have an annual tradition of looking into our crystal balls (or perhaps Christol ball, in my case?) and predicting a few elements of each upcoming Cubs season, and I figured it would be a nice kickoff to the 2009 campaign to share our predictions with you, and also to solicit your predictions.

Before I move on, I want to congratulate Andrew Kapral on his marriage to Jen Stephan (yesterday!). The event--which included a singing of "Go Cubs Go"--was wonderful, and I wish the happy couple all the best. On this day, we will even forgive Jen for being a Pirates fan. That is, of course, assuming that she has forgiven herself for being a Pirates fan.

For the record, I won a narrow victory in last year's prediction challenge, coming closest in three of the categories while Trevor and Andrew each tallied two. Way back in '07, Andrew dominated the competition, coming closest in four of the seven categories, with me taking two and Trevor just one.

And now, drum roll please ...

*2008 total in parentheses

Cubs wins (97)
Brandon 92
Trevor 89
Andrew 90

Zambrano wins (14)
Brandon 17
Trevor 17
Andrew 19

Fukudome average (.257)
Brandon .274
Trevor .271
Andrew .280

Gregg saves (29)
Brandon 31
Trevor 29
Andrew 23

Soto home runs (23)
Brandon 29
Trevor 27
Andrew 24

Marshall wins (3)
Brandon 12
Trevor 12
Andrew 10

Team double plays turned (118)
Brandon 149
Trevor 128
Andrew 128

At first, I didn't understand why Andrew suggested that last category. But then I did some research and discovered that the Cubs have been atrocious at turning double plays over recent years, making this an interesting category to predict. The last five years, the Cubs have finished last in the majors twice, second to last once, third to last once, and 26th overall once. So they have finished in the bottom five in double plays turned every year since 2004. The last time they were decent was 2003, when an infield led by Alex Gonzalez and Mark Grudzielanek turned 157 twin killings and finished 15th in the majors. And it's worth noting that a botched double play may have cost the Cubs a shot at the World Series that year (Game 6 vs. the Marlins).

Final NL Central standings
Brandon
Cubs
Cardinals
Brewers
Astros
Reds
Pirates

Trevor
Cubs
Cardinals
Brewers
Astros
Reds
Pirates

Andrew
Cubs
Cardinals
Astros
Reds
Brewers
Pirates

OK, readers, I want to know what you expect from this year's Cubs. Share your predictions (in whatever categories you want) in the comments!