So where did things go wrong in the first half? It was the terrible hitting by Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez. Both of these “veteran” players should be able to work out of a slump and not have it take three months. I know that players go through slumps during the season, but they don’t last an entire half of a season. Sure Aramis has been battling an injury but that doesn’t mean he can’t at least make contact on the ball. Lee, I don’t know what is going on but swing the bat with some authority and hustle down the line just a little bit more. Both of you guys can learn something by watching the way Marlon Byrd plays the game!

As the Cubs are on the outside looking in, there is a lot of talk about who is going to be traded. It’s hard to tell right now due to the fact that the Cubs have signed some of these “veteran” players to pretty lucrative contracts. What team wants to eat the contracts of Carlos Zambrano, Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome etc. Any deal involving those three players will have the Cubs not getting much in return and also eating a lot of that money in the contract. Don’t expect to see Alfonso Soriano mentioned in any trades as he is due way to much money for 97% of the teams to take on.

So who could the Cubs look at trading? My thoughts are Xavier Nady (needs regular playing time), Marlon Byrd (nice contract and I don’t want to see him go), Ryan Theriot (nice knowing ya), and Ted Lilly. I full expect Lilly to get moved as a team in contention would love to add a left-hander of his pitching caliber. I wouldn’t mind seeing Theriot move on and the same for Nady.

My hopes for the second half of the season is that the team just relaxes and has some fun. Oh yeah, and HIT THE BALL. Right now I can’t stand watching a full game the way the offense has been going. Who knows though, a quick five game winning streak to start the second half just might get the fans back into it and more people inside of Wrigley Field. You win seven out of ten games and you just never know what might come of this “lackluster” team we call the 2010 Chicago Cubs…

Cubs Blog

Cubs hope to have a better second half

This team might as well put a fork in the 2010 season in my opinion. There are rumors that Aramis Ramirez is breaking up the clubhouse and not even wanting to suit up as he sits on the disabled list. (A move that should have happened a month ago). You have the pitchers wondering when in the hell the offense is going to start hitting the ball instead of a bunch of single A players. Sorry pitchers, but these bats are cold and they are going to remain cold. Enjoy trying to win games when you only have one or two runs on the scoreboard.

Before to long, you are going to have players wondering if they are going to get traded as the team slides down in the standings. Yes I’m talking about Derrek Lee (please waive that no-trade clause), Kosuke Fukudome, Tom Gorzelanny and Ryan Theriot. This could be the year that the Cubs and new management change the team and start building for the future once again. Because 2010 is not the Cubs year.

How much blame can you put on Lou Piniella? If you ask me a lot. If it is true that Aramis Ramirez and some of the other Latin players are in one group int he locker room and all the other guys in another group you have lose your clubhouse. If the club house is not one team, then you can not expect to win games. That all falls back on the manger and I have a feeling that Lou is just playing through the season before he leaves the city and says “Keep on Waiting Cubs Fans”.

So Cubs fans, is the season over before the All-Star break? I’ve already gave in for the most part. Who’s with me?

Cubs Blog

The Chicago Cubs are Laughable Losers

Hell, the Cubs can’t even beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road. Zero hitting, bad bullpen at times, and some questionable managerial moves by Piniella have everyone thinking if the Cubs can actually turn things around or if there will be a fire sale with the likes of Derrek Lee or Xavier Nady being traded.

There were reports coming out of LA that the Angels might be looking at Lee or Nady to fill in at first base have Morales went down with his broken leg. Lee does have a no trade clause and I’m not sure if he would accept a trade to LA but then again a change of scenery just might help him at the plate.

So what has happened with the Cubs offense? Aramis Ramirez is down right TERRIBLE. The guy should have been put on the disabled list and played some rehab games down in Triple-A. Of course A-Ram would never do that because he thinks he can discover his swing with 10 at bats in spring training. Yeah that sure helped ya Aramis!

You aren’t going to win very many ball games when you only score one or two runs like the Cubs are currently doing. They need Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, Geovony Soto, and Lee to step up and get their swings back. Work with the hitting coach some, I don’t care how well you know your swing, it’s been two months and you are still not hitting the damn ball!

So I predict that Lou erupts down in Houston this weekend as the team continues to struggle and only win one out of three games against the Astros and fall further behind in the Central division. This just isn’t the cubs year I’m afraid.

Cubs Blog

Are the Cubs really this bad?

Struggling Aramis Ramirez was out of the Cubs’ lineup for the third time in four games because of a sore left thumb. Jeff Baker started in his place. Ramirez needs to stay out of the lineup until he is 100% healthy and can actually swing a bat and make some contact. Some extra time in the batting cage wouldn’t hurt either.

The Cubs are now 22-24 and 12-10 at home. They were able to pick up a game in the standings and are now four games out of first place. The Reds and Cardinals lead the division right now with 26-20 records. Being four games out at this point isn’t too bad considering how poorly the offense has hit the ball. With warmer weather coming, look for the bats to heat up and the Cubs to move up in the standings and really challenge the Cardinals and Reds. The first chance will be a weekend series with the Cardinals in Chicago.

Can the Cubs get it done and start battling for first place? If the bats come around, I don’t see why not.

Cubs Blog

Dempster finally gets a win as Cubs beat the Dodgers

Who would have thought Carlos Silva would be 5-0 to start the season? Definitely not me as I wasn’t even counting on Silva being a contributor to this team after coming over from the Mariners. I will give Silva credit though as he does have a 3.35 ERA go go along with that 5-0 record.

Tyler Colvin needs to get more playing time. I don’t care if it is in left field or in right field this kid can hit the ball and needs to be in the lineup.

Starlin Castro had some growing pains the first week in the big leagues especially on defense but since then those quick five errors the kid as really settled down and is playing great. Castro currently leads the team with a .350 batting average (only 40 at bats) and has five walks compared to three strikeouts. The kid simply puts the ball in play and makes something happen.

Carlos Zambrano is headed back into the rotation. Big Z pitched the ninth inning on Tuesday night against the Rockies but look for him to be back in the rotation as soon as he can get his arm stretched out and prepared to be a starter once again. The setup man role did not fit Zambrano well but I give him credit for going to the pen and giving it a try.

Aramis Ramirez still isn’t hitting the ball on a constant basis.

The Cubs remain 5.5 games out of first place heading into the Wednesday night game in Philadelphia. They do have a huge upcoming series against the Cardinals at home and that series could be the make or break point in the first half in my opinion. Win that series and pick up a few games on the Cardinals and the Cubs will be right there in the thick of things.

Follow us over on Twitter @chicagocubsblog where we tweet during games and through out the day!

Cubs Blog

Cubs News and Notes May 18th

What is it with this team? They will play three or four games and just hit the ball like crazy. (See Alfonso Soriano) and then they will play a couple of down right terrible games and not even make contact. Is it the early season games? Shouldn’t everyone be locked in and seeing the ball well? I don’t know but this next week of games could tell us a lot about this team.

The guys will head to Pittsburgh starting Tuesday night and then will take on the Reds in a weekend series. All six of those games should be wins for the club. Look for the team to get off on the right foot against the Pirates as Ryan Dempster will take the mound. I expect Dempster to have a quality outing and hopefully the offense stays hot and smacks around the Pirates pitching staff.

One guy that still needs to start hitting the ball is Aramis Ramirez. A-Ram is currently batting just 1.55 and will have two full days off before the game on Tuesday night. I don’t care what people say, Aramis needed more at bats during Spring Training. If you are going to the plate trying to hit 4-run home runs with no one on base your head isn’t in the game and you should probably just be on the bench.

The Cubs need to go on a nice run this week and move within a few games of the Cardinals. They can’t get down by 7-8 games as it will be hard to battle back against the Red Birds who look to be very strong this year.

It all starts Tuesday night with Dempster on the mound…

Check us out on Twitter @chicagocubsblog

Cubs Blog

Cubs offense heats up and goes 7-3 in last ten games

After the game Lou said that he would once again tinker with the line up and try to get a little spark in the offense. One guy that needs to start swinging the bat better is Aramis Ramirez. If you remember back in spring training, Ramirez said he only needed ten at bats to get ready for the season and it wasn’t a big deal with him missing time due to the sore arm. Well it looks like A-Ram could have used some more at bats down in Arizona as he is swinging the bat like a girl right now.

Alfonso Soriano is another guy that needs to get on base more often. Only expect Soriano to play seven innings during close games and Lou has been pulling him late in games and inserting Tyler Colvin in for defensive purposes. I find it funny that now Soriano says he will stop the hop before catching a ball. Hmm, why did you even start that Sori?

Now the Cubs will go on a week long road trip with stops in New York City and Milwaukee. These are all in win-able games for the Cubs so hopefully we can see a 5-2 road trip or similar.

Cubs Blog

Astros spoil the Cubs homestand

Carlos Zambrano once again struggled as he lasted just five innings. Big Z did strike out seven Brewers but also gave up three walks and allowed four runs to score. The wind was a factor in the game as it was blowing out at 18 MPH but Zambrano knows that he needs to keep the ball down and he simply did not get the job done.

The bullpen wasn’t any better as Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija and John Grabrow all gave up runs in relief. I don’t think Samardzija will be getting very many more opportunities in close games as Lou has to be running out of patience with the right hander.

The one nice thing in the game and series was how well the Cubs hit the ball. The warm weather helped get the bats going which is something Cubs fans are not used to seeing in April during home games. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Marlon Byrd all hit home runs but despite the three dingers, it was still not enough to get the victory.

All in all, I’m happy with the first series at home. You take two out of three every series and you will be right where you want to be at the end of the season. The teams record now sits at 4-5 on the year as they start up a weekend series with the Astros who finally picked up their first win of the season against the Cardinals.

Catch us on twitter @chicagocubsblog

Cubs Blog

Cubs unable to complete the sweep over the Brew Crew

Three home runs by Cubs players led the team to a 9-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. In the five-run third inning Xavier Nady got the scoring started with a three-run shot which was then followed by a single from Alfonso Soriano before second basemen Jeff Baker hit a ball that cleared the left field bleachers for a two run shot.

Following a rbi single off the bat of Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez connected on a two-run homer that gave starting pitcher Ryan Dempster a big lead to work with. It was a good thing as well because Dempster would only pitcher into the sixth inning and was charged with seven hits and five runs. Dempster did eat some innings but does need to do a better job of getting out of jams without serving up three run homers like he did to Ryan Braun.

It was great to see Jeff Samardzija pitch a scoreless eighth inning. Lou said before the game that he only wanted to use Jeff if the Cubs had a decent lead and he could get in there and just throw the ball. Samardzija needs quick innings like that to really regain confidence in himself as well as the coaching staff.

The teams wills be off on Tuesday and will be back at Wrigley Field on Wednesday afternoon. Randy Wells will be on the mound for the Cubs as they try to open the season at 2-0 at home.

Cubs Blog

Cubs beat Brewers in home opener

The Cubs bullpen was an up and down story the rest of the game. Sean Marshall and James Russell pitched well but Jeff Samardzija was charged with six runs and Justin Berg was charged with another two. Way too many walks by the bullpen especially when you were already battling back to get into the game.

The Cubs bright spot of the game was two swings. Marlon Byrd hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to put the Cubs up 3-0 and Aramis Ramirez added a two-run home run in the third inning. Five runs will usually win the ball game for you when you have your “ace” on the mound but right now I don’t think you can call any pitcher on the Cubs roster an “ace”.

Hopefully the team can bounce back and get a win on Wednesday night to even up the series at one game each. Follow us on twitter as I’ll be tweeting live during the game. @chicagocubsblog

Cubs Blog

Zambrano rocked as Cubs drop first game of season

The Cubs will kick off their 2010 Spring Training games this afternoon against the Oakland Athletics. No matter how the game goes this afternoon, there are questions that the Cubs and management will need to address before the season starts. To me, these are the keys of the 2010 Cubs season.

1. Will Carlos Zambrano win 15 games this season?
2. Will Ted Lilly recover from his injuries?
3. Will Alfonso Soriano finally play in 150 games in one season for the Cubs?
4. Is Aramis Ramirez’s shoulder 100% and can he stay off of the disabled list?
5. Can Derrek Lee stay healthy?
6. Who will win the second base job? Mike Fontenot or Jeff Baker?

One thing if for certain. Anything that new center fielder Marlon Byrd does will be an improvement over Milton Bradley did in 2009. Having Byrd in center will also allow Kosuke Fukudome to move back to his natural right field position.

Let’s set back and see how some of these spring training games go and hope that the team stays injury free. Staying injury free and getting Ted Lilly back will be the keys to the Cubs starting off the season on the right in my mind. Let’s just hope that it happens.

Follow ChicagoCubsBlog.Net on twitter @chicagocubsblog

Cubs Blog

Cubs ready for first Spring Training 2010 game

So the team is basically playing with a bunch of young guys and the veterans that are playing should probably be sitting on the bench due to nagging injuries. The team has already shut down Alfonso Soriano, Rich Harden, Angel Guzman and Kevin Gregg. They might as well add Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez to that list as both should just rest and let some youngsters play.

Then there is the whole Milton Bradley situation. Right when I heard what happened I told my friends that Bradley was done as a Cub. I don’t care if he wants to come back there is no way the fans would stay off him he would simply not be productive in a Cubs uniform. Lou even said on Tuesday during a press conference that Jim Hendry would be looking for a big bat that can knock in some runs in the middle of the order. He even referenced Bradley’s 40 RBI’s and said that simply wasn’t getting the job done.

So let’s see how these last six games playout and hopefully the team can close out the season on a high note and have something to look forward to in 2010. Before we know it, we will all have our hopes up once again and spring traning will be kicking off. I mean we are Cubs fans afterall.

- Cliff

Cubs Blog

Cubs look to close out the season on a high note

“He’s had a really nice first year,” Piniella said of Wells, a converted catcher. “He needs to finish up strong. We’ve been impressed with him. He’s a serious-minded kid, who goes about his business and competes really well.”

Wells will need to have another quality start in five days as he is the best option they have to take the mound every 5th day. Yes, better than Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano at this point in the season.

The Cubs offense took advantage of two Astros errors or ths game would have been a lot closer than the 4-1 final score. In the fifth inning, Koyie Hill knocked in Alfonso Soriano as the inning was extended on a Miguel Tejada error when he attempted to turn two on a Jeff Baker hit up the middle. In the sixth inning it was Hunter Pence dropping a fly ball out in right field that allowed Milton Bradley to score one batter later when Aramis Ramirez singled to center.

Bradley got the Cubs scoring started in the fourth inning when the turned on a inside fastball and hammered it over the fence in right field. Finally Milton seen a ball early enough to put good wood on it and be able to turn through and pull the ball with authority. I really like how Bradley has been hitting the ball.

Kosuke Fukudome added an insurance run in the eighth inning when he doubled and Derrek Lee scored.

The bullpen once again had a nice outing as John Grabow and Kevin Gregg both recorded two outs before Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his seventh save of the year. Marmol struckout  three batters and gave up one hit in the final frame.

It will be an afternoon game on Wednesday so hopefully the Cubs can keep on winning and picking up ground in the wildcard!

- Cliff

Cubs Blog

Wells picks up win #10 as Cubs beat Astros 4-1

Randy Wells got tagged early as the Nationals scored in the first three innings of the game. Three runs in the first inning and then single runs in the second and third innings put the Cubs down 5-0 before Aramis Ramirez tried to get the team back in it with a two run home run. The five early runs were enough to get the win however and give Wells his seventh loss of the season. Randy is now 9-7 in his rookie season.

The Cubs had a good shot to tie the game in the eighth inning however Derrek Lee was called out at home plate when he attempted to scored on a wild pitch. Lee was actually safe because Nationals reliever Sean Burnett did not tag him with the ball and instead his glove which did not have the ball. Blown call that went against the Cubs. It would have been the third run scored of the game for Lee as he also scored on Ramirez’s homerun and also hit a solo home run. Overall a good game for Lee.

One player that did not have a good game was Milton Bradley. Bradley went 0-4 and has got the entire city of Chicago yelling at him it seems like. Milton needs to takes Alfonso Soriano’s advice and just try to block everything out. And fans, lay off him when he is out in the city or grabbing a bite to eat with family. Keep it at the ballpark.

The Cubs have gone 6-15 since Aug. 5 to fall nine games behind St. Louis in the NL Central. Before that skid, they had won 14 of 19 and were tied for first place. Terrible way to close out the season like they are doing right now.

***Also during the game it was announced that Rich Harden and Aaron Heilman were claimed off waivers by a team. The Cubs now have this weekend to work out a deal with the teams involved if they choose.***

- Cliff

Cubs Blog

The Cubs have yet another bad series

Leading the way for the offense was Milton Bradley and Aramis Ramirez who both had solo home runs in the sixth inning when the Cubs broke the game wide open. Ramirez finished the game with a team high three rbi. Derrek Lee, Kosuke Fukudome and Koyie Hill all chipped in with an rbi of their own as well. It was just a nice offensive performance by the club as they jumped all of Mat Latos and Luis Perdomo.

Aaron Heilman threw a scoreless inning in the eighth inning before Sean Marshall came in to throw the ninth inning. Marshall blew the shutout as Chase Headley knocked in a run with a rbi single to center field.

There are 44 games left in the season and the team needs to build from this six run victory. The offense needs to continue hitting the ball hard and the pitchers need to get ahead early and throw strikes if they want to have any shot at postseason play. Let’s see how things go against the Los Angeles Dodgers over the next four games. I would be happy with a split but if they can some how come away with a 3-1 series victory that would be great and set the team up well against upcoming series against the Nationals and Mets.

- Cliff

Cubs Blog

Harden helps Cubs avoid embarassing sweep