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

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…

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Cubs Blog

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

“I talked to Carlos [Zambrano] today and told him we really needed him in the bullpen, and that we felt he could do a nice job for us,” Piniella said. “He said he’d do what’s best for the team. I’m very appreciative. He talked about maturing [this year]. This proves it to me.”

“Lou called me into the office today and asked me if I wanted to go to the bullpen and help this team in the seventh and eighth innings,” Zambrano said. “I said, ‘Whatever you want me to do, I’m here for this team and I’m here to help this team. If you want me to go to the bullpen, I’ll go. If you want to keep me in the rotation, I will.’”

They say the move is temporary but who knows how long that means. It could be for a few games or it could be for six weeks. It all depends on how well Z can throw the ball as the setup man and if the starters can continue to throw the ball good and go deep in games. Carlos Silva did just that Wednesday night and the Cubs offense came out of no where to beat the Mets 9-3.

So right now the Cubs has a setup man that has not pitched in the bullpen since 2002 and is also earning $18 million dollars this year. I just hope this move doesn’t mess with Zambrano’s head any more. Can this guy stay calm and enter the game with a couple of runners on base and one or two outs and get out of the jam? For some reason I don’t know if he can get his control issues under control that quick. It could turn out ugly…

Cubs Blog

Zambrano headed to the bullpen

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.

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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

And the bullpen is already irking at manager Lou Piniella. (Hmm, didn’t we already know this was going to happen during spring training?)

Cubs relievers have now allowed 10 runs, eight earned, in two losses to the Braves. Not exactly the way you want to start off the season.

The bullpen ruined what could have been a win for Ryan Dempster. Dempster was wheeling and dealing in his six innings if action allowing just three hits and one run to cross the plate. Ryan struck out nine batters while walking two. Great outing by the starter, the bullpen just wasn’t able to hang on.

Can the Cubs salvage one game of the series? They will attempt to do so this evening as Randy Wells will be taking the mound against Tommy Hanson.

Cubs Blog

Chipper Jones says I don’t think so

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.

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Cubs Blog

Cubs ready for first Spring Training 2010 game

The second half of the video is pretty funny. Mark DeRosa and Ryan Theriot are trying to sing the Bon Jovi song and they have no clue lol! Hopefully this stays up for a while for everyone can view it.

Cubs Blog

Cubs players in 2008 TBS Playoff Commercial

The Cubs are now 45-25 and 3.5 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the division.  They will play an exhibition game in the final Hall of Fame game Monday afternoon.  Word is that the Cubs will mostly be using minor league players for most of the game.

We should have a short update about the hall of game game today, and then get back into things full force during the Rays series that starts off Tuesday night.

Cubs Blog

Cubs take two out of three against the Blue Jays

Gallagher is a guy that will probably be called up at some point in the season.  That is if he isn’t traded before hand.  Gallagher is a key player in any trade that happens for Brian Roberts of the Orioles so who knows if he will make another pitcher for the big league Cubs.

The spring roster now has 38 players, and includes 19 pitchers, three catchers, 10 infielders and six outfielders.

Cubs Blog

The Cubs send Sean Gallagher and Jose Ascanio to Triple A

Would you like 2 seperate contests for each prize, or 1 contest with one person getting the first choice, and runner up getting the second prize?

Let me know what you think, and lets try to get this thing going later this week or the beginning of next week! Spread the word for a free copy of MLB 08 the Show or a pair of Cubs Tickets in the bleachers!

Cubs Blog

MLB 08 The Show and Cubs Tickets to be given away here at CCB

The only way I see Fukudome moving to center field is if Felix Pie starts off very slow or gets injured.  Pie needs to play everyday and hopefully that is what the Cubs will do.  Fukudome would rather play right field as well so this is pretty much just an insurance deal.

Cubs Blog

Cubs to try Kosuke Fukudome in center field

Ok, I do agree that it would be wise to give Soriano a little bit of rest and not expect him to steal 20 bases out of the leadoff spot etc.  But to put Theriot in the #1 spot is just plain stupid if you ask me.  I still think Fukudome is more of #2 hitter as well.

If the Cubs ever get the trade worked out for Brian Roberts, I could see Roberts batting #1 followed by Fukudome, and then Soriano in the #5 spot.  I think that would be a good lineup, but that won’t happen unless the trade for Roberts happens.

What do you all think? Is Lou being crazy or do you think this would be a good idea?

Cubs Blog

What in the hell Lou? You want Soriano batting 2nd?