2008 Chicago Cubs Season

[nathanKent]

I dont know that I have a problem with Pie sitting the past coupla days. they needed to get Reed Johnson into the lineup on saturday. and then he had a coupla hits yesterday. the cubs need offense right now. Pie hasnt provided that yet and as alluded to by others, you cant be having so many black holes in the lineup. I mean, you already have a black hole with blanco starting. And theriot isnt doing much.

Felix is going to need to start hitting sometime soon. The cubs dont have enough offense to carry him throughout the year

Johnson's plate discipline is better. Len and Bob said today that he might get the next two games also.

Watching Blanco play defense is pure poetry.

[Scartissue]

Soriano's assist turned out huge. His throws to the plate are worth more than 1 run--the run it saves, and the out it creates. 22 assists in 2006 and 19 in 2007. I'm still surprised that he gets challenged so much. After awhile, runners usually wise up and stop running (which is why Ichiro has low assists relative to his plus arm). I'm glad people keep running on him though.

[rockin500]

I agree with everything you're saying, as per usual. And Johnson got the nod again today. How long did it take Jones to lose his job last year?

Also, I still miss Izzy.

I dont know that I have a problem with Pie sitting the past coupla days. they needed to get Reed Johnson into the lineup on saturday. and then he had a coupla hits yesterday. the cubs need offense right now. Pie hasnt provided that yet and as alluded to by others, you cant be having so many black holes in the lineup. I mean, you already have a black hole with blanco starting. And theriot isnt doing much.

Felix is going to need to start hitting sometime soon. The cubs dont have enough offense to carry him throughout the year

[nathanKent]

First off, Roberts is a 2B, and DeRosa has looked very good so far.

But I get what you are saying. We can't have Pie and Theriot both struggling at the plate and expect good production from our offense. The problem is we don't have a offensive replacement for Theriot, Cedeno would just hit worse, I believe. So if the Theriot keeps hitting poorly, there will be more pressure to sacrifice some of Pie's defense and speed for Johnson's better bat.

I agree with everything you're saying, as per usual. And Johnson got the nod again today. How long did it take Jones to lose his job last year?

Also, I still miss Izzy.

[wrigleybum]

Also, something else that plays into if I start Pie right now or not...

Is (might not be fair to Pie) the performances given by the other 2nd tier caliber players (Theriot, Soto and even DeRosa) If they are slumping then it is harder to sit out the growing pains of watching Pie grow into a decent player.

Watching Theriot over the last week makes me wish we gave up all those pitchers for Roberts... (Sorry, it's true)

First off, Roberts is a 2B, and DeRosa has looked very good so far.

But I get what you are saying. We can't have Pie and Theriot both struggling at the plate and expect good production from our offense. The problem is we don't have a offensive replacement for Theriot, Cedeno would just hit worse, I believe. So if the Theriot keeps hitting poorly, there will be more pressure to sacrifice some of Pie's defense and speed for Johnson's better bat.

[Scartissue]

Watching Theriot over the last week makes me wish we gave up all those pitchers for Roberts... (Sorry, it's true)

I don't follow you. If we did the Roberts trade, Theriot would still be starting (and we would have no backup like Cedeno, who would have been dealt). Then the question is what Roberts is bringing to the table over DeRosa. I concede Roberts is a better player. If Roberts were a SS, then I'd be with you on this one. At least with Theriot struggling, we might see Cedeno eventually getting a shot, given Lou's impatience. In that case, I think not making the move would have worked out. I think the gain from going to Cedeno would be greater than the gain from going to Roberts. I know most people disagree with me on that one.

[RBi]

How you approach Pie depends on whether you think he'll pan out. If you are willing to write him off as a bust, then by all means start Reed, who's going to give you performance right around average, plus or minus a small degree. If you think Pie is for real, then you have to tolerate the growing pains. I'm on the side of not writing him off yet, especially given that he can cover more ground in CF than Reed, so will be helpful defensively. The difference in overall contribution between Reed and Pie will likely be small even in the next 2 months, so I don't think it's worth starting Reed. If we were talking about Coco Crisp, I'd feel differently.

Also, something else that plays into if I start Pie right now or not...

Is (might not be fair to Pie) the performances given by the other 2nd tier caliber players (Theriot, Soto and even DeRosa) If they are slumping then it is harder to sit out the growing pains of watching Pie grow into a decent player.

Watching Theriot over the last week makes me wish we gave up all those pitchers for Roberts... (Sorry, it's true)

[Scartissue]

I don't know folks, I have a hard time starting Pie because he is Pie...

I say you start players who perform the best and put the team in the spot to win everyday.

Obviously, every player will have ups and downs. But I am not going to sit here and say that I was upset about Pie being on the bench yesterday. Because I wasn't then once the game was played out and Reed helped us like he did... I was even happier.

How you approach Pie depends on whether you think he'll pan out. If you are willing to write him off as a bust, then by all means start Reed, who's going to give you performance right around average, plus or minus a small degree. If you think Pie is for real, then you have to tolerate the growing pains. I'm on the side of not writing him off yet, especially given that he can cover more ground in CF than Reed, so will be helpful defensively. The difference in overall contribution between Reed and Pie will likely be small even in the next 2 months, so I don't think it's worth starting Reed. If we were talking about Coco Crisp, I'd feel differently.

[RBi]

I don't know folks, I have a hard time starting Pie because he is Pie...

I say you start players who perform the best and put the team in the spot to win everyday.

Obviously, every player will have ups and downs. But I am not going to sit here and say that I was upset about Pie being on the bench yesterday. Because I wasn't then once the game was played out and Reed helped us like he did... I was even happier.

[Jeff Pico]

Soto may be only hitting a buck eighty-eight, but his OPS is .800 because he's been drawing both walks and has hit a triple and a HR. No way he hits .188 for the season, so I'm liking what I'm already seeing from him so far. DLee is reminding us why spring training results shouldn't be taken too seriously. DeRosa's doing his best to get us to forget that second baseman Hendry chased all winter. Theriot might be testing Lou's loyalty, being dropped to 8th so quickly. Johnson might be tempting Lou to say no to Pie.

The Fonz is killing us batting high in the order, but he's obviously going to do better. To be 2 and 3 with Soriano and Ramirez not hitting is encouraging. Of course Fukudome won't be hitting .500 forever, so they'll need to start contributing soon.

Wood and Hart looked sharp today. Marmol wasn't dominating, but good enough. Howry's in another early slump. Marquis...well let's just say he hasn't justified his spot as the fifth starter.

Good observations, and I think adding to that will quickly come a Reed Johnson vs. Pie controversy. I think Pie has to play, though Reed was good yesterday, particularly that clutch 2-out RBI in the 8th to give us an extra run heading into the 9th.

I also think our bats waking up had alot to do with Oswalt. He is a great pitcher, but wasn't on yesterday. I am VERY surprised they let him bat in the top of the 7th, he had already given up 8 hits and thrown alot of pitches, game was tied, that seemed like a perfect time to pull him. If we were an Astros site, we would be frying Cooper right now for that one, justifiably. No excuse.

[MIKELIMA]

I'm so glad to see some run production. Man, that's the best i've seen the bats in a long time.

[nathanKent]

might be tempting Lou to say no to Pie.

From the look of his gut, I'm guessing it's been a long time since Lou said no to pie.


Oh, you're talking about Felix.

[Scartissue]

Soto may be only hitting a buck eighty-eight, but his OPS is .800 because he's been drawing both walks and has hit a triple and a HR. No way he hits .188 for the season, so I'm liking what I'm already seeing from him so far. DLee is reminding us why spring training results shouldn't be taken too seriously. DeRosa's doing his best to get us to forget that second baseman Hendry chased all winter. Theriot might be testing Lou's loyalty, being dropped to 8th so quickly. Johnson might be tempting Lou to say no to Pie.

The Fonz is killing us batting high in the order, but he's obviously going to do better. To be 2 and 3 with Soriano and Ramirez not hitting is encouraging. Of course Fukudome won't be hitting .500 forever, so they'll need to start contributing soon.

Wood and Hart looked sharp today. Marmol wasn't dominating, but good enough. Howry's in another early slump. Marquis...well let's just say he hasn't justified his spot as the fifth starter.

[Scartissue]

and the offense came to life finally.

And it came against a top pitcher, though he didn't look like he brought his A game today.

[rockin500]

nice to see the come from behind victory. and Kerry wood with the 1-2-3 save.

and the offense came to life finally.