So is the season over already?

[CubfaninCA]

Go ahead and call your shot now.

 

St. Louis is the team I'm concerned with in the division. Cincy & Houston will cool off. The Cards are 5 up already on the Cubs, but I think that Wood returning will give the team an emotional lift, and it's hard to win with 3 rookies starting.

 

I think the Cubs roar back. Cards can't be lucky w/ no pitching injuries 3 years in a row.

[oldstyle81]

If the rookies pitch like Marshall has, i dont think it really matters but Hill and especially Guzman will bring this team down if they cant throw strikes

[CubfaninCA]

If the rookies pitch like Marshall has, i dont think it really matters but Hill and especially Guzman will bring this team down if they cant throw strikes

 

when you have 3 rookies starting, there's a good chance 1 or 2 are going to suck. unless you're the cardinals, of course.

 

maddux will turn things around tomorrow.

[oldstyle81]

If the rookies pitch like Marshall has, i dont think it really matters but Hill and especially Guzman will bring this team down if they cant throw strikes

 

when you have 3 rookies starting, there's a good chance 1 or 2 are going to suck. unless you're the cardinals, of course.

 

maddux will turn things around tomorrow.

 

well we should only have 2 rookies in a week and a half and just 1 shortly after (unless prior needs tommy john )

[CubfaninCA]

If the rookies pitch like Marshall has, i dont think it really matters but Hill and especially Guzman will bring this team down if they cant throw strikes

 

when you have 3 rookies starting, there's a good chance 1 or 2 are going to suck. unless you're the cardinals, of course.

 

maddux will turn things around tomorrow.

 

well we should only have 2 rookies in a week and a half and just 1 shortly after (unless prior needs tommy john )

 

i wouldn't count on prior.

[CubsWin]

Of course the season isn't over yet. Too many unexpected things can still happen.

 

There could be more bad unexpected things (serious injury to Lee, lead-off man underperforming, Ramirez slumping badly, Prior strangely injured), but there have been so many already that it seems the Cubs are due for some good unexpected things like Wood returning to form and staying healthy the rest of the season, Hendry trading for an impact bat, Hill giving up his attachment to doing well at the major league level and relaxing and performing well like we know he can, Prior returning and winning games the rest of the season at a 75% clip, etc.

 

I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

[TruffleShuffle]

Well, I said 74 wins before the season began, and I'm sticking with that figure.

[UMFan83]

Cubs were toiling around .500 this time in 2004 and they still managed to win 89 games. Heck the Cubs were 3-4 games over .500 in August of 2003 and still won 88. So its possible.

 

The only difference: This team sucks, and those didn't as much

[SouthSideRyan]

If the rookies pitch like Marshall has, i dont think it really matters but Hill and especially Guzman will bring this team down if they cant throw strikes

 

when you have 3 rookies starting, there's a good chance 1 or 2 are going to suck. unless you're the cardinals, of course.

 

maddux will turn things around tomorrow.

 

well we should only have 2 rookies in a week and a half and just 1 shortly after (unless prior needs tommy john )

 

NJ Star-Ledger reports Prior needs his head amputated.

[Twiggy]

Sure hope not, but the last week has really sucked!

[NCCubFan]

Heck the Cubs were 3-4 games over .500 in August of 2003 and still won 88. So its possible.

They were actually under .500 in early July.

[CubsWin]

Well, I said 74 wins before the season began, and I'm sticking with that figure.

Are you up for a wager?

[Fred Hornkohl]

Heck the Cubs were 3-4 games over .500 in August of 2003 and still won 88. So its possible.

They were actually under .500 in early July.

 

The CUBS were 1 game under .500 at the close of business on the 18th, 24th & 26th of July. At the end of August they were 69-66, 3 games over. It all happened in September, when they went 19-8.

[CubinNY]

So far the rookies haven't been the problem. The problems have been the "lead-off man", and the guys who can catch the ball.

[TheDude]

So far the rookies haven't been the problem. The problems have been the "lead-off man", and the guys who can catch the ball.

 

Not even close, and has been shown ad nauseum by the numbers. You have dedicated threads to beat and bash the players you dislike. Take it there.

[Soul]

Season's not over, but I wouldn't be counting on Wood suddenly turning this group into a contender, unless he brings some kind of offensive miracle with him.

[CubinNY]

So far the rookies haven't been the problem. The problems have been the "lead-off man", and the guys who can catch the ball.

 

Not even close, and has been shown ad nauseum by the numbers. You have dedicated threads to beat and bash the players you dislike. Take it there.

 

What the hell are you talking about?

[RynoRules]

So far the rookies haven't been the problem. The problems have been the "lead-off man", and the guys who can catch the ball.

 

Not even close, and has been shown ad nauseum by the numbers. You have dedicated threads to beat and bash the players you dislike. Take it there.

 

To be fair: Pierre has stunk. Jones has stunk. Walker has been very bad on this trip (he has admitted as much). ARam has been very bad (Jones is out-hitting him for the love of all things Holy). I won't even bring up Hairston and Perez.

 

The only people who haven't stunk as of late, IMO, are Murton, Cedeno and Barrett.

 

See also my sig.

[LoneStarCubFan]

This team is starting to look like it's playing to get the manager fired. In other words, the last week looks a lot like 2002.

 

As has been pointed out in at least one paper this weekend, in addition to not swinging the bats this team is not playing smart baseball. Slumps happen. They're part of the game. But there is no excuse for poor fielding or continued mental mistakes.

 

Hendry, as Bruce pointed out today, shoulders a tremendous amount of blame for putting this roster together. However, Dusty cannot be absolved for this mess.

 

For three plus seasons now this team has been one of the dumber teams in baseball when it comes to running the bases, recognizing signs and playing smart defensively. I don't care how lousy the roster is. It's up to the manager to get the players to play the game the way it is supposed to be played. Dusty has failed in a galactically tremendous way in this area. Three plus years of this isn't a coincidence. In short, it is what it is. Dusty's a lousy manager and his coaches are lousy coaches.

 

Hendry, unfortunately, isn't going anywhere now that he's been extended. But in addition to shaking up the roster he needs to pull the trigger on the manager and entire coaching staff as well. Giving Dusty a Get Out of Jail Free card due to Lee's injury and Prior and Wood's usual preseason problems is the wrong thing to do.

[NCCubFan]

Heck the Cubs were 3-4 games over .500 in August of 2003 and still won 88. So its possible.

They were actually under .500 in early July.

 

The CUBS were 1 game under .500 at the close of business on the 18th, 24th & 26th of July. At the end of August they were 69-66, 3 games over. It all happened in September, when they went 19-8.

OK, a bit of revisionist history on my part about when in July they were below .500. :D

[VicCub]

The season is on life-support. If my worst fears come true and the wrist injury prevents Dlee from hitting like he can, then it is already over.

 

If Dlee come back as good as new, then we will have to kick some major butt, but we might just get back in the race. At full strength, our pitching staff could be among the best in baseball.

 

I like our options for playing out the season. Between Z, Maddux, Marshall, Miller, Prior, Wood, Guzman, and Hill we should be able to establish a couple of trading chips as we won't need them all next year. If we raise the white flag, 2 or 3 of those guys could yield good value and we're still left with a solid rotation and terrific bullpen. We need high OPS position players for now and the future!

 

If we get in the race- Great, let's go for it! If we flounder- hey, I like the sheer number of pitchers we will be able to showcase. SOME playoff team would pay dearly for one of our pitchers.