Here's a depressing thought

[Tim]

Earlier in the season, it was easy to blame the poor performance on injuries, sure, but there were also a number of players playing below expectations. Aramis, Pierre & Jacque all got off to miserable starts, which made a very big contribution to our lousy start. At that point, it's easier to let Hendry off the hook by saying that he can't possibly see as durable a player as Lee going down and it would be very hard to foresee the above players being as bad as they were through the first 1/3 of the season.

 

However, at this point, everyone on the offensive side other than Cedeno are pretty much right at expectations or above them. And the overall offense for the year is still more than a Derrek Lee return from being respectable.

 

Just imagine how bad this team would be if someone had a really down year.

[Dr. Cub]

Did you think we were all too chipper and happy, and we needed to be brought down a notch? :wink:

[hardcorecubfan]

Can we quote Brenley (can't believe I am doing this) could it be our timely hitting that is lacking? or how about our timely base running. How about stupid base running.

[Banedon]

Can we quote Brenley (can't believe I am doing this) could it be our timely hitting that is lacking? or how about our timely base running. How about stupid base running.

 

it's hitting that's lacking....timely or not...

 

And I'm not sure what timely base running is.

[CubColtPacer]

Can we quote Brenley (can't believe I am doing this) could it be our timely hitting that is lacking? or how about our timely base running. How about stupid base running.

 

Our offense is pretty bad either way, but the lack of big hits has caused a little bit of a drop from what would be expected. Look at 3 teams here that are very similar offensively this year

 

Seattle-OBP-.319, SLG-.414

Tampa Bay-OBP-.314, SLG-.419

Cubs-OBP-.319, SLG-.421

 

From our OBP and SLG numbers, we should be 3rd to last in the league in runs..but we're not. Seattle has 576 runs scored, TB has 555, and the Cubs have 540. So that sort of thing has played a little bit of a part-and we just have to hope it swings our way next year.

The return of Lee will increase both of those numbers somewhat-get a big bat at 2nd and a platoon partner for Jacque and both those numbers should go way up.

[jjgman21]

I think the loss of Lee can not be underestimated.

 

the Cubs got second base production out of firstbase and Neifi production out of secondbase after Lee went down. since the ASB, Mabry and Nevin have played the bulk of firstbase, Mabry with a .754 OPS, Nevin with a .886 OPS. not sure that anyone has noticed, but the Cubs are sixth in the NL in runs scored since the ASB. with firstbase hitting somewhat respectably, the offense also has been somewhat respectable.

 

it's easy to say 'well Pierre, Aram, Murton and Barrett have been hot and that's the reason' but at the same time Jones, Cedeno, Neifi/Izturis and many others have fallen off the face of the earth since the ASB. don't get me wrong, I would have liked a better offense going into the year, but the loss of DLee is a gigantic part of this teams offensive woes this year.

 

the OBP out of first has been .308 on the season. replace that with Lee's expected OBP, and the expected OBP we would have had out of second if Walker was playing there, and even that stat would probably be middling overall in the NL. the loss of Lee was huge on this offense. take away any teams best offensive player, and they would probably be in the same position as the Cubs right now.

[goonys evil twin]

Can we quote Brenley (can't believe I am doing this) could it be our timely hitting that is lacking? or how about our timely base running. How about stupid base running.

 

Our offense is pretty bad either way, but the lack of big hits has caused a little bit of a drop from what would be expected. Look at 3 teams here that are very similar offensively this year

 

Seattle-OBP-.319, SLG-.414

Tampa Bay-OBP-.314, SLG-.419

Cubs-OBP-.319, SLG-.421

 

From our OBP and SLG numbers, we should be 3rd to last in the league in runs..but we're not. Seattle has 576 runs scored, TB has 555, and the Cubs have 540. So that sort of thing has played a little bit of a part-and we just have to hope it swings our way next year.

The return of Lee will increase both of those numbers somewhat-get a big bat at 2nd and a platoon partner for Jacque and both those numbers should go way up.

 

You can't compare NL and AL offenses.

[Joe_Cub]

The Tribune blames Big Z for the slow start too and says he's doing better now because he's on a salary drive. Morons.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060824cubsgamer,1,5126982.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

[goonys evil twin]

The Tribune blames Big Z for the slow start too and says he's doing better now because he's on a salary drive. Morons.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060824cubsgamer,1,5126982.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

 

I hated that article. DVD should be ashamed of that garbage.

 

Judge the players by their overall stats, not by how they did in certain months. Ramirez's and Zambrano's overall numbers are not as good as their post April numbers. They are already being "punished" for a poor start. And he doesn't even talk about Pierre. He chooses to pick on guys with a history of success in a Cubs uniform but ignores the guy who has never done anything for the team. Z and Ramirez have turned poor starts into great seasons. Pierre went from a poor start to another bad season.

[neely crenshaw]

except for the people drinking blue koolaid, this was most everyone's believe back in january.

add in the fact that we also said we needed at least one more starting pitcher and we had this season figured out save for the dlee injury. we were figuring on aram to break down.

we were back in the 80's praying for career years from everyone so that we might contend,,unfortunately bob dernier was no where in sight!

[RynoRules]

The title of this thread could be a reference to the fact that I am sadastic enough to indoctrinate my 3 yr old son into Cubdom, as I was at a relatively similar age.

[Banedon]

The title of this thread could be a reference to the fact that I am sadastic enough to indoctrinate my 3 yr old son into Cubdom, as I was at a relatively similar age.

 

My son isn't even born yet, and he already has a Cubs outfit hanging in his closet.

[RynoRules]

The title of this thread could be a reference to the fact that I am sadastic enough to indoctrinate my 3 yr old son into Cubdom, as I was at a relatively similar age.

 

My son isn't even born yet, and he already has a Cubs outfit hanging in his closet.

 

Before my son was born he had the same.

 

*sigh*

[bhogg]

before he was born, my son was named "Ryne."

 

 

As for the Cubs, I say pitching injuries have been the biggest killer. If we have healthy pitching, we're around .500 and right in the thick of the race --- even with a putrid offense.