Offseason Emphasis should be on pitching

[CubsWin]

The way the Yank-mes "best MLB line-up ever" got shut down by the Tigers pitching, has to put a big 'ol tick mark in the pitching column in this debate. Great pitching still beats great hitting more often than not.

 

I certainly agree that the Cubs don't get close to being dominant if one is good while the other suffers or if both are mediocre. But I think the circumstances show us that the Cubs should first move to improve their pitching via free agency. Here's why:

 

The Cubs offense suffered badly this season. But some of that was because of the injury to Derrek Lee. Well, he will be back next season, so that is a big piece right there. Resigning Aramis will be huge. But more must be done. Pie ideally could use at least another half season in AAA, but there is a good chance that he would provide a higher OPS than Pierre did last season right now. So even without acquiring a power-hitting CFer, there will likely be improvement there as well. Murton had a strong 2nd half, which at 24, gives us reason to believe he will improve his overall numbers next year. Jones will likely regress, but he is quite capable of an .800 OPS again. That leaves the weak hitting middle infielders as a concern. Theriot will certainly not maintain his production from this season, but he can likely be an improvement over Cedeno as should Izturis. Would I like to see better players brought in? Yes. If they don't, is this offense likely to be just mediocre? I think so. But, as it stands now, assuming Ramirez resigns, the Cubs offense will be better next season than it was this season without an major acquisitions assuming no more catastrophic injuries occur.

 

But there is no guarantee that Prior will return to form like Lee should. So free agent wise, the Cubs definitely should look to focus on signing high quality starting pitchers. Besides Z, only Rich Hill can be somewhat counted on to perform at a high level. That is 3 major holes in a 5-man rotation right there. With the depth of young arms in the system, one of those holes can be filled from within the system. But if we assume, and I think we must, that Prior will not return to form, that still leaves 2 holes that need to be filled by FAs.

 

It will be a lot easier to convince Andruw Jones to accept a trade to the Cubs if there pitching staff looks dominant.

 

And, as the Tigers have reminded us, great pitching usually beats great hitting.

[CubinNY]

The way the Yank-mes "best MLB line-up ever" got shut down by the Tigers pitching, has to put a big 'ol tick mark in the pitching column in this debate. Great pitching still beats great hitting more often than not.

 

 

No it doesn't. A short series doesn't mean anything.

 

Before the Yankees series that great staff were routed by the Royals in three games.

[CubsWin]

The way the Yank-mes "best MLB line-up ever" got shut down by the Tigers pitching, has to put a big 'ol tick mark in the pitching column in this debate. Great pitching still beats great hitting more often than not.

 

 

No it doesn't. A short series doesn't mean anything.

 

Before the Yankees series that great staff were routed by the Royals in three games.

You're missing the point. The Yank-mes line-up was supposed to be this huge, unstoppable force, well, how'd that go for them? What stopped this unstoppable force? Great pitching. The Tigers had it, the Yanks, didn't. Simple.

[nilodnayr]

The way the Yank-mes "best MLB line-up ever" got shut down by the Tigers pitching, has to put a big 'ol tick mark in the pitching column in this debate. Great pitching still beats great hitting more often than not.

 

 

No it doesn't. A short series doesn't mean anything.

 

Before the Yankees series that great staff were routed by the Royals in three games.

You're missing the point. The Yank-mes line-up was supposed to be this huge, unstoppable force, well, how'd that go for them? What stopped this unstoppable force? Great pitching. The Tigers had it, the Yanks, didn't. Simple.

 

Did you know that Babe Ruth made outs in over half the times he went to the plate?

[CubsWin]

The way the Yank-mes "best MLB line-up ever" got shut down by the Tigers pitching, has to put a big 'ol tick mark in the pitching column in this debate. Great pitching still beats great hitting more often than not.

 

 

No it doesn't. A short series doesn't mean anything.

 

Before the Yankees series that great staff were routed by the Royals in three games.

You're missing the point. The Yank-mes line-up was supposed to be this huge, unstoppable force, well, how'd that go for them? What stopped this unstoppable force? Great pitching. The Tigers had it, the Yanks, didn't. Simple.

 

Did you know that Babe Ruth made outs in over half the times he went to the plate?

Yes, and...

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Tigers scored nearly 6 runs per game in the series.

[Flames24Rulz]

The Tigers scored nearly 6 runs per game in the series.

 

A stat that was skewed because of their two blowout wins in back to back days. How many runs did the "best lineup ever" score in the last two games of the series? Great pitching, most of the time, beats great hitting. This series proved that fact.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Tigers scored nearly 6 runs per game in the series.

 

A stat that was skewed because of their two blowout wins in back to back days. How many runs did the "best lineup ever" score in the last two games of the series? Great pitching, most of the time, beats great hitting. This series proved that fact.

 

Well if that's the case then if you take out the last 2 games of the series, the Yankees averaged nearly 6 runs a game.

 

4 games proves nothing, especially the above which is far, far from a fact.

[Flames24Rulz]

The Tigers scored nearly 6 runs per game in the series.

 

A stat that was skewed because of their two blowout wins in back to back days. How many runs did the "best lineup ever" score in the last two games of the series? Great pitching, most of the time, beats great hitting. This series proved that fact.

 

Well if that's the case then if you take out the last 2 games of the series, the Yankees averaged nearly 6 runs a game.

 

4 games proves nothing, especially the above which is far, far from a fact.

 

While you're right about the 4 games proves nothing, 162 games does. The Tigers had the best staff in the league and that's how they reached the postseason. Their offense was very similar to the 2005 White Sox; heavily relying on the longball, and a very mediocre offense when they aren't hitting their solo homers. Their pitching definitely carried them to their 95 wins and ultimately has them in the ALCS.

 

Good offenses do win championships; the Red Sox won in 2004. It just seems like to me that the teams that win the Series have a great staff and great pitching in general to rely on. The White Sox last year, the Marlins of 03, the Angels of 02, and the D'Backs of 01 all had outstanding pitching. I don't think it's a coincidence that those teams won it all.

[nilodnayr]

The way the Yank-mes "best MLB line-up ever" got shut down by the Tigers pitching, has to put a big 'ol tick mark in the pitching column in this debate. Great pitching still beats great hitting more often than not.

 

 

No it doesn't. A short series doesn't mean anything.

 

Before the Yankees series that great staff were routed by the Royals in three games.

You're missing the point. The Yank-mes line-up was supposed to be this huge, unstoppable force, well, how'd that go for them? What stopped this unstoppable force? Great pitching. The Tigers had it, the Yanks, didn't. Simple.

 

Did you know that Babe Ruth made outs in over half the times he went to the plate?

Yes, and...

 

You're missing the point. Even the huge, unstoppable force that was Babe Ruth made outs sometimes. Sometimes even to mediocre pitchers. Its a short series, not to beat a dead horse but "anything can happen", its a small sample size. IMO hitting and pitching are equally important. Since after all, the game is all about scoring more runs than you prevent.

[soccer10k]

The way the Yank-mes "best MLB line-up ever" got shut down by the Tigers pitching, has to put a big 'ol tick mark in the pitching column in this debate. Great pitching still beats great hitting more often than not.

 

 

No it doesn't. A short series doesn't mean anything.

 

Before the Yankees series that great staff were routed by the Royals in three games.

You're missing the point. The Yank-mes line-up was supposed to be this huge, unstoppable force, well, how'd that go for them? What stopped this unstoppable force? Great pitching. The Tigers had it, the Yanks, didn't. Simple.

 

Two words: Sample size.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Tigers scored nearly 6 runs per game in the series.

 

A stat that was skewed because of their two blowout wins in back to back days. How many runs did the "best lineup ever" score in the last two games of the series? Great pitching, most of the time, beats great hitting. This series proved that fact.

 

Well if that's the case then if you take out the last 2 games of the series, the Yankees averaged nearly 6 runs a game.

 

4 games proves nothing, especially the above which is far, far from a fact.

 

While you're right about the 4 games proves nothing, 162 games does. The Tigers had the best staff in the league and that's how they reached the postseason. Their offense was very similar to the 2005 White Sox; heavily relying on the longball, and a very mediocre offense when they aren't hitting their solo homers. Their pitching definitely carried them to their 95 wins and ultimately has them in the ALCS.

 

Good offenses do win championships; the Red Sox won in 2004. It just seems like to me that the teams that win the Series have a great staff and great pitching in general to rely on. The White Sox last year, the Marlins of 03, the Angels of 02, and the D'Backs of 01 all had outstanding pitching. I don't think it's a coincidence that those teams won it all.

 

The Angels of 02 should be the poster child for good offense/bad pitching to the Series - they didn't have the starting pitching the Red Sox had.

 

You think the Tigers remind you of the White Sox. I think the Tigers remind of the 03 Cubs and the 04-05 Astros. Not a good judge.