This season is already over.

[JeffH]

If this team can avoid losing 100 games, it should consider itself fortunate.

[Chocolate Milk]

If this team can avoid losing 100 games, it should consider itself fortunate.

 

100? I say 200!!!!!

[rynefan]

There's been so little clutch hitting. The two recent extra inning games .... they had chance after chance after chance to put ONE run on the board ONE RUN. That's two wins right there in those two games alone. We can't do it, yet we get the homers hit off of us, no problem.

[Soul]

It's because it always seems the wrong hitter is coming up for the situation, and this is what happens to bad teams.

 

BTW, the Cubs are putting out a terrible black hole 7-9 pretty much every day now. It's no wonder we go 7 innings scoring no runs then score 5 in one inning. This is what happens when you don't have a very good offensive team. When all the chips fall your way, you get a bunch of runs. But consistency? No way -- ain't gonna happen.

[CubColtPacer]

It's because it always seems the wrong hitter is coming up for the situation, and this is what happens to bad teams.

 

For the Cubs though, this hasn't been true a great deal. For example, here are some of the hitters who could have driven in the winning run last night from scoring position-some of them if they could have just hit a sac fly:

 

Soriano

Murton

Lee

Jones

DeRosa

Cedeno

Barrett

Marquis

 

The only hitter the Cubs would want up there that didn't get a chance last night was Ramirez-everybody else simply didn't come through. Statistics claim that should even out over the season-so far that hasn't happened.

[rocket]

There's been so little clutch hitting. The two recent extra inning games .... they had chance after chance after chance to put ONE run on the board ONE RUN. That's two wins right there in those two games alone. We can't do it, yet we get the homers hit off of us, no problem.

 

the cubs are 4th in the nl in ba w/ risp.

[CubColtPacer]

There's been so little clutch hitting. The two recent extra inning games .... they had chance after chance after chance to put ONE run on the board ONE RUN. That's two wins right there in those two games alone. We can't do it, yet we get the homers hit off of us, no problem.

 

the cubs are 4th in the nl in ba w/ risp.

 

To be fair, that has mostly been in blowout games. They are dead last in BA in the close and late category with a .198 average, along with being third to last in OBP and dead last in SLG in that category (all of those are ranks in the whole major leagues- (131 AB's)).

 

The team is simply hitting horribly at the end of close games-since we know that should even out, that gives quite a sense for optimism that some of those games will start going the Cubs way.

[rynefan]

Exactly. Being 4th with RISP isn't the same as clutch hitting. I'd much rather one of them drive in the game winning run last night than single in the 8th run with a guy on third in a 7-0 blowout.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

If this team can avoid losing 100 games, it should consider itself fortunate.

 

What crawled up your butt?

[rynefan]

My son and I were discussing this last night. He's 15. We got to talking stats, and how things even out then he said, "Yeah, but what if they WERE the first team ever to only win 25 games." Uhhh.....

[Chris]

Let's keep it civil, folks.

[Soul]

It's because it always seems the wrong hitter is coming up for the situation, and this is what happens to bad teams.

 

For the Cubs though, this hasn't been true a great deal. For example, here are some of the hitters who could have driven in the winning run last night from scoring position-some of them if they could have just hit a sac fly:

 

Soriano

Murton

Lee

Jones

DeRosa

Cedeno

Barrett

Marquis

 

The only hitter the Cubs would want up there that didn't get a chance last night was Ramirez-everybody else simply didn't come through. Statistics claim that should even out over the season-so far that hasn't happened.

 

Really? I would think most people feel when Marquis and Cedeno come up in a critical situation it's a letdown waiting to happen.

 

I also feel Murton, DeRosa, and Jones are hitters I would rather not see in RBI situations. They aren't big RBI hitters. Good clubs seem to get guys like ARod, Ortiz, and Pujols up when they really need the dinger. We get Marquis. Does this not concern you?

[CubColtPacer]

It's because it always seems the wrong hitter is coming up for the situation, and this is what happens to bad teams.

 

For the Cubs though, this hasn't been true a great deal. For example, here are some of the hitters who could have driven in the winning run last night from scoring position-some of them if they could have just hit a sac fly:

 

Soriano

Murton

Lee

Jones

DeRosa

Cedeno

Barrett

Marquis

 

The only hitter the Cubs would want up there that didn't get a chance last night was Ramirez-everybody else simply didn't come through. Statistics claim that should even out over the season-so far that hasn't happened.

 

Really? I would think most people feel when Marquis and Cedeno come up in a critical situation it's a letdown waiting to happen.

 

I also feel Murton, DeRosa, and Jones are hitters I would rather not see in RBI situations. They aren't big RBI hitters. Good clubs seem to get guys like ARod, Ortiz, and Pujols up when they really need the dinger. We get Marquis. Does this not concern you?

 

It concerns me only in that people like Cedeno and Marquis only got a chance because 1 of Soriano/Murton (these are two who had a runner on third with less than 2 outs), Lee, DeRosa, or Barrett had done their job. The Cubs only needed 1 of them to come through, and Cedeno and Marquis would never have come to the plate last night.

 

Basically, the team had 6 of its 7 best hitters come up to the plate last night with a chance to win the game. I'm not sure how much more you can ask for then that when wanting the right person to come up in the right situation.

 

Here are the situations

 

7th-2nd and 3rd, none out-Soriano/Murton/Lee all made outs

8th-1st and 2nd, 1 out-Derosa and Barrett made outs.

[rynefan]

Again, so true. The "right" people have been up, but in general, are not delivering. Even DLee, who I agree is awesome, hasn't come through. These are the kinds of things that are a huge concern on this team. We've got guys who are obviously hitting big homers in early innings, but no one that is getting a key single/double in later innings or extras. How do you get that to change?

[CubColtPacer]

Again, so true. The "right" people have been up, but in general, are not delivering. Even DLee, who I agree is awesome, hasn't come through. These are the kinds of things that are a huge concern on this team. We've got guys who are obviously hitting big homers in early innings, but no one that is getting a key single/double in later innings or extras. How do you get that to change?

 

You don't get it to change-it just does. The majority of the time, it will even out for you-and if it doesn't, then you just become an exception to the rule (which would be terrible). There's no real way you can teach hitting in that situation-you just have to put your best people up there and hope for the best.

[Soul]

Again, so true. The "right" people have been up, but in general, are not delivering. Even DLee, who I agree is awesome, hasn't come through. These are the kinds of things that are a huge concern on this team. We've got guys who are obviously hitting big homers in early innings, but no one that is getting a key single/double in later innings or extras. How do you get that to change?

 

You don't get it to change-it just does. The majority of the time, it will even out for you-and if it doesn't, then you just become an exception to the rule (which would be terrible). There's no real way you can teach hitting in that situation-you just have to put your best people up there and hope for the best.

 

Yeah, but you can't expect DLee and ARam to just come through every time either.

 

I still think it's a problem that guys like Marquis are put up there in critical situations. The lineup is definitely a mess right now. Entire areas of the roster seem to be in complete flux, such as SS and OF.

[rynefan]

In some cases it is just a matter of it "happening," but that's why teams have managers and hitting/pitching/baserunning coaches. When it goes beyond a game and starts becoming a trend, which it is with the Cubs, these people are paid to make observations and try to find ways to fix the problem. Sitting around waiting for it to just change doesn't fly with a lot of bosses/organizations/jobs.

[rynefan]

I actually got up and left the room when they put Marquis in. The talking heads want to tell you what a great hitter he is, but you know it's just not right.

[Soul]

In some cases it is just a matter of it "happening," but that's why teams have managers and hitting/pitching/baserunning coaches. When it goes beyond a game and starts becoming a trend, which it is with the Cubs, these people are paid to make observations and try to find ways to fix the problem. Sitting around waiting for it to just change doesn't fly with a lot of bosses/organizations/jobs.

 

Time is running out to rectify it unfortunately. Having a bad April is one thing, but we're going beyond that now. We're digging such a deep hole it's becoming more & more far-fetched to imagine climbing out each day.

 

Right now we're 5 games under. We need to at least play .500 baseball for the next month. 5 games under is a nightmare right now. On June 1st, it will put us just on the outside of the playoff hunt (in all likelihood).

 

By the time June arrives, if we're sitting 10 games under .500 it is over. Sure, the '05 Astros --- happens once in a blue moon, and I don't see Roger Clemens riding to our rescue any time soon.

[rynefan]

Agreed. Not time to put the obit in the paper yet, but time to write the rough draft.

[CubColtPacer]

I actually got up and left the room when they put Marquis in. The talking heads want to tell you what a great hitter he is, but you know it's just not right.

 

Why can't it be? If a pitcher hits well enough, they should be considered part of the bench. If you count this year, then 3 out of the last 4 years Marquis has hit .292, .310, and .273.

 

Also between 2004-2006, he was 6-19 as a pinch hitter with 1 2B and 1 3B. With the Cubs roster right now, putting Marquis up there is just as effective as Izturis, Cedeno, Blanco, or Pie.

[Soul]

I actually got up and left the room when they put Marquis in. The talking heads want to tell you what a great hitter he is, but you know it's just not right.

 

Why can't it be? If a pitcher hits well enough, they should be considered part of the bench. If you count this year, then 3 out of the last 4 years Marquis has hit .292, .310, and .273.

 

Also between 2004-2006, he was 6-19 as a pinch hitter with 1 2B and 1 3B. With the Cubs roster right now, putting Marquis up there is just as effective as Izturis, Cedeno, Blanco, or Pie.

 

...which should tell you exactly how much trouble we're in.

 

Marquis is a .225 lifetime hitter, according to the stats I saw last night on screen.

[rynefan]

I'm sure there are plenty of stats to prove the point, but bottom line is that he is a pitcher, and that's his focus--pitching. He's thrown in to hit when required, as are others at times. What I'm saying is that in a game when you need one stinking run to win, and no one in the regular lineup can make that happen, you cannot get too jazzed up when you see Marquis come up. It's a matter of "necessity is the mother of invention," nothing more. It's not often that you're going to be glad that a pitcher is coming in to hit in that situation, that's for sure.

[CubColtPacer]

I actually got up and left the room when they put Marquis in. The talking heads want to tell you what a great hitter he is, but you know it's just not right.

 

Why can't it be? If a pitcher hits well enough, they should be considered part of the bench. If you count this year, then 3 out of the last 4 years Marquis has hit .292, .310, and .273.

 

Also between 2004-2006, he was 6-19 as a pinch hitter with 1 2B and 1 3B. With the Cubs roster right now, putting Marquis up there is just as effective as Izturis, Cedeno, Blanco, or Pie.

 

...which should tell you exactly how much trouble we're in.

 

Marquis is a .225 lifetime hitter, according to the stats I saw last night on screen.

 

That is true, but that's because he went 7 for 73 in his years with Atlanta. Somebody with St. Louis taught him how to hit. In the past 3 1/2 years, he has been a .262 hitter overall. Still not awesome, but pretty good for a back of the bench guy. For pretty much any team, when you get to your 3rd or 4th best bench option, that's about as much as you can hope for.

[Soul]

I actually got up and left the room when they put Marquis in. The talking heads want to tell you what a great hitter he is, but you know it's just not right.

 

Why can't it be? If a pitcher hits well enough, they should be considered part of the bench. If you count this year, then 3 out of the last 4 years Marquis has hit .292, .310, and .273.

 

Also between 2004-2006, he was 6-19 as a pinch hitter with 1 2B and 1 3B. With the Cubs roster right now, putting Marquis up there is just as effective as Izturis, Cedeno, Blanco, or Pie.

 

...which should tell you exactly how much trouble we're in.

 

Marquis is a .225 lifetime hitter, according to the stats I saw last night on screen.

 

That is true, but that's because he went 7 for 73 in his years with Atlanta. Somebody with St. Louis taught him how to hit. In the past 3 1/2 years, he has been a .262 hitter overall. Still not awesome, but pretty good for a back of the bench guy. For pretty much any team, when you get to your 3rd or 4th best bench option, that's about as much as you can hope for.

 

From what I'm seeing, we might do well to beg that St. Louis coach to come teach our hitters how to hit :wink: