Cubs staff numbers so far

[TheDude]

Just a thread to give props to the Cubs pitching staff.

 

-Fewest Runs Allowed in the NL, 3rd in MLB (behind Oakland and Boston)

-4th in ERA in NL (6th in MLB).

-6th in walks in NL (11th in MLB). While this isn't outstanding, given the Cubs recent history this is a vast improvement.

 

The K numbers are down from previous Cubs staffs, but if fewer K's equates to fewer walks, I'm pretty sure we'll all gladly take it.

 

We all expect Zambrano and the 5th starter to get better, and Marquis and Lilly to get worse. Here's hoping it's a wash and Cubs can keep up this level of pitching overall.

[jersey cubs fan]

It sucks the offense hasn't been awake often enough to take advantage, and that such great pitching only has them 1 over .500. But hopefully they don't take too far a step back and start taking advantage.

[Soriano12]

We should be 8 games over .500 at least. Thanks Offense! :twisted:

[Derwood]

It sucks the offense hasn't been awake often enough to take advantage, and that such great pitching only has them 1 over .500. But hopefully they don't take too far a step back and start taking advantage.

 

agreed on the offense. Derrek Lee leads the NL in average but is tied for 10th in RBI. That's the season in a nutshell

[TheDude]

It sucks the offense hasn't been awake often enough to take advantage, and that such great pitching only has them 1 over .500. But hopefully they don't take too far a step back and start taking advantage.

 

On the plus side, if we get a push-pull (offense improves, staff regresses) that yields a null sum and the wins/losses fall according to the run differential expectation, that puts the team in good shape for the division or the wild card.

[BigbadB]

Just a thread to give props to the Cubs pitching staff.

 

-Fewest Runs Allowed in the NL, 3rd in MLB (behind Oakland and Boston)

-4th in ERA in NL (6th in MLB).

-6th in walks in NL (11th in MLB). While this isn't outstanding, given the Cubs recent history this is a vast improvement.

 

The K numbers are down from previous Cubs staffs, but if fewer K's equates to fewer walks, I'm pretty sure we'll all gladly take it.

 

We all expect Zambrano and the 5th starter to get better, and Marquis and Lilly to get worse. Here's hoping it's a wash and Cubs can keep up this level of pitching overall.

 

Good post. I was viewing the Cubs pitching stats about the same time you were. What really jumped out at me is Carlos Zambrano's ERA in relation to walks, and the rest of the rotations ERA in relation to walks. Hill, Marquis and Lilly have all shown outstanding control, which keeps runners off base and prevents too many runs from scoring.

 

If you go back and look at last years team, you can see the same correlation of walks and ERA.

 

I think Hendry finally got a bit of a grasp about the importance of not giving up walks, and I think he also understands the importance of your hitters drawing them, but this line up is loaded with guys who just don't draw walks. Jones, Soriano, Barrett and Izturis is half a line up of hackers. It would be okay to have 1 or 2 guys in your line up that don't have much patience at the plate, but 4 of them is just asking to lose games.

 

Getting back to the pitching, I sure hope that Rothschild is praising these guys who are keeping their walk rates down. If Carlos just bears down and throws strikes and starts trusting his "stuff" instead of nibbling the corners and giving up walks, he'll be right there with the rest of the staff in WHIP and ERA. Angel Guzman is doing very well in that regard so far as well, looking at his combined starting and relief records.

 

It's exciting to see.

[TheDude]

Marquis also has back-to-back games with zero walks. Hopefully the team sees the correlation.

[jersey cubs fan]

It sucks the offense hasn't been awake often enough to take advantage, and that such great pitching only has them 1 over .500. But hopefully they don't take too far a step back and start taking advantage.

 

agreed on the offense. Derrek Lee leads the NL in average but is tied for 10th in RBI. That's the season in a nutshell

 

That's as much a problem with Lee's SLG than anything else. He ranks 11th in SLG, and that's completely propper up by an unsustainable AVG. He went 20 games without a HR, and has only 1 more in the 10 games since.

[David]

It sucks the offense hasn't been awake often enough to take advantage, and that such great pitching only has them 1 over .500. But hopefully they don't take too far a step back and start taking advantage.

 

agreed on the offense. Derrek Lee leads the NL in average but is tied for 10th in RBI. That's the season in a nutshell

 

That's as much a problem with Lee's SLG than anything else. He ranks 11th in SLG, and that's completely propper up by an unsustainable AVG. He went 20 games without a HR, and has only 1 more in the 10 games since.

 

Lots and lots of doubles, though.

[MPrior]

I think Hendry finally got a bit of a grasp about the importance of not giving up walks, and I think he also understands the importance of your hitters drawing them, but this line up is loaded with guys who just don't draw walks. Jones, Soriano, Barrett and Izturis is half a line up of hackers. It would be okay to have 1 or 2 guys in your line up that don't have much patience at the plate, but 4 of them is just asking to lose games.

 

Barrett, while he has been awful this year, and does occasionally irk me by popping up on the first pitch, is actually one of the more selective hitters the Cubs have.

[jersey cubs fan]

I think Hendry finally got a bit of a grasp about the importance of not giving up walks, and I think he also understands the importance of your hitters drawing them, but this line up is loaded with guys who just don't draw walks. Jones, Soriano, Barrett and Izturis is half a line up of hackers. It would be okay to have 1 or 2 guys in your line up that don't have much patience at the plate, but 4 of them is just asking to lose games.

 

Barrett, while he has been awful this year, and does occasionally irk me by popping up on the first pitch, is actually one of the more selective hitters the Cubs have.

 

And that's a bad thing, since he's not very selective.

[Guest]

The K numbers are down from previous Cubs staffs, but if fewer K's equates to fewer walks, I'm pretty sure we'll all gladly take it.

 

 

Kind of depends how many extra hits they are giving up.