As I was mowing my lawn

[gflore34]

As I was mowing my lawn this morning I was thinking about the Cubs being only 5 games out. And how many games Izturis offensive and defensive presence, or lack of, in the lineup has cost the Cubs. I know Baseball is a team sport however, Izturis has cost the Cubs at least four games this season. If the Cubs get those 4 games, despite today' loss they're tied with Brewers in the loss column, only a game out.

[tkenm356]

Add in all the games the bullpen has cost us and we'd be one of the top teams in baseball

[Mizzou]

Are people just pretending that Izturis has been bad just for fun? He's hitting over .300 this month, with a .362 OBP. Cesar hasn't been a problem lately.

 

And wow, has anyone noticed his home/road splits? I don't know if I've ever seen a player with that drastic of splits.

[gflore34]

Are people just pretending that Izturis has been bad just for fun? He's hitting over .300 this month, with a .362 OBP. Cesar hasn't been a problem lately.

 

And wow, has anyone noticed his home/road splits? I don't know if I've ever seen a player with that drastic of splits.

 

Bases loaded in San Diego, 1 out - GIDP

 

1st and Third in LA, 0 out, fails to make solid contact, runner is held at third Cubs don't score.

[CubColtPacer]

Are people just pretending that Izturis has been bad just for fun? He's hitting over .300 this month, with a .362 OBP. Cesar hasn't been a problem lately.

 

And wow, has anyone noticed his home/road splits? I don't know if I've ever seen a player with that drastic of splits.

 

Bases loaded in San Diego, 1 out - GIDP

 

1st and Third in LA, 0 out, fails to make solid contact, runner is held at third Cubs don't score.

 

I could point out several of those cases for Theriot as well-or Cedeno, who was much worse than Izturis:

 

As a SS this year:

 

Izturis-.271/.333/.331

Theriot-.206/.341/.235

Cedeno-.091/.130/.273

 

Overall

Theriot-.278/.343/.338

Izturis-.267/.328/.325

Cedeno: .097/.121/.323

 

SS as a whole has been a problem for the Cubs this year-not any individual player. Theriot has a 28 point advantage over Izturis in OPS-that's not a very large difference.

[C.C.]

Are people just pretending that Izturis has been bad just for fun? He's hitting over .300 this month, with a .362 OBP. Cesar hasn't been a problem lately.

 

And wow, has anyone noticed his home/road splits? I don't know if I've ever seen a player with that drastic of splits.

 

Bases loaded in San Diego, 1 out - GIDP

 

1st and Third in LA, 0 out, fails to make solid contact, runner is held at third Cubs don't score.

 

I could point out several of those cases for Theriot as well-or Cedeno, who was much worse than Izturis:

 

As a SS this year:

 

Izturis-.271/.333/.331

Theriot-.206/.341/.235

Cedeno-.091/.130/.273

 

Overall

Theriot-.278/.343/.338

Izturis-.267/.328/.325

Cedeno: .097/.121/.323

 

SS as a whole has been a problem for the Cubs this year-not any individual player. Theriot has a 28 point advantage over Izturis in OPS-that's not a very large difference.

 

Any of the Cubs SS is not the reason we are terrible.

[CubColtPacer]

Are people just pretending that Izturis has been bad just for fun? He's hitting over .300 this month, with a .362 OBP. Cesar hasn't been a problem lately.

 

And wow, has anyone noticed his home/road splits? I don't know if I've ever seen a player with that drastic of splits.

 

Bases loaded in San Diego, 1 out - GIDP

 

1st and Third in LA, 0 out, fails to make solid contact, runner is held at third Cubs don't score.

 

I could point out several of those cases for Theriot as well-or Cedeno, who was much worse than Izturis:

 

As a SS this year:

 

Izturis-.271/.333/.331

Theriot-.206/.341/.235

Cedeno-.091/.130/.273

 

Overall

Theriot-.278/.343/.338

Izturis-.267/.328/.325

Cedeno: .097/.121/.323

 

SS as a whole has been a problem for the Cubs this year-not any individual player. Theriot has a 28 point advantage over Izturis in OPS-that's not a very large difference.

 

Any of the Cubs SS is not the reason we are terrible.

 

That's true. SS is actually right about where it's expected to be, maybe even a little bit better. Barrett being terrible, Jones being terrible, Murton/Floyd both being below average, Soriano with the power, and the bullpen are all underperforming what they were expected to do.

[Mizzou]

Are people just pretending that Izturis has been bad just for fun? He's hitting over .300 this month, with a .362 OBP. Cesar hasn't been a problem lately.

 

And wow, has anyone noticed his home/road splits? I don't know if I've ever seen a player with that drastic of splits.

 

Bases loaded in San Diego, 1 out - GIDP

 

1st and Third in LA, 0 out, fails to make solid contact, runner is held at third Cubs don't score.

Right, like I said... he's hitting over .300 this month, not 1.000. I'm fully aware that he's made outs.

[Electron Blue]

Are people just pretending that Izturis has been bad just for fun? He's hitting over .300 this month, with a .362 OBP. Cesar hasn't been a problem lately.

 

And wow, has anyone noticed his home/road splits? I don't know if I've ever seen a player with that drastic of splits.

 

Bases loaded in San Diego, 1 out - GIDP

 

1st and Third in LA, 0 out, fails to make solid contact, runner is held at third Cubs don't score.

 

Aramis swung at a ball out of the strike zone to end the game today. Is today's loss on him?

[XZero771679666304]

Clearly the problem here is the bullpen. If you'd have asked most people before the season started what would be the biggest weak spot for the Cubs, I bet the bullpen would have gotten the least number of votes.

 

But no, the bullpen has been by far the biggest problem, specifically Eyre and Howry.

 

And the rotation, which seemed like the biggest liability coming in to the season, as been the strongest part of the team.

 

Fortunately, the rest of the division has been sucking even harder than the Cubs have over the past couple weeks, and the Cubs are still right in it.

Tho offense will come around, I have no doubt of that. I hope they come around before the rotation regresses, and if they do, the Cubs should still get the same mean production from those two.

 

 

It's the bullpen that MUST be fixed. I can't see how Eyre can be used anymore, and Howry should be relegated to mop-up duty for the time being.

 

I think fate is giving this team a chance this year by having Milwaukee and Houston and most of the Central go belly-up during what will hopefully be the Cubs' worst stretch of play.

[Keener98]

Clearly the problem here is the bullpen. If you'd have asked most people before the season started what would be the biggest weak spot for the Cubs, I bet the bullpen would have gotten the least number of votes.

 

But no, the bullpen has been by far the biggest problem, specifically Eyre and Howry.

 

And the rotation, which seemed like the biggest liability coming in to the season, as been the strongest part of the team.

 

Fortunately, the rest of the division has been sucking even harder than the Cubs have over the past couple weeks, and the Cubs are still right in it.

Tho offense will come around, I have no doubt of that. I hope they come around before the rotation regresses, and if they do, the Cubs should still get the same mean production from those two.

 

 

It's the bullpen that MUST be fixed. I can't see how Eyre can be used anymore, and Howry should be relegated to mop-up duty for the time being.

 

I think fate is giving this team a chance this year by having Milwaukee and Houston and most of the Central go belly-up during what will hopefully be the Cubs' worst stretch of play.

 

You think its fate? I think its baseball Gods way of torturing us Cubs fans in a new way. Usually we suck are are out of it in June and we deal with it. Now this year we suck but hes goin to make us pay attention all year saying" I know our offense will get going," or "our bp will get better and we will be able to overtake first place", when in reality we will probably just barely miss out, and once again having been tortured for an entire season, instead of just 2 months. :cry:

[seanimal]

Those are some big letters.

[Keener98]

Those are some big letters.

 

Thats how I roll :lol:

[Soriano12]

I hate Lou Piniella

I hate Scott Eyre

[XZero771679666304]

Clearly the problem here is the bullpen. If you'd have asked most people before the season started what would be the biggest weak spot for the Cubs, I bet the bullpen would have gotten the least number of votes.

 

But no, the bullpen has been by far the biggest problem, specifically Eyre and Howry.

 

And the rotation, which seemed like the biggest liability coming in to the season, as been the strongest part of the team.

 

Fortunately, the rest of the division has been sucking even harder than the Cubs have over the past couple weeks, and the Cubs are still right in it.

Tho offense will come around, I have no doubt of that. I hope they come around before the rotation regresses, and if they do, the Cubs should still get the same mean production from those two.

 

 

It's the bullpen that MUST be fixed. I can't see how Eyre can be used anymore, and Howry should be relegated to mop-up duty for the time being.

 

I think fate is giving this team a chance this year by having Milwaukee and Houston and most of the Central go belly-up during what will hopefully be the Cubs' worst stretch of play.

 

You think its fate? I think its baseball Gods way of torturing us Cubs fans in a new way. Usually we suck are are out of it in June and we deal with it. Now this year we suck but hes goin to make us pay attention all year saying" I know our offense will get going," or "our bp will get better and we will be able to overtake first place", when in reality we will probably just barely miss out, and once again having been tortured for an entire season, instead of just 2 months. :cry:

 

I don't know about you, but I feel tortured by the Cubs 24/7/365 and one extra on leap year.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

As I was mowing my lawn this morning I was thinking about the Cubs being only 5 games out. And how many games Izturis offensive and defensive presence, or lack of, in the lineup has cost the Cubs. I know Baseball is a team sport however, Izturis has cost the Cubs at least four games this season. If the Cubs get those 4 games, despite today' loss they're tied with Brewers in the loss column, only a game out.

 

If Izturis can cost the Cubs four games in that short of a time period, he is one of the more influential baseball players in history.

[cubfan1955]

Clearly the problem here is the bullpen. If you'd have asked most people before the season started what would be the biggest weak spot for the Cubs, I bet the bullpen would have gotten the least number of votes.

 

But no, the bullpen has been by far the biggest problem, specifically Eyre and Howry.

 

And the rotation, which seemed like the biggest liability coming in to the season, as been the strongest part of the team.

 

Fortunately, the rest of the division has been sucking even harder than the Cubs have over the past couple weeks, and the Cubs are still right in it.

Tho offense will come around, I have no doubt of that. I hope they come around before the rotation regresses, and if they do, the Cubs should still get the same mean production from those two.

 

 

It's the bullpen that MUST be fixed. I can't see how Eyre can be used anymore, and Howry should be relegated to mop-up duty for the time being.

 

I think fate is giving this team a chance this year by having Milwaukee and Houston and most of the Central go belly-up during what will hopefully be the Cubs' worst stretch of play.

I think the offense is the biggest problem. A consistant offense will usually hide most bullpen woes or at least make them less critical. All bullpens allow runs. It just so happens that their teams offenses scores runs while ours is usually one-shot and out. Good night Irene. It's been this way since the beginning of the Don Baylor era.

[David]

Izturis sucks because he sucks. Not because of what he's done this year (which has turned out pretty well).

 

We have a whole career's worth of PA's to tell us that he sucks.

 

Still, the real reason we suck has little to do with him and a lot to do with some of the other problems that have already been mentioned here.

[gerby23]

Are people just pretending that Izturis has been bad just for fun? He's hitting over .300 this month, with a .362 OBP. Cesar hasn't been a problem lately.

 

And wow, has anyone noticed his home/road splits? I don't know if I've ever seen a player with that drastic of splits.

 

Bases loaded in San Diego, 1 out - GIDP

 

1st and Third in LA, 0 out, fails to make solid contact, runner is held at third Cubs don't score.

 

I could point out several of those cases for Theriot as well-or Cedeno, who was much worse than Izturis:

 

As a SS this year:

 

Izturis-.271/.333/.331

Theriot-.206/.341/.235

Cedeno-.091/.130/.273

 

Overall

Theriot-.278/.343/.338

Izturis-.267/.328/.325

Cedeno: .097/.121/.323

 

SS as a whole has been a problem for the Cubs this year-not any individual player. Theriot has a 28 point advantage over Izturis in OPS-that's not a very large difference.

 

Any of the Cubs SS is not the reason we are terrible.

 

That's true. SS is actually right about where it's expected to be, maybe even a little bit better. Barrett being terrible, Jones being terrible, Murton/Floyd both being below average, Soriano with the power, and the bullpen are all underperforming what they were expected to do.

And Lee with the power/lack thereof.

[XZero771679666304]

Clearly the problem here is the bullpen. If you'd have asked most people before the season started what would be the biggest weak spot for the Cubs, I bet the bullpen would have gotten the least number of votes.

 

But no, the bullpen has been by far the biggest problem, specifically Eyre and Howry.

 

And the rotation, which seemed like the biggest liability coming in to the season, as been the strongest part of the team.

 

Fortunately, the rest of the division has been sucking even harder than the Cubs have over the past couple weeks, and the Cubs are still right in it.

Tho offense will come around, I have no doubt of that. I hope they come around before the rotation regresses, and if they do, the Cubs should still get the same mean production from those two.

 

 

It's the bullpen that MUST be fixed. I can't see how Eyre can be used anymore, and Howry should be relegated to mop-up duty for the time being.

 

I think fate is giving this team a chance this year by having Milwaukee and Houston and most of the Central go belly-up during what will hopefully be the Cubs' worst stretch of play.

I think the offense is the biggest problem. A consistant offense will usually hide most bullpen woes or at least make them less critical. All bullpens allow runs. It just so happens that their teams offenses scores runs while ours is usually one-shot and out. Good night Irene. It's been this way since the beginning of the Don Baylor era.

 

The pen has blown games when the Cubs have scored a lot of runs, as well as when they haven't.

 

With all due respect, the pen is far more to blame than the offense.

[UK1679666180]

You could've had A-Rod at SS and the Cubs would still be behind the Brewers, even Izturis on his worst days wouldn't cost the Cubs a grand total of around 16 games over the course of the season.

[seanimal]

You could've had A-Rod at SS and the Cubs would still be behind the Brewers, even Izturis on his worst days wouldn't cost the Cubs a grand total of around 16 games over the course of the season.

 

True, but bringing A-Rod out of the pen would probably produce better results than throwing Eyre out there time after time in winnable ballgames.

[cubfan1955]

Clearly the problem here is the bullpen. If you'd have asked most people before the season started what would be the biggest weak spot for the Cubs, I bet the bullpen would have gotten the least number of votes.

 

But no, the bullpen has been by far the biggest problem, specifically Eyre and Howry.

 

And the rotation, which seemed like the biggest liability coming in to the season, as been the strongest part of the team.

 

Fortunately, the rest of the division has been sucking even harder than the Cubs have over the past couple weeks, and the Cubs are still right in it.

Tho offense will come around, I have no doubt of that. I hope they come around before the rotation regresses, and if they do, the Cubs should still get the same mean production from those two.

 

 

It's the bullpen that MUST be fixed. I can't see how Eyre can be used anymore, and Howry should be relegated to mop-up duty for the time being.

 

I think fate is giving this team a chance this year by having Milwaukee and Houston and most of the Central go belly-up during what will hopefully be the Cubs' worst stretch of play.

I think the offense is the biggest problem. A consistant offense will usually hide most bullpen woes or at least make them less critical. All bullpens allow runs. It just so happens that their teams offenses scores runs while ours is usually one-shot and out. Good night Irene. It's been this way since the beginning of the Don Baylor era.

 

The pen has blown games when the Cubs have scored a lot of runs, as well as when they haven't.

 

With all due respect, the pen is far more to blame than the offense.

I'm not sying the bullpen is perfect. Some consistant offense though can overcome some bullpen deficiencies. With our offense our bullpen will have to carry an ERA of 0.00 to be effective.

[Fro]

You could've had A-Rod at SS and the Cubs would still be behind the Brewers, even Izturis on his worst days wouldn't cost the Cubs a grand total of around 16 games over the course of the season.

 

Not when you're 2-11 in one run games. Some of A-Rod's 19 HRs alone would significantly improve that.

 

If we were just 7-6 in one-run games we'd be tied with the Brewers.

 

There's not a large margin between us being a mediocre team and being a slightly above average team (which would be enough to win the NL Central).