7/4 CUBS (Hill) vs. Nats (Chico), 11:05am CT, WGN-TV, XM 183

[killthegoat06]

Forget today. Just win the series tomorrow.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Thanks a lot, bitches.

[98navigator]

Forget today. Just win the series tomorrow.

 

Exactly! They were shutout so the score really doesn't matter. Hopefully, they have better luck against the righty tomorrow and win the series.

[pitchcs]

Poor game today, but 3/4 is what we needed anyways. We really shouldn't be worrying too much about what the Brewers do until August.

[Outshined_One]

Is it me or have the Cubs been crapping the bed whenever they manage to get to 5.5 games behind the Brewers?

[Have a seat, Neifi]

Is anyone else seriously worried about our lineup's ability to hit LH starters?

[A New Era]

Is anyone else seriously worried about our lineup's ability to hit LH starters?

 

I'll post this from the discussions forum. .

 

Against right-handers-.276/.337/.419

Against left-handers-.247/.303/.411

 

We are not THAT BAD aginst lefties.

[98navigator]

Is anyone else seriously worried about our lineup's ability to hit LH starters?

 

I think some of it is flukey. The Cubs are near the bottom both in facing LHP and production against LHP. Plus, they faced some hot pitching lefties like Chico today (0 R), Capuano (2 R) before he got hurt, Buehrle (2 R in a victory), Hamels (2 R), and Gorzelanny (1 R in a victory). Conversely, they scored 6 against Jeff Francis.

 

20+ ABs vs. LHP:

 

Ram .370

DLee .321

Sori .290

DeRo .286

Riot .286

Fonty .286

Angel .224

Jones .200

Izzy .182

Pie .125

 

Others:

 

Barrett .262 42 ABs

Cliff .250 16 ABs

Hank .067 15 ABs

Bowen .000 11 ABs

 

Everyone else has less than 10 at-bats versus LHP.

 

They face 2 lefties in the next series so let's hope they can break through.

[soccer10k]

If Hill and/or Marshall continue to struggle, what sort of options do we have in AAA and AA?

 

None. And Hill should have a pretty long leash, seeing as he's *still* the Cubs second best pitcher this season.

 

You could easily make a case for both Lilly and Marquis being better than Hill this year. But they're all pretty close so any difference between the three is a small one.

 

Marquis has definitely been better after you put this start from Hill in. His ERA is half a run lower. His opponents OPS is probably 70-80 points lower than Hill's. The only thing Hill would have on him is WHIP, which isn't the best indicator when you consider that Hill is a fly ball pitcher who gives up lots of extra base hits and Marquis is a ground ball pitcher who gives up lots of singles.

 

regardless, the cubs' starting rotation has been very good this year. Last year if we were having this conversation, we'd be talking about a bunch of guys with ERAs over 5.00 once you got past Zambrano. If Rich Hill is the Cubs 4th or 5th best starter with an ERA under 4.00 and a good WHIP, I'm fine with that.

 

I can definitely agree with that. Right now the worst ERA out of the Cubs' current starters is 4.04 for Z.

[Andy]

Alright, Milwaukee lost today, so no harm done. Let's just kick their ass tomorrow.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Alright, Milwaukee lost today, so no harm done. Let's just kick their ass tomorrow.

 

except that we got shut out by some chick named Chico

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Nice quote from Lou about the intentional walk to Zimmerman prior to the grand slam...

 

“We tried to set up the double play, but the shortstop doesn’t play in the bullpen,” Piniella said, referring to where Young’s slam landed.