What's wrong right now? One word:

[ChiCubsfan0502]

Injuries. Good teams can weather the storm and for the most part, the Cubs have. However, you can't lose Soriano, Johnson, Z, and Theriot, all of whom are major parts of the team and expect to keep rolling. The Cubs have built a decent cushion and because of that, they'll be sitting in first place once we get the key people back.

 

This is not an excuse for the recent slide, but when you lose key people it will catch up to you and it has.

 

No worries. Get healthy, get a starter and get ready for October.

[UMFan83]

Exactly. We are 4-7 in our last 11 games. Here are the losses.

 

Loss number 1 to TB: 1 run loss. Could have used Ward in as DH or Soriano in LF instead of Hoffpauir and Patterson I believe

Loss number 2 to TB: 1 run loss. Same as before. Also Zambrano left the game injured...could have affected his earlier performance in the game.

Loss number 3 to TB: Probably not much we could have done there. Marmol and Eyre just imploded

Loss number 4 to BAL: Zambrano would have started this game instead of Marshall. Also with runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs vs. a lefty, Murton came into the game instead of what surely would have been Reed Johnson.

Loss number 5 to BAL: Got blown out, guess not much we could have done

Loss number 6 to CWS: As bad as Soriano is in LF, probably would have saved us 3-4 runs if he was in there.

Loss number 7 to CWS: Could have used Reed Johnson off the bench vs. Thornton. Soriano's pop always comes in handy in a 1 run game in windy conditions.

 

In my estimation we probably go 6-5 or 7-4 in those 11 games instead of 4-7.

[ChiCubsfan0502]

Not to mention Fukodome and Edmonds are playing on bum legs/wheels. On that Cedeno double, Johnson scores if he is in there. If you watch Edmonds he barely even can run. Heck, on that single he hit down the line it should have been an easy double with Dye tripping all over himself.

 

We need to get healthy.

[Derwood]

what happened to Theriot?

[Schwarber Fan]

Theriot hurt his hand or something, he'll play tomorrow

[TruffleShuffle]

i think he sprained his grit. GET IT

[NCCubFan]

I agree injuries are the culprit. No cause for alarm yet. Worst case scenerio is that the Cubs will still have the best record in the NL, a divisional lead of at least 3.5 games, and no worse than the second best record in all of baseball at the end of the day. If that's as bad as it gets I'll take it.

[Clem Fandango]

Well, if you believe my brother it's because the Cubs are the worst road team in the majors and Carlos Marmol sucks

[17 Seconds]

I think starting pitching is hurting us more than injuries right now. We're still scoring runs, we just can't keep the other team from doing the same. Part of that is the Zambrano injury, but Dempster, Marquis, and Gallagher have all been brutal this week.

[rocket]

The Rays are really good.

The White Sox are really good.

The Orioles are halfway decent.

 

This is a tough part of the schedule. Did you all expect us to plow through it with no issues?

 

If we win the game tomorrow, we go 4-2 against the Sox. That's excellent. If we lose tomorrow, we split the season series against them, which isn't that big of a deal.

 

We got swept against one of the top 5 teams in baseball on the road. Yeah, it sucks, but it's not like we got dominated by an inferior team.

 

Losing 2 of 3 against the Orioles sucked. But you know, the best team is not always going to win a 3 game series.

 

So in other words, what's wrong right now? Nothing. We're just playing good teams right now. If we tread water, we'll be fine and still be well on our way to 90+ victories.

[CubinNY]

The Rays are really good.

The White Sox are really good.

The Orioles are halfway decent.

 

This is a tough part of the schedule. Did you all expect us to plow through it with no issues?

 

If we win the game tomorrow, we go 4-2 against the Sox. That's excellent. If we lose tomorrow, we split the season series against them, which isn't that big of a deal.

 

We got swept against one of the top 5 teams in baseball on the road. Yeah, it sucks, but it's not like we got dominated by an inferior team.

 

Losing 2 of 3 against the Orioles sucked. But you know, the best team is not always going to win a 3 game series.

 

So in other words, what's wrong right now? Nothing. We're just playing good teams right now. If we tread water, we'll be fine and still be well on our way to 90+ victories.

All these posts are more than one word.

 

my word is:

 

Numismatic

[Sammy Sofa]

Plastics.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

The Rays are really good.

The White Sox are really good.

The Orioles are halfway decent.

 

This is a tough part of the schedule. Did you all expect us to plow through it with no issues?

 

If we win the game tomorrow, we go 4-2 against the Sox. That's excellent. If we lose tomorrow, we split the season series against them, which isn't that big of a deal.

 

We got swept against one of the top 5 teams in baseball on the road. Yeah, it sucks, but it's not like we got dominated by an inferior team.

 

Losing 2 of 3 against the Orioles sucked. But you know, the best team is not always going to win a 3 game series.

 

So in other words, what's wrong right now? Nothing. We're just playing good teams right now. If we tread water, we'll be fine and still be well on our way to 90+ victories.

 

Very well stated.

 

We're still well over 500. We did just lose three games in a row for only the second time this year, but we've won three or more in a row 8 times this year. We're in a tough stretch. If we're still struggling after the All-Star break or if we relinquish our lead in the division, I might get really concerned. Right now, I'm pissed after every loss and probably overreact during games, but when I look at the big picture, we're still ok.

[Tracer Bullet]

Plastics.

 

Exactly how do you mean, sir?

[javy knows my name]

The Rays are really good.

The White Sox are really good.

The Orioles are halfway decent.

 

This is a tough part of the schedule. Did you all expect us to plow through it with no issues?

 

If we win the game tomorrow, we go 4-2 against the Sox. That's excellent. If we lose tomorrow, we split the season series against them, which isn't that big of a deal.

 

We got swept against one of the top 5 teams in baseball on the road. Yeah, it sucks, but it's not like we got dominated by an inferior team.

 

Losing 2 of 3 against the Orioles sucked. But you know, the best team is not always going to win a 3 game series.

 

So in other words, what's wrong right now? Nothing. We're just playing good teams right now. If we tread water, we'll be fine and still be well on our way to 90+ victories.

 

Very well stated.

 

We're still well over 500. We did just lose three games in a row for only the second time this year, but we've won three or more in a row 8 times this year. We're in a tough stretch. If we're still struggling after the All-Star break or if we relinquish our lead in the division, I might get really concerned. Right now, I'm pissed after every loss and probably overreact during games, but when I look at the big picture, we're still ok.

Who are the two lovely ladies to the right of Danica?

[rawaction]

Injuries have hurt. Cubs are missing Zambrano, Soriano, and Johnson. Ward has been back 4 games. Fukudome and Edmonds have been playing less than 100%. Theriot is less than 100%. Now, Eyre is hurt. That's 1/2 the everyday lineup missing or less than 100%. The ace of the rotation. A key part of the bullpen. And your top 2 bench players, and Johnson is obviously more than that because he platoons. Guys like Patterson and Fontenot have been forced into everyday action, when they are 23-25th players at best right now. Top that off with the toughest stretch of the season, and it's no wonder the Cubs have struggled. It does suck that the Cubs have had a legit shot in most of the losses though, and haven't been able to execute w/ RISP.

 

But this team has the makings of a team that will go on a tear when they get all these guys back at 100% which should happen right before or after the AS game. If they add an arm, the Cubs are (dare I say, easily?) the best team in baseball.

[SouthSideRyan]

Plastics.

 

Trucking.

[TruffleShuffle]

cubsGM

[NCCubFan]

Who are the two lovely ladies to the right of Danica?

I think the one to the far right is Shania Twain. I'm not sure about the other one.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

One last time...the women in my sig: Julianne Hough, Marissa Miller, Danica Patrick, Kelly Pickler, Shania Twain.

[soapy]

Injuries have hurt. Cubs are missing Zambrano, Soriano, and Johnson. Ward has been back 4 games. Fukudome and Edmonds have been playing less than 100%. Theriot is less than 100%. Now, Eyre is hurt. That's 1/2 the everyday lineup missing or less than 100%. The ace of the rotation. A key part of the bullpen. And your top 2 bench players, and Johnson is obviously more than that because he platoons. Guys like Patterson and Fontenot have been forced into everyday action, when they are 23-25th players at best right now. Top that off with the toughest stretch of the season, and it's no wonder the Cubs have struggled. It does suck that the Cubs have had a legit shot in most of the losses though, and haven't been able to execute w/ RISP.

 

But this team has the makings of a team that will go on a tear when they get all these guys back at 100% which should happen right before or after the AS game. If they add an arm, the Cubs are (dare I say, easily?) the best team in baseball.

 

They've also been without the guy they counted on being their number 2 starter most of the season. I just mentioned this in the rotation thread, but I'm still clinging to a shred of hope that Hill will bounce back in the 2nd half. That would be huge.

[javy knows my name]

One last time...the women in my sig: Julianne Hough, Marissa Miller, Danica Patrick, Kelly Pickler, Shania Twain.

Sweet I got a D on that particular test

[DiamondMind]

We need Soriano back.

[TheDude]

I think starting pitching is hurting us more than injuries right now. We're still scoring runs, we just can't keep the other team from doing the same. Part of that is the Zambrano injury, but Dempster, Marquis, and Gallagher have all been brutal this week.

 

The box score doesn't show it, but Dempster actually pitched well in the last game, at least until the defense failed him. It has been a while since I've seen a team getting as lucky off a pitcher as the White Sox did off Dempster Friday. The Sox continually got hits off of pitcher's pitches, not hanging or middle-of-the-plate mistakes.

 

I wouldn't worry about Dempster. With an actual LF (Patterson is simply horrible) and a standard variation of the BABIP off Dempster, the Sox do not come close to 8 Runs off Dempster.

[UK1679666180]

The defense was awful behid him, but Dempster was terrible as well. He had no command and left everything up, he certainly wasn't sharp and definitely did not pitch well.