The Positive Thread

[WTFCUBS]

It's amazing how a span of 5 games in the middle of the season can cause so much doubt about our season. Though im guilty myself.

 

 

However we still have:

 

Arguably the best pitching staff in baseball.

-3rd in NL ERA

-Potential of 5, 10 game winners

-4th in MLB in BAA (.245)

-A rested closer with 4.23 K/BB 11.08 K/9 1HR .201 BA

-Carlos Marmol

-A Healthy Rich Harden

 

Arguably one of the deepest lineups in baseball.

-.278 Team BA (4th in MLB)

-.355 Team OBP (2nd in MLB)

-.794 Team OPS (3rd in MLB)

-All this missing Soriano for half the games played.

 

Take a deep breath, and say something positive.

[CubinNY]

Peaks and valleys.

 

Even when the Cubs are bad, they are a .500 ball club. There is no good time to go through a slump as a team, but right now is much better than in August or September. Once Lee and Aramis begin to regress to the mean they'll start winning again.

[MasterBlaster]

Positive: We get to play Milwaukee again. Despite the slump, I have confidence this team will hand the Central Division opponents their heads when it's time.

[Soul]

http://www.boflex.ca/pics/banana.gif

[Little Slide Rooter]

I just saved money on my car insurance by switiching to Geico.

[WTFCUBS]

Need the clevage pics guy.

[jersey cubs fan]

My favorite positive Cubs fact is they still have 8 regulars with an OPS+ over 100, and almost an entire pitching staff with ERA+ over 100.

[Derwood]

no one fractured their testicles on this road trip

[beersoakedivy]

Well, the Cubs are in first place.

[Old Style]

I'm positive that our offense has sucked lately.

[soapy]

In addition to what's already been mentioned, the Cubs have gone 16-18 since June 11:

-without one of their most productive hitters

-with a huge power drought (hopefully temporary) from their #3 hitter

-with two big slumps from their #4 hitter

-without their ace pitcher for three starts

-while playing 21 out of 34 games on the road

-while playing 17 of those 34 games against teams who sport winning records (with ATL and BALT being just under .500)

 

And they are (temporarily?) still in first place.

 

ETA: I can't believe I'm one of the positive ones. This doesn't feel right.

[JGalt73]

Nate Silver of BP:

 

JMan (Chicago): Should I tell all Cub fans to go and ahead and jump or should this turn around?

 

Nate Silver: This is nothing. A blip. Four losses in five games. Assuming that they stay reasonably healthy, I wouldn't trade the Cubs' 25-man for anybody in baseball's right now.

 

David Pinto of Baseball Musings:

 

One thing is that the team appears to be a bit less selective. The leading team in the NL in walks drawn took only nine base on balls in the last five games. They seemed to be getting that back last night, however, as they did collect five against the Diamondbacks.

 

The biggest factor, however, appears to be a slump by the middle of the lineup. The table setters, the 1-2 hitters, are getting on base quite well. So far there's little offense behind them, however. The 3-4-5- hitters have combined for seven hits in 60 at bats with one double and one home run. This resulted in just five RBI despite the 1-2 hitters reaching 20 times in the five games.

 

The biggest culprit is Aramis Ramirez in an 0 for 20 slump, but Lee and Soto are also not delivering. Should Cubs fans be worried? Probably not. These are not hitters who have been playing over their heads crashing to earth. These are good hitters going through a slump at the same time. It won't last, but while it does, the NL Central turns into an exciting pennant race.

[Soul]

Nate Silver of BP:

 

JMan (Chicago): Should I tell all Cub fans to go and ahead and jump or should this turn around?

 

Nate Silver: This is nothing. A blip. Four losses in five games. Assuming that they stay reasonably healthy, I wouldn't trade the Cubs' 25-man for anybody in baseball's right now.

 

David Pinto of Baseball Musings:

 

One thing is that the team appears to be a bit less selective. The leading team in the NL in walks drawn took only nine base on balls in the last five games. They seemed to be getting that back last night, however, as they did collect five against the Diamondbacks.

 

The biggest factor, however, appears to be a slump by the middle of the lineup. The table setters, the 1-2 hitters, are getting on base quite well. So far there's little offense behind them, however. The 3-4-5- hitters have combined for seven hits in 60 at bats with one double and one home run. This resulted in just five RBI despite the 1-2 hitters reaching 20 times in the five games.

 

The biggest culprit is Aramis Ramirez in an 0 for 20 slump, but Lee and Soto are also not delivering. Should Cubs fans be worried? Probably not. These are not hitters who have been playing over their heads crashing to earth. These are good hitters going through a slump at the same time. It won't last, but while it does, the NL Central turns into an exciting pennant race.

 

These are some of the same things I remember being said in 1985. "It's just a skid." "Don't worry about it." "This is a good team, we already know that."

 

Yet, failure did not subside.

 

Not meaning to be a negative neggie. Just saying, I've read this book before. We all have.

[bukie]

In 1985, the entire starting rotation was on the DL for a portion of the year. When Marquis becomes the #1 starter, then I'll be a bit nervous.

[Soul]

Yeah, they were all supposed to come off and never really did. Kind of like how the offense this year is supposed to show up again.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Yeah, they were all supposed to come off and never really did. Kind of like how the offense this year is supposed to show up again.

 

That's not really the same at all. People taking a longer than expected time to come back from injury is completely different than expecting several established hitters to perform after a 5 game slump.

[BleacherBadger]

Here's some things we can focus on:

 

1) We tried hard

 

2) We're still dear friends!

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, they were all supposed to come off and never really did. Kind of like how the offense this year is supposed to show up again.

 

That's not really the same at all. People taking a longer than expected time to come back from injury is completely different than expecting several established hitters to perform after a 5 game slump.

 

It's not just a 5 game slump. It's been a, for the most part, season-long on the road "slump."

[JeffH]

-A Healthy Rich Harden

 

I hope you take this in the spirit in which it's intended.

 

Shut your dirty, dirty mouth RIGHT NOW!!

 

Why would you tempt fate like this?

[JeffH]

Nate Silver is very, very dumb.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Just for the record, 4 other teams who are currently in 1st place for their division or the wild card are just as bad on the road as we are

 

Rays 19-25

Red Sox 23-32

White Sox 22-27

D-Backs 20-29

Cubs 21-30

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Nate Silver is very, very dumb.

 

He's 100% right.

[cubs121]

Just for the record, 4 other teams who are currently in 1st place for their division or the wild card are just as bad on the road as we are

 

Rays 19-25

Red Sox 23-32

White Sox 22-27

D-Backs 20-29

Cubs 21-30

I agree. This is just a slump on the road (total coincidence?). Now, if you would have asked me to be positive last night after such a horrid ball game i would've said "heck NO!". But i guess at the end they have played really good without Soriano and many other players who missed some time due to injuries. I say the Cubs will be fine, even if they do end up losing 1st place for a time because of how hot milwaukee is right now but at the end the Cubs are going to be the ones back on top.

[Soul]

Yeah, they were all supposed to come off and never really did. Kind of like how the offense this year is supposed to show up again.

 

That's not really the same at all. People taking a longer than expected time to come back from injury is completely different than expecting several established hitters to perform after a 5 game slump.

 

It should be different. But it's the Cubs, so it's not different. It's the same. It's failure that should subside, but then just doesn't no matter what should happen.

 

Like ARam's blast night, which was a 3-run homer, yet the laws of the universe suddenly didn't apply anymore and it drops harmlessly into the outfielder's glove.

[TruffleShuffle]

Nate Silver is very, very dumb.

 

this is either supposed to be sarcastic or it's very, very dumb. nate silver is smarter than pretty much everyone.