7/21 Cubs (Harden) @ Phillies (Blanton) 6:05 CDT, WGN TV

[Friendly Confines]

Have we had the same lineup twice this year?

[Prizefight]

LINEUP

Johnson

Theriot

Lee

Ramirez

Fukudome (RF)

Soriano

Fontenot

Hill

Harden

 

I'd like to withdrawal my stance that the Cubs will win by 4. Fuk in the 5 hole and Hill catching again...boy i hope he can take 3 straight strikes looking again tonight. Can we at least try Fox once starting..give him 6 innings and see what happens.

[SouthSideRyan]

Reed Johnson should never play against righties ever.

[laurens]

That line up is full of fail.

[Keener98]

Im getting pretty tired of this team hamstringing themselves. Lou wont play Fox because hes our backup catcher, even though Fox has been 1 of the best damn hitters on the team. Either get someone else in here to backup C, or just let Fox catch, or play them both and if something happens to Hill, move Fox in to catch. This team has played a man short basically the entire year at the expense of the offense. Its ridiculous that a team with a payroll over 120million is playing shorthanded all the damn time.

[JonJayCutler]

Do you guys really want to see Fox play an entire game as catcher? I mean don't get me wrong his bat is awesome, but if I recall our record is pretty good with Hill behind the plate. He can't really hit, but he normally calls a good game. Stopping the Phillies' offense should be the #1 priority in this series.

[Prizefight]

Do you guys really want to see Fox play an entire game as catcher? I mean don't get me wrong his bat is awesome, but if I recall our record is pretty good with Hill behind the plate. He can't really hit, but he normally calls a good game. Stopping the Phillies' offense should be the #1 priority in this series.

 

That's my point, I don't know. I haven't seen enough of a sample to judge that yet. Give him 6-12 innings with the starters, see how they feel with him back there, look at his defense etc.

 

It just seems that this he's terrible at catching belief got started based on his inexperience at the major league level and has since turned into fact in some people's eyes without any kind of significant sample size(not saying 6-12 innings is a significant sample size) I would just like to see for myself that his defense is so much worse than Hill's that it wouldn't be offset by his bat.

[jersey cubs fan]

Do you guys really want to see Fox play an entire game as catcher? I mean don't get me wrong his bat is awesome, but if I recall our record is pretty good with Hill behind the plate. He can't really hit, but he normally calls a good game. Stopping the Phillies' offense should be the #1 priority in this series.

 

I don't want him catching, but there's no reason he can't start at another position, and then if necessary move to catcher if Koyie gets a booboo.

[Andy]

Do you guys really want to see Fox play an entire game as catcher? I mean don't get me wrong his bat is awesome, but if I recall our record is pretty good with Hill behind the plate. He can't really hit, but he normally calls a good game. Stopping the Phillies' offense should be the #1 priority in this series.

All I know, is that we were told over and over again how awful Fox is on defense, only to find he's probably better than Fontenot at third and is at worst a mild downgrade from Soriano in left. I view the "Fox can't catch" thing with some skepticism too for that reason.

[wabash_cannonball]

LINEUP

Johnson

Theriot

Lee

Ramirez

Fukudome (RF)

Soriano

Fontenot

Hill

Harden

 

I'd like to withdrawal my stance that the Cubs will win by 4. Fuk in the 5 hole and Hill catching again...boy i hope he can take 3 straight strikes looking again tonight. Can we at least try Fox once starting..give him 6 innings and see what happens.

 

 

ARGGGGG!!!!!! Does Hill have some photos of Lou with a goat or something!!!!!!!!.....lets just trade Fox give him a chance to play some place because we are to stupid to let him play here.

[CyHawk_Cub]

Do you guys really want to see Fox play an entire game as catcher? I mean don't get me wrong his bat is awesome, but if I recall our record is pretty good with Hill behind the plate. He can't really hit, but he normally calls a good game. Stopping the Phillies' offense should be the #1 priority in this series.

 

IMO, expecting to stop the Phillies offense isn't all that realistic. My feeling after the Nats series was that it would take the Cubs offense to come out of Philly w/ a win; that's why I was a bit negative about this series--our pitching has been pretty damn good, but our offense needs to win us some games too. So, that's a long way of saying, screw it, take a chance w/ Fox as he helps give us some offense.

[Keener98]

I also hate that Lou keeps moving Fuku around, when he has excelled in the leadoff spot. Just leave him alone.

[wabash_cannonball]

Do you guys really want to see Fox play an entire game as catcher? I mean don't get me wrong his bat is awesome, but if I recall our record is pretty good with Hill behind the plate. He can't really hit, but he normally calls a good game. Stopping the Phillies' offense should be the #1 priority in this series.

 

Gotta give this anemic offense a shot in the arm

[laurens]

I also hate that Lou keeps moving Fuku around, when he has excelled in the leadoff spot. Just leave him alone.

 

But then he would have to move Reed and his fantastic career .326 OBP against righties.

[Cubbie Swagger]

They're both pretty iffy deals. Obviously, the Phillies are loving theirs right now a LOT more, but it's a long shot that Ibanez keeps playing at or near this level for the duration of his contract.

 

I think the correct answer over both is "Adam Dunn."

Agreed.

 

As far as the game tonight, I feel good about our chances. As others have pointed out, Harden has only struggled during day games and at home. This is a road night game so I think we'll be okay. We really need this game momentum-wise, though. Dropping another one after our 4-game sweep would be a big blow.

[illiniguy]

Why did Soto, who's younger than Hill, need days off? Yet Hill can play all these games in a row?

[bukie]

Why did Soto, who's younger than Hill, need days off? Yet Hill can play all these games in a row?

Soto is a valued commodity that the Cubs would like to keep around as long as possible.

 

Hill is a necessary evil that is the only real catcher on the roster.

[illiniguy]

Why did Soto, who's younger than Hill, need days off? Yet Hill can play all these games in a row?

Soto is a valued commodity that the Cubs would like to keep around as long as possible.

 

Hill is a necessary evil that is the only real catcher on the roster.

I get this to an extent, but why the hell can't we at least play Fox until he burns us? We trot Soriano out to left everyday knowing he's going to hurt our defense.

[Stomper90]

LINEUP

Johnson

Theriot

Lee

Ramirez

Fukudome (RF)

Soriano

Fontenot

Hill

Harden

 

I'd like to withdrawal my stance that the Cubs will win by 4. Fuk in the 5 hole and Hill catching again...boy i hope he can take 3 straight strikes looking again tonight. Can we at least try Fox once starting..give him 6 innings and see what happens.

 

Johnson hitting .222 against righties.... AWESOME that he's starting tonight.

[Derwood]

I also hate that Lou keeps moving Fuku around, when he has excelled in the leadoff spot. Just leave him alone.

 

it's because his batting order is often "by position" and not "by player", so once Fukudome got moved to the lead off spot, anyone else playing CF now hits lead off, even if Fuku is also in the lineup

[Butterscup1679666578]

I wonder if I'll keep the game on longer than 2 innings tonight. Looking at that lineup, I don't have high hopes.

[wabash_cannonball]

9 in a row somethings got to give

[laurens]

I wonder what the strike zone will look like today

[Sammy Sofa]

Why the fudge is Johnson in the lineup?

[Butterscup1679666578]

Sounded like bat to me.