Jason Stark on the Cubs

[Backtobanks]

Aramis isn't going to be this bad.

 

(I hope)

 

He sure looks lost at the plate right now.

[Sammy Sofa]

Seems a lot of it has come down to timing, too. The offense hasn't been on the same page so far. You had Lee tearing it up when basically everyone was sucking except for Fukudome and Byrd. Now Lee is mired in an awful slump coupled with Aramis still being horrible and it's created a huge hole in the lineup. Regardless of who is hitting you've had too many holes in the lineup where you need to have some kind of production. The 2-3 and 5 hitters are hitting, but nobody else is. The 5-7 hitters or 5,6 and 8 hitters are hitting but nobody else is. In short, this team is toast if either their 3 or 4 hitters are terrible, and for too much of the season now both have been.

[SouthSideRyan]

Is 16 games really enough to call an offense feast or famine?

 

Boston's scored 3 or less runs in half their games too.

[Sammy Sofa]

Is 16 games really enough to call an offense feast or famine?

 

Boston's scored 3 or less runs in half their games too.

 

I'm just saying it's been feast or famine in these 16 games. I'm not saying that it will definitely be that for the rest of the year...but it's not promising and it seems to be showing that last year's core issues were ones that went past the injuries and slumps.

[UK1679666180]

Is 16 games really enough to call an offense feast or famine?

 

Boston's scored 3 or less runs in half their games too.

 

Sure it is, it's part of the reason Boston has been as bad as the Cubs so far w/higher expectations (of course, Boston won't put Beckett in the pen).

[SouthSideRyan]

Is 16 games really enough to call an offense feast or famine?

 

Boston's scored 3 or less runs in half their games too.

 

Sure it is, it's part of the reason Boston has been as bad as the Cubs so far w/higher expectations (of course, Boston won't put Beckett in the pen).

 

I guess we might be talking about different things. Obviously, you can call it feast or famine based on what's happened, I was talking going forward. I don't think you can glean anything from 16 games when it comes to deviation of an offense.

[UK1679666180]

There's not much predictive value there given the flucuations hitters go thru but it is important as far as analyzing what has happened as from most offensive you want less deviation and from more pitching staffs you want more deviation.

[Gravy]

The problem with this team, at least in my opinion is situational hitting. They don't do the little things to get the run across the plate, they often have more hits than the other team does, like last night for instance, but cannot get the runs in. This teams runs seem to come in bunches, look at the last couple of times the cubs got into the playoffs not getting runs in killed them, along with a myriad of other things.

Gravy

[lumafia]

Is 16 games really enough to call an offense feast or famine?

 

Boston's scored 3 or less runs in half their games too.

 

Sure it is, it's part of the reason Boston has been as bad as the Cubs so far w/higher expectations (of course, Boston won't put Beckett in the pen).

 

I guess we might be talking about different things. Obviously, you can call it feast or famine based on what's happened, I was talking going forward. I don't think you can glean anything from 16 games when it comes to deviation of an offense.

 

For this team, it is easy to say that it is feast or famine. This is the same team that was mostly famine last year. When you have a guy like Soriano who either goes 3 for 4 with a homerun and 3 rbi's, or 0 for 4 with 3 K's, it's easy to be feast or famine. Not to mention the fact that this team is littered with players that are either slow starters or slow finishers. This is one of the worst constructed rosters I have ever seen.

 

It also has to do with how the lineup is handled. Instead of allowing players to grow accustomed to their position in the lineup, Lou changes it. Jumping around in the batting order isn't going to help anyone get comfortable or get into a consistent groove. Both of which are necessary for a player to hit.

[hardcorecubfan]

This year isn't an illusion, this is what I expected (though I hope for more)

[UK1679666180]

lumafia[/b]"]

Is 16 games really enough to call an offense feast or famine?

 

Boston's scored 3 or less runs in half their games too.

 

Sure it is, it's part of the reason Boston has been as bad as the Cubs so far w/higher expectations (of course, Boston won't put Beckett in the pen).

 

I guess we might be talking about different things. Obviously, you can call it feast or famine based on what's happened, I was talking going forward. I don't think you can glean anything from 16 games when it comes to deviation of an offense.

 

For this team, it is easy to say that it is feast or famine. This is the same team that was mostly famine last year. When you have a guy like Soriano who either goes 3 for 4 with a homerun and 3 rbi's, or 0 for 4 with 3 K's, it's easy to be feast or famine. Not to mention the fact that this team is littered with players that are either slow starters or slow finishers. This is one of the worst constructed rosters I have ever seen.

 

It also has to do with how the lineup is handled. Instead of allowing players to grow accustomed to their position in the lineup, Lou changes it. Jumping around in the batting order isn't going to help anyone get comfortable or get into a consistent groove. Both of which are necessary for a player to hit.

 

A blast from the ESPN Cubs message board past!

[bukie]

The problem with this team, at least in my opinion is situational hitting. They don't do the little things to get the run across the plate, they often have more hits than the other team does, like last night for instance, but cannot get the runs in. This teams runs seem to come in bunches, look at the last couple of times the cubs got into the playoffs not getting runs in killed them, along with a myriad of other things.

Gravy

The Cubs are actually hitting better with RISP to this point than they are normally.

 

The problem isn't knocking runs in, it's getting guys on base to knock in.

[SouthSideRyan]

Is 16 games really enough to call an offense feast or famine?

 

Boston's scored 3 or less runs in half their games too.

 

Sure it is, it's part of the reason Boston has been as bad as the Cubs so far w/higher expectations (of course, Boston won't put Beckett in the pen).

 

I guess we might be talking about different things. Obviously, you can call it feast or famine based on what's happened, I was talking going forward. I don't think you can glean anything from 16 games when it comes to deviation of an offense.

 

For this team, it is easy to say that it is feast or famine. This is the same team that was mostly famine last year. When you have a guy like Soriano who either goes 3 for 4 with a homerun and 3 rbi's, or 0 for 4 with 3 K's, it's easy to be feast or famine. Not to mention the fact that this team is littered with players that are either slow starters or slow finishers. This is one of the worst constructed rosters I have ever seen.

 

I feel like everyone thinks their team is the most inconsistent because it's what they see every day. The Cubs scored 4+ more often than the Cardinals did. And the Cardinals scored more runs/game than we did. Even the Phillies with their dominant offense had more than 1/3 of their games with 3 runs or less scored. It's baseball.