How much at fault is Rudy Jaramillo?

[Sammy Sofa]

In no way shape or form am I trying to take all the blame away from Lou. He has done a terrible job since he's been here, and he can't even go to his "bread and butter" by arguing and getting the crowd hyped up since he is too old. However, you can't give Rothschild all the praise for good pitching performances and turn the other cheek on Jaramillo when we can't buy a hit. As the "premiere hitting coach in baseball" I expect results and refuse to throw him a bone just because it's his first season here. If our pitchers were struggling, would it be "we have bad pitchers" or would you blame Larry Rothschild? I just don't understand how you can have the double standard. If you are going to praise the coaches for good performances, you have to criticize them for the bad ones.

 

That's too broad a generalization. The main issues with the Cubs' offense are Lee and Aramis, and those are the hardest types of guys to coach at their ages and points in their careers, if you can at all.

[jersey cubs fan]

I think the important take away is that it was foolish to rely so much on a hitting coach to make things better, and the whole "best in the business" nonsense is just hype and talk. It's not his fault, but he shouldn't have been considered a major acquisition either.

[Sammy Sofa]

I think the important take away is that it was foolish to rely so much on a hitting coach to make things better, and the whole "best in the business" nonsense is just hype and talk. It's not his fault, but he shouldn't have been considered a major acquisition either.

 

Exactly. Hendry is the main problem behind all these coaching/manager debates.

[DivineBovine]

Agree with those who say its the players.

 

The team sucks offensively. We can talk about Piniella not optimizing the lineup or the hitting coach, but its the players who are swinging the bat like crap.

 

Last year it was Bradley, Soriano, Soto especially sucking. This year its Lee, Aramis, Theriot. This year, we even have guys exceeding or meeting expectations. Can't even complain too much about Byrd, Colvin, Soto, Soriano, or Fukodome.

 

How about this for an explanation- The Cubs offense sucks. Good offenses find ways to score, sucky ones find ways to suck. It has been this way for a while.

 

That's all there is to it. The offense is just not good.

[wastra]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

 

 

Why would we blame jarmillo when teh Cubs hitters are basically doign the same thign they always do? Ramirez is always hurt. Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug. Fukudome always slumps miserably for a month at a time. Soriano always sucks it up for two weeks before hitting a 1 week streak, then sucks again.

 

The problem isn't how the guys are coached...the problem is the guys. They're always wildly inconsistant from month-to-month every year. Why we keep expectign anything different form this core is beyond me.

[YearofDaCubs]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

 

 

Why would we blame jarmillo when teh Cubs hitters are basically doign the same thign they always do? Ramirez is always hurt. Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug. Fukudome always slumps miserably for a month at a time. Soriano always sucks it up for two weeks before hitting a 1 week streak, then sucks again.

 

The problem isn't how the guys are coached...the problem is the guys. They're always wildly inconsistant from month-to-month every year. Why we keep expectign anything different form this core is beyond me.

The cubs are done for. The best thing for them to do is try and trade whatever assets they have and start from scratch. I understand some contracts are probably unmovable like Soriano's and Z's but at least get rid of the other crappy players and move on.

[17 Seconds]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

before last season's flukey shoulder injury, ramirez had accumulated 500 or more ABs in 7 of the last 8 seasons.

 

Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug.

 

except for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008

[lumafia]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

before last season's flukey shoulder injury, ramirez had accumulated 500 or more ABs in 7 of the last 8 seasons.

 

Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug.

 

except for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008

 

Actually, his career OPS in May is .747, which is quite a bit less than is .859 career OPS in his 2nd worth month, August.

 

I think it's fair to say that he starts out slow.

[SouthSideRyan]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

before last season's flukey shoulder injury, ramirez had accumulated 500 or more ABs in 7 of the last 8 seasons.

 

Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug.

 

except for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008

 

Actually, his career OPS in May is .747, which is quite a bit less than is .859 career OPS in his 2nd worth month, August.

 

I think it's fair to say that he starts out slow.

 

Considering his March/April OPS is 6 points off of his career total, I'd say it's pretty strange to say he starts slow.

[lumafia]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

before last season's flukey shoulder injury, ramirez had accumulated 500 or more ABs in 7 of the last 8 seasons.

 

Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug.

 

except for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008

 

Actually, his career OPS in May is .747, which is quite a bit less than is .859 career OPS in his 2nd worth month, August.

 

I think it's fair to say that he starts out slow.

 

Considering his March/April OPS is 6 points off of his career total, I'd say it's pretty strange to say he starts slow.

 

Considering his March/April and May career OPS is .804 compared to a career OPS of .902 for every other month, I'd say it's pretty strange to say that he doesn't start slow.

[SouthSideRyan]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

before last season's flukey shoulder injury, ramirez had accumulated 500 or more ABs in 7 of the last 8 seasons.

 

Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug.

 

except for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008

 

Actually, his career OPS in May is .747, which is quite a bit less than is .859 career OPS in his 2nd worth month, August.

 

I think it's fair to say that he starts out slow.

 

Considering his March/April OPS is 6 points off of his career total, I'd say it's pretty strange to say he starts slow.

 

Considering his March/April and May career OPS is .804 compared to a career OPS of .902 for every other month, I'd say it's pretty strange to say that he doesn't start slow.

 

You said he starts slow, yet his OPS drops 100 points from the first month to the 2nd month. I'm going to say he middles slow.

[bhogg]

maybe he just doesn't start fast

[17 Seconds]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

before last season's flukey shoulder injury, ramirez had accumulated 500 or more ABs in 7 of the last 8 seasons.

 

Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug.

 

except for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008

 

Actually, his career OPS in May is .747, which is quite a bit less than is .859 career OPS in his 2nd worth month, August.

 

I think it's fair to say that he starts out slow.

 

the season starts in may?

[lumafia]

We're ALWAYS using a hodge-podge of backup infielders at 3rd base. Ramirez is ALWAYS hurt.

 

before last season's flukey shoulder injury, ramirez had accumulated 500 or more ABs in 7 of the last 8 seasons.

 

Lee always starts out hitting like a parapalegic slug.

 

except for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008

 

Actually, his career OPS in May is .747, which is quite a bit less than is .859 career OPS in his 2nd worth month, August.

 

I think it's fair to say that he starts out slow.

 

the season starts in may?

 

Wow. If we are going to start discussing what each of us considers the "start"of the season is, I guess we are going to be in for a long day. Technically, the "start" of the season is day 1, and Lee has been very good on opening day. I believe he's hitting over .400 on the season opener. However, I don't think you can define how productive a player is through the beginning of the season based on the 1st game. That's just me.

 

I believe there is a beginning, a middle, and an end. The regular season is 6 months long, so I consider the first 2 months the "beginning", the middle two months the "middle", and the last 2 months the "end".

 

Based on what Lee has done over his career during (what I define as) the beginning of the season, I would say that he is a slow starter. Or, for those of you more inclined to take things to the extreme context, he is a slow beginninger....or....something like that.

 

Anybody else care to share their definition of the "beginning" of the season?

[SouthSideRyan]

I consider the beginning the first 5 1/2 months of the season.

[jersey cubs fan]

I consider the beginning the first 5 1/2 months of the season.

 

I consider the end to be June 1, November is the heart of the season, and the trade deadline is the beginning.