Rickett's comments on his team

[Guest]

Big starting rotation acquisition (Garza) on the DL

Hottest hitter (Baker) on the DL

#4 starter (Wells) spent a bunch of time on the DL

#5 starter (Cashner) on DL

opening Day CF (Byrd) on the DL

starting catcher (Soto) just returned from the DL

Soriano (actually not too bad so far) on the DL

 

I don't think it's such a stretch to say that injuries have played a big part in the Cubs record so far. Would they be any good with everyone healthy? Probably not but who's to say for sure. Cashner and Wells would have had to have been better than Russell and Coleman. Having 2 awful starters exposes the middle relief which is bad news for any team.

Two of the biggest impacts aren't even listed there:

 

1) Ramirez' complete lack of power

2) Pena's awful april

 

I think it's fair to say that Hendry should have expected decline from Aramis and potential injury (which is why Baker was kept around as a backup). Pena was always a roll of the dice signing, so it could be said that his poor April wasn't entirely unprecedented or unexpected.

 

However, I know that I was not anticipating either of those issues to such great extents.

[NCCubFan]

...Bush/Fleita/Wilken are Hendry loyalists...

 

Why wouldn't they be? It would be great to work for a guy who didn't judge you on unreasonable things like performance.

http://www.sdplastics.com/dedhorse.gif

[JeffH]

...Bush/Fleita/Wilken are Hendry loyalists...

 

Why wouldn't they be? It would be great to work for a guy who didn't judge you on unreasonable things like performance.

http://www.sdplastics.com/dedhorse.gif

 

The horse won't be dead until we have new baseball operations leadership.

[Guest]

In all seriousness, please stop with the over the top hyperbole.

[Sammy Sofa]

...Bush/Fleita/Wilken are Hendry loyalists...

 

Why wouldn't they be? It would be great to work for a guy who didn't judge you on unreasonable things like performance.

http://www.sdplastics.com/dedhorse.gif

 

The horse won't be dead until we have new baseball operations leadership.

 

No, that'll just be a new horse.

[UMFan83]

IF Wells, Cashner and Garza took every start this year

 

AND

 

IF Byrd didn't get hit in the face, Soriano didnt pull up lame, Soto didnt do whatever he did to get hurt.

 

We'll we'd probably be .500 or a few games or so under/over. Our team ERA would be a lot better, but I don't know if the offense would be all that much better. Other than Soto, the other 2 still simply do not have a high enough OBP to 'fix' the issues with the offense. Sure Byrd might hit .300, Soriano might hit 30 HR, which is better than whatever Colvin and Campsomething and Montonez could do, but still going to be a situation where it takes stringing together 3+ hits to score a run. And Soto, despite all his struggles, can get on base via the walk but he's getting on base so the pitcher can drive him in.

[Guest]

IF Wells, Cashner and Garza took every start this year

 

AND

 

IF Byrd didn't get hit in the face, Soriano didnt pull up lame, Soto didnt do whatever he did to get hurt.

 

We'll we'd probably be .500 or a few games or so under/over. Our team ERA would be a lot better, but I don't know if the offense would be all that much better. Other than Soto, the other 2 still simply do not have a high enough OBP to 'fix' the issues with the offense. Sure Byrd might hit .300, Soriano might hit 30 HR, which is better than whatever Colvin and Campsomething and Montonez could do, but still going to be a situation where it takes stringing together 3+ hits to score a run. And Soto, despite all his struggles, can get on base via the walk but he's getting on base so the pitcher can drive him in.

 

The offense isn't the problem. They're right below league average in runs scored and just above average in OPS. Yeah, they could be better, but they're not the reason this team is one of the worst in the league.

 

The pitching staff, meanwhile, has allowed the most runs per game in the majors, has the worst ERA and the worst WHIP, which includes the second worst H/9 and worst BB/9. They're also in the bottom three in each of BA/OBP/SLG/OPS. Coleman/Russell/Davis/Lopez getting 18 starts this year is exactly the reason why this team is now 11 games under .500.

[XZero771679666304]

IF Wells, Cashner and Garza took every start this year

 

AND

 

IF Byrd didn't get hit in the face, Soriano didnt pull up lame, Soto didnt do whatever he did to get hurt.

 

We'll we'd probably be .500 or a few games or so under/over. Our team ERA would be a lot better, but I don't know if the offense would be all that much better. Other than Soto, the other 2 still simply do not have a high enough OBP to 'fix' the issues with the offense. Sure Byrd might hit .300, Soriano might hit 30 HR, which is better than whatever Colvin and Campsomething and Montonez could do, but still going to be a situation where it takes stringing together 3+ hits to score a run. And Soto, despite all his struggles, can get on base via the walk but he's getting on base so the pitcher can drive him in.

 

The offense isn't the problem. They're right below league average in runs scored and just above average in OPS. Yeah, they could be better, but they're not the reason this team is one of the worst in the league.

 

The pitching staff, meanwhile, has allowed the most runs per game in the majors, has the worst ERA and the worst WHIP, which includes the second worst H/9 and worst BB/9. They're also in the bottom three in each of BA/OBP/SLG/OPS. Coleman/Russell/Davis/Lopez getting 18 starts this year is exactly the reason why this team is now 11 games under .500.

 

That's the largest part, but the teams has batted anomalously poorly with risp as well.

[NCCubFan]

IF Wells, Cashner and Garza took every start this year

 

AND

 

IF Byrd didn't get hit in the face, Soriano didnt pull up lame, Soto didnt do whatever he did to get hurt.

 

We'll we'd probably be .500 or a few games or so under/over. Our team ERA would be a lot better, but I don't know if the offense would be all that much better. Other than Soto, the other 2 still simply do not have a high enough OBP to 'fix' the issues with the offense. Sure Byrd might hit .300, Soriano might hit 30 HR, which is better than whatever Colvin and Campsomething and Montonez could do, but still going to be a situation where it takes stringing together 3+ hits to score a run. And Soto, despite all his struggles, can get on base via the walk but he's getting on base so the pitcher can drive him in.

That's Dayton Ohio's Campsomething to you. [-X

[Guest]

IF Wells, Cashner and Garza took every start this year

 

AND

 

IF Byrd didn't get hit in the face, Soriano didnt pull up lame, Soto didnt do whatever he did to get hurt.

 

We'll we'd probably be .500 or a few games or so under/over. Our team ERA would be a lot better, but I don't know if the offense would be all that much better. Other than Soto, the other 2 still simply do not have a high enough OBP to 'fix' the issues with the offense. Sure Byrd might hit .300, Soriano might hit 30 HR, which is better than whatever Colvin and Campsomething and Montonez could do, but still going to be a situation where it takes stringing together 3+ hits to score a run. And Soto, despite all his struggles, can get on base via the walk but he's getting on base so the pitcher can drive him in.

That's Dayton Ohio's Campsomething to you. [-X

For some reason, I keep thinking of him as Rosanne Campanadana. But I'm probably dating myself there.