30 games gone

[Beer Kaese]

I was going to wait till 40 ...

 

Thirty games into the season, what three things are disappointing, what three things are thrilling and what thing are you watching.

 

Disappointing: Castro is allergic to walks. Soto is off to a slow start. And a tie between Volstad (who can't let a base runner not score) and Marmol (who can't let a batter not reach base).

 

Thrilling: Brian LaHair. The top of the rotation; Dempster, Garza and The Shark. And Dolis looks like a closer (making Marmol a 17 mil mistake).

 

Watching: Can Campana reach base enough so his speed and defense is an asset?

 

(subject title a tribute to Zeps Ten Years Gone)

[Sammy Sofa]

I find Castro much more thrilling than Dolis, who is more terrifying than anything else given how much contact he gives up.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Fun fact: 30 games through the season and Castro already has a 1.7 WAR. Matt Kemp has a 1.8. More of our players should be so dissapointing.

[Guest]

He called his lack of walks disappointing. Which it kinda is. So is is lack of HR (for me). I expected 20ish HR breakout this year.

 

Granted, he's been insanely valuable, in large part because his defense has improved and he was stealing bases like a mad man at a relatively efficient clip. And because he's hitting for great average, which is just Starlin being Starlin.

[Little Slide Rooter]

He's 22. If power developes, he'll be a fixture in the 3 spot. If not, he'll be a hell of a 2 hitter. I think he'll ultimately be a 12-15 HR guy with a ton of doubles and triples. Edited May 10, 2012 by Little Slide Rooter

[pitchcs]

He did have 2 bombs held in by crazy wind.

[davell]

Most disappointing to me would be Marmol, Wood, and Barney. First two, because if they had been good, we'd probably be a tad over. 500 right now. Barney is on here for me, because if he could be a legit. 700 OPS guy, it'd be one less hole for us to worry about, but I don't think he can. Soto gets a dishonorable mention, a good half year could really have enhanced his trade value. The three best are Shark, LaHair, and Castro. First two have stepped up beyond my wildest scenarios, while Castro has just continued making progress. The power will come in bunches, is my guess. Honorable mention is Dempster, Garza, and even Maholm. All three have been either damn good or very solid.

[davell]

With his body type, I think Castro will average 25 homers a year in his prime. I think he'll get 12-15 THIS year.

[SouthSideRyan]

With his body type, I think Castro will average 25 homers a year in his prime. I think he'll get 12-15 THIS year.

 

I think he'll clear it. He's going to be torrid this summer.

[sneakypower]

3 most encouraging developments: Shark's emergence, Castro's defense, LaHair's Hulk-smashing

 

3 most discouraging developments: Marmol's slider, Baez's walk allergy, McNutt

[El Duderino]

Barney has been really disappointing. I knew he kind of sucked, but I at least hoped he could eek out a .320 OBP with great defense.

 

Best thing has been Shark.

[Scott G. F.]

I am thrilled the Cubs have been playing great ball as of late, the last 20 or so games. They've won there last couple series verses good competation.

 

I'd like to see then get to .500 by June!!!

[BeerHere]

Surprises: Shark and Dempster for sure but easily the biggest surprise for me is LaHair. I'm also pleasantly surprised in Sveum as I think he's done a good job to date. I'll add Russell too.

 

Disappointments: Marmol and Wood top this list. Barney has been bad too. Thus far, Soto has been a significant disappointment for me as well (it's apparently a crime to criticize Soto and I must have missed the memo). My expectations for Stewart were probably too high and his BABIP would seem to indicate that he'll improve as the season goes on but he has been a disappointment.

[davell]

Stewart's not a disappointment to me, because his luck has been awful. He's truly been much better than what his numbers obviously show. Russell has been solid out of the pen, but he was last year too, so I guess while I'm certainly happy about it, it's not a surprise to me either. The coaching staff is a little surprising to me, because of the stats TT posted in the game thread yesterday: They're actually making a positive difference in exactly what they set out to do it in, baserunning and defense. Considering I expected to be fine with this group, it's still surprising to me, that a coaching staff has done this much positive in this short of a time.

[BeerHere]

Stewart's not a disappointment to me, because his luck has been awful. He's truly been much better than what his numbers obviously show. Russell has been solid out of the pen, but he was last year too, so I guess while I'm certainly happy about it, it's not a surprise to me either. The coaching staff is a little surprising to me, because of the stats TT posted in the game thread yesterday: They're actually making a positive difference in exactly what they set out to do it in, baserunning and defense. Considering I expected to be fine with this group, it's still surprising to me, that a coaching staff has done this much positive in this short of a time.

Agreed on the coaching staff and the stats from the game thread yesterday were shocking to me - in a good way. I would like to see some more walks but overall the coaching staff has been better than I could have hoped for.

[Gilby]

A lot of guys don't walk as much when they are extremely hot. Once Castro cools off, we'll see more patience. You should be more impressed with his defense than disappointed with the walks.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Disappointing: Travis Wood, Sappelt

 

Thrilling: Defensive shifts, Baserunning!, LaHair, Stewart, Soriano's defense

 

Watching: Soto, Darwin Barney's defense (it's been really, *really* good this year), Volstad

[davell]

Disappointing: Travis Wood, Sappelt

 

Thrilling: Defensive shifts, Baserunning!, LaHair, Stewart, Soriano's defense

 

Watching: Soto, Darwin Barney's defense (it's been really, *really* good this year), Volstad

No Shark on the thrilling side? I'm really thinking he's the single biggest story we've got right now. If he's truly learned to keep the same motion consistently, I have no clue what his true ceiling is. He's probably the most athletic pitcher in baseball and if he's gotten his throwing motion down, he could be unreal for us.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Disappointing: Travis Wood, Sappelt

 

Thrilling: Defensive shifts, Baserunning!, LaHair, Stewart, Soriano's defense

 

Watching: Soto, Darwin Barney's defense (it's been really, *really* good this year), Volstad

No Shark on the thrilling side? I'm really thinking he's the single biggest story we've got right now. If he's truly learned to keep the same motion consistently, I have no clue what his true ceiling is. He's probably the most athletic pitcher in baseball and if he's gotten his throwing motion down, he could be unreal for us.

 

I knew I was missing something obvious.

 

Samardzija's emergence could be so awesome I'm almost scared to get excited about it. There's hoping for good things and then there's just pure greed.

[BeerHere]

You should be more impressed with his defense than disappointed with the walks.

He has 8 errors through 30 games. At that pace he'll have over 40 by season's end. I love the guy but his defense isn't that great.

[Gilby]

Errors don't really matter for him because of his incredible range. Announcers like to use that to try to make him out to be lazy and lacking focus, but he gets to balls many other shortstops don't. His defense has been excellent.

[Guest]

You should be more impressed with his defense than disappointed with the walks.

He has 8 errors through 30 games. At that pace he'll have over 40 by season's end. I love the guy but his defense isn't that great.

 

errors lol

[SouthSideRyan]

Just a slightly worse fielder than Tulo

[Fro]

Fun Fact: Cubs have a better record than the Red Sox

[Guest]

Unhappy: Marmol, Wood, Volstad's big innings, Castro's walk rate, Soriano's power, Reed Johnson still on team

 

Expect to turn around: BABIP struggles of Stewart, Barney & Soto

 

Happy: Sveum's positioning, team baserunning, DeJesus getting on as leadoff, James Russell

 

Ecstatic: Garza being a real #1, Dempster's improved command, Shark's emergence,

 

Stunned and still doubtful: The Hair.