Sammy Sofa

Yeah, Gregg [expletive] the bed today, but God only knows why Lou wasn't getting someone up after the 3rd hit. I don't care if he's being pissy over the bullpen...the guy out there clearly has nothing and you're still better off getting a fresh arm in there regardless of how shaky the bullpen has been.

I completely agree with this logic. But it leads me to ask, if it's a "hot/cold" thing, why do the Cubs key hitters consistentyly end up on the cold side of the equation? For example, when looking at a simple stat of a lead off man, Soriano has a .125 OBP the last two post seasons for the Chicago Cubs. His job at the top is to get on base. He has failed in a freakishly spectacular fashion, perhaps setting an overall tone of futility from the first pitch of the series. Ramirez, the Cubs most consistent run producer and "clutch" hitter in the regular season goes compeltely ice cold under the pressure. His OBP is .163 with *zero* rbi's and three total bases the past two post seasons. Soriano also has three total bases and zero RBI. There's "going cold", and then there is a very bleak and recognizable pattern from your best hitters when the post season pressure is on. You're overstating the "recognizable pattern" aspect of this. It's 6 games. Besides, if you think this is a pressure thing, what player exists out there that knows how to deal with the "pressure" of more than a century without a WS and 9 consecutive playoff losses? This mythical playoff superman doesn't exist. That best you can hope for is put together a very good team that can get you there in the first place and hope for the best.

False. Hes had 11 outings without giving up a run and 7 with giving up a run. Right hand hitters are getting on base against him at a .375 clip, thats not good, and has to be a concern. I understand hes pitched well in May up until this point, but hes not reliable. He gets the job done enough to keep the better relievers in more useful spots.

False.

Pulling Gregg from the closer's spot isn't the right answer.

QFT.

I remember last year you kept defending Howry pretty hard too TT. And if Gregg ends being as consistently bad as Howry ended up being, there's a problem. If he's going to keep having a bunch of strong outings and then one bad one, eh, it happens.

No.

God bless his lack of modulation.

Nicely done, Sori and Scales.

Then Theroid heroics?

wait i thought you didn't care. Ok we get it, you dont like Cyno, but do you really need to try and antagonize him all the time? Yes.

Your blog on this is going to be fierce.

They could lose the game. And that's about it.

The meltdown here is going to be delicious. Don't let me down.

That was a team that Hendry mostly inherited. Of course I give him credit for adding two key pieces in Ramirez and Lofton. But I think my main point still stands. I would love to see a team built entirely of "Hendry guys" win a playoff game. That has yet to happen under his watch. Until then, I think it's premature to offer any kind of extension, even for one day. I agree the team is under pressure in those situations, but that's where leaders and cool hands rise to the occasion. There's a word for players who can't play under pressure, and it's not very kind. When you get as badly dominated in back to back post seasons as the Cubs have, you could say a pattern is emerging - especially with the very poor offensive showing by two key players in Aram and Soriano. If this team can't handle playoff pressure, then a GM at some point has to consider getting new players. That seems like an overreaction. You seem to be implying we should dump players who are critical to the team succeeding over the course of the regular season. You're likely not going to get to the playoffs if you shed the players you specifically mentioned. Players get cold. Soriano is notrious for his cold streaks in between when he's pounding the hell out of the ball. Even Aramis has stretches where he doesn't play well. Sometimes it just happens by the time the playoffs roll around. There's little that can be done about it and you really just have to hope it doesn't happen. On the flipside, it's pretty ridiculous to think you can construct a team for playoff success since playoff numbers are such a small smaple size. A player who was hot one playoff month might be cold the next year. A player might be amazing one playoff series and then horrible the next. David-freakin'-Eckstein can be your WS MVP. That in and of itself should indicate above anything else how nuts the playoffs are.

Do it to it, Rich.

Well done, Noah: http://www.wwtdd.com/2009/05/guess-which-one-is-rich/

This is a very reasonable argument. My problem with using the Cubs history as a barometer for progress doesn't mean much because it's a *bad* history in terms of on the field results. Also, in the 2007/2008 playoffs, for whatever reason this was a team that was incapbale of competing for even one game. I'd like to think maybe a healthy Bradley, some power from Font and Hoff from the left side would improve our chances against the RHP pitching that has owned us. Maybe that's just wishful thinking. I do know that I now dread the playoffs, and am disheartened at the lack of performance by the pitching staff along with Ramirez and Soriano in those crucial times. Well, that first round is pretty much a crapshoot. It's totally up in the air whether a team will be "on" or not to win it. It's not really something you can or should build a team around for the rest of the season.

The playoff failures don't erase the regular season successes.

No, it is not.

I'm having a ton of fun watching the Cubs.

lou is about as impulsive as a five year old. hoffpauir makes an error in the outfield? i don't think we'll play him out there. wells has a decent start (1.4 WHIP but 0 ERA in 5 innings) and now he's a guy you just can't let go? give me a break. How much of this is direct from Lou and how much is media speculation? Seeing as that was a quote from Lou himself (as was the response to Hoff's defense), it's pretty safe to say it's all Lou. Maybe. Just maybe.

I can't imagine anyone here is looking at him as more than a decent bench/backup option.

That sucks badly. I just want him to return 100%. However long that takes, I'm cool with it. He's likely never going to be 100% ever again.