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Yep, he's done a good job this year. Now it's up to his teammates to pick him up and score some runs in the 9th. Dempster - ERA after today 3.5+. SOs/IPs = 48/55 Marmol ERA 1.45. 77/56 Saves are misleading. Dempster gets hit hard and doesn't strike out enough guys to be a good closer which is why he is constantly in trouble even when he does get lucky saves. While I completely agree that saves are misleading, to say that Dempster gets hit hard is inaccurate. Coming into this game, opponent have put up a line of .197/.296/.275 against Dempster this season. Lets compare his ERA to others in the weak Central division. Marmol - 1.45 Izzy - 1.77 Lidge - 2.97 Cordero - 2.96 Eventually all those line smashes against him start to fall in. His ERA is out of whack with his other numbers. If anything, Dempster has been unlucky this season. Opponents aren't hitting for average or power against him. His control could be better, but you were wrong in saying he's been hit hard this year. If you want to say he's been hit hard by the Mets, that would be accurate. Hell, if you take away those two horrible games, his ERA would have been 1.84 coming into today. Ok, but the fact remains the organization keeps saying he is our closer of the future. Well he has proven he can get big league hitters out. We have a team built for the now, not the future. Thus why wouldn't we use him in that role now, when we have a legit shot to win the division. Because there is almost no role for Dempster if you take him out of closer. You can't put him in during the middle of an inning. Marmol is much more versatile than Dempster and can come in with runners on to get 1 out, while Dempster needs to come in with nobody on to be effective. So until Dempster is traded, he needs to be the closer and Marmol needs to come in with runners on to stop people from scoring. Oh so Dempster isnt a good enough pitcher to come in with guys on base and get out of it, yet you support him being our closer. Yes, because Dempster is a good pitcher. He just needs a little leeway of nobody on base. That allows him to throw his junk at the batter-if he walks 1, it's not a big deal because the other hitters usually get themselves out. Think of it this way-at best, Marmol would be 27/28 saves (it's asking too much for anyone to be perfect). That's a 2 game difference from Dempster. If Dempster was coming in all the time in Marmol's spot with runners on, there would be a lot more than 2 games that would have been lost.

Yep, he's done a good job this year. Now it's up to his teammates to pick him up and score some runs in the 9th. Dempster - ERA after today 3.5+. SOs/IPs = 48/55 Marmol ERA 1.45. 77/56 Saves are misleading. Dempster gets hit hard and doesn't strike out enough guys to be a good closer which is why he is constantly in trouble even when he does get lucky saves. While I completely agree that saves are misleading, to say that Dempster gets hit hard is inaccurate. Coming into this game, opponent have put up a line of .197/.296/.275 against Dempster this season. Lets compare his ERA to others in the weak Central division. Marmol - 1.45 Izzy - 1.77 Lidge - 2.97 Cordero - 2.96 Eventually all those line smashes against him start to fall in. His ERA is out of whack with his other numbers. If anything, Dempster has been unlucky this season. Opponents aren't hitting for average or power against him. His control could be better, but you were wrong in saying he's been hit hard this year. If you want to say he's been hit hard by the Mets, that would be accurate. Hell, if you take away those two horrible games, his ERA would have been 1.84 coming into today. Ok, but the fact remains the organization keeps saying he is our closer of the future. Well he has proven he can get big league hitters out. We have a team built for the now, not the future. Thus why wouldn't we use him in that role now, when we have a legit shot to win the division. Because there is almost no role for Dempster if you take him out of closer. You can't put him in during the middle of an inning. Marmol is much more versatile than Dempster and can come in with runners on to get 1 out, while Dempster needs to come in with nobody on to be effective. So until Dempster is traded, he needs to be the closer and Marmol needs to come in with runners on to stop people from scoring. The pieces of the Cubs bullpen fit better that way. The

Exactly. The last 3 months, the whole story with the Cubs and Brewers has been to stay as close to the Brewers as possible at home, and then make up ground on the road. Now it seems like everybody thinks the whole picture changes with every game. The Brewers will struggle once again on the road-they haven't gone .500 or better on a road trip since June. Then, after they finish those road games, they have to play the Cardinals and Padres at home. If the Cubs just can win 3 against the Cardinals (which 3-2 against the Cardials would be worse than what the Cubs have done against them all season) and then go even 2-3 games over .500 the other games, that will probably win the division.

Yep, he's done a good job this year. Now it's up to his teammates to pick him up and score some runs in the 9th. Dempster - ERA after today 3.5+. SOs/IPs = 48/55 Marmol ERA 1.45. 77/56 Saves are misleading. Dempster gets hit hard and doesn't strike out enough guys to be a good closer which is why he is constantly in trouble even when he does get lucky saves. Lucky saves? Is this a stat? :roll: Yes, 25 saves with a 3.5 ERA. Does anyone really think that a well ran organization has both Mamrol and Dempster on their team, yet lets Dempster close? Let's see-the Tigers with Jones and Zumaya last year? Yeah the Tigers are well ran. Remember when they traded for Neifi Perez? The other day I went to watch them play the Royals and their other Perez hit 3rd. Well, what organizations are well run? The Braves had Wickman as their closer role for most of the year, and they would have kept him there if he hadn't refused to come in during non-save situations as well.

The Brewers' next ten games are against the Pirates and Reds. This season is OVER. The Cubs play 5 games left against teams over .500. The Brewers still have 11 games left against teams over .500. The season is far from over.

Yep, he's done a good job this year. Now it's up to his teammates to pick him up and score some runs in the 9th. Dempster - ERA after today 3.5+. SOs/IPs = 48/55 Marmol ERA 1.45. 77/56 Saves are misleading. Dempster gets hit hard and doesn't strike out enough guys to be a good closer which is why he is constantly in trouble even when he does get lucky saves. Lucky saves? Is this a stat? :roll: Yes, 25 saves with a 3.5 ERA. Does anyone really think that a well ran organization has both Mamrol and Dempster on their team, yet lets Dempster close? Let's see-the Tigers with Jones and Zumaya last year?

How's he been in one run save situations so far this year? No stats to back this up, but I don't think he's blown any of them. I think he's blown 1 (the one in Pittsburgh in May if my recollection is right that the Cubs lost in like 15 innings). Overall, he's been quite good though.

No doubt about it.

Is this coming as a surprise to anyone? That freaking team could sign Neifi Perez and Jose Macias and drag 100 OPS+ seasons out of both of them, complete with gold gloves. No they couldn't, and Ankiel isn't that big of surprise because we've known all along he could hit. His batting average in the major leagues right now is 28 points better than his OBP in the minors. Everybody knew that he could hit home runs (although 1 every 10 at-bats like he is doing right now is ridiculous) but everyone thought that at least his OBP would be under .300 in the majors (it was .314 in the minors). Instead, his OBP is around .390.

A pretty nice mostly fluff article on Soto here-here's a couple quotes: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070906&content_id=2192781&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

That's the thing. We have Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, DeRosa. At the other 4 spots we have Pie, Murton, Theriot, and Soto being possible cheap everyday options. Which one do you upgrade, and which 3 do you say are your starters for the next couple years?

No he doesnt suck, he can hit, but he shouldnt be starting I agree. He is starting because we don't have Aram in the lineup today. There are better options Ward's easily the best offensive player the Cubs have to play RF. There is no one else even close. Murtons 2nd half disagrees CCP. And hes a career PH for a reason, the guy cant field, cant run. Murton's 2nd half: .295/.353/.526 Ward's 2nd half: .368/.442/.684 It's not like Murton's the best fielder or baserunner either. When Ramirez is out, the Cubs have to put their best pure hitters at the plate in order to try to generate some offense, and that's Ward.

No he doesnt suck, he can hit, but he shouldnt be starting I agree. He is starting because we don't have Aram in the lineup today. There are better options Ward's easily the best offensive player the Cubs have to play RF. There is no one else even close.

Hopefully it's just a rest for Ramirez to get him ready for the stretch run. Considering that, not a bad lineup overall-taking Ramirez out really necessitates putting Ward in RF for his offense.

True, although Marquis has been pretty good at the sinker this year (1.59 G/F ratio, 26th out of 152 NL pitchers with 80 innings)-sorry about the strange cutoff, I was just trying to get most of the relievers out quickly. He's certainly not a complete sinkerballer like Lowe is though. I'm hoping Marquis can break his pattern today. He has been alternating good and bad outings since the All Star Break, and he's due for a bad one. Let's hope he can break that string. Marquis's sinker was good the first few months but it's been attrocious lately (just ask Ping Hitter who'll complain about its location). He has been leaving more sinkers up in the zone, but that hasn't been reflected in his ground ball/fly ball ratio. Here are his last 8 starts: 9/5 9/5 10/5 11/4 7/8 13/3 8/5 9/6 Total: 78/41, or a 1.90 G/F ratio. So he's doing something to get a lot of ground balls the last month or so, if that's his sinker or something else.

Here's some info about TN: Good for Ceda especially. I really hope he can get in a couple games in relief. http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070905&content_id=2191442&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

Their offense more than makes up for the pitching difference, IMO. They've been losing games on the road because that's what young teams do. Once they figure out how to win on the road, they're a 95 win ballclub despite pitching issues, which will likely mitigate themselves as Sheets comes back and a few of their younger guys get more experience. The difference in offense is so completely overwhelming it's ridiculous. That difference in offense has translated into 48 runs over the course of the season. The Brewers are 5th in the NL in runs while the Cubs are 8th. The Brewers are an easily better offensive team, but they are no juggernaut on offense. They've had their stretches where they have struggled offensively as well (for example, in August the Cubs as well documented were 15th in the NL in runs/game. The Brewers were 14th. In July, the Cubs were 8th in runs/game while the Brewers were 12th.) So basically, while the Cubs have been being called out for their lack of offense the last couple months especially (which is completely justified), the Brewers have scored a total of 13 more runs since July 1st. They've hit a lot more home runs, but they haven't scored a lot more than the Cubs. As far as pure talent, the Cubs have better talent on offense then they've shown, and the Brewers have better talent in their pitching staff then they've shown. I think the Cubs have a slight edge thanks to their bullpen and defense, but the difference is not very large.

True, although Marquis has been pretty good at the sinker this year (1.59 G/F ratio, 26th out of 152 NL pitchers with 80 innings)-sorry about the strange cutoff, I was just trying to get most of the relievers out quickly. He's certainly not a complete sinkerballer like Lowe is though. I'm hoping Marquis can break his pattern today. He has been alternating good and bad outings since the All Star Break, and he's due for a bad one. Let's hope he can break that string.

I'd like to see Soto again today...The Dodgers have the two speedsters at the top of the lineup that Kendall has no chance of throwing out, Kendall's still a little tender anyway, and Soto had a good night with the bat last night...no reason to rush him back out there..save him for tomorro when he makes a triumphant return to Pittsburgh and goes 4-4. With 3 catchers on the roster, I doubt they'll typically play any catcher in a night game and then a day game the next day. It will probably be Kendall or Blanco today.

Theriot has been a slightly below average shortstop this year. Out of 26 qualified SS's in the majors: 13th in BA 13th in OBP 18th in SLG 18th in OPS 5th in SB So he has been an average OBP, below average slugging, above average stolen bases. Add in average defense, and you have a slightly below average player. He's not a pressing concern to replace, because he is cheap and good shortstops are hard to come by. The Cubs shouldn't hesitate to replace him if a better option comes along though. I also don't want to see any option where he might be a starter at 2nd base because his numbers would be terrible there.

I doubt it. Lou probably just wanted to tack on, and Pie against a left-hander is not the best way to do that, and since he still had Jones on to play defense he pinch-hit to try to put the game away.

Hopefully Pie. Need better outfield defense. Either of them would improve the outfield defense. Monroe is an upgrade over Murton in right, and Jones is an upgrade over Monroe in center. But, now they've just come back, and Lou left him in.

I wouldn't be shocked to see them pinch-hit for Murton here with Jones or Pie.

DeRosa with a very good series. Hopefully he's coming back to have a good September after struggling for most of the second half.

So tired you felt it needed posted it 3 times huh lol 4 Actually it was 5, the same post appeared a couple pages back as well. Probably just a computer problem-it happens sometimes. There you go Monroe! We need you here Soto.