frostwyrm

That's true. And actually, no matter what Neifi or Macias does, I would never blame them. They try their best, but just stink. It's not their fault that Dusty sets them up for me to hate them. That said, I hope Neifi keeps up this torrid pace. They try, but I'm not sure they try their best. They are both in lousy shape for professional athletes, Macias in particular. That dude is soft and swollen all over. Neifi has a fat gut and mosquito legs. Their waistlines are as bloated as their salaries.

I think the Ramirez groin problem was probably BS. I suspect Dusty just wanted to get Neifi in the game and Ramirez went along with the act. Check it out: Sounds fishy to me. I'm happy that Aramis is probably not having a groin issue but it is discouraging to see Dusty using lame excuses to stuff Neifi into the lineup. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-050412cubs,1,777391.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines

ZZ doesn't understand stats. Lenny Harris getting 24 hits for the Cubs does not mean 24 good decisions were made to let him play. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of stats knows it was a bad decision to let Lenny play even one game.

Don't forget, Macias also has more NL experience than Hairston. If the season thusfar is an indication of how Hairson will be used then IMO his greatest value is as trade bait.

Has a mod seen this?

That offer nothing...yeah. Neifi did terrible today. You guys hit the nail on the head. All those posts that were so certain, they really offered me a ton. You probably would have defended Dusty playing Lenny Harris every time Lenny got a hit. He did get 24 hits for the Cubs, so I guess he was awesome. He even hit a home run once. How did we let him get away?

A single and a sac bunt proved us wrong? Even Lenny Harris produced games of that quality, and I don't think Lenny proved anyone wrong.

Don't exaggerate, it's not a forfeit. Macias will get a hit about 23% of the time and walk another 2-2.5%. So there. With 2 outs and a runner on (not in scoring position by the way) down by one that situation calls for a hitter with power. Is Dusty really just that dumb or is he too stubborn to give a powerful Dubois a shot. Dubois could'nt have done any worse than Macias. I think Dusty is both. Agreed. You absolutely want power in that situation. Dusty had a choice of a quality power hitter and a terrible singles hitter, and he chose the terrible singles hitter. Very very dumb.

That's a really discouraging statement by Dusty. In the future when Hendry acquires a good veteran he should try to get someone with NL experience. AL vets like Hairston are at a major disadvantage trying to get playing time from Dusty, who will use any excuse to play Neifi.

I have no objection to Hairston at leadoff and Corey 2nd. I think Dusty is lame but this lineup doesn't bother me at all.

What makes the bench a serious problem is that qualitywise it is incredibly unbalanced from a L/R perspective AND we have a manager who rigidly adheres to L/R pinch hitting strategy. That is a weakness that practially begs to be exploited.

Those ESPN reports are lame and very rarely updated. I only look at them when I can't find info anywhere else. I've seen Macias play, and I know he ain't exactly Ichiro in the outfield.

I have to give Hendry some blame for the current situation. I get the impression that Dusty always wanted Holla to start in 2005 and Hendry had a different plan that was not communicated effectively. I believe Hendry signed Holla to be the primary lefty bat off the bench and Neifi strictly for defense/spot starting and injury insurance. Dubois or possibly Hairston was to be the everyday LF. Dusty turned everything upside down when he made Holla the starting LF. Now Neifi is a primary PH option and our bench is so horrendously unbalanced that opponents have no incentive ever to use a lefty reliever when our pitcher's spot in the order comes up. Hendry needs to get a credible lefty hitter for the bench to restore some balance, or persuade Dusty to abandon this mindless L/R pinch hitting strategy, or make Dusty get Holla back on the bench where he was always supposed to be.

Neifi has value, but it is confined strictly to his defense. The problem is Dusty considers Neifi an OFFENSIVE asset because of his ability to bat left-handed, and Macias too. Dusty will play the L/R matchup every time. With our current roster that means an opposing manager can insert a righty reliever whenever our pitcher's spot in the batting order comes up and Dusty will always PH with Macias and Neifi. Competent managers will exploit this weakness all year. Only an extraordinarily stupid opponent would put in a lefty reliever to face Dubois/Hairston when the alternative is a righty vs. Macias/Neifi. Most closers are righties, so I expect to see the Cubs give up some easy saves, as in game 2 of this season. But Macias and Neifi are switch-hitters. Won't matter. They'll get to hit either way. No, when the situation call for a righty bat I am sure Dusty will use a PH who can ONLY bat right-handed whenever possible. Unnecessarily using Macias or Neifi vs a lefty pitcher would be a waste of one of our only two lefty hitters on the bench. Do you think that matters? What if it's the bottom of the 9th? Will he still be worried about saving one of his lefty "bats"? If it's the bottom of the 9th and a lefty is on the mound I'd bet Dusty would go with Hairston or Dubois. Unfortunately a smart opposing manager probably wouldn't have a lefty on the mound.

Neifi has value, but it is confined strictly to his defense. The problem is Dusty considers Neifi an OFFENSIVE asset because of his ability to bat left-handed, and Macias too. Dusty will play the L/R matchup every time. With our current roster that means an opposing manager can insert a righty reliever whenever our pitcher's spot in the batting order comes up and Dusty will always PH with Macias and Neifi. Competent managers will exploit this weakness all year. Only an extraordinarily stupid opponent would put in a lefty reliever to face Dubois/Hairston when the alternative is a righty vs. Macias/Neifi. Most closers are righties, so I expect to see the Cubs give up some easy saves, as in game 2 of this season. But Macias and Neifi are switch-hitters. Won't matter. They'll get to hit either way. No, when the situation call for a righty bat I am sure Dusty will use a PH who can ONLY bat right-handed whenever possible. Unnecessarily using Macias or Neifi vs a lefty pitcher would be a waste of one of our only two lefty hitters on the bench.

Neifi has value, but it is confined strictly to his defense. The problem is Dusty considers Neifi an OFFENSIVE asset because of his ability to bat left-handed, and Macias too. Dusty will play the L/R matchup every time. With our current roster that means an opposing manager can insert a righty reliever whenever our pitcher's spot in the batting order comes up and Dusty will always PH with Macias and Neifi. Competent managers will exploit this weakness all year. Only an extraordinarily stupid opponent would put in a lefty reliever to face Dubois/Hairston when the alternative is a righty vs. Macias/Neifi. Most closers are righties, so I expect to see the Cubs give up some easy saves, as in game 2 of this season.

I might use a pitcher to PH, but only if it were an obvious bunting situation. Some pitchers are pretty good bunters. But if I needed a hit I would have to use a position player Of course Neifi would be my LAST choice to PH down 1 run in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and a runner on 1st.

It is disappointing to see lackadaisical baserunning in game 2 of 2005 when everyone knew that was a big problem all through 2004.

This might be the first time in history anyone has talked about "saving" Neifi's bat. And I can see why you're not disturbed by Dusty's PH philosophy: you share his exaggerated respect for L/R matchups. Yeah, Neifi can swing a bat left-handed, but he is REALLY bad at it.

The only explanation I can come up with for the Perez PH is that Perez did very well in his 67 plate appearances as a Cub in 2004. Hollandsworth is also a starter based on limited 2004 action, and Dusty said he actually asked Hendry to bring back Randall Simon based on his 110 PA as a Cub in 2003, and Macias is still coasting on his 11-20 four day hot streak from last year. What is disturbing is that Dusty is so damn impressionable to the giddy effects of hot streaks, even when everyone else in the world knows they will end. Dusty actually makes long-term plans based on them.

I've been a frusty-rated with Dusty since the 2003 NLCS I was surprised that his horrible managing in the 2003 NLCS didn't throw me over the top. Bringing in Guthrie because he'd rather face Lowell than Lenny Freaking Harris in Game 1. Do you really believe dusty was thinking that far ahead there? Yeah, after the game a reporter asked about the Lowell/Guthrie matchup and Dusty specifically metioned Lenny Harris as a reason why Guthrie was put in instead of a righty reliever. Pretty amazing that Dusty found a way to make Harris hurt us both as a Cubs player and as a Cubs opponent, cause normally Harris only hurts his own team.

http://fantasybaseball.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_previousnews.asp?sport=MLB&leaguenum=&id=6775 "Neifi Perez". Those two words say it all.

With Macias pinch hitting with 2 outs and noboby on in the 7th I suppose you could make a case for saving your good pinch hitters. But Neifi pinch hitting in the 9th when we're down 1 run with 2 outs and a man on 1st, now that is absurd. Neifi is one of the worst offensive players in the modern game and he was not signed for anything but his glove. To have him hitting and making the last out while Dubois and Hairston watch from the dugout is inexcusable.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-cub18.html Article contains some positive comments on Kerry's progress, but only depressing stuff about Mark's.

I would like to have found out how he did in crucial games, as opposed to Jose Macias. Yup. You really have to wonder if the Cubs couldn't have won a few more games if Dubois had gotten all the OF playing time that went to Macias and Goodwin. As long as we have Dusty Baker managing we'll have "what ifs" like this at the end of the season.