Cubnut's Archives

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On Rich Harden Debut Eve, the Cubs have made a roster move as they open a three-game set against the Giants.

Michael Wuertz, who allowed four runs in an inning-and-one-third against the Reds on Thursday, was sent down to Iowa. Kevin Hart, 2-1, 3.35 for the I-Cubs with 48 K's against 15 BB and a BAA of just .205, gets the call-up.

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Cubs go for the sweep as Bronson Arroyo matches up against the Cubs' new #4 starter.

Lilly was hit hard in his only start against the Reds this year (6 H, 5 ER in 6 IP), a loss back in mid-April; Arroyo, who seemed to be starting against the Cubs every time you turned around last season, going 0-3, 3.58 in five outings, is making his first appearance against the Wrigleys in 2008.

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With just one nightmarish half-inning having prevented them from a sweep of the Cardinals this past weekend, the Cubs return to the 33-10 Confines for three games against the Reds, who just completed a four-game sweep of the Nationals, which is very similar to winning four games from an actual Major League Baseball team.

Ryan Dempster puts his perfect record at Wrigley this season (9-0) up against Aaron Harang, who the Cubs have already thumped twice this year. (For that matter, Dempster had one of his lesser home starts of the season against the Reds back on April 15th, allowing five walks, five hits and four runs in a game the Cubs won anyhow, 9-5.)

In all, the Cubs and Reds have split six games this game, with each club taking two of three on its home field.

Crain's Chicago Business reports Tuesday that prospective purchasers of the Chicago National League Ballclub have been given a deadline of July 18th to submit their initial bids.

Cubs centerfielder Jim Edmonds, whose return to St. Louis Friday night was honored by Cardinals fans if not by Tony La Russa, shared a revelation with Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times:

Edmonds would have been traded to the White Sox this past December if he hadn't exercised his right to block such a deal.

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It's time for Round Two of the Cubs versus White Sox, a.k.a. Team Inferiority Complex.

The Cubs go with a lineup that's long on lefties and rich on suck. Fontenot? Cedeño?? Ward in the field??? Lou is clearly trying to win the game with one hand tied behind his back, thus completely demoralizing the hosts.

Dempster, who yielded just one run (though 10 hits) to beat the White Sox on Sunday night, gets the nod against Contreras, who the Cubs undressed last Saturday (9 ER, 10H allowed in 3.1 innings).

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As you may have noticed, the top three teams in the NL Central, the Cubs (48-29, .623), Cards (45-33, .577), and Brewers (43-34, .558), also currently have the three best records in the National League. Who'da thunk?

Here is how the Big 3 rank against the rest of the NL in various categories.

The Tribune reports Tuesday that Mark DeRosa is "still hearing about" the Orioles' Brian Roberts, who will be on the field with his Baltimore mates tonight at Wrigley. (Wild thought—the primary sources of the Roberts reminders are those who ask DeRosa about Roberts and then write stories about his reaction to the reminders.)

For what it's worth, here are the 2008 numbers. First, an offensive comparison of Roberts, DeRosa (his total '08 numbers, not just those accumulated while he's playing 2B), and Cubs second basemen in total:

The five hits from the past week that did the most to enhance the Cubs' chances of winning, according to Win Probability Added as calculated by Fan Graphs:

#5.) Tuesday, 9th inning at Tampa, man on first, one out, Cubs trailing the Rays, 3-1. Kosuke Fukudome doubles against Troy Percival, sending Mark DeRosa around to third. It's so obvious the Cubs will at least tie up this game and send it to extra innings. It's so very, very obvious...right up to the moment the Rays retire Reed Johnson to lock down the 3-2 win. Fukudome double = WPA .150  

#4.) Saturday, 4th inning vs. White Sox, men on first and second, one out, Cubs trailing the Sox, 4-3. Fukudome hits a ground single to right, scoring Ryan Theriot from second base to tie the game 4-4, with much more run-making yet to follow in this fourth inning. Fukudome single = WPA .159

The countdown continues after the jump.

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The national ESPN spotlight shines this evening on 1060 West Addison, which can only mean one thing:

The Yankees and Mets aren't playing each other this weekend.

According to the Sun-Times' up-to-the-minute Cubs reports via Twitter, Rob Reiner and his kid are in the house tonight. Could there be any clearer indication what an important contest this is?

Regarding tonight's starters...

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Ex-Sox skipper Jerry Manuel is already in place in New York. Now, the heads are continuing to roll in Seattle. The M's have canned manager John McLaren and replaced him with bench coach and former Cubs manager Jim Riggleman.

In the opener of the Cubs' just-completed series in Toronto, Derrek Lee, playing the part of Designated Hitter, went 0-for-3 with a strikeout; Aramis Ramirez, in his regular third base role, went 2-for-5.

On Saturday, Ramirez took over the DH role and went 1-for-5 with two K's and left five men on base; Derrek Lee returned to his accustomed position at first base and went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Always one to jump to a quick conclusion, on Saturday night, I got to thinking that just maybe this DH thing was a little trickier than one might imagine, especially for National League players who don't know what it is to have four or five at-bats in a game separated not by time in the field, but by long idle stretches in the dugout, or back in the clubhouse, doing whatever it is DH's do when they're not sitting idle in the dugout.