An Embarrasment of Riches…
...not in the "we have too much of a good thing kind of way", but more of the "wow this is embarrassing with how much this roster cost the Cubs."
And as Mark DeRosa stated yesterday, "There's no good reason for this to be going on."
A team built to hit home runs is currently 9th in the NL in runs scored because well, they're 9th in the NL in home runs hit (among some other reasons). Derrek Lee is on pace to hit 14 home runs this year as is Alfonso Soriano. Cliff Floyd won't even hit double digits at this point (8), and Jacque Jones and Matt Murton are in Juan Pierre territory at the moment.
I'd love to believe that better times are to come, we still have the best run differential in the Central at +11 and the likelihood of all those players setting what would be essentially career lows for home runs in one season (when you consider playing time) is rather unlikely. This being the Cubs though, the unlikely and improbable in their most negative connotations has become standard operating procedure, so the best I could muster up is some sabermetric optimism after the jump.
The Hardball Times posts batted ball type info for each player and one of those numbers is HR/F or Home Runs per Flyball. Average is usually 10% and as you can see, better times should be coming, you know, if this wasn't the Cubs:
Derrek Lee: 7.9%
Alfonso Soriano: 6.9%
Matt Murton: 3.4%
Jacque Jones: 3.4%
Cliff Floyd: 7.0%
Two of the more disappointing seasons in terms of offense for the Cubs have been Michael Barrett and Jacque Jones. Another sabermetric tenet is that a player is usually around .300 with their BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play). There are some other factors that go into that and players can have down years and career years and they can also just have a few bad months. Barrett right now stands at .258 with BABIP and has never had one lower than .290 as a Cub. Jones on the other hand is at .278 with his BABIP, down significantly from the .321 he put up last year but right in line with the .283 and .282 he put up in his last two years in Minnesota. If he is to turn it around, he's going to have rediscover his power stroke.
That's about all the optimism I can muster though until we actually start winning...um...IF we actually start winning.
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