May 2010

(awesome illustration from Tim Souers of Cubby Blue, click on the image for the full-size)

More after the jump...

What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay there but it’s no secret what Andrew Cashner’s been up to so what the hell… Last night the ladder-climbing right-hander pitched the Iowa Cubs to a 6-1 victory in his first start at the Triple A level, working six innings of one-run ball while surrendering five hits [four singles and a double] and a walk to go with six strikeouts [four of them swinging]. Cashner threw 89 pitches and most impressively retired the last seven hitters he faced after giving up his only run to tie the game at one in the bottom of the fourth. He left runners at second and third in that frame and then breezed through his last two innings. The win was Iowa’s third straight and the second consecutive that included a three run homer by the awakening Micah Hoffpauir. Sam Fuld and Darwin Barney have gotten hot at the top of the order and boosted their BA’s over .300. Chad Tracy went hitless last night after getting six hits in his first two games with the I-Cubs, but still drew a pair of walks and scored twice.

So what happens with Cashner? Starting pitching hasn’t exactly been the problem in Chicago. Does he settle in for a summer in Des Moines or will they start shuttling him between there and Chicago and the rotation and the bullpen a la the deep threat, among so many others?

The organization appears to be in transition in more ways than who signs the checks. Will a deadline trade of Lilly, for instance, open a spot in the rotation for Cashner. Are head games being played with Not Quite So Big Z to get him to not only waive his no-trade, but in fact demand a trade?

Losers of seven of their last eight games and four in a row, the Cubs try to salvage the finale of the three-game series with the Marlins.

From my office window, I see lots of clouds, fog, and in the alley behind Mr. Beef, a couple guys who look like they're ready to start throwing punches. Forecast says there's a 70% chance of rain by 3pm. I foresee a nearly 100% probability that I'll be disgusted by the second inning.

Today's lineup against the Marlins is Fukudome, Theriot, Byrd, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Soto, Castro and Wells. I understand giving your vets a chance to break out of their slumps and all, but moving them down in the order when you have Soriano and Soto hitting the way they are isn't going to really hurt anyone's feelings. And if they do, fuck them.

Anyway, I was curious if leaving Lee and Ramirez in the middle of the order to kill rallies is one of the worse or the worst thing we've seen since Dusty Baker.

Pin-Chieh Chen had two hits and scored a run, Rafael Disla reached base twice and scored two runs, and Sergio Burruel drove-in two runs with a sacrifice fly and a double, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough offense as one squad of EXST Giants defeated one squad of EXST Cubs 6-3 on Field #1, while over on Field #2, the other squad of EXST Cubs managed only one run on two hits against the other squad of EXST Giants in a game that finished in a 1-1 tie, in a Cactus League Extended Spring Training split-squad doubleheader played at Indian School Park in Scottsdale this morning. Both games were stopped after seven innings, and the games were played simultaneously.

Alvaro Ramirez smashed a three-run home run and Yao-Lin Wang and Marcos Perez each threw three innings of shutout ball, but the EXST A’s rallied from a four-run 7th inning deficit and played the EXST Cubs to a 6-6 tie in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action at Papago Park Field #2 in Phoenix this morning.

As virtually all of Cub Nation has probably already heard, the Cubs have summoned 20-year-old Starlin Castro to the bigs. He's in tonight's lineup in Cincinnati, hitting eighth. Ryan Theriot is moving over to second. Chad Tracy, meanwhile, has been banished to Iowa, Andrew Cashner has been promoted to Iowa from Tennessee, and Josh Vitters has been moved up to Tennessee from Daytona.

Back to the game tonight. Here's the batting order that will go up against the Reds' Homer Bailey:

Unbeaten Randy Wells (3-0, 3.45) matches up with lefty Brian Burres (1-1) as the Cubs try to avoid their first sweep at the hands of the Pirates since 2006. Burres comes into the game with an ERA of 6.00, i.e., about 7 runs per game lower than Charlie Morton, who frustrated the Cubs last night.

A couple wrinkles in the Cubs batting order tonight (aren't there always?):

Cubs: Theriot 6, Byrd 8, Lee 3, Nady 9, Ramirez 5, Soriano 7, Soto 2, Baker 8, Wells 1

Pirates: Iwamura 4, LaRoche 5, McCutchen 8, Jones 3, Doumit 2, Church 9, Milledge 7, Cedeno 7, Burres 1

Finally, this interesting, depressing tweet from @CarrieMuskat: "#Cubs batting .251 on road, but if subtract Milw series 4/23-25 stats, they're only hitting .220 away from Wrigley."

Sunday night will mark the unofficial end of the Cubs' early-season Cupcake Schedule, which included games against:

• Atlanta (3 away)
• Cincy (6 away)
• Brewers (3 home, 3 away)
• Houston (3 home)
• Metropolitans (4 away)
• Washington (3 home)
• Arizona (4 home)
• Pirates (3 away)

The Cubs managed only four hits (all singles), as the EXST A’s nipped the EXST Cubs 2-1 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training action at Fitch Park Field #3 in Mesa this morning.

UPDATE: I added two new charts at the bottom in the appropriate bar format as requested.

The Cubs are about a month into the season, let's take a look at some of their offensive peripheral numbers to see who's likely to regress or progress.

The $18M Set-Up Man

"The bottom line is that at this particular time, it makes us a better club. [Zambrano] didn't throw poorly. [Silva and Gorzelanny], their arsenal isn't conducive to going to the pen. ... There's no agenda at all except it was the best fit at the time. He's capable of doing it." - Jim Hendry

Sunk Costs

"You can't worry about anybody's individual salary. Things change. People adjust. We're going to have an injury or two along the way and we'll adjust to that. ... Nobody ever breaks camp with the 25 in the same role and just run the table, win 100 and goes to the playoffs. To get hung up on what somebody makes or what they used to do or what's going to happen a month from now or who you're going to acquire, that's foolish thinking." - Jim Hendry

Three weeks and 19 games into 2010 Cactus League Extended Spring Training, here are the unofficial statistics for EXST Cubs players.

Because there is no Official Scorer at the games, none of the stats are considered official, although they are useful in determining which players have had the most--and least--success on the field so far.