Saturday, May 26, 2018

Chicago Baseball Update

May 25, 2018

It’s not hard to figure out what’s going on with the Cubs. In a recent stretch of ten games, all against last place teams, the Cubs went 8-2. They should have swept the White Sox, but the great Joe Maddon likes the contact play with no outs and had two runners cut down at home plate.  They also played the first place Braves and Indians and went 1-4. What all this means is it's a good thing is they play in the NL central with their inter-league schedule against the worst division in baseball, the AL Central. So they may not be playing good baseball but there are enough bad teams to feast on. 

The pitching, aside from a couple of glitches, has been good; the hitting has been somewhat anemic. Rizzo is too good of a hitter to be in a funk all year. He’ll be just fine. The question is how long do you keep going with Heyward in right?  I know he is outstanding defensively, but adds nothing to a struggling offense. The team is much better off with a combination of Happ, Almora and Zobrist.

As they did with Jose Quintana, the Cubs should be a making a pitch for Machado well before the deadline. Otherwise, they could be competing with other teams. He could be their best offensive player and is only 26 years old. With Joe as the manager he can be a great lead-off man.

I hate baseball players who are cheaters. What gets to me is players like Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are still making money on the game they cheated on. Which brings us to Welington Castillo, the latest cheater suspended for 80 games. He is not a free agent trying for a monster contract next year. Funny thing is, even with PEDs he is barely mediocre .When he comes back in August he should be second string. He is not part of the future.

Injuries are taking its toll on what is already a bad team, destined to lose well in excess of 100 games. However, some positives have emerged. New right fielder Danny Palka is a much better option than Trayce Thompson and his .119 batting average. Starter Reynaldo Lopez has been outstanding. They have discovered two competent relief pitchers, Rondon and Fry, although Renteria keeps using Nate Jones as their closer. Abreu is doing what he does after his usual slow start. Moncada looks like he is starting to get use to major league pitching.

General Manager Rick Hahn has done a pretty good job in acquiring top notch prospects. However, I  wish he would forget about service time and put the best product on the field. This means players like Eloy Jimennez will only get a September call up and begin 2019 in AAA until at least May. Luis Robert may be young and raw but has to better than Adam Engel. 

P.S In my last post I had written the Dodgers off. However, with Arizona 1-9 in their last 10 games,
Colorado is in first place and the Dodgers are only 3 ½ back. This swift change is why I love baseball.

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Around the Horn


May 19, 2018

Now that the weather has warmed up and fewer games are being cancelled, the baseball season is taking shape. The good teams are starting to play well along with some surprises..

At this point the Houston Astros have a 3 game lead. The Angels with the additions of Upton, Kinsler and baseball’s best player, Mike Trout, are keeping them close, playing .568 baseball.  The pitching has been much better than anticipated.  The Mariners have also played well. If they have a lead after 6 innings, their dynamite relief pitching will shut teams down. Losing their best player Cano to PEDs will hurt wild card chances. Talking about AL West would not be complete without a Shohei Ohtani update. He’s 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA. In 90 at  bats, he’s hitting .321 with 6 homers and 17 RBI.

As expected, the Yankees and Red Sox are dogging it out in the AL East owning the two best records in the majors. This should be close until the end. So far the best player in the game has been Boston’s Mookie Betts. He leads the league in batting average and is among the leaders in home runs. He has 30 RBI in the lead off position and has a 10 point lead in runs scored. The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays are good teams that would be fighting for the lead in the AL Central.

In what is probably the worst division, the Cleveland Indians are in first place at 23-22.  Minnesota got side tracked by 3 straight cancellations and should get better. Right now a bad Detroit team is in second.  The Royals are are terrible and the White Sox just suck.

Last year it seems the Dodgers over achieved. Career years and great pitching got them to the World Series. However, injuries have really hurt this team and the rest of the players aren’t stepping up. There is still time, but it will hard catching the Diamondbacks and Rockies. Even with Goldschmidt not clicking on all cylinders, the Diamondbacks' pitching has them in first place. The Rockies with their great line up are right behind. The Giants with the acquisitions of Longoria and McCutchen have improved and are 3 ½ games out, 4 in front of the Dodgers.

While the Mets are starting to fade, the rebuilt Braves and homer happy Phillies are 1-2 in the NL East. While I expect the Phillies to fade, the Braves can make it tough for Washington (now 1 ½ games out) to repeat as division champs. What I thought was a joke could turn out to be the most interesting of the pennant races.

The NL central is really bunched right now. Three teams within 2 ½ games. I can’t see anyone but the Cubs winning this division, well at least on paper. St. Louis and Milwaukee don’t possess a line up as good. Rizzo will get back on track so the Cubs will be stronger. The starting pitching, even with Yu Darvish is better than their competitors. The bullpen with knock down closer Morrow is good enough.  Recent stretch of 7 out of 10 versus Miami, Chicago and Cincinnati doesn’t hurt. All are last place teams.

Friday, May 11, 2018

The two faces of Chicago baseball

May 11, 2018

The Cubs remind me of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Not to worry. The Dr. Jekyll will be the dominant personality of this team that will make the post season. The pitching has been solid. The starters are doing their jobs. The acquisition of Morrow as your closer has worked out very well. That being said, the pitching gave them a five game winning streak with little help from the bats. Aside from Darvish, the pitching was good, just not good enough to avoid a five game losing streak as the hitters continued to struggle. The Cubs may not be playing their best, however their fortunes have changed. The bats awoke in the three game sweep of the Marlins. They should win three more in row against the lousy White Sox.

The only thing to worry about is this team has never hit good pitching. In the 2015 divisional playoffs, they lost four straight to great pitching of the Mets. Playing the what if game; do they win the World Series if the Indians had both Kluber and Carasco?  In 2017, do they get past the Nationals if Scherzer is healthy? You saw what happened when the bats were colder than April weather against the Dodgers. Alas, these are things you don’t have to fret about until October.

For Cub fans, here’s the dream: when trade season starts, obtain and sign Machado. You have the cash, so make sure you sign free agent Bryce Harper. You’ll have the most potent offense in baseball. 
   
You’ve heard the slogan, "Ricky’s boys don’t quit." You've also heard the White Sox give you 27 outs. The problem is they give the opponents 30 outs. This is probably the worst defense in baseball. Look around, balls bouncing off catcher's mitts; back handing pitches in the dirt. They say Castillo can throw but doesn’t get the chance. The stolen base has, for the most part, become a lost art. The first man is adequate, the second baseman is learning and third base has been pretty good. Shortstop Anderson made 17 errors last year and hasn’t gotten any better. To compensate, he has to do a lot better with his hitting.

Nicky Delmonico is the worst defensive left fielder since Ralph Garr. Ground balls are consistently over run or bobbled. His routes on balls to his right are terrible. At least Garr hit .300 and has stolen bases. By trading Saladino you would be hard pressed to find someone worse. Say hello to Trayce Thompson. Thought to be a good defensive outfielder, you see bad routes and catchable balls bouncing off the outfield fence. His batting average is less than Adam Engel’s .167, the only really good defensive player.

For Sox fans, the call up of Eloy Jimenez can’t come fast enough. He may need development but is still better than any outfielder they have.  Meanwhile, Michael Kopech lingers in the minors. With Rodon coming back and Dylan Cease on the rise, has there been any thought given to making Kopech a relief pitcher? This is something they clearly lack and Kopech has closer stuff.