Winning and Losing in Chicago

June 28, 2018

On any given day your team can win or lose. For the most part, every team wins 60 and loses 60. It’s what you do in the other 40 that counts. Every year you have exceptions to this old adage. This year the Orioles, Royals and White Sox are all poised lose 100 games.

Since my last post, the Cubs got swept by the juggernaut Cincinnati Reds. A team with World Series aspirations should not lose 4 in a row to a team 13 games under .500. It wasn’t so much losing the games as it was how ugly they were. Home runs including a grand slam to pitchers. Blowing late leads, giving up seven runs the seventh inning of game 4. Is there an explanation?

Aside from Lester most Cub starters are not getting past the 6^th inning. This puts a lot of pressure on relief pitchers arms. Worn out pitchers get hit and give up runs. As good as Pedro Strop has been he got lit up in Cincinnati. What happened to Kyle Hendricks?

I’ve always thought that injuries can devastate a good team. Happens every year. Therefore, no matter how good Baez has been they still need Kris Bryant. This is especially true with Rizzo struggling. They also need their top set-up man, Edwards, and closer Morrow to get healthy.

The Cubs redeemed themselves, splitting 4 games with the Dodgers. The Cubs have lost 6 of their last eight games and only lost a ½ game in the standings. Thank god for the lousy Central Division.

People have told me I’m too negative regarding the White Sox. After splitting with Oakland and taking 2 of 3 from Minnesota, I’m upgrading from 5 to just bad, bad, bad.

Staying positive General Manager Rick Hahn made his best move, getting rid of Trayce Thompson. Speaking of bad hitting outfielders, Engel is getting less playing time now that Avisail Garcia is back from injury. Lucas Giolito has looked great in his last 3 starts. Carlos Rodon had his best outing since coming back with 8 strong innings of two run ball. Throw in a good Dylan Covey and Reynaldo Lopez and you have 4 of 5 starters for the rebuild. You also have a couple of stud guys in the minors who can be a fifth starter.

I look at the product on the field and it makes me sad. It seems they are so far away from being competitive. If the pitching doesn’t come through you’re going to continue to lose not only now, but next year as well. They have some good young talent that won’t be ready for a while. My problem is whether ready or not they are better than who’s playing now? Play a team that has a better chance of winning. Some prospects are ready. Those that are hurt should get a little seasoning and brought up. They can’t do any worse and would be much more fun watching.

You know who the contenders are

June 22, 2018

As the Baseball season continues, it’s the time of year you can pretty much figure who the contenders are. Cleveland is the only division leader that’s a lock. As predicted, Yankees or Red Sox in East with one being a wild card. Houston has opened their lead on Seattle, which would be a wild card team as of now. California is dead.

In the National League I think it will be dog fight in the East between the Nationals and the surprising Braves. Philadelphia is at least a year away. The main reason the Diamondbacks have resisted the Dodgers strong push is first baseman Paul Goldschmiidt breaking out of his slow start. In the last 15 games he’s batting .459, on base .542, slugging .984 with 8 HR and 20 RBI.

The Chicago Cubs have gone 5-5 in last 10 and trail Milwaukee by one game. I don’t know when the Cubs will get hot and blow by this team. Last year it was after the all-star break. However, Cub fans want the streak to happen now. I thought this might have happened after taking two of three from the Dodgers. Then they lose to the moribund Cincinnati Reds.

The pitching has been steady with Mike Montgomery replacing Yu Darvish in the rotation. Hats off to Jon Lester who I thought was on the decline. He doesn’t have the 98mph fastball or trick pitches. He has great command which is why he is 9-2 with a 2.10 ERA . They also need a healthy Morrow. Where was Strop? Justin Wilson your plane is boarding.

The biggest problem I see is the offense goes AWOL. What’s puzzling is in some games they score a lot of runs (348) and are hitting .259. Maybe it’s a feast or famine thing. What pleases most Cub fans is the hitting of Jason Hayward. With right field looking okay, it’s time for Theo work out a deal for Manny Machado and ensure a place in the World Series.

.

The biggest question for White Sox fans. When do the Bears start training camp? After winning a series against Milwaukee and Boston and splitting with Minnesota and Cleveland, I thought maybe the Sox were improving. Well, they are in the midst of a seven game losing streak. This a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad baseball team. I liked the idea of rebuilding, although this will take many years with all the holes on this team.

There are only two position players worth keeping, Abreu and Moncada. Even though all prospects do not make it (unless they are Theo Epstein’s) I would not yet consider Moncada a bust. He has shown signs of promise, especially before a 10 day absence due to an injury. However, the 102 strikeouts in only 255 at bats is very disconcerting. Defensively challenged, and a .231 average, second to Moncada, with 82 strikeouts is shortstop Tim Anderson. He has to be replaced.  Third Baseman Yomar Sanchez may be good for your club house, but not in your line up. He needs to go. Too bad the rebuild shows no replacements on the horizon. The whole minor league outfield has to go. Jimenez will replace one, others may be ready in two years. Top prospect Robert is in A ball. Catching is another position where the top prospect Zach Collins is in AA ball.

With first year pitchers in the rotation, you knew there would be ups and downs. Too bad there were more downs. Carson Fulmer is so down he is now in the minors looking for his control on the major league level; Gioloto is looking for his. Lopez and Covey have at times looked good with ups outweighing the downs. Rodon, not quite back from DL is getting stronger. They should all improve with a year of experience. If not, they have a slew of young pitchers, some of whom may be ready. Expect a major improvement when James Shields is gone. The relief pitching has gotten better with Rondon and Fry. Soria is doing a great job as a closer and therefore he will be flipped at the trading deadline.

Exciting Baseball for Cubs, White Sox

June 12, 2018

There are many people who think baseball is boring. The games move slow, not enough runs etc. However, regardless if you love the game, there has been plenty of excitement in Chicago.

The Cubs coming off a successful road trip, albeit against bad competition, came home against a good Philadelphia Phillies team for three games. The Cubs lost the first game, ending their four game win streak. It looked as though they would lose game two. They coughed up a three run lead. Brandon Morrow was brought on with the game tied and proceeded to give up his first homer as a Cub, leaving them two behind. The Cubs mounted a comeback loading the bases with one out. Zobrist hits a weak grounder to the pitcher for force out at home. Cub fans groan because coming up is the under-achieving Jason Heyward hitting .129 against left hand pitching. In what seemed like an eternity the count goes to 2-2. Heyward hits the walk off grand slam. Talk about excitement. Wrigley goes bananas.

This propels them to win 3 more in a row. This streak ends when the great Joe Maddon pinch hits for Hendricks in the FIFTH with the Cubs only one behind. Runners on first and second and no outs, you let your pitcher bunt. La Stella may be a great pinch hitter, the operative word being pinch. Save him for later, but Joe burns that option as he grounds into a double play. The next game against the Brewers would turn out better. In a great pitching duel, Cubs score one in the eighth to tie the game with a single by Jason Heyward against one of the top left handed relievers, Josh Hader. Not many teams are going to beat the Cubs in a battle of bullpens. Cubs win an extra inning thriller.

One of the reasons the Cubs are a good team is great defense, just look at the Ian Happ game of three electrifying catches. Almora gets to everything in the center and Heyward makes hard catches look easy. The infield is strong especially up the middle. The catcher picks people off and shuts down running games. This is fun to watch.

The White Sox were even more exciting than the Cubs. After taking 2 of 3 against the Brewers, they went to Minnesota. They should have won the first game. Their best pitcher, Reynaldo Lopez, goes 7 innings giving no runs on two hits. For some inexplicable reason Ricky Renteria brings in Nate Jones who blows the game as only he can. They win two of the next three for a split against a team that usually gives them trouble.

More excitement at Fenway Park in Boston. What are the odds that Dylan Covey would out-duel Chris Sale? The Sox manufactured one run and that’s all they needed. Covey goes 6 innings, the improving relief shuts down the best hitting team in baseball. Game 2 Carlos Rodon looked really good and was getting better as the game wore on, which is a good omen. He could possibly have gotten the win if not for porous defense committing 3 errors. Game 3 featured another strong performance by Lopez. Six strong innings of 1 run baseball. Tim Anderson makes a heads up play scoring from second on a infield ground ball to give the Sox a 3-1 lead. In the seventh inning, after a walk, Renteria puts in Nate Jones. He gets one out, walks a batter and hits another to load the bases. Maybe Renteria is learning as he pulls Jones before he can do more damage. Jason Fry overcomes an error and gets out of the jam and pitches the the 8^th. With the Sox leading 3-2, Daniel Palka, who is among the leaders in exit velocity, crushes a 2 run double in the 9^th for insurance. Soria goes 3 up-3 down for the save.

The Sox are playing much better, winning 4 out of 6 games against teams with the best records in the National and American Leagues. The hitters for the most part are struggling, and the defense is lousy. However, they are getting some good starting pitching and with the exception of Nate Jones, the relief has improved greatly. The additions of Fry, Rondon and Soria are the primary reasons. They also have been getting good situational use from Volstad, Avilan and newly called up Xavier Cedeno.  While this may make fans happy, but better things are up ahead. But, they probably still lose 100 games.

A Tale of Two Teams

  June 5, 2018

Cub fans led by Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan are all giddy regarding the Cubs recent 5-1 road trip.  In the words of Seth Meyers let’s take a closer look.

The Cubs split a brief two game series with the mediocre and fading fast Pirates. Losing the second game with their powerful offense scoring one run. The next four games were against the awful Mets. This team has one of the worst line ups in baseball.  They have scored 231 runs. For comparison the Cubs have 293. Aside from Chatwood the Mets scored 2 runs in three games The Cubs couldn’t hit deGrom but no one does. He is one of the best pitchers as he leads the league in ERA. My favorite is game four of the series. The Cubs didn’t hit much but the Earl Weaver play of the pick off to first resulted in Baez stealing home. The second run, a sacrifice short fly could have been averted if the right fielder calls off the second baseman to make the catch. Ah you can’t beat fun at the old ball park.

I know you have to play the schedule, just don’t get too excited about dominating the Mets. On a more promising note the bullpen has been really good and Brandon Morrow up to this point a great closer. This bodes well in today’s game where winners have to possess great relief pitching.

The Cubs can thank the White Sox playing their best games of the year, taking two of three from the Brewers shrinking their lead to two. Dylan Covey looks like he has figured things out after getting pounded last year. He is now the mix along with Carlos Rodon coming back this weekend against Boston. This series has all the makings of a disaster. Boston is the best team in baseball, the other Sox one of the worst.

 The Brewers are one of those teams following the lead of the great bullpen that led Kansas to a World Series title.  They have pitchers to cover the 7^th 8^th and 0^th innings. However, if you get the starters out early or have the game tied, the middle relief is very beatable. The White Sox won beating up on two former Sox relievers Matt Albers and Dan Jennings. Contrary, the Sox finally got some good relief pitching.

The hitting has been spotty at best. Moncada hasn’t got his stroke back after going on the DL. To combat his high strike out totals, it’s good to see him more aggressive earlier in counts. Abreu  leads the league in doubles andis hitting close to .300. Would like to see more home runs. Danny Polka can hit and would be a perfect DH but that means a bad Trayce Thompson plays. Don’t look now Adam Engel is hitting over.220. Considering he was well under .200 this is good. Probably this won't last.

 The Seattle Mariners are in first place one game ahead of the Astros in the AL West. Although this is surprising let me tell you why. Jean Segura .331 and Dee Gordon .296 , 19 stolen bases set the table for Mitch Heniger 42 RBI and .871 OPS  and the always dangerous Nelson Cruz. This line up

gets even better when Robinson Cano returns. The starting pitchers led by James Paxton who has a no-hitter and Felix Hernandez who is starting to look like his old self. The Mariners also have the best relief pitching to cover the latter innings. James Pazos, 1.99 ERA, Chasen Bradford 1.31 ERA ad Edwin Diaz 21 saves and 2.84 ERA.