Bears Banking on the Defense and Mitch Trubisky Improving

August 27, 2019

Chicago Cub fans are getting worried; White Sox fans are waiting to see if they promote Luis Robert. Therefore, it’s time to talk about the Chicago Bears. After one more ennui inducing exhibition game, the Bears start the season in earnest September 5 against the Green Bay Packers.

The strength of the Bears is the defense. With a few exceptions, the same cast that stymied offenses last season are back. Pro bowler Akiem Hicks, underrated nose tackle Eddie Goldman and Jonathan Bullard or second year lineman Bilal Nichols round out the front three. They put pressure on opposing quarterbacks and are great run stoppers.  General Manager, Ryan Pace has put together the best line-backing crew in the NFL.  Khalil Mack, arguably the best defensive player, is one outside linebacker. On the other side is Leonard Floyd.  After shedding a hand cast he wore for the first few weeks last season, he was terrific. He looked like he was worth moving up to the number nine overall pick in 2016. I expect him to have a break-out season. Danny Trevathen was an excellent acquisition. He seems to be always around the ball. The other inside man, is last year’s rookie sensation Roquan Smith. After missing most of the pre-season, he led the Bears with 121 tackles. There is just no telling on how good he can be. The secondary is also tremendous. Cornerback Prince Amukamara doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. How many times have you heard his name called getting beaten by receivers? The other corner is all-pro Kyle Fuller. Second year safety Eddie Jackson made the pro bowl.  Newly acquired veteran HaHa Clinton-Dix rounds out the secondary. The only other new comer is 8 year veteran Buster Skrine, taking over for oft injured Nickelback Bryce Callahan.  Having this defense wins games.

Riding the coattails of Vic Fangio’s defense, Matt Nagy was voted coach of the year. If there is any uncertainty, it is his offense. His main objective is to make quarterback Mitch Trubisky being worthy of being a number two overall pick in 2017.  With year two in the same offense, I do expect things to slow down, making him more comfortable. If he vastly improves, the Bears will be tough to beat. Pace has surrounded him with some good receivers. A completely healthy Allen Robinson, speedy Taylor Gabriel and Anthony Miller. It looks like Tight End Trey Burton will be ready to play. Trubisky will also have pass catchers creating mismatches out of the backfield.  Last year the running game was non –existent in Nagy’s pass happy offense. Traded Jordan Howard was made the scapegoat. Nagy just couldn’t figure out how to use him. He was calling pass plays when he only needed three yards or sometimes even less for a first down. This directly led to last year’s first game loss to the Packers (Aaron Rodgers was another reason). The Bears have added Mike Davis from Seattle and drafted David Montgomery from Iowa State, to join Tarik Cohen in the backfield. With Nagy I expect they will have a big part in the passing attack.

Special Teams could be a problem. They did sign receiver Cordarrelle Patterson to return kickoffs. He averaged 29 yards per return. Tarik Cohen can return punts. However, the kicking game could be a problem.  The present kicker is untested Eddy Pineiro.

The problem with going 12-4 is it makes your schedule much tougher. You face playoff teams in your conference, The New Orleans Saints, L.A. Rams and Dallas Cowboys. The AFC opponents are in the West Division with the high flying offenses of the Kansas City Chiefs and L.A. Chargers, both playoff teams. It will be interesting to see if the Bears can stifle these offenses. If the Bear offense even slightly improves, they should be fine. The key is dominating their division, in which they were 5-1 last year. Circle September 15 on your calendar when the Bears face former defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio’s Denver Broncos.  

Will the Cubs Reach the Playoffs? Will the White Sox Bring Up Luis Robert?

August 19, 2019

Exhibition football games are garbage. Therefore, we’ll talk baseball before delving into Bears related items prior to their next real game.

I know this sounds like a broken record but the Cubs’ struggles on the road continue. They went 4-6 on the road against mediocre competition. I was not paying much attention when the Cubs started the road trip with a four game set against the Cincinnati Reds. Although the Reds aren’t very good, they seem to always cause the Cubs problems. They split the four game series.

The road tour turned into a nightmare when they traveled to Philadelphia to play the Phillies. To illustrate how good the Phillies are, they lost two out of three to the White Sox. The Cubs bullpen is a disaster. In game one they gave up a run in the seventh and eighth innings, wasting a good start by Jose Quintana, losing 4-2. Next night the game was over after Cole Hamels gave up seven runs in the first inning as the Cubs clobbered 11-1. In the ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet department’, game three was the most disheartening of the series. Yu Darvish pitched seven scoreless innings and left the game with a 5-0 lead. The Cubs bullpen gave up one run in the 8^th inning and a Bryce Harper grand slam capped off a six run inning for 7-5 Phillies victory.

The story remained the same against the last place Pittsburgh Pirates as the Cubs blew another save and ended up losing 3-2. Thanks to excellent pitching performances by Jon Lester and Jose

Quintana, the Cubs won the next two games.

The Cubs are now tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for first place. Playing their few games at home should keep them atop the division. However, there are still road games left and they are tied for most road losses in the league with Miami with 39. Even if they reverse their fortunes on the road, they still will be hard pressed to make it to the post season. The Cubs brass knew the bullpen needed fixing at the beginning of the year. Pedro Strop flopped, Carl Edwards Jr. has been traded and Brandon Morrow is not coming back. Not only will manager Joe Maddon be gone, there will more moves needed to keep the Cubs competitive for the next few years

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Who thought Ivan Nova would be the White Sox best pitcher after the all-star break? In his past five starts he is 4-0 with a 0.49 ERA. The White Sox were just looking for someone to eat up innings and he wasn’t considered as a part of the rebuild. If he continues to perform anywhere near this level, the Sox will be forced to have him in the 2020 rotation. This should not preclude them from going after a pitcher via trade or free agency as they have no depth when it comes to starting pitching.  The back end of the bullpen with Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome have been excellent. The Cubs would be running away with their division with this bullpen. Alas, getting them into the game with a lead has been a problem.  I can’t remember the last time Jace Fry retired the first man he faced, usually a left handed batter. His only job is to retire left hand batters. Evan Marshall has reverted to the real Marshall and is currently having problems. The Sox need to look to acquire some set up relievers.

A major positive, it looks like Eloy Jimenez is starting to figure things out. Finally overcoming his latest injury he is stinging the ball. Although his average isn’t where you would like it to be, he still has 22 home runs in only 88 games. Next year should be very exciting with a year of experience under his belt. . The only problem is he is a butcher in left field. He needs to greatly improve or be a designated hitter for the next 15 years.

I see where Luis Robert had another nice night with two homers. I think General Manager Rick Hahn should reward the fans’ patience during the rebuild. Bring him up in September. He is definitely ready and getting some games in against major league pitching should make it easier to start off well next year.

Cubs Road Woes Continue White Sox Woes on the Road and at Home

August 1, 2019

What looked like a promising season has turned into an unmitigated disaster for the White Sox. Since the all-star break they are 4-16. The biggest problem is they aren’t hitting. Then again, they faced some quality pitching. Injuries to Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez didn’t help and the offense is not clicking.

Things are looking bleaker with an injury to their best hitter, Yoan Moncada. The only positive is the resurgence of starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez who has a 2.05 ERA in four starts. Lopez, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech make up a good staff for 2020.

What infuriates me the most is General Manager Rick Hahn’s refusal to promote deserving prospects. Last year it was Jimenez; this year it’s Luis Robert. He is better than any outfielder on the current major league roster. I have seen Moncada struggle until he got some experience. Despite 17 home runs, Jimenez is struggling but this experience will help him become the hitter they expect. Therefore, why not get Robert some taste of the major leagues? I also don’t understand the fascination with second baseman, Yomar Sanchez. Hopefully, first round draft pick Nick Madrigal, recently promoted to AAA gets a chance to be the starter next year.

 I could point out mistake after mistake by Manager Ricky Renteria. Since getting burned a couple years ago by a suicide squeeze bunt, Renteria has fallen in love with what is known as a safety squeeze. In the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Mets, down by a run, there were men on second and third and there no outs. So, instead of letting the first batter Leurie Garcia hit, he calls for a safety squeeze.  Garcia misses on the first attempt, falls behind in the count and strikes out.  Next up, Jon Jay, also bunts and pops the ball up. The ball lands but because it was a safety squeeze, the runners stay put and the bases are loaded. Predictably, Jose Abreu grounds into a double play to end the inning.

Abreu has been awful. After being one of the top RBI leaders, he has only 7 since the all-star break. His average continues to plummet and his strikeouts are increasing.  He has consistently failed with runners on base. The problem is his replacement was just drafted and knowing Hahn, he won’t be promoted for at least three years.

 I thought it would be hard to find someone worse than Yonder Alonso, the DH at the beginning of the year. His replacements are worse. A.J. Reed is hitting .150. In 44 official at-bats, he has struck out 21 times. It doesn’t get much better from the right-side. Welington Castillo is hitting .180. This spot has been a hole in the line-up since Jim Thome.

The Cubs recently completed a dismal 3-6 road trip. They limp home competing with the Miami Marlins for the worst road record in the National League. They trail a hot St. Louis Cardinals team by one game. Milwaukee can’t seem to string any wins together and are two games back. Ninety wins may be all it takes to win this tightly contested division.  With 54 games left, the Cubs would have to go 33-21 to reach 90. Of the remaining games, half are road games. If their away game struggles persist, they will not win the division. The wild card may be a possibility but there several teams competing for those spots

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This last trip had some excruciating losses. Bullpen implosions allowed teams to win in their last at bat. The starting pitching has been very good. What I thought was a good bullpen has blown 20 saves. Early season closer, Pedro Strop has been bad. Strop has lost his set-up man role. Carl Edwards Jr. has been traded. They signed premier closer Craig Kimbrel who has been good, not great. There’s always some drama when he comes in to close. One of the most heartbreaking losses was Kimbrel protecting a 10^th inning one run lead against the Milwaukee Brewers.  It only took him three batters to lose the game. It is  not a crime to be taken deep by Chris Yelich tying the game. It is a crime to walk Tyler Saladino. Next batter, Keston Hiura hit a two run, walk-off homer. This was emblematic of the road trip.

The Cubs are also having troubles scoring runs. This belies the numbers they are putting up. Jason Heyward is having his best season as a Cub. Wilson Contreras is having a career year. Anthony Rizzo is on pace to surpass last year’s home runs and RBI totals. Although not the terror he was last year, Javier Baez leads the team with 25 home runs. Kris Bryant was having a good year. However, since his knee injury has just 3 hits in 23 at bats.

This is the time of the year the games become more crucial. The Cubs should be bolstered by the return of Cole Hamels. Bryant getting healthy and returning to form would be a big plus. Acquiring

Nick Castellanos is a good move; Derek Holland is not.