Not Ready For Prime Time

 October 27, 2020

The Bears were abysmal before a national television audience, losing to the L.A. Rams 24-10. This game was excruciatingly painful to watch as the Bears were awful in all facets of the game. The Rams were not so much as good as the Bears were bad. With their next three games against the New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers it looks as if 5-1 will turn into 5-5.

Even the Bear defense was partially to blame.  The Bears tackling was atrocious. Rams receivers and running backs who seemed to be stopped got away for multiple yards. Rams QB Jared Goff was not spectacular, but he was able to complete passes to wide open receivers. The Rams were able to move the ball to midfield before the defense would make a stop. However, the Rams special team got down the field fast and put the Bears in deep holes. The key play of the game came late in the first half. Rookie Trevis Gipson had a chance for an interception that might have resulted in a touchdown. Instead he used one hand to knock the ball down. He has been pretty good most of the year and hopefully, he can learn from this.

You can’t have much of an offense with a second-string QB and an addled minded coach calling the plays. Every week Matt Nagy tells the media that he will incorporate the running game. Since he has no clue, all he does is run David Montgomery up the middle.  He usually gets no more than three yards a carry. He was a good collegiate player against lower tier competition but has yet to prove he is an NFL running back. The banged up offensive-line shares the blame for this problem.

When Nagy puts tight end Jimmy Graham in, he is telling opposing defenses it’s a pass play. Rookie Cole Kmet disguises the play better, as he can both block and catch passes. He had a couple of nice receptions in the first half but was not targeted the rest of the game. Foles was under constant pressure but made a couple of nice passes to get the Bears in the red zone. However, the drive stalled with a bad interception on a ball Foles should have thrown out of bounds. First and goal at the 8 yard line. Graham is in the game so the Rams know a pass is coming. Instead of being in the end zone, he catches a 3 yard pass. Inexplicably, Nagy calls a Montgomery run up the middle for maybe a yard gain. Foles is pressured and throws two incompletions and the Bears come away with no points. By the way, Montgomery did have one run that went for 8-9 yards. However, short yardage situations for the Bears are a death knell.

Bad decisions by the special teams also played a part. Cordarrelle Patterson may be a great kick returner. But it may be prudent not try to return kicks deep in the end zone. Most of the time he did reach the 25 yard where the Bears would already get the ball if he didn’t bring it out of the end zone. Most times I’m not a fan of fair catching a punt at the 10 yard line. Last night with the Rams punting near midfield it made it easier for them to cover the punts. Not once did Ted Ginn Jr, run up to make a fair catch. There is a big difference starting at your ten yard line, opposed to the five yard line.

Nothing Like the Fall Classic

 

October 20, 2020

Despite the White Sox and Cubs early elimination, the playoffs have been quite entertaining. I think back in time to when there were two 10 team leagues. This ensured that the two best teams met in the World Series. With expansion and tiered playoffs this doesn’t happen quite as often. That’s why it’s nice to see the two best teams, the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers, in this year’s series.

To this point the playoffs have had plenty of surprises and drama. The first surprise was the Yankees barrage against Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, this year’s Cy Young award winner, to win game one. Cleveland manager Sandy Alomar Jr. decided to start Carlos Corrasco over Zach Plesac in game 2 and the Yankees won 10-8. Next up were the Rays. This was an intense back and forth series that went to a fifth and deciding game. The Rays prevailed when little known Mike Brosseau homered in the eighth inning for a 2-1 Rays victory. In a best of seven series against the Houston Astros, the Rays jumped out to a three game lead. Instead of folding, the Astros won the next three. The Rays finally won the series winning game 7, 4-2. It was poetic justice as Houston was only 29-31 during the regular season.

The National League played true to form. The Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds, who didn’t belong in the playoffs, were swept by the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. The Braves swept the Marlins and it took the Dodgers four games to beat the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers were down three games to one in their best of seven series against the Braves. They would win two in a row to extend the series to 7 games. In the deciding game, the Braves made several mistakes running the bases. Cody Belinger’s homer in the seventh broke a 3-3 tie that gave the Dodgers a 4-3 victory.

Both the Dodgers and Rays are very good defensively. They also have excellent starters and equally effective bullpens.  The Dodgers seem to have a better line-up. This includes Mookie Betts, whom Chicago Tribune writer Paul Sullivan called the best player in baseball (I think it’s the Angels Mike Trout). Betts is the catalyst of their offense. The Rays have a no name line-up but it seems a different player comes through when they win.  However, keep your eye on rookie Randy Arozarena, who is hitting .382 with 7 home runs and 10 RBI this postseason. Predicting a winner is not easy. The Dodgers are the favorite, but I am rooting for the Rays.

Bears Tied For First Place

 

October 18, 2020

If anyone had told me that after six games the Bears would be 5-1 and the Vikings 1-5, I would asked what you were smoking? With the sputtering offense tied to the railroad tracks, the defense came to the rescue. The Bears are epitomizing what winning ugly means, beating the Carolina Panthers 23-16. 

For the third consecutive week, the defense surrendered only one touchdown. That came after a questionable pass interference at the goal line. All other Panther scoring drives resulted in field goals. The defense reminded me of 2018. They had a fumble recovery and two interceptions. The first interception occurred on the Panthers first possession. The Bears scored on a touchdown pass from Nick Foles to rookie tight end Cole Kmet. This was probably Foles best pass of the game. The second interception happened on the Panthers last possession, sealing a Bears win. The defense put consistent pressure on Panthers QB Teddy Bridgewater. It’s also amazing to see how much better Khalil Mack is with Akiem Hicks in the line-up. On the Bears first sack, Hicks got a hand on Bridgewater and Mack cleaned up.

If not for the defense, offensive guru Coach Matt Nagy’s offense once again doesn’t score 20 points. Last week Nagy spoke about the two good defenses the Bears played, rushing for only 63 yards. He said against the Panthers he would get the running game on track. The Bears gained 63 yards. Well at least they are consistent. David Montgomery had 19 carries for an unimpressive 58 yards. Take away his longest run of 12 yards and you get the real Montgomery. He had 18 carries for 46 yards, well under three yards per carry. A perfect example of his ineffectiveness is when the Bears had a first and goal from the three yard line. The Bears gave the ball to Montgomery twice and he didn’t reach the end zone. QB Nick Foles was supposed to have better command of the offense after having a long week of practice. Although he completed 22of 39 passes, many were that wide receiver screen that Nagy kept calling, even if it never resulted in more than a couple yards.

The Bears are winning games by the skin of their teeth. Matt Nagy’s offense is in tatters. What this shows me is the Bears need to draft a quarterback and a bruising running back. However, the personnel may not matter as long as Nagy remains the coach.

NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA HEY HEY HEY GOOD BYE

 October 14, 2020

In a stunning move, the White Sox let go of Manager Ricky Renteria. The party line from General Manager Rick Hahn was that they had a discussion and mutually accepted his release. However, I can’t imagine Renteria didn’t want to come back to manage what should be a World Series contender in 2021. In plain English, he was fired. I’ve said all along if the White Sox were going to win championships, Renteria needed to go.

Renteria made a myriad of bad moves that cost him his job. Foremost was his mishandling of the bullpen. What might have been the nail in his coffin was a must win game 4 in the last Cleveland series. Leading 4-1 in the seventh, rather than bring in Garrett Crochet, he puts in a struggling Jimmy Cordero who promptly loads the bases. After recording two outs, Renteria made the colossal mistake of bringing in Carlos Rodon. Freshly off the IL and never having pitched in this type of situation, he gives up two hits and the lead.

There are line-up issues as well. There is no justification for keeping Edwin Encarnacion in the run producing number 5 slot in the order. He was a rally killer who wound up with the worst average (.152) in the major leagues. Same could be said about Nomar Mazara. Renteria continued to start him in right field when Adam Engel was a much better option. I can’t explain why he had his best hitter batting fourth. Yasmani Grandal was out of position batting third and many times Jose Abreu had to lead off in the second inning.

The managerial position is a plum job taking over a team ready to win. A.J.Hinch, former manager of the cheating Astros, and Alex Cora, architect of the scheme are being named. Cora also managed the Red Sox under a cloud of suspicion that they were cheating. There is no way I would hire either. Sandy Alomar who has checked all the boxes and pretty much managed the Indians last year, is another candidate but doesn’t excite me.

I heard that Tony LaRussa may be interested in the job. He is a proven winner. Even at 76 years old he would be a great communicator with his players. If not LaRussa, Bruce Bochy who managed the San Francisco Giants and took them to two championships wants to manage again. I haven’t heard Mike Scioscia’s name come up however, he was/is an excellent manager who may want another shot.

The Blackhawks parted ways with two time Stanley Cup winning goaltender, Corey Crawford. Crawford was a player who came back from COVID-19 and was brilliant in the two playoff series. There were no talks or negotiations when Crawford was offered a take it or leave it offer. Crawford left it and was immediately signed by the Devils. The problem is you have no replacement. Like the Bears, you will have competition with second stringers to see who will get the bulk of the time in goal.

On offense you think about the terrific Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews.  Rookie Domonik Kubalik scored over 30 goals. In my opinion their next best offensive player was Brandon Saad. In a move motivated by money, Saad and Dennis Gilbert were traded to Colorado. The Hawks received two young mediocre defensemen. They are no better than Ollie Maata and Slater Koekkoek who are no longer with the team. General Manager Stan Bowman is excellent in handling the salary but must be held accountable for his moves that will once again keep the Hawks out of the playoffs.       

Bears Pull Upset and Beat a Good Team

 

October 9, 2020,

A couple of weeks ago I told you that the Bears would be lucky to win four games. After a stunning 20-19 upset of Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bears are now 4-1. I guess I have to alter my prediction.  Once again the Bears were able to overcome a 13 point deficit. The Bear defense should get most of the credit for this victory. They looked like the 2018 team that made the playoffs.

As the first quarter came to a close, you may have been questioning if Nick Foles should remain the Bears QB. His accuracy was atrocious, consistently missing his receivers. The Buccaneers scored a field goal on their opening possession. On the Bears second possession Foles was intercepted on a pass that 90% of the time, Allen Robinson makes the catch. This led to a touchdown. The Buccaneers tacked on another field goal to make the score 13-0. Any doubts you had about Foles, should have evaporated by the end of the half. Foles completed seven passes in a row on a 75 yard touchdown drive ending when David Montgomery ran it in from three yards out. On the   Buccaneers next possession, Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller caused running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn to fumble at the Bucs 27 yard line. With a first down at the 12 yard line, Jimmy Graham made a one-handed catch in the end zone giving the Bears a 14-13 lead. Graham now has 4 touchdowns. Last year, Bear tight ends had only two touchdowns total.

The second half belonged to the defense. The Bears have given up one touchdown in each of the last two games. The Indianapolis Colts and Buccaneers had eight drives in Bears territory and were forced to settle for field goals. Khalil Mack had his best game since the 2018 season. The teams traded field goals in the second half. After three lead changes the Buccaneers led 19-17. This is when the defense took over. After forcing a three and out the Bears started at their own 47 yard line. Foles had been hitting on deftly thrown passes most of the night. The touch on his throws were something you never saw from back-up QB Mitch Trubisky. Foles passes moved the ball so the kick would be less than forty yards. Cairo Santos hit his second field goal of the game from 36 yards out to give the Bears a 20-19 lead. There was still 1minute and13 seconds left when the Buccaneers started a drive at their 25 yard. They got no further than their own 41 and the Bears held on for the win.

Nick Foles ended up his night completing 30-42 passes for 243 yards. Allen Robinson led receivers with ten catches for 90 yards. He was also hitting receivers in stride and the Bears looked excellent running after the catch. Brady was having trouble against a fierce pass rush. He is a great quarterback. However, the Buccaneers committed several penalties and I doubt that when with the New England Patriots he ever had a first down and 30 yard situation.  He also ended the game losing track of the downs. He thought he had another play after the Bears forced an incompletion on fourth down.. His stats didn’t differ much from Foles.

Finally…

Matt Nagy once again had some bad play calls and didn’t do good job of clock management at the end of the game. Once again the Bears running game faltered. Sort of like the chicken and the egg, I can’t tell if the running backs or the offensive line is the problem, Therefore, I will place the blame on both.

Cut Foles Some Slack

 

October 5, 2020

I’ve seen enough of Mitch Trubisky to know that Nick Foles should start Thursday night against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hard to believe, Trubisky would have been worse. Foles and Bears did not so much as to lose as the Indianapolis Colts defense did to win 19-11. The Colts defense if not the best in NFL it is in the upper echelon. The Colts defense will stop better offenses but, the Bears were a piece of cake.

There were a couple of key plays in the first quarter that set the tone for the game. A blocked punt led to a short touchdown drive for the Colts.  The next big play was when Khalil Mack dropped a deflected pass that was right in his hands. The Bears could have had the ball at the Colts 20-yard line.

Foles was not helped when the Bears offense became one-dimensional, due to the Bears ineffective running game. The Bears ran the ball 16 times for 28 yards.  I can’t recall any team averaging less than two yards per carry. This forced Coach Matt Nagy to call passing plays in short yardage situations on second and third down. Nagy should have utilized his tight ends on quick short passes. However, as best, as I can recall, Nagy only targeted his tight ends once. It was puzzling that on the Bears first possession in the fourth quarter he called a run for Cordarrelle Patterson needing one yard on third down. He ended up losing a yard, forcing a Bears punt.  Maybe they miss Tarik Cohen more I thought they would.

There were some positives. After allowing a touchdown on the Colts first possession, the Bears defense was superb. They applied pressure on Colts QB Phillip River and limited the Colts to field goals 4 times in the red zone. This performance was their best of the year.  Hopefully this continues, while Foles gets more in sync with his receivers..

May Be Time For a Rebuild as Cubs Future Looks Murky

 

October 3, 2020

There’s an adage: it’s not how you start, it is how you end. The Cubs started 13-3 and they went 21-21 the rest of the way to finish the season. The Cubs cruised the N.L. Central title. The crux of their problem was hitting. I thought the bats might have awoken when they crushed White Sox pitching in the final three games. They also had their two stud starters, Kyle Hendricks and Yu Darvish, to start a best two out of three series at Wrigley Field. However, to get two victories, the Cubs would have had to shut out the Miami Marlins. The Cubs anemic offense had 1 run on four hits in game 1 and 0 runs on 5 hits in game 2, as they were swept out of the playoffs. This could be a turbulent off season for the Cubs. No one can be sure what the roster will look like next year. The architect, Theo Epstein, has one year left on his contract. Will he want to return for another rebuild?

Usually when player is in a slump, other players will pick up the slack. The Cubs problem was the whole core team was in a funk. The experiment of Kris Bryant leading off was an unmitigated disaster, as he wasn’t able to get on base. He finished with 4 homers and a .206 average. As a free agent, the injury-prone Bryant was looking for a huge money contract. With his performance and more importantly the economics of baseball, this isn’t going to happen. As I pointed out in an earlier season blog, he should have re-signed with the Cubs. They may be able to sign him for less than their original offer.

Javier Baez, hit .203 with 8 home runs. Supposed reasons for this down year were there were no fans and no in game video. These are not good excuses for striking out 75 times in 235 at-bats. Anthony Rizzo hit .222 with 11 home runs. In watching Rizzo throughout his career, I have never seen him not being able to turn around a fast ball. I thought Kyle Schwarber would have a break out year. He turned out to be the Cubs version of Edwin Encarnacion, with a.188 average and 11 home runs.* Being fair, I didn’t list RBI totals because there were so few runners on base. Ian Happ turned out to be their best hitter, but he wilted at the end of the year. Jason Heyward had his best year since signing a multi-year contract.

If there was an upside with the Cubs this year, it was the pitching. The two at the top of the rotation, Kyle Hendricks and Yu Darvish, are as good as it gets. Darvish should get strong consideration for the Cy Young award. Jon Lester may have pitched his last game as a Cub. He had some decent starts, but his ERA ballooned to 5.16 and he had only 3 wins. After your top two starters, the rotation looks shaky. You can’t rely on Tyler Chatwood or Jose Quintana to contribute.  Alec Mills and Adbert Alzolay look like your 3 and 4 starters. I have no idea at this time who would be the fifth starter.

What once seemed to be the weakest part of the team, the bullpen, did a pretty good job. The Cubs demoted Craig Kimbrel and inserted Jeremy Jeffress, who was great as their closer with 12 saves and a 1.64 ERA. The set-up men got better as the year progressed. Craig Kimbrel was also able to turn it around towards the end.

*Despite hitting only .188, Scwarber’s average was 36 points higher than Encarnacion.                    

Arrow Pointing Up For White Sox

 

October 2, 2020

Things may have been different for the White Sox with a healthy Eloy Jimenez or Garrett Crochet not coming out of game three of the playoffs with shoulder stiffness. However, despite bowing out in the first round of the playoffs 2020, year four of the rebuild was a success. After a slow start, the Sox became the most exciting team in recent memory. They were in first place with the best record in the American League, before a crash and burn in the last 10 games landed them as the seventh seed. Instead of being at home, they had to go to Oakland. The future looks bright, as year 5 of the rebuild was the goal for the Sox to be bona-fide World Series contenders. Here is a recap of the season with an eye towards 2021.

The Sox season got off to a bad start when last year’s best player Yoan Moncada, contracted COVID-19. Although he started the season, he was not the same player. It seemed throughout the course of the year his bat and feet were sluggish. He is a main cog in the line-up of one the best hitting teams. If Moncada returns to form, this offense can be much more potent.

The Sox hit more homers than any other team. MVP candidate Jose Abreu led the way with 19. He had the best 60 game stretch of his career. He was at the top of most offensive categories and had an amazing 60 RBI in 60 games. Eloy Jimenez provided power and flirted with a .300 batting average. Tim Anderson was competing for his second consecutive batting title. Rookie Nick Madrigal, who should have started the season at second, hit a whopping .340 and was the best two strike hitter in baseball.  Rookie phenom Luis Robert, was one of the Sox best hitters early in the season. But like Jimenez and Moncada, went into a typical rookie slump, striking out numerous times. He regained his stroke late in the season and played a gold glove centerfield. He showed enough, that with experience he will become one of the future stars in the game.

Lucas Giolito remained one of the league’s best pitchers. His season included a no-hitter and a dominant outing in the first game of the playoffs. If not for Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, newly acquired Dallas Keuchel would have been a Cy Young candidate. I thought Dylan Cease was going to have a breakout season. He was a major disappointment. The rest of the starters for the most part were awful. This should be one area that General Manager Rick Hahn should address. The Sox did have one of the best bullpens. Two newcomers, Codi Heuer and Matt Foster, were excellent set-up men. Alex Colome saved 12 of 13 opportunities with .084 ERA. Looking ahead, Aaron Bummer missed time on the IL. Next year he will provide a major boost as he is one of the league’s best left-handed relievers.

In the past season Rick Hahn traded and signed free agents to better the team in areas of need. With the exception of Keuchel, they were terrible. Edwin Encarnacion, was the worst DH in history with a .150 batting average. After returning from injury, Nomar Mazara hit.228 with only one homer. Yasmani Grandal hit .230. Grandal did lead the league with catcher interference calls.

When Robin Ventura resigned, rather than do a search Hahn signed assistant coach Ricky Renteria. Renteria has turned into baseball’s worst manager. There was no justification for keeping Encarnacion in the fourth or fifth spot in the line-up.  Adam Engel, who has learned to hit, was a much better option in right field than Mazara. Let me dispel any notion that Don Cooper was responsible for the choices made bringing in relievers. His job as a pitching coach is to work with pitchers. All the bad moves were made by Renteria. In the last week against Cleveland, he cost the Sox the division. In game 2 the Sox were leading 3-1 in the tenth inning. With two outs, the Indians cut the lead to one run. Renteria brings in seldom used Jose Ruiz, to face the hottest hitter in the league, Jose Ramirez. He hits a home run and the  Sox lose. The following night with the game tied, he brings in Gio Gonzalez. He has been awful most of the year. He gives a game winning home run to Ramirez and the Sox lose. The worst was yet to come. Going into the bottom of the seventh the Sox were leading 4-1.  For some unknown reason Renteria brings in Jimmy Cordero, who has been struggling.  At the time, his ERA was 5.00 (he ended up at 6.08) and this does not include inherited runners. He promptly loads the bases and then gets two outs. Renteria inexplicably replaces him with Carlos Rodon, who had just come off IL.  Even when healthy, he has been atrocious. Rodon gives a two run single. With men on first and third, Ramirez comes up. You could have given him nothing to hit. Even if he walks and you put the lead run into scoring position, you face a not as good Carlos Santana. Rodon coughs it up, throwing a get me over pitch, down in the count. Ramirez doubles off the wall, Sox lose. If the Sox really want to win Renteria must go.