Dog Days of August

 August 3, 2018

In prior seasons the Chicago Cubs have gone on a tear after the all-star break. This year they are struggling. Their lead has shrunk to one game. They do however have a three game lead in the loss column. There are chinks in the armor and the pennant race may go down to the wire.

I’m not ready to anoint Cole Hamels as the savior. He pitched extremely well in his Cub debut. The only problem is like other Cub starters he didn’t make it to the sixth inning. Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana are guilty of this problem. Montgomery hasn’t pitched this many innings previously in his career and who knows how long he will last. You can wear out your bullpen before the September. Chasing the Cubs are the Brewers. Needing to shore up their pitching the Brewers added hitters to their team, not the pitching they desperately need to compete with the Cubs. They did acquire Joakim Soria for relief help.

In a loss Thursday night to the dreadfully awful San Diego Padres I believe you saw the real Jesse Chavez who along with other relievers stumbled in a six to one loss. Once again the hitting disappeared, the Cubs amassing only three hits. No one knows when Kris Bryant or Brandon Morrow will return. Cub fans are getting antsy and maybe losing a little confidence.  Alas, your next six games are against the aforementioned Padres and an even worse Kansas City Royals team. The Cubs, for the most part, feast on bad teams.

There is only one question regarding the White Sox. Will they promote Eloy Jimenez and Michael Kopech? The answer seems to be NO! General Manager, Rick Hahn, said so mumbo jumbo about a checklist which they haven’t completed. There are numerous players on the current roster that never completed that check list. The other reason at issue is they don’t want to lose service and keep them under control. I’m sure I get this but I think it’s a matter of six years instead of seven.  My question is if these players are as good as advertised woudn’t you want work out a contract after three years and have control for years to come? I think the Whte Sox owe to the suffering fan base to field the best team possible. Damn the checklist and service time.

Meanwhile, on the field, Carlos Rodon is showing he can be one of the top pitchers in the league. He is worth the price of admission. After the worst slump of his years in baseball, Jose Abreu is starting to be himself again. His eye and power have returned. Manager Ricky Renteria, needs to come to the realization that Danny Palka, not Matt Davidson should be the designated hitter, especially against what he can be. The problem for me is I expected him to improve as the season progressed, but he hasn’t. I know he’s a rookie and is learning. Someone needs to tell him that with two strikes some pitches are too close to take. You try to get a piece, maybe foul it off and get another pitch. He seems to be striking out looking..

right hand pitchers. Renteri also has to realize who’s on the opposing team’s bench when doing his matchup thing. Top prospect Yoan Moncada is striking out at a record pace. I have seen glimpses of