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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.