Cubs, White Sox Pitching Problems

  May 28, 2019

After stumbling in the beginning of the season, the Chicago Cubs were the hottest team in baseball. Recently things are not running as smoothly. The Cubs have lost 8 of their last 13 and their first place lead has shrunk to the smallest of margins. What has happened to this team whom many people thought would play a big part inn the post season?

The pitching has been awful.  Jon Lester and Cole Hamels are giving up runs in bunches. Neither has made it past the fourth inning in their las two starts. The usually steady Kyle Hendricks has lasted only 6 and 5.2 innings in his last two starts. Jose Quintana hasn’t lasted seven innings since April 23. The enigma that is Yu Darvish , seems to be improving. He couldn’t get any worse. In his last outing he pitched a season high seven innings. With so few innings. Cub starters are taxing already suspect relievers. The imminent return of Pedro Strop should help a beleaguered bullpen which leads the league with eleven blown saves. The only positive is Tyler Chatwood’s resurgence. He has overcome his wildness and is becoming the pitcher the Cubs thought he would be.

Thank goodness the Cubs are hitting or they could have been in real trouble. Antony Rizzo is having an excellent year, with clutch home runs and RBI. Javier Baez s picking up from last year but still has to cut down on his strikeouts (He had five Monday in Houston).  Wilson Contreras could be the come-back player of the year. Kris Bryant was putting up MVP caliber numbers but is now injured.

Cub Manager Joe Maddon must be insane to have a good defensive third baseman Bryant, playing in right field. This is not hindsight by the fact he got hurt. What was essentially accomplished by this move was removing Albert Almora Jr. and starting light hitting Daniel Descalso . Bryant, probably the Cubs best player gets hurt in an outfield collision. His injury last year was a major reason why the Milwaukee Brewers tied the Cubs for the division. It is too early to panic. There are plenty of games left and the Cubs, who excel in walk off wins should turn it around. Cub fans, are you ready for the Jim Adduci era?

Lucas Giolito is the best player that has come during the rebuild. He looks like the player that was once the number three overall prospect. He is 6-1 and his 2.77 ERA is fifth in the league. Over his last four games his ERA is 129. In a rarity these days, he threw a complete game four hit shut-out against the Houston Astros. He is worth watching.

So much for the good news. The White Sox just completed one of the hardest road trip any team will face this year against first place teams, the Houston Astros(4 and Minnesota Twins (3).) After losing the first two the Sox gained a split winning game three, which featured a triple play and game four, the Giolito gem. Next series is against the Twins who have the best offense in the league. The Sox led in the first game 4-1. Before the Twins scored 10 more and the carnage continued as the Twin scored 15 runs in the next two games to sweep the series. 

No depth in pitching became a real problem when fifth starter Manny Banuelos got injured. The Sox were forced to use all relievers in game one in Houston. The only positive was they gave up only 3 runs, a vast improvement over Banuelos, however they still lost this game. Banuelos and fourth starter Dylan Covey area combined 2-8. The Sox are a .500 team when they don’t pitch. They should be much improved next year if Michael Kopech and Dylan Cease live up to expectations. The Sox should also make a big push to acquire free agent Gerrit Cole.

At the top of I have seen enough list, is Welington Castillo.  With the emergence of James McCann, he should hardly ever play.  Either catching prospect in AAA ball would a better back-up and gain great experience. Number two is Yonder Alonso. Danny Polka is hitting well with Charlotte Knights and should be given another shot. He can also replace Ryan Gordell in right field. Number three is Manager Ricky Renteria. His insistence on batting Alonso fourth is maddening. Last year he couldn’t wait to bring in an ineffective Nate Jones to blow games. This year Kelvin Herrara keeps coming in games when he hasn’t got anybody out since he hurt his back. There are a couple of better relief pitchers to form a bridge to closer Alex Colome. I have no faith that Renteria figures this out any time soon.  Colome has been excellent. I hope he won’t be traded for prospects.

Here’s hoping the White Sox continue to improve. Maybe we get a glimpse of the future with Luis Robert in center field and Dylan Cease pitching. Either in the near future or at least by September.

N.L. Player of the month – Josh Bell Pittsburgh

A.L.Player of the month – Lucas Giolito  White Sox

Cubs are on Fire while White Sox are Improving

May 11. 2019

Prior to the baseball season the prevailing thought was that all the teams in the National League Central were improved and could challenge the Cubs. Fans were clamoring for the Cubs to make a move, such as signing free agent reliever Craig Kimbrel. President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein, assured Cub Nation the Cubs could win a World Series as currently constructed.

After a slow start, the Cubs turned on the jets and not only are they in first place in their division, they own the best record in the National League. When asked what the key was as to why the Cubs were playing great, Anthony Rizzo said pitching and defense. The other teams did get better but not in the pitching department where the Cubs dominate their opponents. Veterans Jon Lester and Cole Hamels are having a turn back the clock year. Kyle Hendricks is finding his groove, evidenced by an 81 pitch shutout. Jose Quintana’s 3.50 ERA is the highest of the four starters. They may have found a fifth starter, Yu Montgomery. If you thought the relief pitching needed an upgrade, despite not having Pedro Strop, the relievers combined for 8 innings of shutout baseball in their 15 inning win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The offense hasn’t been too shabby. Kris Bryant has found his stroke making him one the most feared hitters. He and Javier Baez have over a 900 OPS. Anthony Rizzo continues to drive in runs. A rejuvenated Wilson Contreras is batting over .300 with 10 home runs, equaling his total from last year. Jason Hayward has looked pretty good at lead off with a .361 on-base percentage.

By now you should know to never doubt Epstein. He’s the best individual running a baseball team. Barring injuries, this team will win the pennant. Who knows, another World Series?

Things are looking up for the White Sox. They are 19-22. Last year they didn’t  win their 19th game until June 5th.  Some of the core pieces of the rebuild are starting to blossom. There have been many nice moments for a team that hasn’t many in the recent past.

It seems as if Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez have turned the corner. They have had quality outings in their last three starts. The formula for quality outings has been three runs in 6 innings. This gives you a 4.50 ERA. What the Sox pitchers are doing is pitching into the eighth inning, giving up two or fewer runs. Third starter Ivan Nova had a couple of bad starts but has been terrific as of late.  However, Dylan Covey, replacing Carlos Rodon, and reliever Manny Banuelos as a fifth starter, have been awful.  The bullpen has found a right handed set- up man Evan Marshall and a left hander Aaron Bummer who haven’t given up a run. Closer Alex Colome is 8 for 8 in save opportunities.

Despite today’s 9-0 loss to Cleveland, the White Sox can score runs. It seems as a multitude of players contribute on different nights. Tim Anderson Is having a breakout season. He is among the top hitters average wise, has power and is second in stolen bases. Former number one prospect, Yoan Moncada is having a good season and is getting better every day. Jose Abreu has 10 home runs and is second in the league in RBI. In one of the biggest surprises of the year, catcher James McCann is hitting over .360, with a .604 slugging percentage and a 1.028 OPS. This line-up will get better once Eloy Jimenez comes back and replaces Nicky Delmonico in left field. Their line-up also got better with the demotion of Adam Engel. The Sox promoted Charley Tilson. Although he may be the center fielder of the future, in a little less than two weeks he has more hits than Engel would get in three months.

The future may have looked brighter if not for the injury to Rodon. He was supposed to be the number one starter. If Banuelos is hurt, who will replace him? If they somehow end up .500 it would be a very successful season. Only time will tell.

May 2, 2019

All teams have lulls in their seasons. During a pennant chase these can be brutal. The start of the season is the best time for a slump. The Cubs started out 3-9. They scored 76 runs, 6.3 runs per game. The problem was, the supposed strength of team pitching, gave up 78 runs, 6.5 runs per game. The relief pitching was especially awful, leading to the demotion of Carl Edwards Jr. Even with 149 games left, some Cub fans began to worry.

When Jon Lester went on the injured reserve list, the other Cubs pitchers, including relief, started to perform as expected. In the last 15 games they’ve allowed only 44 runs, 3.3 runs per game. Even Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood, in pace of Lester looked good. During this stretch the offense, which at times was a problem last year, has scored 141 runs in 27 games, over 5 per game. This is remarkable considering the lack of production from Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant. They offense is being led Jason Hayward, David Bote. Wilson Contreras has regained his batting stroke.  If there is a better shortstop than Javier Baez I have not seen one. He is having another great season and is loads of fun to watch. If the Cubs need play well this weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals.  With the next four against the woeful Florida Marlins they can be in first place going into a series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs ae 15-12.

I haven’t seen all the teams play, but I can’t imagine any team with a lousier defense than The White Sox. Countless errors and misplayed balls do not help a young pitching staff. With the exception of Reynaldo Lopez the starters have not improved. The ace of the staff, Carlos Rodon has been on and off. Before being injured, Lucas Giolito did not look like he has progressed. After a couple of decent outings, Ivan Nova has turned into is this year’s version of James Shields. Fifth starter, Erwin Santana has already been jettisoned, replaced by left handed reliever Manny Baneulos.

The biggest problem with the line-up is there are too many automatic outs. Yolander Alonso has been a major disappointment. I don’t know why manager Ricky Renteria bats him fourth in the line-up with the hottest hitter in the league, Tim Anderson batting behind him.  When in the line-up Adam Engel and Welington Castillo are rally killers. James McCann, surprisingly, has been hitting well enough to keep Castillo on the bench. Second baseman Yolmer Sanchez has an on-base percentage under.300. He is a master of singles and strike outs.

 On the positive side is the vast improvement of Yoan Moncada. He isn’t striking out and he’s getting good in the field at third base. Tim Anderson is turning into the player everyone thought he would be. He is leading the league in average and stolen bases. He also has six home runs. Both should be on the Sox for many years. Having Moncada and Anderson makes missing out on Manny Machado palpable. The White Sox are 12-14.

Extra Innings – How are the two big free agents doing?

 Bryce Harper has a .240 Average 6 Home Runs 20 RBI

Manny Machado .231  4 Home Runs 12 RBI

AL Player of the Month – Tim Anderson White Sox

NL Player of the Month -  Cody Bellinger L.A. Dodgers

May 1, 2019

As the 2019 season opened baseball is back being dominated by home runs and strikeouts. April baseball is also dominated by bad weather. It seems that the people who make the schedule have no clue. Games are either being cancelled or played in atrocious conditions.

 

The perfect example of this problem is what the White Sox faced. In their first home stand. They played the Seattle Mariners who have a retractable roof and the Tampa Bay Rays who play in a dome. With it being the only visit they make this year it was imperative to play, despite the conditions. The Sox play these teams on the road later this year. The Los Angeles Angels came to play the Cubs in a three game series at Wrigley Field. The third game was snowed out and rescheduling of the game has been a logistical nightmare. Aside from the Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox fans of other teams stay away in droves due to inclement weather.

There may be a solution to this problem. The following is a list of teams that should play at least 18 of their first 30 games at home:

Dome/Retractable Roof                     Warm Weather                               Non-Artic Weather (Need 3)

Arizona Diamondbacks                      Los Angeles Dodgers                      St. Louis Cardinals

Houston Astros                                   Los Angeles Angels                         Baltimore Orioles

Milwaukee Brewers                            San Diego Padres                            Oakland Athletics

Tampa Bay Rays                                 Texas Rangers                                 San Francisco Giants

Toronto Blue Jays                               Atlanta Braves                                 Washington Nationals

                                                             Florida Marlins                                Kansas City Royals

These teams can then go on a six game road trip to even up their home and away games.

Bulls Prefer Loyalty to Winning

April 16, 2019

It seems as if Chicago teams owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, prioritize loyalty over winning. How else can you explain that Kenny Williams is still employed by the White Sox? Since the World Series in 2005 the Sox have only appeared in the post season once. Williams’ bad decisions in trades and free agency crippled this team. He is now the Executive Vice-President. I have a hunch he was in some way involved in the Manny Machado fiasco. Rick Hahn replaced him and was saddled with the worst manager in Sox history, Robin Ventura. After posting a won-loss record of 375-435, Ventura resigned at the end of the 2016 season. The only thing that kept him around for 4 years was loyalty. Instead of conducting a managerial search in the off-season, loyalty reigned as they hired Bench Coach Ricky Renteria the next day.

Reinsdorf’s other team, the Chicago Bulls, have an eerily similar situation. In 2003, they named John Paxon General Manager. Six years later he hired Gar Forman to be his GM while he became Executive Vice President. Most of these years the Bulls have been terrible. The best year they had was when Derrick Rose had his MVP season and they went to the conference finals. Jerry’s son, President Michael Reinsdorf, held a press conference pledging his alliance to Paxon and Forman. He didn’t understand why fans weren’t pleased. Maybe because they haven’t won a goddam thing. I guess it doesn’t matter because the fans keep filling the United Center.

As I’ve stated before, I don’t like firing a coach during the season. The management wonks lost faith and let their golden boy coach Fred Hoiberg go as the Bulls started out 5-19. In a you have to be kidding me move, the Bulls hired Assistant Coach Jim Boylen. This would not be so bad if they had made him an interim coach and conducted a candidate search in the off-season. Instead they extended his contract covering next season and it seems that they want to add 3 more years to this contract. Unbelievable! So Bulls fans, how do you feel about Boylen and his spiffy won-loss record of 17-41?

Boylen is the antithesis of a modern NBA coach. He hasn’t picked up on the fact that the NBA is all about spacing the floor and shooting three point shots, not points in the paint. If you look at the top teams, they all have players who can hit threes. The Bulls were last in the league in three point shot attempts. Boylen also is always pacing the court, yelling at his players.  He called for a practice after back to back losses and almost had a revolution on his hand. You think potential free agents don’t hear about this? Granted, the Bulls have been beset by injuries. But in February, Lauri Markkanen was averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds a game and Zach LaVine was playing like an all-star. The Bulls were still getting blown out. If a game was close, he couldn’t find ways for them not to choke. Otto Porter Jr. came aboard and they almost played 500 when he was healthy. However, he is not a player who will turn your franchise around.

  Most players come to the NBA with good offensive skills The Bulls coaching staff has to teach them the importance of and how to play defense. The Bulls defense ranks near the bottom of the NBA. They are especially bad defending three point shooters, who continually get wide open looks. This problem is a direct result of bad coaching.  One of the most infuriating things about Boylen is he can’t seem to concentrate on both offense and defense at the same time. When he first came in, he slowed the tempo down and stressed defense. The results were huge losses only with lower point totals. He then promised the offense would get better. The results were losses with higher point totals.

 Boylen may be passionate and caring, though last time I checked these are not synonyms for winning. However, if the Bulls get lucky in the draft lottery, coaching may not matter. On my wish list is Ja Morant. Zion Williamson will be a great player but Morant is the perfect point guard who can make his teammates better. If Markkanen and LaVine get better with Morant, the Bulls have three stars that can win championships. Sounds good, but most likely they will be gone before the Bulls pick.

Hawks Mantra: Wait Until Next Year

April 9, 2019

For the second consecutive year the Chicago Blackhawks failed to reach the playoffs. This is quite the dubious feat when you consider eight of sixteen teams make it to the post season. Things have to get better.

I’m not in favor of firing a coach in mid-season. However, I will give Hawks management the benefit of the doubt in replacing 3 time Stanley Cup winning coach, Joel Quenneville, with minor league coach Jeremy Colliton. While Colliton got to know his players and vice versa, the Hawks went 3-14-3 in his first 20 games. They sunk to the bottom of the standings. Although they managed to get back into the playoff race, in the end they just couldn’t overcome the hole they dug for themselves.

Colliton made some keen moves during the stretch run that almost got them over the hump. The Hawks had one of the poorest power plays in the league. By inserting offensive minded defenseman Erik Gustafson on the point, the power play became one of the league’s best. For years the Hawks have been looking for wingers to pick up Jonathan Toews. Colliton paired him with the Hawks best player, Patrick Kane and both had career years. Second year forward Alex Debrincat was scoring goals in bunches (he would end up with 41). Paired with 21 year old Dylan Strome (acquired for Nick Schmaltz) gave them a second scoring line. They were right on the cusp of taking the final spot when the wings fell off. Back to back home losses to two teams they were chasing, the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, stunted their push.

Following a road trip that included a 6-3 loss to the last place Los Angeles Kings, the Hawks were running on fumes. However, they got hot and started winning games. With 12 games left they still had an outside chance of grabbing the eighth and final playoff spot. After winning the first two, the Hawks ran out of gas scoring less than three goals in five straight games. After being shut out by Arizona, the season was over.

The major problem for the Hawks was they were second to last in goals allowed. Gustafson may turn out to be a great scorer but his defense is atrocious and the penalty killing units are awful. Aging veterans Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook would possibly be more effective with less minutes. Connor Murphy is their only top notch defenseman. The other young defensemen should improve with more experience.  General Manager Stan Bowman stood pat over last summer. He has ample salary cap and needs to sign defensive minded defensemen.

The Hawks are not far off from being a contending team. They went 18-9-3   in their last thirty games.  If they could have won 5 games during Colliton’s first twenty, they would have made the playoffs this past season. I’m excited about the 2019-20 season with Colliton at the helm. The offense looks solid and Corey Crawford looked great once the rust wore off from his concussion. The defense has to step up.

April 2, 2019 

How many people out there have the final four teams left in your brackets? Although I have no real rooting interest and there is no Cinderella team, I have been glued to my TV. These games have had drama and excitement galore.

The lowest seed left is Auburn. In their opening-round game, the Tigers were ahead of the New Mexico State Aggies by two points. The Tigers committed a three-shot foul with seconds remaining. The Aggies shooter missed two out of three and Auburn escaped with a one point victory. Auburn went on to beat perennial power Kansas and pulled the upset of the tournament by annihilating the No. 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels by 17 points. The next big win was over the No. 2 seed, Kentucky. Auburn prevailed, thoroughly outplaying the Wildcats in overtime.

I had not seen or heard of No. 3 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders until this tourney. They remind me of the Chicago Bears. The offense is nothing special but the defense is outstanding. They cruised through the first three rounds. In the Sweet Sixteen, their opponent, No. 2 seed Michigan, was limited to 44 points.  The Red Raiders then upset high-scoring No. 1 seed Gonzaga, holding the Zags to 69 points.

The Virginia Cavaliers, the only top seed left, had an easy time reaching the round of 16. They ran into trouble against a streaking 12-seed Oregon.  After many lead changes and ties, the Cavs eked out a 53-49 victory. The next game against Purdue was special. Both teams were running on all cylinders. Purdue thought it had won the game. With 5.8 seconds left, the Boilermakers were ahead by 3 points with Virginia at the foul line shooting two free throws. Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome, made the first and purposely missed the second. The Cavs, got the rebound in their backcourt and passed the ball up-court to a wide open Mamadi Diakite. He hit the short jump shot forcing overtime. Both teams deserved to win. Virginia was a little better in OT, winning 80-75.

I thought the best team in the tournament was the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils. The Michigan State Spartans, a No. 2 seed, crushed their competition on their way to the Elite Eight. Meanwhile, Duke twice was almost upset early. They beat the ninth-seeded UCF Knights and the fourth-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies by only two points. Both UCF and Virginia Tech had a chance to win but missed last-second shots. This set up an epic battle between two powerhouse programs. This game was tight, with each making clutch shots. With 5.8 seconds left, the Blue Devils were at the foul line trailing by two points. The problem for Duke was that the player fouled, R.J. Barrett was only averaging 66 percent on free throws. After missing his first free throw, he tried to miss the next hoping Duke would get the rebound. Unlike Virginia, the second shot went in. The Spartans won, 68-67.

I have no clue as to who is going to be crowned National Champion. I am just hoping it will turn out to as exciting as it has been up until now.

What I took away from this tournament is that if the Bulls get lucky and add either Duke’s Zion Williamson or Ja Morant of Murray State, they will be instant contenders. However, chances are those two won’t be available when it comes to the Bulls’ turn in the draft.