Thought 1: Alfonso Soriano told the Tribune that he is upset over being benched yesterday, and I don't blame him. I have been hoping for him to be "benched" for awhile now, so I wholeheartedly agree with Lou's move there, especially when Jake Fox deserves to be in the lineup. Even more so on that point, Lou and Jim Hendry probably want to see Fox in the outfield to determine if he is versatile enough to keep around.
Sori's main point was that he was not told by Lou the night before that he would not play the next day:
That's why I'm mad," Soriano said. "If he had told me yesterday, then I wouldn't come today ready to play."
That I don't take issue with. Lou probably hadn't given serious consideration to what the lineup would be last night; it was a frustrating night game loss, he probably wanted to get home. Also, as cliched as it is, Sori should be coming "ready to play" everyday, regardless if he is playing or not. Injuries happen, even during warmups (and while doing nondescript things like hopping over dugout fences I guess). Pinch hitting is pretty common in the NL last time I checked too.
My issue with the benching comes from the fact that Sori had two hits in Tuesday night's game. Granted he really hasn't driven the ball since his clutch double in the Saturday White Sox game, two hits are two hits. They weren't cheap singles either. Let the guy play and see if he is on to something. I totally agree with benching struggling players, no matter what their status is, but if a guy has something to build then he should play.
Thought 2: The pitching mathcups for the Cardinals series favor the Cubs. They are as follows: Game 1 Harden/Carpenter, Game 2 Lilly/Thompson, Game 3 Wells/Wainwright, and Game 4 Z/Lohse.
Which Rich will show up for Game 1? The one that got destroyed Saturday or the one that dominated the start before? Rich Harden has much too good stuff (and the track record to prove it) to go into a prolonged slump. I really think he'll come out and have a good outing. Carpenter, on the other hand, has been brilliant this season. However he has pitched 77 innings so far, which is over 3 times more than what he pitched in 2007 and 2008 combined. Sooner or later I think that will come into play, and I hope it is this weekend.
Lilly/Thompson is a good matchup for the Cubs as is Z/Lohse. I know Adam Wainwright is great, and he showed it in Milwaukee the other night. Randy Wells has been great too, and his ERA is better in only 6 fewer starts. Thus, I trust Wells can match up with Wainwright.
My gut says a split for this series, but I want to be hopeful and say 3 of 4. Just make sure you don't let Albert take on swing, Lou.
Having read a little further in the article, is it just me, or does Zambrano take every interview these days as a chance to tell us he will be retiring in X number of years?
ReplyDeleteRegarding Soriano, I don't know if he just likes to mentally take the day off as well, but even the stars are often called on to pinch hit etc. on days off.
Yeah that was what I was thinking with Soriano, that is just an odd statement. As for Z, I made a tweet about that yesterday because I realized that too, I think he just wants attention, that too is odd thing to say. What an odd team haha.
ReplyDelete