Time to Look Forward

The Sox past is not good so far this year. So let's look ahead to see what could be happening in the next few weeks.

The schedule shows Minnesota and Pittsburgh at home followed by at the Angels and Royals. Of these four teams the Royals and Angels have above .500 records, but they way those teams have been going it's possible (maybe likely) they are both below .500 by then. So what does this mean for the powerhouse 15-22 White Sox. Well, it means they are actually going to hit some teams that aren't playing better than they should be. No more hot Jays, hot Rangers, hot Royals. Just teams that are comparable to the Sox.

So what should we look forward to as far as wins? Let's split it into the home stand and the road trip. Home stand is 6 games long against two teams that perennially are not great in Chicago (both sides for the Pirates). So I'd say 4 wins is a success, 5 would be great, 6 and I'll probably weep of joy. My guess would be they will somehow fund a way to win 4, but 3 wouldn't surprise me. As far as the road trip goes, the Sox are usually bad on the west coast, but probably best in LA of the 4 west coast destinations and Kansas City is still Kansas City no matter what ESPN and MLB Network want to shove down your throat. So I like 3 wins of the 6 would be nice, but 4 or 5 is actually possible (if they stop playing like dog poop). I'll guess 3.

That means I guessed 7-5 in the next 12 games. Good, not great. But much better than what they Sox have been doing recently.

Fukudome's Future and the Bullpen Situation

I've avoided talking about it for a while because Kosuke Fukudome has been pretty awesome this season, but we all know that he did this same thing last season and then fell off. So is he just a six-week wonder again or is he for real this time? Lets look at the numbers and see.

His power is essentially equal to what it was through the same amount of games last season. He had 14 extra base hits in his first 36 games last season as well. Along with 15 RBI in 2008 and 17 this season. His OPS was .892 at this time last season, which is really good, but not as good as his .989 OPS this season. That 100 point increase comes from a few more homers and a couple more walks. That combined with a few days off has given Fukudome an even better start to 2009. The starts are almost identical, so will the rest of the season also be identical?

I think so to an extent. People still have their Fukudome excuses at the ready, including a new one about his surgically repaired elbow giving him problems last year. The same new country, new baby, new league crap also gets floated around, and I still don't buy it. That doesn't mean he will be as bad as least season, but I still think he settles around .275 with about 12 homers and a .775 OPS which means he will be a league average center fielder. His defense in center has really improved, to the point where he is only a -.02 UZR. Again league average- not worth anything close to $12 million a year, but whatever.

I'm thrilled with Fukudome's hot start and I really hope he can continue to be a hitting star this season, but I have serious doubts. People have gotten suckered into the same six week stretch again, I'll remain the lone guy who remains a skeptic. I sure do hope I'm wrong.

The bullpen is the mess that may ultimately cost the Cubs this season. Too many walks which means Lou likes them less and means that Lou will use Carlos Marmol more. That makes Marmol less effective as well. Fortunately I have some positive bullpen thoughts today. 

Marmol is still the teams most reliable reliever even if he is so inconsistent. His last time out he was real good and his control improved. Walks have been his enemy this season and his great stuff has gotten him out of most of the jams.

Kevin Gregg is going to have meltdowns like Saturday a couple times a month. He just isn't very good. A stretch of shutting down the game will be followed with a stretch of suck. As long as he remains the closer it isn't a major concern.

Angel Guzman has really been good lately. He seems to trust his stuff and is throwing lots of strikes which is producing lots of outs. I've always been optimistic about Guzman in the pen and I remain upbeat about his season and future. 

Jose Ascaino is the new addition from AAA after everyone's favorite Notre Dame alum proved to need a lot more time in AAA. He didn't do so hot on Sunday at first, but he settled down and got outs. Just keep doing that and he can be a serviceable middle relief man. 

Those four will hopefully remain solid options the entire season. Now we must move to the two negative spots. Neal Cotts and David Patton. One sucks and is only around because he throws lefty and the other sucks and is only around because he is a Rule V pick. With the emergence of Randy Wells as a solid starter the Cubs have some options that should eliminate one of these bums from the team. Either Wells remains a starter and Sean Marshall goes to the bullpen- which means Cotts can go far far away; or Marshall keeps starting and Wells takes over for Patton who is returned to the Rockies A-ball team. 

Marshall should remain a starter because it maximizes his value and he is pretty good at it. Wells has had a good start, but a spot in the bullpen probably protects Wells from having his stuff figured out as quickly.

Ted takes the mound against the struggling Cardinals tomorrow night in St. Louis. Dumpster will try and ruin Chris Carpenter's return on Wednesday, and Marshall will face Wainwright on Thursday. The only favors the Cubs in the first game, but Carpenter is pitching his first game back and could just as easily leave the game in the second inning as he could pitch a complete game shutout. Wainwright was awesome his last start (I was there- the Brewers got dominated by him with the exception of one pitch). Hopefully Marshall can keep the Cubs matchup close. 

I'm thinking two of three, but knowing the Cubs they will only get one of these games.

Feelin' fine

Just like a hitter in a slump is bound to break out, a team with a winning streak is bound to fall at some point. That point for the Cubs came today, as they lost to the Astros 6-5. My biggest issue with today was that Ascanio came and didn't put the burden on the Astros to score runs by bailing them out with two hit-batsmen and a wild pitch. I usually get upset about losses like that, but I saw enough good things today to leave me feeling pretty content.

Derrek Lee went 4-5 with a double and home run, having probably his best day of the young season. It was great to see him drive the ball with authority to left and left center. It is so important that Derrek get going because he is one of the players that this lineup was built around in the first place. Despite his struggles and my frustration with him, he still commands respect and attention from opposing pitchers. 

Geo Soto also seems to be breaking out of his slump. He had a solid single up the middle which indicates a hitter's timing is right. That ball he smacked in the ninth inning looked to be ticketed for the left field corner, but good positioning by Keppinger saved it from getting there. Though the result wasn't good, as a Cub fan you have to feel good about how Geo is swinging right now. 

I usually don't feel all that positive, but right now I'm really riding a wave of optimism. I think that the starting pitching has proven that it can throw quality innings. The gems the team got out of Dempster and Harden consistently last year aren't there, but they are still piling up quality starts. As for the lineup, I think there is a lot to like there as well. 

So far the Cubs are six games above .500 with only Soriano, Fukudome, and Theriot having great seasons. Fukudome's production has been an added bonus and the same can be said for Theriot's pop. However, Theriot is a role player, not a centerpiece. Also, what he has done aside from the home runs can be expected for the rest of the year. Lee, Bradley, and Ramirez (the expected big contributors), have not produced up to their averages or capabilities. Neither has Soto. My point is that when this lineup finally synchronizes (which won't fully be until Aramis is back), there is a great chance it can be very potent. 

Photo courtesy AP/Nam Y. Huh and espn.com. 

Something Needs to Change

In a year that the word "Change" was so popular (thanks Barack) it's time for our own change on the South Side. Switch up the lineup, fire the hitting coach, fire the pitching coach, have Ozzie off in the media, make a trade, pull up some more young guys. Do something... anything, we need something new.

It's just not working right now. The stats say it all but I'll steer clear of those for this post. Really I'm just getting really angry, and bored, with watching bad baseball every day. Every single time out there the Sox are out-hit, out-pitched, and frankly outclassed.

I don't care what specifically changes but it needs to be something, and sooner than later. The next set of games (after the end of the wrap-around) is against the Twinks and the Pirates. Winnable games. So it's time to get going here. Even if it's something as simple as giving guys an extra day off, now is the time. YES WE CAN.

How to Lose Baseball Games : Featuring the Chicago White Sox

2 posts ago I claimed I was "Officially Fed Up" with the Sox. Now I am just downright angry. The Sox have lost 10 of their last 13 games in route to a record of 4-10 in May. They have scored 4 or less runs in 10 of the 14 games and lost 2 of the games they scored more. The starting pitching has been bad, the hitting has been bad, and now with today's loss you can chuck the bullpen into the blender.

This team is an absolute trainwreck right now. There is not one consistant hitter on the team. The "sluggers" that make up for the middle of the lineup (Quentin, Dye, Thome,) are hitting .229, .275, and .234 respectively. The speedy supposedly good on-base guys are doing far from that as the leader on the team in OBP is Brian Anderson with a whopping .383. Last year's Rookie of the Year candidate (and one of my favorite players) Alexei Ramirez is hitting .218 with an OBP of .254. The pitching staff minus Buehrle have given up 96 earned runs in 136 innings for an ERA of 6.35.

But enough with me laying down stats about how bad they are. We all get it, they are awful and we hate it. So what needs to change. First and foremost I think it's time for Greg Walker to go. I know this will be hard for most Sox fans but harpen back to 2007 . The Sox were one of the worst hitting teams in baseball. Fundementally awful, bad at-bats, never looking to go the other way with pitches. Everyone tried to hit extra base hits every AB. Now to 2009, we are back in the same spot as 07. Quality AB's are incredibly rare. No one works counts, no one moves runners over, no one can get runners in. Mainly because the approach at the plate is wrong. People need to start working the count and having better at bats all around. Look to go the other way for a solid single, try to bunt for a base hit, foul some pitches off to get the pitch counts up. The Sox do none of these things. And who is responsible for this? Well, it's got to be either Ozzie or Greg Walker. If your going to tell me the king og garbage base-hits and bunt singles Ozzie Guillen is telling these guys to go try to hit homeruns I'm going to tell you that you are crazy. So I say, out goes Walker, in comes Mr. Outside-Hire.

Next, the pitching staff needs to find some consistancy. And I think the main problem that we are having is that there is no confidence in their own abilities. Everyone expects to need to go out there and give the offense 7 shut-out innings to get a win (and seeing from today even that's not enough). The pitching staff needs to relax. It's ok to give up a run here or there. But no huge innings. All 5 of these guys (maybe the exception of Contreras/other 5th starter) have the ability to get through 6/7/8 innings allowing 2/3/4 runs. It's very do-able, but when you pressure yourself into needing a shutout, bad things happen.

Fianlly, every as a whole needs to stop and look at where we are right now. Sure 10 of 13 is awful. Sure the hitting has been bad. Sure the pitching has not been good. But look at the division. Actually examine where we are at for just one second. As of 5 PM on May 16th (note that it is still May) the Sox are 3.5 games out of first place. Take a moment to realize what 3.5 games is. One series and one game. Not even 4 games. If the Sox were to win 5/6 games in a row starting tomorrow, I honestly think they would be either in first or right there. So this is no time to panic. It is a time to be mad and demand more out of the team (which I am doing and you should join), but is not time to throw in the towel.

So after we lose to Halladay tomorrow, let's reset and restart everything. It's not as bad as it feels. So stop feeling sorry for yourselves and start hitting the baseball and we will be fine.

Ted Lilly Makes his Cy Young Push, Weekend Preview

Ted Lilly continued his quest to win the Cy Young by improving his record to 5-2 and putting his ERA at a solid 3.27 with a 6.1 IP 3ER 0BB 7K effort. The Cubs then finished off the sweep behind Ryan Dempster's good start and Bobby Scales strong hitting.

Today's game against the Astros was rained out, and Randy Wells will be pushed back and start tomorrow. Another off day is never a bad thing, and while we will pay for it July 30th with the make up day, every day that passes without a game with Aramis out is a small victory. 

Wells will face Roy Oswalt tomorrow afternoon, and Milton Bradley will have to sit out due to suspension. Since Bobby Scales is currently playing out of his mind it won't hurt to have him out one game. I'm Derrek Lee will return to the lineup, though that might not be a good thing. This means either Hoffpauir in right or Reed Mantle in center- hopefully RJ gets the start. 

Ryan Theriot was accused of using steroids by Rick Telander, what a joke. I'm not going to link to the article because it isn't worth the time. If Theriot were using steroids he would be getting bigger, and would hit homers that aren't wind aided shots that only happen at Wrigley. I hate when Chicago journalists go stupid (Phil Rogers does this every day).

Big Z will be back next weekend, Ted Lilly is making a run at the Cy Young, and the rest of the rotation is pitching well. The bullpen will hopefully get better, and I'm really hoping that without Aramis we can get the offense going and his return will put us over the top. For the first time all season I feel good about the Cubs. 

So expect a six game losing streak soon. 

Too Many Shutouts

The Sox have been shut out 6 times in 33 games this year.

That's not good.

I'm Back

With my school work mostly done, its time to get back to blogging about the Cubs. Oh so much has happened since I last had free time. Aramis Ramirez will spend the next two months out with a separated shoulder. Carlos Zambrano will be back next weekend. Derrek Lee returned from injury last night, and still sucks at baseball.

The Cubs have been playing really well despite some major injuries. Bobby Scales has some up from the minors and impressed, he hit his first homer last night. Milton Bradley has shown that he is still an awesome hitter. He hit a missile to right-center yesterday that would still be flying if the stands didn't get in the way. Rich Harden hasn't lost his arm yet, and he fought through control problems to pitch really well last night. Sean Marshall was impressive for not having good stuff on Sunday, and Ted Lilly pitches tonight (more on that in a moment). Heck even Randy Wells tossed five shutout innings in his first start.

The bullpen has still remained pathetic, Carlos Marmol is in walk mode again though he is capable of getting out of his own jams. Aaron Heilman is awful, same with Cotts and Patton. Guzman showed some signs of being good Sunday, same with Kevin Gregg. Bottom line, throw strikes and Lou won't kill you.

Ted Lilly has willed the rain out of Chicago and the Cubs will face Chris Young and the Padres. Young likes to give up stolen bases, so Soriano, Theriot, and Fukudome should have fun running tonight. Its Ted Day! Lets celebrate with a Cubs win please. 

I'm Officially Fed Up

A few days ago I commented on here (or Twitter or Facebook) saying I was losing faith in the Sox. It now official that I am truly angry at the team as a whole. I'm not by any means giving up on the season, I'm not by any means saying they are not going to bounce out of it, and I'm not saying they can't win the division. I'm saying that this "slump" has gone too far.

The pitching is garbage. The hitting is trash. The team as a whole is a different word for garbage or trash. Seemingly every day the Sox are down early. Seemingly every day the Sox are making below-average pitchers look like stars. Seemingly every day the game compounds as it goes on and there is never a real chance for the Sox to win.

It starts with pitching. You have to give the offense a chance. Buehrle gets a pass here but he only pitches once a week. Usually when the Sox go through pitching woes its in the bullpen. That's not the case right now. There have been 3 quality starts in the last 9 games. The Sox are 2-7 in those 9 games. 4 of those same 9 they have allowed less than 5 runs. This is not giving your offense a chance. In those 9 games the Sox have scored a total of 28 runs. With 3 times scoring more than 5 runs in the game. Sox pitching allowed them to win just 1 of those 3 games.

On to the hitting. It's basically a feast or famine offense right now. Either they score 6 or 7 so, or they get 1 or 2 (or get shutout). Clutch hitting has been pathetic. Fundamentals have been pathetic. Time and time again the Sox are getting guys on only to not get them over and then not get them in. It seems as though every time a guy gets on first base the ball gets slapped out to the second baseman. And then when guys are on third they can't even get the ball to the second baseman. Some people have been hitting, but no one is coming up with big hits. All in all it's just been pathetic.

But all that being said let's look at where the Sox are. They are 14-17, 3.5 games back of first, and a half game back of Minnesota for 3rd. They have scored 129 runs while allowing 150 which indicates a record that should be worse than 14-17. They are only 8-8 at home and have won only 3 of their last 10 games. This could be much worse. Much worse. The Sox are lucky to be where they are, and they need to take advantage of that.

Work on getting better starts, work on having better at-bats, and work on fundamentals. Do these simple things and this team-wide "slump" will bust. This team is too talented to sit back and watch it all go down the pooper this quickly. Have a solid week and see where you are then. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves like everyone seems to be doing.

Enough Already, Geez

Please dear god get Jose Contreras out of the rotation. Look at his game log...

4/10 - Sox lose 12-5
4/15 - Sox lose 9-0
4/21 - Sox lose 10-3
4/26 - Sox lose 4-3
5/2 - Sox lose 9-6
5/8 - Sox lose 6-0

Contreras is 0-5 with an ERA of 8.19. The Sox have won 0 of 6 games he has pitched. The Sox have had a chance to win 1 of the 6 games. Why in the world is this man still in the rotation, and furthermore why is he in the majors anymore? He's awful. There is no hope.

Put in Clayton, put in Poreda, put in Marquez, put in Haeger, put in Alexei, put in Ozzie, put me in for god sake. It cannot be worse than what we are seeing. From now on if Contreras starts, go to Vegas and drop your life savings on the moneyline against the Sox. In this economy it's probably safer than trying to find a real job.

MERCY!!!!!!!