Cubs Diaries

As any baseball fan that even casually perused the newspaper today will tell you, in the midst of a stellar pitching performance last night, Carlos Zambrano went berserk and verbally assaulted the home umpire. Zambrano, showcasing excellent command and control over the ball, demonstrated that his control extended no further than the trajectory of the ball when he completely lost it over a call at the plate. After throwing a semi-wild pitch (it's been scored as a wild pitch, but I was in attendance and that ball should have been snapped up by our ace catcher and reigning rookie of the year Geovany Soto) Nyjer Morgan made a break for home. Zambrano scuttled over to the plate and applied the tag just a nano-second after Morgan's outstretched fingers graced the corner of home. Carlson, the home plate ump, correctly called Morgan safe, sending Z into a tirade the likes of which we haven't seen since that fateful day in 07' when he punched out Michael Barrett in the dugout. For a better review of Big Z's explosions over the years check out Paul Sullivan's article from this morning in the tribune.

The result of the tantrum? Z has been handed a six game suspension and as such will miss just one start, all things considered, it could have been a lot worse. With Dempster punching the gatorade dispenser, Bradley bumping umps and Zambrano throwing equipment this Cubs team is fired up and that's exactly what we need right?

I've been perusing blog posts about this stuff all day and there seems to be a strong contingent that believe that emotional flare is exactly what this team needs to pull itself out of the mediocrity we seem to already be reacquainting ourselves with. Zambrano's theatrics, although often quite pricey, considering not only his current suspension but also the fact that when his emotions run high it frequently negatively impacts his pitching, are undoubtedly quite useful in smaller doses. Consider if Zambrano harnessed this energy and shared it with the team. Think back to days of high school or even junior high when you played for a team. Weren't there a few individuals that always provided that spark right before game time? Teammates with that glint in their eyes, the ones that spoke up at halftime when the chips were down.

I think that players with an excess of emotion, like the three I mentioned earlier need to view their intensity as a tool to be wielded for the good of the team. I wrote a few weeks ago about the danger of nonchalance on the diamond; harnessing this energy and transforming it into focus will all but erase lackluster play.

That's all well and good but this isn't going to solve the problem of what happens when a extremely close play drives a Cub over the edge, right? Well, no, but think about it like this. Generally when one of our guys gets really upset about something it's because we absolutely need the call to go our way, yesterday Morgan's run tied the game at 2 a piece in the 7th. It is simple. Winning teams, like the Cubs last year, and the Cubs in a few months this year are much less likely to be in these situations. If, for example the Cubs were pounding the Pirates, 8-1, as should have been the case considering the potential strength of our lineup and rotation, I guarantee Zambrano would have stopped himself pre-blow up and realized "meh, they can have that one."

Anywho, whatever it is the Cubs need, I hope they find it and soon. Maybe Jake Fox will be the catalyst we need ...

--- Charlie

Even though their five-game winning streak went down the tubes, the Cubs had reason to be upbeat on Sunday. Carlos Zambrano emerged from his Class-A rehab start with a thumbs-up from the medical staff. This pegs Zambrano's return to the rotation for Friday against the Padres.

Zambrano wasn't on top of his game Sunday with four earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. But this was his first game since May 3 when he pulled his hammy trying to leg out a bunt. The operative phrase from Zambrano was "no pain" (which is what Rocky's corner kept yelling at him as he was getting jackhammered by Ivan Drago).

Zambrano's return gives the Cubs a nice problem. They will need to make a roster move when they activate him from the DL. The Cubs promoted Randy Wells from the minors when Zambrano got hurt. Wells hasn't figured in the decision in either of his games, but he has worked 11 scoreless innings. Based on what Lou Piniella has said, the call on Wells won't be a matter of staying or going back to the minors. It's whether Wells stays in the rotation or gets shifted to the bullpen.

Wells was on the verge of earning his first Major League win Saturday until the bullpen, namely Kevin Gregg, imploded in the ninth inning against the Astros. There's no doubt Wells will get that victory if he keeps pitching this way. But we don't know when his next start will be with Sean Marshall penciled in for the series finale Thursday against the Cardinals and Zambrano for Friday. --- Triple Cheeseburger.

The Chicago Cubs were extremely hyped this year, picked to take the National League (Sports Ilustrated). A few ESPN writers even picked them to win the World Series.

One month into the season, are the Cubs living up to these high expectations?

Well, sitting right around .500 does not seem to be a World Series type pace, and the word "inconsistent" best describes the Cubs’ season thus far.

Starting Pitching: Our starting pitching has been decent, and a few outstanding performances come to mind. First, Ted Lilly’s lights-out performance on May 2 against the Marlins, where he struck out 10 over eight innings. Or how about Harden’s strong six innings against the Cardinals on April 26? And of course, in arguably the most memorable pitching outing thus far, Big Z pitched seven gorgeous innings and was one hit shy of becoming the first ever pitcher to hit for the cycle against the Astros on April 28. Now, these are the positive outings. The list of negative outings is equally as long, but not as fun to write about, and not as memorable, as I have tried extremely hard to repress them all.

Bottom Line: Our starting lineup has been dazzling at points and horrendous at others. Big Z, Lilly, Harden and Dempster have all shown promise, if they can stay healthy I feel pretty good about our starting rotation.

Offense: Our offense has had some spectacular nights and it really feels like it is possible for us to score 10 runs every single night. Injuries have stifled us a little recently, but it seems that as one big time hitter sits, another source of power emerges. Theriot, Fukudome, Soriano and Hoffpauir have been especially great thus far. Hopefully, Kosuke won’t have a second-half meltdown like last season. Hoffpauir is emerging nicely and seems like a wonderful replacement for the slowly decaying D-Lee.

Bottom Line: We have the offensive firepower to challenge the best in the National League, and it has been one of this season’s high points. Keep in mind, however, that it is still extremely early, and who knows what will happen as the season progresses.

Bullpen: Every time someone from the bullpen is called up, I literally break out in a cold sweat (attractive, right?). When the seventh inning comes around I am expecting the worst, ready to go home furious, dejected, and usually a little bitter. Watching the Cubs’ bullpen blow a save is a bit like watching a horribly awkward scene in a movie—you know it’s going to turn out badly, but you watch anyway. In the movie however, the awkwardness is usually resolved, unfortunately the bullpen blowing a save does not generally have a sugar coated ending.

Gregg, who was touted as a future Hall of Fame closer by some, has been shaky at best. Marmol has also been decent, but consistent bullpen pitching has been harder to find than a dentist at candy store thus far. A strong bullpen, or at the very least a great closer, is necessary if we want to make a run deep into October.

Bottom Line: Gregg has the Gagne glasses and looks the part of the intimidating closer, but just doesn’t seem to be getting the job done.

A month in, while at times shaky, the Cubs seem to be showing a passion that was definitely missing last season. Call me crazy, but I am going to give some credit to Milton Bradley for playing with an intensity and ferocity that seems to be contagious. To be fair, playing with passion and purpose is easy at the beginning of a season, and extremely difficult at the end. Hopefully, the Cubs will keep hitting well, improve their bullpen, and play with a fire that reflects the passion of their fan base. --- Daniel.

Zambrano is a work horse but do we need him to be more careful?

In an earlier post i commented: "I cannot stand when I see my beloved cubbies not sprinting into first base on every single ground ball. I don't care if 95% of the time it's going to be an out, there is no excuse for not hoofing it." Upon further pontification, mostly spurred by yesterday's unfortunate incident, I've found myself wrestling with a difficult question: Is there ever a situation in which it is better for a club if a player does not push himself too hard when running to 1st base?

In regards to yesterday's game, I'm not sure I'm happy with the idea of Carlos bunting in the first place. Big Z is one of the those players that will always change the landscape of a game, not only as one of the best pitchers in the league but also as, one of, if not the best, hitting pitchers. I mean for crying out loud, we've got a 2 time silver slugger award winning with a '08 BA of .337, that's just nasty, he shouldn't be bunting. Something tells me it wasn't Lou or Sinatro who signaled for Z to bunt. Doesn't really seem like an appropriate play call for a man of his...oh let's say carriage.

Anyway, he did it, and it was beautiful. Had he not put that extra hamstring-yanking oomph into his gait there is a good chance we wouldn't have had men on for the D-lee crank that followed. Or maybe we would have had less than bases loaded, which would have resulted in a hr of lesser magnitude. With the sloppiness of the bullpen we might have lost that game. So...was it worth it?

It pains me to say this but stepping into Lou's stinky shoes, I'm leaning towards no. Sure, as soon as the bunt was down and there was an off chance of him being safe he better be doing all he can to make it happen, but I'd hope that the ace of my staff, a man that I cannot go without would know better than to put himself in a situation where he is in danger of injuring himself. Additionally, while for some pitchers it would be ok to leg out it out at breakneck speed to 1st, Zambrano's build doesn't seem like it is designed for this sort of exertion and sure enough his hammie disagreed.

Anyway, I'll have to rethink my policy on sprinting to 1st base with pitchers and other potentially non-athletic ball players. What do you think cubs nation?

On a side note: remember the days when all your favorite sluggers were fatsos: Tony Gwyn, Cecil Fielder, Albert Belle, John Kruk, Kirby Pucket, Mo Vaughn, etc.

--- Charlie

The Cubs dominated last night dulling the Diamondbacks, with an 11-3 win. Soriano and Zambrano played absurdly well, with Soriano one triple away from the cycle. Zambrano pitched 7 and homered as well. It was one of those games that made you wonder, what if we played like this every night. Well, the long and short of it is, we'd win every game. Unfortunately, we're not playing the Diamondbacks everyday and Zambrano can't pitch for us every night.

The Cubs face off against the Diamondbacks tonight with Dempster taking on an oldie but a goodie, Doug Davis. Davis is what some like to call a "junkballer", loosely translated as an old dude who lost his pitching velocity and didn't take steroids, so now he's extra crafty. Hopefully the Cubs will smack Davis' junk out of the park tonight (see what I did there?).

Here are some links to get you caught up on your Cubs news for the day, if my intricate and in-depth analysis does not satiate your appetite for Chicago Cubs news.

Developing story on the possibility of A-Ram going to the DL: Wax Paper Beer Cup

Al, from Bleed Cubby Blue has an impassioned rant: Triples are hard to hit! Seriously, that's his rant. Love Al, but come on buddy, that's more of a bone to pick than rant don't you think?

Enjoy your day, and let's hope the Cubs can keep this offensive firepower going! --- Daniel.

I was all ready to write an entry on the Cubs' recent lack of offensive power. They routed the Cardinals on Sunday and had a solid win last Tuesday against the Reds. But in their past five losses, the Cubs managed a total of eight runs. Night after night, the Cubs didn’t come out swinging or play their smartest game. I was worried that their injuries were finally catching up to them.

Then came tonight's eruption. They dominated the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-3 behind Zambrano's strong pitching and hitting. He picked up his first win since the season opener, showing the same first-class skills he did that night three weeks ago in Houston. In addition to doing a fantastic job on the mound, Zambrano also proved he could be an offensive threat, singling in the third, doubling in the fifth and homering in the seventh.

The only thing I’m worried about now is the Cubs’ consistency. While they have been able to dominate some games by double-digit margins, they have also managed to lose the tight ones due to their lack of run production. But once Lee, Marmol, Ramirez and Bradley heal from their injuries, the Cubs should have enough thump in the lineup to prove why they should be NL Central champs once again. --- Katie Tang

Carlos Zambrano delivered last night on Opening Day.

He pitched masterfully- nobody will argue that. Six solid innings, one earned run, picking up his first Opening Day win in five tries- that's reason for Cubs fans to be excited.

But I've seen two separate Cubs blogs-

Here and Here

- that are very optimistic we are going to see a more mature, focused and ultimately successful Big Z. Let's not jump to conclusions, shall we?

For one, it's tough to judge a pitcher's mental maturity when things are going well. Zambrano was on yesterday. He felt good. Threw well. And his mindset reflected that.

But what about when things don't go well? If he gets shelled at the New Busch Stadium in front of 45,000 fans in red. That's when we'll know whether Carlos no longer needs to sit on Freud's couch. Until then, let's hold off on proclaiming him a psychological breakthrough and focus on his next start.

Let's see how he handles adversity. If he goes off in the press, we'll know things haven't changed.

Then again, if he pitches like he did last night every time he takes the bump, it won't matter whether he's mature or not. He'll be the league's best pitcher. -Gotty