SB Nation - Micah Hoffpauir

Why The Cubs Should Sign Chad Tracy

Al — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:41:19 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Chad Tracy doubles in two runs vs. the Cubs in Phoenix last April 29.

While all of us are awaiting Thanksgiving dinner and the Cubs to trade Milton Bradley (not necessarily in that order), I thought I'd start an occasional series on players who might otherwise fly under the radar who I think could help the Cubs in 2010.

Obviously, this wouldn't be one of the "sexy" free-agent signings that the Cubs have had in the past -- and given the player payroll constraints, they're not likely to have one of those this offseason. But there were plenty of holes in the Cubs' offense last year, particularly on the bench, that need to be addressed. The 2008 Cubs had a productive starting lineup and a solid bench, and that's one of the reasons they led the National League in runs scored. The Cubs need to solidify the bench as well as answer the obvious questions (such as how and where Bradley will be dealt and who will be acquired to replace him).

It's pretty clear to me that Micah Hoffpauir is exactly who a lot of us said he was -- a Quadruple-A player, someone who can dominate at the Triple-A level but is exposed in the major leagues. Getting extended playing time in 2009 due to injuries, Hoffpauir hit .239/.300/.427 and hit so poorly from June 1-August 2 (.179/.216/.357) that he had to be sent back to Iowa, returning to Wrigley Field with the Iowa Cubs on August 9 and joking that he just wanted to pick up a pair of pants he had left in the clubhouse when the Cubs left on a road trip. Plus, Hoffpauir will be 30 years old on March 1; I think he's had his proverbial 15 minutes.

Chad Tracy, who is only a couple of months younger than Hoffpauir (he'll be 30 on May 22), looked like he was on his way to becoming a solid major league regular after having 20-HR seasons in 2005 and 2006 and OPS of .911 and .794 in those two seasons. After the 2006 season the Diamondbacks signed him to a three-year deal worth $13.25 million, with a $7 million club option for 2010 (and a $1 million buyout). Almost immediately, Tracy got hurt -- he had a rib injury, an oblique injury, a knee injury that required surgery at the end of spring training in 2008, and a couple of minor injuries including another oblique. Here's a list of all of his various DL stints.

His production, naturally, tumbled; he never had any semblance of regular playing time over the last three years and his OPS of .695 in 2009 was the worst of his career. On November 5 the D'backs declined his option and paid him the $1 million buyout.

Nevertheless, after Tracy came back from the last injury in September, he hit pretty well in a small-sample-size 31 plate appearances, drawing six walks and hitting a pair of doubles and another pair of homers.

Tracy can play 1B, 3B and the corner outfield spots. No one's asking him to be a superstar or even a starting player. But playing part-time, if he's healthy, he'd be a fine addition to the Cubs' bench -- and he hits lefthanded, which should please Lou Piniella. He'll probably never get back to his 2005-06 level of production, but he doesn't need to -- just be a good option off the bench, and provide a real backup third baseman, something the Cubs did not have in 2009.

I'd offer him a one-year deal with protection for the team if he spends too much time on the DL, and possibly an option year that would vest with a certain number of plate appearances. He's the perfect choice to replace the unproductive Hoffpauir.

Building A Cubs Champion: 2010 Edition

Al — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:15:22 -0000

by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Like it or not, one of the keys to the Cubs' success in 2010 is a resurgence by Alfonso Soriano. Here, he launches his game-winning grand slam vs. the Astros last July 27.

View full size photo »

Last year about this time, I made this post discussing what I thought should be the makeup of the 2009 Cubs.

Brave, isn't it, of me to post that link when I'd just as soon forget about it. I was shouted down and laughed at (people are still giving me grief for the Kevin Millar thing, and they were absolutely correct), and had the Cubs put that 25-man roster on the field last April, they'd undoubtedly have had a much worse season than they did in real life (case in point: Alex Hinshaw, who I thought was an up-and-coming LOOGY, threw only six major league innings in 2009, posting a 12.00 ERA).

So let me go about this project this year in a different sort of way. A year ago (actually, October 20, 2008 was the date I wrote the post about my proposed 2009 roster) we were all still stunned and angry that the 97-win team that had dominated the National League all season went three-and-out in the playoffs. This was before Lou's "we've gotta get more lefthanded" mantra led us to the Milton Bradley disaster, before popular favorites Kerry Wood and Mark DeRosa were let go, and a lot of us were wondering, "How can we make a team that good into one that will win 11 games in October?"

Jim Hendry and Co. were asking themselves the same question, obviously, but came up with the wrong answer. Without rehashing what we've rehashed all summer long, clearly, it didn't work -- and not just because of Hendry's moves, but because players like Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto and Mike Fontenot seriously underperformed their 2008 numbers by considerable margins and for various reasons, and because Aramis Ramirez, who is the Cubs' best hitter, missed 50 games with a dislocated shoulder and wasn't at full strength the rest of the season, eventually playing in only 82 games.

I believe in what new owner Tom Ricketts said at his introductory press conference: that the Cubs already have the talent that can win the World Series, and only need a few tweaks to bring the club back to pennant-contending level. I'm also going to assume that what we've heard about player payroll is correct: that it will be increased, if only "slightly", from 2009, and thus will wind up at (approximately) $145 million. That will rank third in baseball, behind the Yankees and Red Sox.

Thus, instead of trying to build a roster simply by picking pieces from here and there, let's use that $145 million to put together a winning team.

Let's begin with players we know will be with the team next year, and their payroll figures (all numbers from the excellent site Cot's Baseball Contracts). These players are under contract for 2010 and will definitely be on the team, followed by their contract amounts:

Alfonso Soriano, $19,000,000
Carlos Zambrano, $18,875,000
Aramis Ramirez, $16,500,000
Kosuke Fukudome, $14,000,000
Ryan Dempster, $13,500,000
Derrek Lee, $13,000,000
Ted Lilly, $13,000,000

That's $107,875,000 for seven players. The Cubs also owe Jeff Samardzija $1,000,000 on the major league portion of his deal (whether or not he throws a major league inning) and $500,000 to the long-ago-released Luis Vizcaino, who pitched 3.2 innings in a Cub uniform. We're now at $109,375,000, leaving "only" $35,625,000 for 18 more players to fill out the Opening Day 25-man roster. That means there are going to be a fair number of minimum-wage players in 2010, because among the players remaining, a number of them are arbitration-eligible, meaning they will be in line for raises.

The first order of business is to remove Milton Bradley from the premises. We have had many long debates about whether and for whom he should be traded, but I believe this is top priority for Jim Hendry and will happen sooner rather than later. Disagree if you wish, but I think the best of many not-so-great scenarios is to send him -- and Aaron Miles -- to the Giants for Aaron Rowand. Between Bradley and Miles, they are owed a total of $23.7 million; Rowand is owed $36 million. Since in doing a deal like this, you would be relieving the Giants, essentially, of $12 million (approximately) by taking the third year of Rowand's contract, Hendry should ask the Giants to split the difference and pay half of Rowand's 2012 contract, which would split the total dollars (approximately $60 million) between the two teams, about $30 million each.

This would also accomplish equalizing the 2010 payroll -- or come close -- to what Bradley and Miles would have been owed ($11.7 million) and what Rowand is owed ($12 million). I think the Giants would be willing to do this, because you are taking $6 million off their 2012 payroll, while leaving their 2010 and 2011 payrolls where they are now, since Bradley is owed $12 million in 2011.

I concede that Rowand has had two pretty poor offensive seasons in San Francisco (at least in part due to injuries). But in 2007, he had a fine hitting year in Philadelphia, and I believe that he has at least a chance to return to that level in Chicago. If you were looking at the possible acquisition of Rowand in a vacuum, you wouldn't do it -- but the necessity of removing Bradley from the team makes this probably about the best way to accomplish that. At best, this could turn into a Hundley-for-Grudzielanek-and-Karros sort of deal.

So, now the Cubs have a center fielder (with Fukudome moving back to his original position, right field, improving the outfield defense at two spots), but we are now at eight players and have only $23,625,000 left. They're fortunate that Geovany Soto is not yet arbitration-eligible, so let's say the Cubs bump him up to $825,000 from the $575,000 he made in 2009. That's a pretty good raise, given the bad year he had. Now we're at $22,800,000. Backup catcher Koyie Hill made $475,000 in 2009 and had a good year for a backup. Let's move him up to $600,000, leaving $22,200,000.

I'm going to leave the double-play combination alone for 2010. It's likely that by 2011, Starlin Castro will be the Cubs' starting shortstop -- but for now, because Lou and Jim like them, Jeff Baker and Ryan Theriot will return. Baker made $415,000 in 2009 and had a good run after he was acquired from Colorado -- one of Hendry's best moves last year. Let's pay him $500,000, and Theriot $700,000, both up from 2009. That's 12 players, and $21,000,000 remaining for the other 13 -- we're getting to the point where we can actually think about signing a free agent or two or making a deal.

Among our 12 signed players so far are nine hitters -- so, given the current fad of having 12 pitchers on your staff, we have room for four more offensive players. I like Andres Blanco and Sam Fuld -- both performed well in backup roles in 2009. Neither hits much, but both play outstanding defense and neither is going to be expected to start more than a handful of games. Fuld made $401,500 and Blanco $400,000 (the minimum) in 2009, and let's give them both raises to $425,000. We are at 14 players and have $20,050,000 left. We'll need one more outfielder and also a guy who could fill the role that was filled in 2007 and 2008 by Daryle Ward, and in 2009 by Micah Hoffpauir.

Sad to say, I'm non-tendering Micah. He's 30 in March and didn't really do well most of last year -- he's a one-dimensional player, since he's really not a very good outfielder, and didn't do well in the dimension (hitting) he was supposedly good at. Since we're no longer locked in to the "lefthanded" mantra of a year ago, the Cubs can put the minimum-wage Jake Fox -- bumped up to $500,000 for his good performance of a year ago -- in this slot, and re-sign Rowand's close friend Reed Johnson for $3 million to fill in when his buddy hits the brick wall at Wrigley too many times.

So, we now have $16,550,000 left for nine pitchers -- which means we're going to have to fill most of the bullpen with minimum-wage guys. That's actually fine with me -- look at the disaster that was Aaron Heilman last year (in my opinion, Heilman should be non-tendered) -- and the Cubs have a couple of real good prospects, in my opinion, to fill middle-relief roles in Justin Berg and Esmailin Caridad. They get the minimum $400,000 each, leaving $15,750,000 for seven more pitchers. It was reported earlier this week that the Cubs are negotiating a two-year deal with John Grabow; reported figures are "between $6.5 and $7.5 million" for the two years. Let's assume for this post that it's in between, and Grabow gets $3.5 million for 2010. We've got $12,250,000 left and six spots to fill on the pitching staff. Carlos Marmol is going to close; he made $575,000 in 2009, so let's bump him to $800,000. Angel Guzman will be his primary right-handed setup guy (Grabow's the lefty setup guy, or should be, if Lou would ever use him right). Guzman made $421,500 in 2009; he could be renewed at $500,000.

Our payroll drawer is nearly empty (you can almost count the remaining Benjamins, right?); we have $10,950,000 remaining and still need to fill three spots, one in the pen, and two in the starting rotation, and here's where it gets a bit dicey (and this is why I left this part for last). First, you can fill one of the starting spots with Randy Wells, who made the minimum last year and certainly deserves a raise; let's put him at $750,000 (or maybe even a bit less; he's renewable, meaning you don't have to give him that much of a raise until he's arb-eligible next year), leaving $10,200,000. The Cubs have five free agents: Rich Harden, John Grabow, Kevin Gregg, Chad Fox and Reed Johnson. I already re-signed Johnson and Grabow above; Gregg and Fox, thanks for your service, see you in another uniform next year (and please, Jim, not another minor-league invite for Chad Fox. He's done).

But what to do with Harden? If you offer him arbitration, he'll almost certainly accept. To paraphrase Longfellow's nursery rhyme, "When he's good, he's very, very good; when he's bad, he's horrid". If Harden accepts arbitration, he's likely to get pretty close to all the remaining dollars in the drawer -- so reluctantly, we say goodbye to Rich, without the arb offer, unless you can somehow agree ahead of time to get him to sign for $8 million or so. That's not unreasonable given his $7 million salary in 2009 and his mediocre performance.

For the sake of argument, then, let's say we have this $10,950,000 available for our two remaining spots. One of those spots is going to go to Sean Marshall, who, I believe, deserves another shot at the starting rotation after doing a good job as a swingman in 2009. Lou misused him as a LOOGY -- Marshall can clearly do better than getting one LH batter out -- and I'd like to see Sean, now 27 and with four major league seasons under his belt, get a shot at starting. Sean made $450,000 in 2009, and could be paid $600,000 in 2010. In this scenario Samardzija makes the team, likely because the Cubs are paying him the $1 million whether he makes it or not. Otherwise there are other possibilities, including Arizona Fall Leaguers John Gaub and Andrew Cashner, or maybe someone else who will have a good spring (and please, let's not have another David Patton scenario), for this final spot.

That leaves $10,350,000 (or just under $10 million if you use Gaub or Cashner, who would make the minimum). You could consider signing someone like Jon Garland, who just got his option declined by the Dodgers and is a free agent. Garland made $7.25 million in 2009 and had a "typical" Garland year, which is as an inning-eater; you could probably get him for about $8 million for 2010. Garland has made at least 32 starts for eight straight years, and has pitched no fewer than 191.2 innings in any of those eight. Doing that would take the pressure off the staff, especially if Ted Lilly isn't ready for Opening Day, and would let Marshall play the "swingman" role again. Or you could give that last rotation spot to Tom Gorzelanny, who made $433,000 in 2009, and save the money for a midseason acquisition.

Note that I haven't gone all DeRomantic here and proposed bringing back Mark DeRosa, although I think he'd still be a solid addition, even at age 35, for the right price, and a note in this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article indicates the Cubs may indeed make DeRo an offer. I also haven't retained Mike Fontenot, who could probably be traded -- I mentioned above non-tendering Heilman, but it may be possible that both Fontenot and Heilman could be dealt, even for low-level prospects. In fact, my 2010 team as proposed above has only two players (Rowand and Garland) who were not with the Cubs at some point in 2009 -- unless they decided not to go with Jake Fox in the bench role and instead signed a free agent (or one who soon will be) such as Ross Gload or Chad Tracy, whose option was declined by the Diamondbacks yesterday. Still, despite all the travails, injuries and bad performances in 2009, the Cubs won 83 games. With performances returning to career norms, better health and a little luck, just a few tweaks could have us returning to the postseason in 2010.

Heading Home: Cubs vs. Pirates Preview, Tuesday 9/29, 7:05 CT

Al — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:00:22 -0000

More photos » by George Nikitin - AP

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Ryan Dempster is a class act, as we all know -- but today, Gordon Wittenmyer tells us more about what Dempster had to go through after his daughter was born with a rare congenital disease, and notes that the toughest person on Ryan Dempster is... Ryan Dempster:

Dempster has a hard time accepting that he didn't pitch better when things were most upside-down.

"Sometimes just not knowing how to handle it all," he said. "Just life in general. I had a 3-year-old that's running around doing his thing and you're trying to give attention to him but at the same time, that's your daughter lying there with the tubes in and out of her and surgeries and all kinds of stuff.

"I wish I could have handled things a little bit better, especially when I came to the field, and tried to separate those two. At times it was a little bit tough."

As recently as a few starts ago, Dempster's most recent rough start coincided with another hospital procedure for Riley.

"He's human," pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. "And he handled it better than most people. But that doesn't mean it didn't have an effect. It did. Clearly."

I'm glad the Cubs signed Dempster to a four-year deal. He's exactly the kind of guy you need in your clubhouse -- and I'm sure that now that his family situation has stabilized, he'll be back stronger than ever in 2010.

Bruce Miles writes today about Jake Fox and what he's going to do this offseason to help himself improve. And Bruce notes that Jake (given name "Jacob") shares a name with a Hall of Famer:

Fox shares the same first and last name of White Sox Hall of Famer Jacob "Nellie" Fox. A native of Indianapolis, the Cubs' Fox says it's a coincidence, but one he enjoys.

"I knew that," he said of his name. "My grandparents went to Cooperstown when I was real young, and (the Hall of Fame) sells those little cards in the gift shop.

"They brought me one back of Jacob Nelson Fox. Jacob Nelson 'Nellie' Fox. So I always knew there was a Jacob Fox in the Hall of Fame. I thought that was really cool. I still actually have a card at home, but I always thought that was really cool."

It's a good story, but Jake Fox couldn't have been "real young" when that happened. Jacob Nelson "Nellie" Fox was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997 -- when the Cubs' Jake Fox was 15.

Today's Starting Pitchers


Ryan Dempster Cubs	vs.	Kevin Hart Pirates

10-8	W-L	4-8
3.68	ERA	5.38
156	SO	47
62	BB	40
21	HR	11
vs. Hou	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Ryan Dempster	10-8	29	29	0	0	0	0	186.0	185	89	76	21	62	156	3.68	1.33

NOTE: Kevin Hart's stats below are with the Pirates only. See the pitcher box above for his full-season stats.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Kevin Hart	1-7	9	9	0	0	0	0	49.1	68	41	38	8	22	34	6.93	1.82

After pitching fairly well in four starts for the Cubs (with a large number of walks), Kevin Hart has thrown... really badly in nine starts for the Pirates, going 1-7 with a bad ERA (6.93) and worse WHIP (1.82). This includes this game vs. the Cubs on September 9 in Pittsburgh, his only career appearance against his former team, in which he walked six in five innings and allowed four earned runs and a homer to Micah Hoffpauir.

The September 8 start in Pittsburgh was Ryan Dempster's only really "bad" start of the month; he allowed four runs in 6.1 innings, but got the win anyway. Since that start he has been lights-out in three starts, throwing 23 innings with a 1.17 ERA and only three walks and 16 K's. For those three starts he has a win and a pair of no-decisions. Since August 1, Dempster is 5-3, 2.75 in 11 starts, similar to his production of last year. He needs 14 innings to reach the 200-inning mark for the second year in a row, and he'll get tonight and Sunday to try to reach that milestone.

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Three And Counting: Cubs Beat Giants Again 6-2

Al — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:00:47 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Aramis Ramirez has had a heck of a half-season.

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Whatever this late-season surge eventually means, the Cubs sure have been a lot of fun to watch over the last week.

6-1 since last Sunday, they beat the Giants for the third time in a row 6-2 on Saturday afternoon, pushing the Giants farther back in their attempt to take the NL Wild Card. This win both won this series for the Cubs, as well as the season series, from the Giants.

And later last night, the Cubs were eliminated from the NL Central race when the Cardinals beat the Rockies in Denver, so the Cubs' string of consecutive division titles ends at just two. They'll simply have to start another streak next season.

Aramis Ramirez has played in 79 games this year, just short of half a season, and many of those games were played with his shoulder far less than 100% after it was dislocated in Milwaukee on May 8. He hit his 15th HR of the season and now has 64 RBI -- that would put him on a pace for 130 RBI, which would currently rank third in the National League (and also third among all ML players, since the AL leader, Mark Teixeira, has 119). The Cubs are 42-34 with him in the starting lineup, 39-39 without. This all goes to show how much the Cub offense missed A-Ram; things might be very different now had they won even half of the games in the disastrous May road trip to St. Louis and San Diego where they scored six total runs in the six games, part of an eight-game losing streak.

Tom Gorzelanny is beginning to make a case for himself for the 2010 starting rotation. He made another solid start yesterday, throwing five innings and allowing only five singles and a run. In six starts as a Cub, Gorz has thrown 28.2 innings, allowed 28 hits and only nine walks and struck out 33 while posting a 4.08 ERA -- and that includes his horrific start in Denver on August 10, when he allowed six runs in less than two innings. Gorzelanny will have to increase his stamina and lower his pitch counts -- only one of his Cub starts has been longer than six innings, his first on August 4 vs. the Reds, but he clearly has talent.

As bad an offseason as Jim Hendry had last winter, give him credit for that trade -- he got Gorzelanny and John Grabow from the Pirates for, essentially, nothing.

The rest of the Cubs also had fun yesterday, even without Derrek Lee (who should be back today) -- they piled up 13 hits and seven walks off Barry Zito and four Giants relievers, including our old pal Bob Howry, who was making his first appearance against his former teammates. All told, three Cubs (Jake Fox, Reed Johnson and Micah Hoffpauir -- who didn't even start the game) had a pair of hits.

For those of you who don't live in the handful of cities that carried yesterday's game, consider yourselves lucky. Chris Rose, the play-by-play man, and Jose Mota, the analyst, were horrendous. When Giants catcher Buster Posey dropped a foul popup, Rose said, "That reminds me of the play in the 1980 World Series when Bob Boone dropped one and Pete Rose caught it." Well, sure, Chris, it's just like that play from game six of the 1980 WS. Except that the ball in that game was caught, and the one yesterday wasn't. Listening to those two was painful. I'd almost rather have had Josh Lewin and Mark Grace doing the game.

OK, the complaint department is now closed. The Cubs have been playing solid baseball that's enjoyable to watch. And that's always a good thing. Today's game preview post will be up at 1 pm CDT.

Facing Lincecum: Cubs vs. Giants Preview, Friday 9/25, 9:15 CT

Al — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:00:17 -0000

More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP

Write your own caption; another prize for the best one.

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The last time the Cubs faced Tim Lincecum, on May 5 at Wrigley Field, Lou sent onto the field a makeshift lineup that included Joey Gathright leading off in CF (the only game he started as a Cub), Kosuke Fukudome batting third, Micah Hoffpauir hitting fifth, and Aaron Miles starting at SS and batting second (surprisingly enough, he actually worked a walk off Lincecum).

I really have no idea why Lou did this; maybe he was thinking "we're going to lose this game anyway to this pitcher, so I'll give my regulars some rest". And you know what, the spring training style lineup might have actually worked if Sean Marshall hadn't given up a three-run homer to Bengie Molina in the first inning. After that, Marshall settled down and matched Lincecum well for the next six innings; each of them allowed a pair of runs between the second and the seventh.

Tonight, there will be a few sub Cubs in the lineup again (see below), but this time out of necessity due to injuries and several other factors. With Carlos Zambrano on the mound, maybe this time, the Cubs can beat Lincecum; they have done so only once before, on August 21, 2007, and that was primarily the fault of the Giants' bullpen, though Jason Marquis matched up well with Lincecum that night. I was at that game in San Francisco; here's the recap I wrote the next day.

There are only three visiting teams that have a winning record at AT&T Park. Believe it or not, last night the Cubs (now 17-16) joined the Dodgers (43-38) and, amazingly, the Pirates (15-14) on that very short list. (Hat tip to BCB reader bison for the link.)

Lineup via Twittermyer:

Fukudome, rf; Theriot, ss; Ramirez, 3b; Hoffpauir, 1b; Baker, 2b; Scales, lf; Hill, c; Fuld, cf; Zambrano, p

Paul Sullivan asks whether the Giants might be a good match for Milton Bradley in an offseason trade and posits whether Aaron Rowand would be a good return:

... both GMs are motivated sellers, and a Rowand-Bradley deal would not be out of the realm of possibility. Rowand has three years and $36 million left on his contract, while Bradley has $21 million and two years left on his deal. Obviously more players would have to be involved, unless the Giants were willing to pay the Cubs around half of the $15 million difference in the contracts.

Well. Rowand has had a mediocre year (and looked awful striking out against Carlos Marmol last night) and is two years removed from his fine offensive season with the Phillies. But he is an outstanding center fielder; getting him would allow the Cubs to move Kosuke Fukudome back to RF (perhaps he could platoon with Reed Johnson there?) and maybe Rowand has one more good year left in him. Maybe some of the difference in salaries could be made up by asking the Giants to take Aaron Miles in return, too. If a deal like this were made, the Giants would probably have to leave Bradley home during any series at Wrigley Field. It's not the only option or even the best one, but it might be worth considering.

Finally, for the third day in a row, I found a fun photo for which I'll run another caption contest. Prize again is a DVD of "Chasing October". Previous winners can enter, but can't win again (ballhawk and KaliCub, who won last night for this entry).

Today's Starting Pitchers


Carlos Zambrano Cubs	vs.	Tim Lincecum Giants

8-6	W-L	14-6
3.91	ERA	2.47
138	SO	247
73	BB	63
10	HR	10
vs. SF	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Carlos Zambrano	8-6	33	26	0	0	0	0	154.1	147	74	67	10	73	138	3.91	1.43

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Tim Lincecum	14-6	31	30	4	2	0	0	211.1	160	65	58	10	63	247	2.47	1.06

The crack in Tim Lincecum's armor might be his recent performance. Is he tiring at the end of a long season? In his last six starts he's a pedestrian 3-2, 3.69 with 20 walks in 39 innings. Maybe the Cubs can wait him out and get on base via walks tonight. The more pitches you make him throw, the quicker the Cubs can get into SF's bullpen. Derrek Lee is 6-for-16 (.375) with a pair of doubles vs. Lincecum, but he won't be starting tonight. And maybe someday, Lincecum will look like he's older than 15.

Carlos Zambrano hasn't faced the Giants since 2007, when they had quite a different-looking lineup than today's, on August 23, 2007. Z threw OK that day, but allowed his opposing pitcher, Matt Cain, to hit a two-run homer. Overall Z is 4-1, 3.40 in seven career starts vs. the Giants, and has not lost (3-0) in six road starts (2.76) since the All-Star break. Edgar Renteria (12-for-31, .387) and Randy Winn (6-for-11, two doubles, a HR) have hit Z well.

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Baker Leads Cubs Past Former Candlestick Players, 3-2

Al — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:01:05 -0000

More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP

Jeff Baker, home run hero. Who would have thought?

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As the Cubs and their coaches and manager came onto the field for the handshakes and high-fives after their come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Giants, I saw something I don't think I've seen all year.

A smile on Lou Piniella's face.

Sorry it took so long, Lou, but that one was definitely worth a smile (and worth me staying up late to see the end).

For most of the game it appeared this recap was going to be written as a form letter, one I've written so many times ("Cubs pitcher throws great, offense impotent, [insert name of pitcher here] deserved better"). And for eight innings, the game set up exactly that way. Ryan Dempster threw another excellent game -- he has a 1.73 ERA in five starts covering 36.1 innings in September, during which he has issued only six walks -- but got victimized by a man hitting .178 coming into the game. John Bowker, sort of the Giants' version of Micah Hoffpauir, spent a good chunk of 2009 at the Giants' Triple-A stop at Fresno, pounding minor league pitching at a .342/.451/.596 clip before being recalled in July. Like Hoffpauir, he's really more of a first baseman than an outfielder; also like Micah, both players were in left field for their respective teams, and Bowker struggled at the major league level this year.

Not last night. Perhaps channeling Hoffpauir's two-homer, five-RBI career day against the Mets last September (oddly, one year ago today), Bowker chose last night to have the best day of his 2009 season. He doubled in the Giants' first run and then nearly sent a ball into McCovey Cove (it landed in the last row of the RF seats) for a homer, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.

Other than those hits, Dempster held the rest of the Giants to five singles and a walk in seven innings; he lowered his season ERA to 3.68 and he says he'd like to start two more times in order to meet a personal goal of 200 innings:

He's at 186 innings, and will make two more starts, opening the final homestand next Tuesday against Pittsburgh and closing the season on Oct. 4 against Arizona.

"That's a goal of mine every year," Dempster said of reaching 200. "I just want to win ballgames. I sign up to make as many starts as I can. If it happens, it happens. Today was a great win for us. If I can help us win a couple more ballgames, it'll be awesome."

Absolutely, and if Dempster can, say, finish the season with two wins in those starts and an ERA near 3.50, his 2009 season will be not that far off the pace he set in his first full year as a Cub starter in 2008, despite a rocky start that likely had a lot to do with the personal stress he was feeling due to the health problems his newborn daughter had in April.

Aaron Heilman threw another solid scoreless inning in relief; we've all bitched about Heilman plenty here, but in 14 appearances since August 12 he has thrown 16.1 innings, struck out 12 and walked only three and posted a 1.65 ERA. The key is the lack of walks; at the very least if he can keep this up, he will have trade value this offseason.

Heilman wound up with the win when Jeff Baker, down to his final strike and an 0-2 count, laid off a pair of out-of-the-strike-zone sliders and slammed the next pitch into the left-field seats for a game-winning two-run homer. Derrek Lee had stolen second base while Baker was batting to try to set himself up in scoring position to tie the game; unfortunately:

The Cubs may be a little shorthanded Friday if Derrek Lee can't go. The first baseman aggravated his neck when he slid into second base in the ninth.

"Every time he slides, I cringe," Piniella said. "What happened probably is when he came in, someone tapped him on the head scoring the run in the ninth, and I don't think that helped the situation either."

That's why Hoffpauir moved from LF to 1B for the last of the ninth, which Carlos Marmol finished off without too much incident for his 15th save (and 12th in a row). It was one of the best games of 2009, preventing the Cardinals from clinching the NL Central for another day. I woke up this morning to a voicemail from my dad, who lives in San Francisco, telling me some friends invited him to the game. Glad he got to see such a good one -- that's two Cubs wins he has seen this year, including this one at Wrigley Field on May 14.

It's nice to see wins like this; they give great hope for the future. Keep up the good work -- let's see more smiles on Lou's face.

Finally, the winner of last night's photo caption contest is KaliCub, who submitted this entry:

In a stunning display of one-upmanship, the Cubs fail when Jake Fox jumps and rest of Cubs fielders fall down, only to find out that Jake didn’t catch the ball.

KaliCub, please email me your address so I can send you the DVD. Thanks for all the entries!

7 Back, 17 To Go: Cubs Nearly Done For Year After 7-4 Loss To Brewers

Al — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:00:16 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

The Cubs and Brewers honor Medal of Honor recipients before Thursday's game.

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And after all was said and done, it wasn't the grand slam by Jody Gerut that did the Cubs in, although that did give the Brewers a lead today that they never relinquished.

No, it was the little things, and Randy Wells acknowleged so in his postgame remarks: giving up a two-out hit to a pitcher who came into the game with a .100 (3-for-30) season batting average. That hit prolonged an inning that should have been over; Wells had retired the first two batters in the fourth inning easily, and seemed to have settled down after a shaky first inning. But then the #8 hitter, Alcides Escobar, walked; Bush singled; Wells, rattled, walked Felipe Lopez, and then Gerut hit the slam, only the second of his career.

It was a thrill for Gerut, I suppose; he was the 1995 Illinois High School Player of the Year for Willowbrook High, and he's struggled this year, coming into the game hitting only .215. For Wells, it was the most walks (five) he had given up in any one game this season (one intentional), and he also admitted in the postgame news conference that he had stopped doing what had made him successful earlier, attacking the zone, and was trying to nibble. Why pitchers do this, I have no idea; if something's working for you, why change it?

The Cubs lost to the Brewers 7-4, splitting a series they should have won and realistically needed to sweep to have any chance to get back into the thick of postseason contention. Now, nine games out of first place and seven games back in the wild-card race, they are in 2007 Phillies territory (the Phils made up 7.5 games in 17, but they had no one else in front of them), and I can see the numbers as well as anyone else can. It'd take a major miracle now.

The Cubs did do their best to get back into the game. Micah Hoffpauir pinch-hit for Wells in the bottom of the fourth and doubled in a pair of runs, making it 5-4 and at least giving the Cubs a shot at it, and Sean Marshall and Aaron Heilman threw scoreless innings. But the Cubs couldn't do more than two more baserunners the rest of the game, on a single by Milton Bradley and a walk to Mike Fontenot in the sixth. That put two runners on with one out, but Koyie Hill struck out and Aramis Ramirez, pinch-hitting on a day he was otherwise off, hit a ball that might have gone out had the wind not been blowing in strongly from right field.

You all know how I feel about Milton Bradley. But today really was the last straw for me. Bradley took himself out of the game after that sixth-inning single, claiming knee problems. He didn't seem to have any trouble in the field or any trouble running to first base. Maybe it's legitimate, but honestly, isn't this enough of this act? I've heard the same stories about Bradley when he was with Oakland -- taking himself out of games on a moment's notice on the flimsiest of excuses.

Enough. Bradley was a bad fit in Chicago from the beginning; his production, after taking a bit of an upswing in August, has collapsed again in September (.196/.226/.275 with zero walks in 53 plate appearances). Enough. If I were Lou, I'd bench him for the rest of the season. He's got to be traded -- to anyone who will take him. Go ahead, flame away, but that's how I feel. I'll talk after the season is over about how I think the Cubs should go about getting that LH bat they were looking for last offseason -- this wasn't the right way to do it.

Amusing: watching Prince Fielder pound around the bases for a triple after his ball got beyond Bradley to the wall in the fifth. It was, believe it or not, his third triple of the season. He may seem overweight and out of shape, but Fielder is an excellent athlete who runs the bases well. However, the Cubs might have to have Roger Bossard redo the field after the season due to that run. Fielder also was held RBI-less in the series; he's currently tied with current Houston manager Cecil Cooper for the Brewers' season record with 126 RBI. The Brewers are playing the Astros this weekend, so Cooper can see his record broken in person.

It's been a frustrating season; with four of the seven games remaining to be played in October, this might have been the last bit of nice summer-like weather we'll have for baseball on the north side of Chicago in 2009. It may not mean anything, but I do hope the Cubs can at least win the series in St. Louis this weekend. The Cubs are 5-8 vs. the Cardinals this year; if they can somehow sweep (yeah, I know, a pipedream), they'd even it up. That's a goal they can shoot for.

Fat Lady Clears Throat; Cubs Lose To Brewers 9-5

Al — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:30:15 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

The proverbial "managerial wheels" were turning last night. The Cubs still lost.

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NOW what do you do with Rich Harden?

One of the more exasperating talents in recent years to wear a Cub uniform, Harden has had great success this year in night games (6-3, 2.66 before last night's game). So you figured that he'd be ready for a good performance against the Brewers. Unfortunately, Harden suddenly remembered that he was pitching at Wrigley Field (3-6, 5.90 before last night's game), and gave up hit after bloop hit in three innings of work. It took him 71 pitches to get nine outs and at that point, Lou had seen enough and sent Aaron Miles up to bat for him. It seemed a good idea to get Miles out of the way early, but he actually got a hit and scored a run. The last time Miles did both of those in the same game was on August 8 in Colorado, where he hit his only triple of the year.

In any case, Harden's bad outing -- he was charged with only two earned runs of the five he allowed, because a tough grounder that glanced off Aramis Ramirez's glove was ruled an error after the fact -- helped lead the Cubs to 9-5 loss to the Brewers in a game they simply could not afford to lose in their desperate charge to get back into the wild card race. With the Rockies hanging on, barely, to win 4-3 over the Giants late last night, the Cubs trail by 6.5 games with 18 to go.

Deficits like this have been overcome in the past, and more than once. But it's getting more difficult each day.

Much as I hate to admit it, BLou was probably right about David Patton. Can we declare this experiment over? I'm not sure if the Cubs had anyone else who could have occupied the slot given over to the Rule 5 acquisition for three months, but Patton, who will be 26 next May, came in to relieve Harden and wasn't really any better. He walked two, gave up four hits and was charged with four earned runs when Justin Berg allowed a two-run single in relief of him in the fifth inning. Actually, that single by Corey Hart was the blow that put the game away, because without that the Cubs would have reduced the deficit to 7-5 instead of 9-5, and then you've got a much closer game.

The Cubs had plenty of baserunners -- sixteen of them, courtesy of 13 hits and three walks, but hit into a pair of rally-crushing double plays. The most deflating of those occurred in the eighth inning when the first two men reached base, only to see Ryan Theriot hit into a DP. Theriot actually had a good night, reaching base safely in his first four plate appearances with three hits and a walk, but when crunch time came he failed.

Lou actually appeared to be awake last night; I think the Cubs moving back into marginal contention energized him, at least for a while. He double-switched the pitcher's spot three different times, including yanking Milton Bradley out of the game after he grounded out with two runners on to end the third inning. Paul Sullivan says there might have been something beyond a double-switch involved:

Bradley looked so disinterested during his second-inning strikeout that Piniella yanked him after the third. Piniella downplayed it afterward, saying it was only a double-switch.

I agree with Lou, although the score was 5-2 at the time and Micah Hoffpauir, who replaced Bradley in right field, didn't do any better, flying to left and hitting a comebacker before he was removed in another double-switch.

So the Cubs face the task of mounting a long winning streak starting today and getting some help if they're going to overcome the 6.5 game deficit. Impossible? No. Unlikely? Yes. But I'd like to see them finish the season strong. And as for Harden... frustrating, maddening, aggravating, whatever other adjectives you'd like to add. He's got top-line ability, but many times looks like he has no idea what he's doing out there. Sullivan's article says:

Piniella said he may give Harden an extra day of rest before his next start, inserting Tom Gorzelanny into the mix.

Gorzelanny (and the nine-days-missing Sean Marshall, too) threw well last night in relief. That's a good idea. The Cubs can pick up a half-game with a win today. Keep the faith -- it's not over, not yet.

Better Baseball Through Chemistry: Cubs vs. Reds Preview, Saturday 9/12, 12:05 CT

Al — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:00:31 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

This entire season has been a little squirrelly.

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Yesterday wasn't the first time a squirrel entertained fans at Wrigley Field by running across the field during a game. It also happened on October 6, 2001; that Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article simply notes its presence, but I remember the squirrel running rings around Roosevelt Brown in center field that afternoon. That didn't stop Brown from having his career day; he hit two homers and drove in seven runs in a 13-2 Cubs win over the Pirates that was also notable for Julian Tavarez taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

That game was also the last Cubs telecast directed by legendary WGN-TV director Arne Harris; he suffered a fatal heart attack while out to dinner that evening.

This morning I also want to talk about what a seemingly innocuous player move can do to help a team go on a long winning streak. I was watching the beginning of the Rockies/Padres game last night, and the Colorado announcers were going on and on and on about how Jason Giambi's presence had helped the chemistry in the clubhouse; Giambi had made friends quickly, brought some laughter, and also spent hours in the batting cage working on his swing, being ready for one pinch-hitting appearance.

Now, I admit that clubhouse chemistry is something that's hard to get and even harder to define. Sometimes a team that's said to have "good chemistry" is just a team that's winning. Does winning make for good chemistry, or does good chemistry breed winning? It's impossible to tell. But I do know that I'd rather have had Jason Giambi signed by the Cubs when the A's released him, than have had Micah Hoffpauir flailing away at pitches, even though Hoffpauir has done well since his return. In 14 plate appearances for Colorado, Giambi has three hits and six walks and has directly contributed to several of the wins during the Rockies' now 8-game winning streak, including a two-out walk in the Rox' ridiculous two-out, two-strike, ninth-inning come-from-behind 4-1 win over the Padres and their closer Heath Bell late last night.

Clubhouse chemistry in and of itself doesn't make for winning teams. Good baseball players do. But Jason Giambi has given the Rockies both, and the clubhouse presence DOES matter. There's also something to be said here about American League players coming to the National League -- look at what Matt Holliday has done since his return to the NL. The Cubs should have signed Giambi when he was released by the A's. But Jim Hendry rarely thinks outside the box like this. He needs to start doing so.

Today's Starting Pitchers


Randy Wells Cubs	vs.	Johnny Cueto Reds

10-8	W-L	9-10
2.84	ERA	4.39
84	SO	116
35	BB	49
12	HR	21
vs. Hou	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Randy Wells	10-8	22	22	0	0	0	0	139.1	135	51	44	12	35	84	2.84	1.22

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Johnny Cueto	9-10	26	26	0	0	0	0	147.2	148	78	72	21	49	116	4.39	1.33

Johnny Cueto beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 22, throwing seven shutout innings. He's made two other starts vs. the Cubs this year, one in Cincinnati, one in Chicago, and allowed nine earned runs in 11.2 innings in those starts (6.94 ERA). Derrek Lee, Ryan Theriot and Geovany Soto all have career BA over .300 vs. Cueto.

Randy Wells has started three times vs. the Reds this year and is 2-0 (and the Cubs won the other game, too). Ryan Hanigan (4-for-8) and Brandon Phillips (3-for-8) have hit him well, otherwise he's handled the rest of their hitters pretty well. With J.A. Happ injured and possibly on the shelf for a while, Wells has a shot at increasing his Rookie of the Year chances with strong performances for the rest of the year, likely four more starts.

TV today is cable-only, CSN Chicago and FSN Ohio. Reminder, that means you're blacked out if you're not in the local areas for those channels, due to Bud's Idiotic Saturday Blackout Rules (no EI before 6 pm CT). For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter.

Once again, just two overflow threads today -- 1:15 and 2:30 pm CDT. If there's a need for another one, please post as a FanShot.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Sweep! Cubs Keep Faint Playoff Hopes Alive With 8-5 Win Over Pirates

Al — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:00:56 -0000

by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Write your own caption.

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SOMEWHERE IN OHIO -- On September 23, 1976, I attended this game at Wrigley Field between the Cubs and Pirates.

Turned around from 2009, the Cubs were bad that year, settling into fifth place (only because the Expos were far worse), and the Pirates were contenders, though they finished second to the Phillies.

The Cubs lost that game 5-4 in 10 innings and the attendance was 2,132, the smallest crowd of that season.

That's what today's 8-5 Cubs win over the Pirates at PNC Park felt like. The announced attendance was 10,899, but in the years since 1976 (in 1993, to be exact) the National League went from announcing the turnstile count to announcing tickets sold. There may have been 10,899 tickets sold for today's game, but there were far fewer than 10,899 people in PNC Park on a nice afternoon when the sun finally broke through in Pittsburgh for the first time since I had arrived late Sunday. There might have been 5,000 people in the park, including a large group that all sat together in the RF corner, one man who sat by himself in the last row of the second-to-last section of the upper deck in left field, and about half of the tiny assemblage was Cubs fans.

What they saw was the Cubs' 9th win in 11 games vs. Pittsburgh this year -- and there are still four games left with the Bucs at Wrigley Field. It was nearly effortless; you'll find out more about the "nearly" below the fold. The Cubs scored in each of the first three innings and Carlos Zambrano threw six solid innings, before apparently having words with Lou upon being removed after going out to warm up for the seventh. Z threw 98 pitches and I could have gone either way on leaving him in, but if you're going to take him out, Lou, take him out, don't make him warm up that way waiting for a pinch-hitter to be announced (Ramon Vazquez) so you could call on your lefty, John Grabow. I can't imagine it makes much difference who faces Vazquez, who is actually hitting better vs. LHP this year -- .308 -- than he is vs. RHP -- .233. Grabow got Vazquez to ground out.

More about the "nearly" -- I, for one, will be very glad when we Cubs fans, and the team, bid farewell to Kevin Gregg. I did predict this coming -- not the HR allowed (13, now leading all NL relievers), but the walks. Gregg issued 37 walks in 68 innings last year with the Marlins, and he's well on his way to matching that this year, with 27 in 64 innings. His lack of control has resulted in many blown saves and he nearly blew this game, issuing a pair of walks and then a three-run homer to our old pal Ronny Cedeno, which was the only time the few Pirates fans who remained until the bottom of the 8th cheered. It wasn't much of a cheer, either.

What it did do was force Lou to go to Carlos Marmol to save the game in the 9th, and credit to Marmol -- since he was officially anointed closer he has posted a 1.93 ERA in nine appearances, has seven saves and no blown saves, and most importantly, he has recovered his control. He's walked six in that time, but three of those were in a lost-cause game against the Nationals on August 26, and I think he's got back to the solid Marmol we knew last year and the second half of 2007. Part of it might have been in his head -- remember that he wasn't happy when Gregg was given the closer job during spring training? Sure, professionals shouldn't let that happen, but it's human nature. Gregg will say farewell when this year is over and the Cubs have their closer for 2010, which will allow them to spend money elsewhere next season.

Micah Hoffpauir, who had a tough go of it most of this year, has made his case in the last two days for a 2010 spot, also. He homered for the second straight day, walked twice and scored three runs. In the absence of Alfonso Soriano, why not platoon Hoffpauir and Jake Fox in LF for a while? Sam Fuld can spell them defensively after the 7th, as he did today. (Fox seems to have gotten into Lou's doghouse for some reason; why he didn't start vs. Zach Duke Tuesday night is a mystery.)

I'm heading back on the road shortly after I write this, having enjoyed the trip and the 4-2 record. I truly do feel sorry for Pirates fans, who have been jacked around for 17 years by three different ownership groups. They do have loyal longtime fans in Pittsburgh who support the team through thin and thin (and that's not a misprint), and with the winners already in town (the Steelers and Penguins), the city would just love to have a baseball winner too. However, right now I'm glad they're just fodder for Cubs victories. After the Bucs used to dispatch the Cubs regularly in the 1970's, they owe us a few.