I found this reference to Kyosuke Sasaki, Kosuke Fukudome's former hitting coach in Japan who arrives for a week starting tomorrow in Philadelphia, to be very interesting: 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-20-cubs-bits-chicago-jul20,0,897095.story 

If nothing else it show Hendry's willingness to think outside the box and I, for one, welcome any help we can get. Can anyone remember bringing an "outside specialist" onboard during the middle of the season before?

I still believe in the player and love his baseball sense and defense. He was, however, simply too good a hitter in Japan to be spinning and slapping. 

 

Domo arigato, Sasaki san, and good luck!

Perhaps it's only the hollow afterglow from last night's win prompting this post (hollow due to the Soriano injury, obviously), but everyone by now has noticed that our once highly criticized Ryan Dempster is pitching like a major league #1. The Cubs might well have two (that's 2!) starting pitchers on the NL All-Star team. Way to go, Ryan! This prompts my question: does this team really need to plow over the farm for another starter? I get as excited as the next guy envisioning C.C. Sabathia in a Cub uniform, even for a short time, but maybe, just maybe, he's not needed. Z, Dempster, and an improving Lilly might be all that's needed should the Cubs make the post season. I might roll the dice for a left-handed bat, but. . . Your comments?