So the Cubs finally played a decent game, scored runs, etc., and this made all the difference. Soriano is on a roll right now and it is fun to watch. He has about three or four of these incredible one week streaks. But listen, fans, enjoy it while it lasts because he always comes down to earth and when he does it can get pretty ugly. Ramirez continues to struggle. Over the long haul, Ramirez is much more important to the team. Last year's woes were mostly the result of his extended time on the DL. If he doesn't find himself, this team is in big trouble.
Listening to the sports radio shows and so on, I still find the Zambrano move incredible and pretty much the work of, as one commentator noted, an imbecile. Lou started nattering on about all the guys who were starters and moved to the bullpen like Smoltz and Guidry and Eckersley, but, hey, they became closers, not setup guys.
I am convinced that before the game Piniella maps out his pitching expectations and then, no matter what actually happens, just puts it on auto-pilot. Silva again was dominant, threw only 87 pitches and was pulled for a pinch-hitter with a four run lead. Why? Marmol was used to finish the game with a six run lead. Why?
There are only so many innings in a season, 1458, to be exact, say 1500 to round things off allowing for extra innings. You would like to get 200 innings from each of your starters, 1,000 innings. Realistically that's not going to happen, but lets say you are left with between 450 and 600 innings for the remaining seven guys. So for every inning you subtract from the starter's workload unnecessarily, you add innings to the bullpen. More innings for these guys, more stress, more chance for failure. 70 innings or so is ideal for most relievers, maybe 80 for your closer who by definition ought to be the best and most durable. Start pushing 80 or 90 innings for these guys, especially in tight games and you are going to have problems.
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