Another Disaster

I'm beginning to regret the idea of trying to blog every game. This one, like so many of the other losses, showcases the strengths and deficiencies of what is beginning to look like the typical so-called underachieving team.

Last night they rode a solid start by Tom Gorzelanny into the seventh inning of a perfectly winnable game. Then came total meltdown. Caridad's return to the bullpen was ruined by two errors, one on a hard-hit but routine ball to Castro and the second on a slow routine ground-ball to Fontenot. (I'd like to know what Lee was doing running half-way to second base and shielding Fontenot on that play). I guess I have no real quarrel with going to Marshall in that situation, but you do have to question pulling him after the walk.

Then came the moment I personally have been dreading since the ill-advised move of Zambrano to the bullpen. This is just exactly the wrong spot to call on Zambrano. He is not Marmol from 2008. The results were inevitable. He struck out the first guy, but then Gomes got a single on what looked like a good pitch that for once in his life the batter didn't try to pull.

I've said before that weird things happen when Zambrano pitches. I think there are at least two reasons for this. One is the tension level is very high and the team plays uptight. The second is that, ironically, his stuff is almost too good. It moves too much. So umpires often miss calls and when batters make contact, the ball does odd things. You see a lot of erratic dribblers and difficult infield chances and a lot of bloopers. Throw in a bad call at home plate and that's just what put the game out of reach last night and just why moving Zambrano to the pen was such a dumb and desperate move. Over the long haul, when he can establish his pitches, this kind of thing evens out, which is why Zambrano has been by and large a very successful starting pitcher.

Anyway, although the post-game analysis concentrated its attention on the bullpen meltdown, and Hendry is going to have to go out and get some kind of help there just so Lou will shut up about it, this isn't really why they are losing games like this. Good teams beat lousy pitchers and more often than not lose to dominant pitchers, but they find a way to beat decent enough pitchers like Harang, for example, even when they are on their game.

The reason the Cubs don't is that they have a lineup that is relatively easy to pitch to. Once you get past Theriot and Fukudome, even if you put one or both of them on base, you have essentially the same hitter two through six, an aggressive right-handed power hitter who is vulnerable to being pitched outside, which is just what Harang did all night. Ramirez used to be the exception, in that he had a lot of plate discipline and shortened up with two strikes, but this year he has been in a funk since day one.

You have to get down to the seventh and eighth spots before you get a little more discipline and hitting to right field. Ironically, the promotion of Castro, which I still regard as a sound move, makes the team even more right-handed, although it looks as if he does hit the ball where it is pitched. That's really why the Cubs are seemingly so inconsistent this year and why everybody is remarking on how it has been the bottom and top of the order that has been productive when they have won.

Breaking these tendencies is going to involve some creative thinking on management's part, something that has never been in evidence on the North Side in many years.