It took 13 innings for the Cubs to figure out how to win an agonizing game by finally successfully playing small ball. An uncharacteristic base on balls for Alfonso Soriano, followed by a perfect bunt from Kosuke Fukudome, followed by another astonishing walk to Ryan Theriot and then a nice hit from Marlon Byrd. I thought for a while this game might go on as long as the fabled Isner/Mahut tennis match at Wimbledon.
Speculation is that either Baker or Tracy will be designated for assignment to make room for Ramirez. I'd tend to favor retaining Tracy. He is left-handed and can play 1B or 3B. Baker is good enough against lefties, but he is completely one-dimensional as a player and cannot actually play any position very well. Tracy was at least a fairly competent regular player at one time. Lou has already announced he will need 12 pitchers to carry him through the stretch of 20 games without an off-day leading up to the All-Star break. Maybe so, but I've never understood this bit of Cubs reasoning. Pineilla always likes 12 pitchers and sometimes 13 as a kind of security blanket, but right now he has two pitchers he almost never uses, viz., Stevens and Gorzelanny, and two pitchers he should never even think about using in Grabow and Howry. Go figure.
The upcoming series with the White Sox will determine the rest of the season and the disposition of the Cubs as the trading deadline nears. The Sox are coming in off a long winning streak and a tremendous emotional high. The Cubs could not be playing worse ball and the pressure will be on Ramirez to produce immediately. Given the history of this series, that probably means the Cubs will take at least two of three and maybe even sweep.
No comments:
Post a Comment