A New Era?

Well, maybe a little early to make that pronouncement, especially as they were knocking around the Nationals, a team with a record almost as bad as the Cubs and really no pretensions to have achieved anything better. Still, a series sweep is a series sweep. One thing you do notice is that Quade is involved in the game and that he is awake and that he shows a little enthusiasm, like he really wants to be where he is right now and nowhere else. Quite a contrast to old Lou, isn't it?

Some other encouraging signs. Coleman pitched a pretty good game. Zambrano pitched very well indeed, as did Dempster. About Zambrano, maybe he had a long talk with Maddux or something, but it seems to me that he is pitching now, especially when he gets in a jam, instead of throwing. He is not throwing in the mid-90s anymore, but he is getting guys out, which, of course, is what pitching is about. The consensus among the Cubs brass - which if it is a consensus you know they are wrong - was that Z needed to go to the pen to recover his velocity. Maybe they were just wrong about that. In any case, Z himself has correctly speculated that the move smacked of desperation. Hard to believe they were only 5-9, 14 games into the season before panic set in. What the hell is wrong with this organization?

Another bit of encouragement on the Zambrano front is that they seem to be putting out little trial balloons in the press about how maybe Z is all better and they might just keep him after all. I've never understood the meme about rehabilitating Zambrano so that you could trade him to a contender for prospects and pay half his salary so that he could come around and beat you in the playoffs. Another testimony to the power of the press and sports radio, where ultimately nearly every delusional idea that doesn't originate with management itself seems to arise and gain credence.

Anyway, Quade has been encouraging so far if only because he is not Lou. Moving DeWitt to leadoff on occasion at least indicates that he can read simple statistics and comprehend them. I still much prefer to see Fukudome there. This guy has had a hell of a month of August. He's batting around .350 and has an OBA over .400. Plus he is such a good outfielder. They would have lost Tuesday's game if anyone else were playing RF when he caught Zimmerman's line drive and actually made it look routine. The Cubs and the sports guys just undervalue this kind of play. That ball would have driven in the tying and winning runs. Catching it is the equivalent of hitting a two run homer.

The next day one of these sports radio nitwits opined that now that Fukudome was playing well, it was time to get rid of him and pay half his salary. Kind of like the Zambrano meme. I'm not saying Fukudome is worth $13 million, but he is a good player and good teams can carry a guy like this and play winning baseball.

The guy they should be showcasing is Soriano. I know he hit two home runs against Washington, but they would have won those games anyway. Here's the problem, he tries to hit a home run every time he bats and that means even if he hits 30, he still fails 19 out of 20 tries. That's 95% unproductive ABs and that just plain stinks. Plus he cannot play the outfield. Plus he cannot think straight. What he can do is hit mediocre lefties. Those are the only guys he should play against. He'll look good for the rest of the year and maybe some sucker will take him off your hands. Dropping him to 7th in the order is good first step, but the simplest solution is the Fukudome platoon.

That brings me to the last observation about the Quade regime so far, which is the end of the Colvin leadoff experiment, a welcome end indeed to another peculiar piece of Piniella logic. I do think this kid will eventually figure out the strike zone and become a consistent major league hitter. Right now, though, he is closer to being a left-handed version of a young Soriano without the blazing speed. So he is a work in progress. I wonder why he doesn't get a shot at first base. This would solve a lot of problems. The more I see of Colvin in the outfield, the more convinced I am that he is at best a decent left-fielder. He misjudges a lot of balls in RF, which is the most difficult field to play at Wrigley Field, and in CF he seems a little lost and to lack the confidence to play shallow. It might be possible for the Cubs to more readily fill the hole in their outfield, assuming they dump Soriano, than the one at 1B. Certainly cheaper.