What can you say about the Padres series. Pretty much all bad, except to take note that, like the Giants, the Padres feature good pitching, good defense, and solid fundamental play, as well as a lineup without, excepting Gonzalez, any real stars. The Cubs have totally quit and some of the lineups Lou is fielding are pretty sad to say the least.
Carlos Zambrano pitched well. He had trouble finding his release point which affected his control. So he walked six guys, but he managed to pitch around the mistakes very well, ultimately settling down and taking control of the game. The Cubs managed to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, so he was in line for a win until they completely fell apart in the seventh inning which was capped by an utterly disgraceful play when the Cubs got an out of a rundown at third and then were shown up when they paid no attention to the runner and just stood around while the second runner scored.
Coleman was OK in his start on Wednesday, better than Diamond had been, but not really that impressive. It is interesting to note that he was the pitcher of the year in the Cubs minor league system in 2009, having been pretty dominating. This year he was not nearly so impressive in AAA and one wonders if he has been rushed to the big leagues too soon. He may have a future in the bullpen, but off his performance so far, it is hard to say.
Actually, almost all the Cubs young pitchers, both starters and relievers, look as if they have been brought up too soon. It used to be the axiom that a pitcher needed several hundred innings at the minor league level to be ready for the majors unless he was a phenom like Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. There is a lot to be said for this idea, as well as the observation that the best relievers and closers are guys who were starters in the minors and were forced to the bullpen because they could not develop a third pitch. If you look around for the best performers in the closer or setup role, even historically, this has been true. Marmol and Marshall demonstrate this proposition on the current Cubs roster.
What happens nowadays - and this is not only true of the Cubs organization - is that there is an increasing emphasis on specialization. So promising arms are often routed into relief right away if they have two good pitches or even just one. Then they come up to the big leagues having pitched less than 100 innings int the minors and having succeeded in getting guys out at a lower level with just a good fastball or sinker. The problem is they have never learned to pitch.
The Cubs have run through a whole raft of these guys in the past couple of seasons, the most notable and most promising being Cashner and Samardzija. I suppose it is inevitable if you have the kind of win now desperation that comes of having a manager and GM fighting for survival. Actually, the Cubs have a long history of this kind of activity and also of giving up on guys before they have had much of a chance.
As far as Lee goes, it was the right move too late to make a difference. At least they got a legitimate prospect in return, as this Lopez kid might become a good one.
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