Lest my readers suppose I have not been watching the Cubs, rest assured, I have been, more or less. I cannot say I have watched every inning. It is simply there is nothing much to say. Since my last post, the team has gone 6-6, pretty much playing to type.
Quade continues to play the usual suspects, Byrd, Soriano, etc. The lineups are especially bad against lefties because they include Baker and Johnson as well. I don't really dislike Johnson as a player, but honestly what does it prove in the end. Baker is a player I cannot stand even though he hits left-handed pitching pretty well. You have to ask yourself, what does this prove, other than that the team can play .5oo ball if everything goes right? Quade seems to have completely given up on Tyler Colvin. He has played badly for sure, but what is the point of benching him? Actually winning games in the end hurts the team's draft position if nothing else. Not to mention taking playing time away from any prospects they have brought up.
Speaking of prospects, though, the Cubs chose to bring up Lou Montanez again, as well as D.J. LeMahieu. Le Mahieu may have a future although he looks overmatched. Montanez does not. Nor presumably does Gaub, who, in any case, is never used, Quade preferring to mop up and lose extra inning games with another solid incompetent in Grabow.
Allegedly to allow him to prepare for playing on Team USA, the Cubs chose not to promote potential star Brett Jackson. Actually this was more likely because some accountant figured out his major league credits would not begin and so they could potentially save arbitration money down the road.
One bright spot has been Bryan LaHair, who has hit for power and average in his brief stint. He has not embarrassed himself in right or left field, though, again, why they don't give him a shot at first base is something only Mike Quade could explain. Sure, Carlos Pena is a major leaguer and all that, but everything you want to know about him and his abilities is known. All you do by playing him is to enhance his value as a free agent by letting him build up his numbers in meaningless games. If you played LaHair and he turned out solid, you might save yourself $10-20 million next season depending on whether the team signs Pena or goes after Fielder or Pujols.
Actually, I am very suspicious of any numbers the Cubs veterans might put up in the last month of the season. These guys with something to prove like Soriano and Byrd and Pena and Soto are just going up there and swinging for the fences. They aren't playing baseball any more. Ramirez a bit less so because he has a little less to prove at this stage.
One bright light has been the performance of Randy Wells over the last few weeks. He seems finally to have recovered from his injuries and his crisis of confidence. He has pitched back to his 2009 form lately and this bodes well for the future. I was glad to see Cashner return even if only to the bullpen. The Cubs need to be very careful with him through the rest of the year. It serves no purpose to over extend him in a lost season.
Another observation that I have probably made before. Watching the Cubs outfield play in a big stadium like Citi Field just highlights how bad they are, how slow they are, how bad their jumps on flyballs and popups are, etc. This is a major reason they "stinks," as Carlos Zambrano so aptly put it. I just see balls the Cubs hit in the gaps get run down with regularity and balls their opponents hit fall in and roll to the wall. If the Cubs are going to contend again, they need to get some outfielders who can hit and run and catch and play fundamental baseball. If they cannot get them from the farm, they will have to trade for them or sign free agents.
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