Ten and Counting

The Cubs losing streak hit ten yesterday night.  The Pirates, who make rather a specialty of not scoring runs at all, managed one run off Ryan Dempster.  Actually, the run scored early in the game rather fittingly off a muffed double play grounder straight at Ryan Dempster, which, of course, he messed up, managing finally to get one out on the play.

There are three things that have characterized this latest streak.  One is the fact that Cubs pitchers simply cannot field their position and make routine plays when they count.  I don't know what it is, but it is getting a little tiresome to watch Matt Garza throw wildly to first or Ryan Dempster get the ball stuck in his glove every time he fields a ground ball.

The Cubs tried desperately to give the Pirates more chances, including two errors by the seemingly useless Adrian Cardenas, but their opponents resolutely refused to take advantage.

The second trend here is, of course, the lack of timely hitting.  For a while, when LaHair was not mired in a terrible slump, the Cubs could count on getting an intelligent at-bat from at least one player.  It is not that the Cubs don't get men on base, although they could get more men on base if they were more patient.  They had twelve base-runners last night and left eleven on base.  The other, Joe Mather, was picked off.

What happens is this.  Once they get a runner on base, they change their whole approach.  The result is consistent failure.  Last night, they were 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position.  The thing is that this seems to be something of a Cubs trademark.  No matter who is on the team and who is playing, sooner or later, you get the same result.  Are these guys just dumb or what?  Anyway, go figure.  It's just there and it seems to be contagious.

The third consistent feature of the streak is strategy.  This obviously has to do with what happens when men get on base.  The obvious solution, for Sveum, is to give up an out.  What you are saying there is that you do not trust your hitter to put the ball in play as either a base hit or a well-directed grounder.  The obvious question and the obvious message is, why, then, is this guy batting?

Last night, the Cubs got a runner on base in the top of the ninth.  Unfortunately, Koyie Hill was due up.  Hill, is, of course, an automatic out.  So Sveum has Hill bunt into a force play.  Johnson, then, comes up and delivers a hit to right field.  Now the question arises, why wasn't Johnson pinch-hitting for Hill with the Pirates closer on the ropes?  Not that it mattered, as DeJesus and Castro struck out to end the game.

It goes a little deeper than just inning management, though.  At another level, there simply is very little thought given to the batting order.  I won't even mention the infamous all right-handed lineup that is guaranteed not to score runs ever.  But last night, we got the long-awaited shuffle that moved Castro out of the #3 spot.  Castro hit second, Mather third.  Why Mather would hit third is a matter of some conjecture, but I suppose it beats a blank.  Campana, who is a threat if he manages to get on base - and he actually gets on base more often than Castro - was promptly benched.  This is probably because Stewart is hurt and Cardenas, not Mather, was slotted to play third.

Having Campana in the lineup would have exceeded the unwritten Sveum rule that, if possible, everyone playing against a lefty should bat right-handed, whereas, one can never have more than four left-handed hitters in the lineup against a right-hander, presumably to assure balance.

Now I know it is hard to fill out a lineup card with placeholders, which is essentially what the Cubs team is right now.  And that is especially hard when all three of your major league catchers are hurt.  But there needs to be some thought involved.  One suggestion might be to hit Campana first on the odd chance he can get on base.  DeJesus is patient enough to give him a chance to steal.  I suppose you could have Mather hit third if you wanted, but Castro should drop down to sixth where he might relax and also provide some protection for Soriano when he doesn't make the third out.  Barney could bat seventh, after which it is pretty much nothing until one of the regular catchers can come back.  Just a thought, in any case.