Not to Belabor the Point

However, maybe we need to do so.  Here's Dale Sveum's post-game "explanation" of why he stuck with the all right-handed lineup against the emergency Arizona starter last night, along with some editorial background provided by Tyler Emerick of the MLB website.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum said he could've changed the lineup if he wanted to, but he opted to stand pat against Collmenter, whose tomahawk-like delivery is a unique arm angle for hitters.

"Just a few minutes before the lineups were exchanged," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said when asked when he found out about the switch. "I had time to change it. It was more of Collmenter, [whom] we had no prior history against, none of our hitters had faced him. He's so funky, he's a guy you need to face three, four or five times before you get a good reading on that arm slot."

Collmenter, who entered the game with right-handed hitters batting .212 against him and lefties hitting .346, ended up throwing four innings, surrendering just three hits and a run.

Huh?  What?  I mean, hold on a second there.  I mean, what on earth is this guy talking about?  This is the same Josh Collmenter who started the season in the Arizona rotation, but was demoted to the bullpen because his ERA after four April starts was over 9.  Who still hasn't got his ERA under 5?

Evidently some major league hitters have figured him out, especially the left-handers who were hitting nearly .350 against him.  So the expectation, at least in Sveum's mind, is that figuring this out is something beyond the Cubs hitters, so we might just as well stick with the awful lineup card he had submitted because, what the hell, nobody could possibly produce a quality at-bat against this guy anyway.

Wow!  Upon this foundation, the future of the Cubs is being built.  I seriously wonder how long this is going to go on before fans just tune it out.  Maybe they already have.