What a Game

I was lucky enough to be out there last night.  One of the most exciting games I have witnessed.  The Cubs blew a lot of chances to put it away early and late.  But they did come back in the eighth and ninth innings.  The atmosphere then was electric.

Actually, the won the game three times in retrospect, with Baez being called out twice at home to make the final out.  I thought he was safe the first time and out the second.  Actually, the home plate umpire was kind of a joke and both teams were upset with the inconsistency of his strike zone, among other things.

The Cubs almost blew it in the top of the 13th, but Rob Z. did bounce back to limit the damage.  The bottom of the inning was illustrative of just how good this team can play when they set their minds to it.  It was nice to see Montero come up with the game winner.  The only guy who has had a more disappointing season has been Heyward.  Montero has handled his demotion to part time duty pretty well given the circumstances.

A Really Tough Loss

The Cubs suffered a bit of a mental breakdown in the eighth inning in an otherwise tight game in LA.  Actually, the LA series had the aura of a playoff rehearsal.  All the games were tight. The last two hinged on a couple of plays that might have gone either way.  Additionally, both teams played somewhat nervous baseball.

Sunday's game was decided in the eighth inning when Cahill, with one out, and a runner at first, threw wildly to first base on a play that ordinarily, while difficult, is usually made.  An intentional walk loaded the bases and brought in Edwards.

Edwards struck out Turner, then induced a weak grounder to Baez at third.  With the slow-footed Gonzalez running and the infield in an exaggerated shift, Baez unaccountably made a force attempt at second instead of the sure out at first.  The play was close at second.  Looking at the replays, the runner could as easily have been called out, but the call stood and the ballgame was lost.

I suppose plays like that are inevitable when you play a lot of different defensive setups and a lot of personnel in different positions.  It's also a testament to how good this team is that they might easily have won eight of the nine games but for a few bad breaks.

Looking ahead to the playoffs, which is kind of what everyone is doing although they will not admit it, I wonder if the Cubs have some issues to overcome in terms of the likely first round opponent.  Barring a total collapse, the Cubs are going to finish with the best record in the NL and hence will play the Wild Card team.  If one were to wager on the matter, that team is likely to be the Dodgers or the Giants.  Either one is, I think, a more dangerous opponent in a short series than the Nationals would be in seven games for the championship.

In any case, lets hope they bounce back at home.

Road Trip

The Cubs are on track to have a winning West Coast trip, having won five of eight thus far and figuring to beat the Dodgers Sunday behind Jon Lester.  The Dodgers just do not do well against even ordinary lefties, so their chances against Lester look slim.

That being said, the Dodgers have played the Cubs tough, which you would expect from a team that leads its division.  The Cubs, I thought, should have taken two of three in Denver, blowing a lead in extra innings and then getting stomped in Hammel's start before they righted the ship.  They then thoroughly dominated the Padres, which was to be expected.

Friday night they pulled one out in extra innings behind Bryant's heroics.  Saturday they lost a game they might have won.  Two plays I did not get which ultimately made a difference.  Why did Zobrist bunt in the first inning with no outs and men at first and second base?  I mean, why give a young pitcher a free out when he is on the ropes right out of the box.  The second questionable play was the Heyward steal in the seventh with Fowler up and Bryant on deck.  Both plays conceivably had a potential result on the outcome of the game.

These strategic lapses are kind of buried in the news by the controversy between Hammel and Maddon when Maddon pulled his starter in the third inning.  Actually, I can see why Maddon did it and I really approve the move.  Hammel is a ground ball pitcher who was not throwing grounders even when he got through the first inning unscathed.  He was clearly pitching badly and had definitely lost confidence.  Also, the Dodgers only beat right-handers these days.

So by pulling Hammel for Zastryzny, Maddon kept the Cubs in the game.  And actually, they almost pulled it out.  Leaving Hammel in may have soothed his ego, but likely would have led to an insurmountable Dodgers lead.  As an aside, Zastryzny and Montgomery have both been pretty impressive.  They give the Cubs some real options both later this season and for next year in what is honestly an ageing rotation.

Latest Moves

The Cubs, as expected, swept the Brewers. Waiting out a rain delay to start the Rockies series.

Some unexpected developments on the roster front.  The Cubs put Lackey and Rondon on the DL as precautionary measures, whatever that means.  They recalled two guys no one has ever heard of, a starter named Zastryzny and a reliever named Pena.  I'd have expected Cahill to pick up Lackey's start, but maybe not.

Earlier they put the dreadful Joe Smith on the DL and recalled Patton, who pitched well on Thursday in relief.  Also DLed Coghlan to allow Cahill to remain active.  LaStella has evidently agreed to reort to AA Tennessee, though I read somewhere that he got hit in the foot in his first game there.  Expect him back soon to take Coghlan's spot.

Finally, Maddon has benched/rested Heyward for the Colorado series.  Strange stuff that, though Heyward right now is really messed up at the plate.

Two Bad Innings

The Cubs extended their winning streak to eleven with two big wins over the Cards before bullpen woes cost them the final two games over the weekend.  It was a shame to waste two good starts from Hendricks and Lackey, but, in the long view, it is no big deal.  The Cards gained no ground in the division race and four games were wiped off the books.

People are all crazy about the bullpen, but Rondon's outing was not that bad an augury for the future.  He threw hard, had good stuff, got in trouble and lacked command.  It is easy to panic right now and start signing has-beens and clubhouse nightmares like Papelbon.  I sincerely hope the front office resists the temptation.  Strop looks like he will return before the playoffs, and the injury to Lackey seems minor.

In general, the Cubs system is not producing young, reliable, exploitable arms in the way most teams do, so they are relatively dependent on trades and free agency to build a bullpen from other teams' failed projects.  Until that changes, the bullpen will always be a work in progress.  As long as the starters deliver, this is a manageable proposition.

One of the few worrying tendencies lately has been that the offense is wasting a lot of chances and not delivering hits with men in scoring position.  Some of this may be the function of the lineup.  Maddon plays everyone and plays the matchups. This is not going to change.  However, I must confess I do not like Zobrist batting cleanup.  Fowler, Bryant, and Rizzo are on-base at nearly a .400 clip, but the guy driving them in mostly is Russell, not Zobrist.  Also, I'm thinking there is no spot too low in the batting order for Heyward, who continues to excel in the field and disappoint at the plate.

Nine in a Row

The Cubs completely dominated the Angels, much as they did in the opening series of the season in Anaheim.  The Angels are not a bad hitting team.  It is their pitching that stinks, largely owing to key injuries.  However, Trout and Pujols combined for a single infield hit through the home and home series in thirty ABs.  So one must conclude the Cubs pitching is pretty good.

I have to eat my words about Hammel this year.  I had observed that he could look pretty good through the first half, but tended to tail off spectacularly after the All-Star Game.  This year, though, he has maintained his stuff.  Last night he pitched a terrific game.

The only bad moment of the series was the Strop injury.  One hopes it is not serious, but any damage to a knee is going to sideline a pitcher for a bit at least.  Strop will have an MRI tomorrow, so one hopes for the best.  Strop is an integral part of the bullpen rotation, so losing him even for a short time is going to hurt the team.  Thanks to all the trades and such before the deadline, though, the Cubs are pretty deep and should weather the storm.

The whole LaStella story gets stranger by the day.  LaStella gave an extensive radio interview on Monday.  Basically he said he was disappointed to be sent down because of roster issues and the fact he still had options, but that he was not sulking about that.  He pretty much said, however, he had no interest in playing anywhere but at the major league level with the Cubs and that, for a variety of reasons, particularly his history of injuries, he was considering retirement  if he could not work things out.

I suppose one needs to credit athletes with being more complicated people than fans think.  In LaStella's case, however, you wonder whether it had to come to this.  In essence, LaStella was optioned to make room for Chris Coghlan.  On paper, Coghlan appears to be the more versatile player.  He can play a number of infield positions as well as the corner outfield spots.  LaStella, on the other hand, is strictly an infielder.

However, Coghlan is having an awful year and the Cubs had little problem parting ways with him after they signed Fowler..  Combined with the Oakland stats, he is hitting .158.  LaStella was batting nearly .300 and was a valuable bench player.  Coghlan, since his return, has appeared in only four games and none since Aug. 3.  He is 2 for 9 in those games, with 2 walks and 2 RBI, which is not exactly setting the world afire.  If they needed his bat and versatility so much, you have to wonder why he hasn't appeared in a game for a whole week.  So the Cubs have been more or less invincible since all this hoopla started. which possibly demonstrates they don't actually need either one of these guys, but you cannot help thinking this shuffling was not the best of all possible ways to handle the situation.

Cubs Sweep A's

The Cubs swept Oakland on the road over the weekend in pretty impressive style.  The pitching was more or less flawless, with Lester, Arrieta, and Hendricks tossing gems.  Soler returned to the lineup and rather confirmed our earlier assessment of his talents and how much the Cubs missed his bat.  He DHed during the series and hit two home runs and a run scoring double, all of which were key hits.

Right now this team is almost without any serious weaknesses.  They have extended their lead in the division over the Cardinals to eleven games.  They are 16-6 since the break and have won ten of their last eleven games, and seven in a row.  This week they begin another long homestand against the Angels.  The St. Louis series this weekend gives them an opportunity to virtually eliminate the Cards from contention even for a wildcard berth.  What can you say?

The Cubs now are playing a weird numbers game, greedily trying to manipulate their roster to hold on to every available asset until rosters expand in September.  One assumes they will swap out Hammel and Grimm on Wednesday.  After that, they are likely to activate Cahill for a spot start in the Brewers double-header.  I'm not sure what the rule is respecting Cahill after that.  He is now on an extended rehab assignment and presumably out of options.

LaStella is kind of the mystery man.  He was sent down more than a week ago, but he was reported to be quite upset and has not yet reported to AAA.  I kind of think he was treated unfairly in some respects.  He was a valuable utility player and pinch hitter and he certainly is more valuable an asset than Coghlan.  The Cubs can use a good left-handed bat off the bench.  One supposes that on paper Coghlan is the more versatile player, and, of course, the Cubs risk losing him if he is placed on waivers or DFAed.  However, they pretty much sent him packing in the spring and got along well enough without him.  Also, he is having a bad year.

Cubs Win

Had a chance to take in a really good tight game, although, to be honest, even though the final score was 3-2, it never looked as if the Cubs were in danger of losing.  Hammel pitched quite well for six innings.  Strop pitched better than his line looks.  He actually threw five outs in 2/3 of an inning, botching up an easy double play and accidentally deflecting another sure DP that turned into a run-scoring hit.    Strop did manage to strike out Ichiro, denying him a bid to inch closer to the 3,000 hit mark.  Rondon came on to pitch a tricky but scoreless eighth inning, and Chapman came on for the save.  The picture above shows Ichiro just before he struck out and the one below shows the final out of the game.

Joe Smith After All

I confess I still don't get this one, though the cost is low and Smith adds "funk" to the bullpen mix, whatever that is.  Patton, who was called up to replace Matusz, will undoubtedly be dispatched back to Iowa to make room for Smith.  What happens next is anyone's guess, however.  The Cubs have Soler and Cahill due off the DL on rehab assignments, as well as LaStella and Grimm who were sent down because they had options.  It is a whole month before rosters expand.

As near as I can tell, and this is just an educated guess, the only guys left on the roster with options are Edwards and Contreras.  Both players have been performing very well, so it is unlikely they will go anywhere.  I suppose Nathan is expendable right now.  He has no real role in the bullpen and honestly has not pitched all that well.  Also, at his age he might well clear waivers were he DFAed.  I suppose Coghlan might also, though that could be less of a certainty.  I suppose the Cubs want to maintain maximum flexibility for the playoff rosters, but all this juggling is getting a little tricky.

Meanwhile, the team played nearly flawless baseball Monday night to shut out a good Marlins team 5-0.  Flawless I suppose with the exception they left a ton of men on base early in the game.  Hendricks continues to impress.  Right now, as I have noted before, he is the Cubs best pitcher.

Joe Smith?

Rumors have it the Cubs are looking at a deal with the Angels for Joe Smith.  Since his early days as a modestly successful closer with the Indians and the Angels, Smith has settled in as a submarining setup guy.  He is pretty much a journeyman specialist in the Cubs scheme of things.  Hard to figure this one out.  The Cubs already have two players at AAA who should be on the ML roster and a third on a rehab assignment.  Not to mention carrying one pitcher too many.  Granted Matusz is expendible, but who else?  Surely the Cubs have not yet come to terms with Nathan being kind of a bust, but things are getting a little crowded right now.  Lets hope the deadline comes soon without any really dumb, cute moves.