CUBS MIDSEASON REPORT - by Kam

Sup guys, hope everyone is doing well. I was actually busy this past weekend with our National Indo Pak Basketball tournament, which was a great experience as always. If you want to read more about the tournament, you can check it out here.

Anyways, I know this is a couple days late, but here is my buddy Kam's Cubs midseason report, and some of his thoughts about the White Sox as well. This guy probably watches more Cubs games, and just baseball in general, more than any fan I know, so I definitely value his opinion. Check it out...

Yes, I have lots of time at work, and yes I am constantly thinking about the Cubs, if you have time like I do, you can read this or just skim it..........

Please feel free to respond back if you disagree with anything. I can talk about baseball with anyone that knows baseball, which I consider you guys to be, although we may not agree.

First Half Analysis of Chicago Baseball---

Wow. Its been probably the most amazing first half of the year for us Cub fans. Without trying to jinx the team, it is probably the best team that we have seen in our lifetime. We can argue that on paper and on the field this team has lived up to and played up to and even beyond our expectations. The people we didn’t expect to step up, have stepped up. The others who we expect to step up, have. And this is without anyone really having monster years.

We can talk about the 1984 team, but lets be realistic, that team had a bunch of veterans at their peak or in their decline and succeeded; with the exception of maybe Sandberg, Lee Smith and Sutcliffe.

The 1989 squad probably was a fluke with Walton and Dwight Smith---Dawson was on his downside with only Grace being the real “superstar” of the team. Maddux was just becoming an ace but he blew and we had to rely on Mike Bielicki.

2003---we really didn’t know what we had until the end. We weren’t a great team. We just had 2 studs who carried us. Our bullpen was terrible. And we really had no expectations until maybe August.

2004---the heartbreak year. On paper it looked like we had a great team. In hindsight, we were incapable of overcoming injuries. This year we have shown we can. Although we haven't had anything bad happen to our pitching staff. We had a pitching staff of the ages, and oh how I love to talk about that team. Maddux was supposed to be our number 5 and he won 15 games that year. Z was supposed to be our number 3-4 and he won 16 games for us that year. Borowski was a Rod Beck waiting to happen…..I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up to Iowa and lives in a trailer beyond the right field fence in the minors and then shows up dead from drinking too much. Our offense that year looked sick on paper. Corey coming off a good first half of 2003, Walker/Grudzielanek combo, Sosa, Alou, D. Lee, Barrett, etc. WE later got Nomar. In reality that was an all or nothing offense with guys that were on their decline. With all that being said, Wood and Prior came back and pitched well at the end of September, but it was a little too late. Say what u will, prior was a freaking stud. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Anyway, I digress. My analysis of this team is coming straight from me. Obviously there will be some corroboration with what the critics say, but I have seen almost 95% of the games (almost 75% in their entirety…yes I am a loser, but really you know you are all jealous). Maybe 2-3 I have missed completely.

This team is good. Its not great but they are damn good. No team is complete. You can never have that in baseball….did anyone think Scott Brocious was the answer in New York at 3rd? But he was huge in the 90s. You need a mix of guys who you count on as well as unexpected surprises. With that being said, this team is stacked. That doesn’t mean that this team will win. This is baseball after all. We have seen Z suck when he should have dominated and we have seen Marquis dominate when we know he sucks. But you play the game for a reason. That is why there are 162. The best teams cannot win them all. The best players cannot win them all. The best pitchers cannot dominate every game. (Remember, Albert Pujols sucked in the 2004 world series, but Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver helped them win in 2006!) So if the Cubs lose, its baseball. We just want them to be in the best position so we don’t say, “hey, its just baseball.” Lets remember Alex Gonzales, before he made that error in 2003, he was key in the Atlanta series. Randall Simon played big for us. AS much as Wood can be described as a choker, he was the reason we beat Atlanta. (just like Geoff Blum, Juan Uribe, Scott Psednik, Neil Cotts for the Sox in 2005).

This team is set at all positions.

At catcher we have Soto (I call him soTHO). He has surpassed all our expectations. Although the way he played last September, this shouldn’t have surprised us. He is older than most rookies but his maturity is really what has impressed me. The main key is that the pitching staff loves him from what they say. This is a big change from Barrett who last we heard from him, broke his nose on a foul ball of his bat! How does that happen.? Poor Guy. Big Z really destroyed his career. How did he fall that fast? I didn’t think he was this bad. The highlight of his career was when he knocked the shi*t out of AJ, and even then, he didn’t knock him down. Soto has been huge. As a back up, we have Hank White who is more than serviceable. If he didn’t look like Erik Estrada, I would respect him more. But I like him and he accepts his role very well. And he is a good mentor to Soto. All Soto should do is make it less obvious that he spends two hours at the salon grooming his eyebrows. He needs to keep it real like me.

3rd—ASS Ram. No need to say anything here. All the haters that hate on him are the same guys that will give him a back door rub down that Cesar Izturis did to him last year after he hits walk off home runs. And that means you Dave Kaplan.. So he doesn’t hustle at times. Who cares? These guys would get on Manny Ramirez if he was on our team. He is not Albert Pujols (no one is a 25 year old going on 35 balding steroid abuser). But he is clutch and he gets big hits and he plays a respectable 3rd. I would take him as my 3rd baseman any day. I would take him over most guys in the league with the exception of maybe Chipper Jones---but he is getting old. David Wright is overrated and he also grooms his eyebrows too much. If Ramirez was in NY, he would be a bonafide superstar. He has turned himself into a great hitter, and he seems to get hits when they count (unlike someone who will be mentioned later).

SS—Theriot has played above all our expectations. He is probably a more clutch hitter than anyone expected. His play at short, however is very questionable. He has no range, no arm. His peskiness is what we like, but it also what makes him limited. I can see him getting tired and sucking and him being a reason why we suck down the stretch. Also, his base running skills suck ass. Every time I see him, he is getting thrown out. He is not as pesky as we want him to be. Ronny Cedeno is a better shortstop but it seems he must be in the dog house because he hasn’t played in ages. I wonder whats up with that?

2nd—De Rosa…..he is really weird to analyze. I want to hate him, but he has been very valuable with everything he can do. He can get hot at the plate, but then he can also just suck so bad that I wish he just died. He is average at everything, which is ok to have I guess at this point. He is actually perfect for this team. What team wouldn’t want him to be a number 7th or 8th hitter? A couple of years ago he could have been hitting 3rd for this team. His contract is looking like a bargain and his versatility is helping us overcome some injuries. I actually like Fontenot better than him at 2nd. I like his left handed bat and he has surprising power. Him and Cedeno are great role players that have done well coming off the bench.

1st--- Derek Lee….this guy really angers me. I don’t know why. I expect more from him. But it seems like he gets into these slumps that really hurt us. For our number 3 hitter, I need him to do more than what he does. His numbers look good, but I would like to see what his numbers are in wins as opposed to losses. He has had some monster games in losses and then in other games in clutch situations he has sucked. He leads the league in double plays. That is unacceptable. That means he is getting opportunities with people on base. He has been hot of late, and he is one guy I do trust with hitting good pitching. Also, the thing that should never be overlooked is his glove. He has saved many situations with his glove and prevented innings from going overboard. So that is a plus with him. He gets a pass in this town because he is a vanilla character and boring personality. I expect him to get hot soon and help us. If he doesn’t, I will be angry at him.

OUTFIELD---Edmonds and Reed Johnson were a great solution. Although I hate his cocky smug face, I will take him for this year. And this has purely to do with what we got him for. Nothing. We needed a centerfielder after Pie sucked and we got these two and we didn’t need to give up anything. They are above average defensively and they have been a plus when it comes to hitting. Reed Johnson made one of the greatest catches I have seen ever. I secretly wanted him to fail, but since he hasn’t, I begrudgingly admire him. He has helped us, and if he did fail, what would our options be? Reed, along with Cedeno, Fotenot and all the other role players seem to suck if they play for a long time. So Edmunds has been huge.

Fukodome has had two seasons. The first half he was taking pitches, getting key hits, letting the pitches come to him. Then I think the scouting reports got out and he started flailing at pitches and striking out often. I haven’t looked at the stats to make this analysis, but his strikeouts the past month have risen dramatically. His batting average has dropped every month. I don’t know what it is. The team took his approach to heart and now all of a sudden he has become Shawon Duston. They say he is tired, but what does fatigue have to do with him flailing at pitches? He looks like Ichiro would, if Ichiro sucked balls. Lou should do the right thing and not hit him 2nd. Maybe next year. With that being said, I think he will only get better. He is mentally tired I think and he will get better but I think he will get better next year. His defense is superb and that should not be overlooked. Most cub fans are giving him a pass, and talk radio is saying he doesn’t deserve to be in the all star game, but are sugar coating it. If it was the next guy, they would have crucified him.

Soriano. He is the heart and soul of the team. If you saw last years celebration after they won the division, he was in the middle of everything. All this media bullsh!t that he demands to bat lead off is just that…..bullsh!t. I think he is a flawed player, but his teammates love him and what he has to offer. His defense is terrible, but his offense when he is hot, is immeasurable. This team can overcome his slumps because it’s a good team. But this team is 10 times better with him. I also like him. He wants to play every game. He likes playing baseball, and even though he is not baseball savvy, he is a stud athlete. I don’t think there was once any issue of whether he was a jerk, an asshole, or anything to the media. He goes out and plays everyday. He obviously plays hurt, and he has a knack for the dramatic. He is that guy with Z that provides that on our team with a bunch of boring guys like Lee, Fukudome, etc.I think we have him at his prime, but he is right about to fall off and become even more one dimensional as his contract runs out……

PITCHING:

Zambrano is a stud. Along with Wood and Andre Dawson, he has become my favorite player. Maybe it was because I called his greatness back in 2003 when everyone was talking about Wood and Prior. He is amazing and his stuff is amazing. I love the guy and the heart he plays with. The media loves to hate on him because of his antics, but other than punching Barret (which I think the rest of the pitching staff appreciated), he is loved by the fans and teammates. I think his DL stint and his 10 days off between all-star break will do him wonders. Look at what he has done since coming off the DL with the break. It is obvious he was feeling discomfort, but his stint seemed more to be about rest. No runs vs. Cards, and one hit and one run vs. Reds. That’s just nasty. He is pitching more efficiently now, but his strikeouts are down. But he can still get it up there, its just his stuff is so good. The threat of him going crazy is what makes him so good….so don’t be surprised if he goes crazy once in awhile. Its also what drives him. The All star game was great for him. He struck out A-Rod with a 95 mile heater then threw a knuckle ball to Manny! You gotta love it.

Rich Harden will obviously be our number 2. We must baby him. Give him 5-6 days between starts. And then come September and hopefully October, pitch him til his arm falls off. I don’t care. I will love him if he wins for us, but I have no loyalty to him right now. But its funny how once he got traded, the critics are telling us that Murton will be a .300 hitter, and Sean Gallagher is already better than Harden. Give me a break. If Harden is healthy he is a stud. If he is not, we have a staff that can still get us to the playoffs but we will be weak in pitching going to the playoffs. He was gotten just for the playoffs.

Dempster will be our number 3. His start is the most surprising. I am very proud of him and what he did to to make this happen. It doesn’t look like he is slowing down and his only bump on the radar was when he blew up against the White Sox. I just hope he doesn’t get too tired. I think Lou has got to be watching how much he throws the 2nd half. He did great in the all star game. Although I don’t take too much stock in the game, it must be a confidence booster for him and Marmol. Or it may just boost my confidence in them, because I can just see both of them sucking in the 2nd half .

Ted Silly. He has become a junk pitcher. All I see is changeups and curve balls. He is a good number 4 for us and I just need to see some more consistency. Overall I think he will be ok. He has usually pitched well when we needed him to pitch well. Against the Cards, after bad losses, he has done well. I think he will be ok, but his stuff looks very mediocre. He leads our team in K’s which is surprising. I don’t know whether I like his competitiveness or whether I just think he sucks and shouldn’t be surprised when he sucks. But I heard a scout say that Lilly is actually a hard pitcher to hit….don’t tell that to Colorado or Cincinnati.

Marquis/Marshall---I think Marshall is the better pitcher, and he will end up pitching well for either us or someone else. His stuff is very boring and mediocre, but that can be a good thing. Sometimes you need a guy that looks so easy to hit but does well. That is what I always felt about Buerle. He has looked good of late. Marquis, I just hate that motherf*cker. I don’t know why. He just nibbles and nibbles and it annoys the hell out of me. I would rather have him just give in and let the other team smack him around a bit. But whatever we get out of him, it will be a bonus. I guess when he rests, he pitches well. But he has pitched some real nice games for us (LA, SF). I think Lou should give Z his regular 5 days rest along with Lilly, but he should use Marshall and Marquis sometimes in the same week to give Harden and Demspter some extra time because of their history. Why can’t bad pitchers like Marquis get hurt and not guys like Harden. We never worry about Marquis blowing out his elbow? Why, because his stuff is so bad, you can’t possibly get hurt throwing the garbage he does.

Bullpen---Wood has given me wood. He had some blips on the radar, but only Joe Nathan has been perfect. He is good and lets leave him there. Marmol has really scared me and although I think its more mental for him, he is probably tired. Other than two home runs, he still hasn’t been hit really that hard. He just has been wild and when he is getting hit, he is leaving the ball up. I think he will be ok. But before the Tampa Bay game, he was rested for like 5 days and then he just imploded. His wildness saddens me. I hope its not a mental thing. He has been so automatic that I think he cannot handle failure. His all star game appearance hopefully reminds him of what makes him so nasty. He made Michael young and Quentin look like losers. With that being said, this bullpen is deep so it should be able to handle a breakdown of one of its parts. Howry doesn’t look good. Since Michael Weurtz is gone, most of our guys have done a pretty good job. If Wuertz didn’t have a slider, he would be the guy fixing our air conditioner. Neil Cotts has been good. I think Gaudin has been a key addition and look to lou to ride his ass. Once again, lets ride him til his arm falls off too.

This team is deep. Its pitching staff is deep. Its bench is deep. Hendry may want to get one more reliever, but so far this team is set. Its bench has been playing a lot and when Soriano gets back, it will get real deep. Here is what we want for the 2nd half---

We want this team to not let up. This team is overall too good for all the players to tank at once. They need to pick each other up and continue to beat up bad pitching. We also have beaten good pitching too (we hit sheets, beat Peavy, Haren, Loshe, Billingsey.) Our offense can have some off days, but we cannot have dry periods for a long time. That shouldn’t be the case with this offense and with the NL having very mediocre pitching.

I was thinking about a couple of things. We know that in a 5 game series, a two man rotation can beat any team. Our top 2 guys can beat anybody. But what if we run into a buzz saw staff?

The way it looks, the central will have the wild card and the east will have the 2nd best record. The west will have probably the worst record, but some of their pitchers out there really scare me. Arizona would have webb and haren, not to mention Johnson. The Dodgers will have the Japanese guy, billingsley and maybe brad penny. Those guys can stop anyone. Our offense is too good, but you just never know. However, if we do get the wild card, then we lose home field advantage and that may be against our favor since we are so good at home. Something to think about if we get there. But once again, our top two are just as good as anyone now. We might be able to say that our staff is deeper than 2003 and better than that. Even though we may be scared of others, people should be scared of us.

As Cub fans, we are always scared and we always think of the worst case scenarios. How can we enjoy the ride? If we just enjoy it, we will never be prepared for heartbreak. Its in our nature to worry….hence this 6 page confession of what I am thinking about almost constantly all summer. Sometimes I just wish that they suck so I can do other things in the summer. But when they play so good it makes my day, and the days they lose, it ruins the whole day. If they lose before an off day, it ruins two days! I am enjoying the ride, but am always expecting the worst. This team is resilient however. They do tend to bounce back. I just want them to get in. If they get in, then I like our chances. If they don’t get in, it will ruin my winter. But as I have always said, baseball is a quirky game.

NOW………..

The whitesox----

I will do a little analysis on the Sucks since there are some whitesucks fan who might be checking this blog. First of all, this team must be really maddening to their fans. Sometimes they look like world beaters and other times their offense is anemic. Their pitching staff has been surprising….Danks looks like the real deal. He has pitched well and Kenny Williams probably thinks the world should suck his dick for that. Gavin Floyd started out great, but I think he is ready to have a bad 2nd half. Contreras looks old and he started off great, but has stunk since. Girlie has also been inconsistent, but has been better of late. Him and Danks will have to carry this team, although Girlie can still get lit up. Javier Vazquez is also maddening. He seems to be a mental midget. It seems like he has no guts. His stuff is good, he throws hard. I think he can only play on teams that aren’t scrutinized…..arizona and montreal. With that being said, if I were a Sox fan, I would still give Contreras a break. This guy anchored your staff to a world series. He was the guy who held everything together. Hell, I would give Dye, Konerko and Crede a break if they sucked. They were the core that helped them win a title. Contreras especially. He was just nasty then. The Sox were stupid for signing him, hey should have let him go. It would have helped his divorce also if he was unemployed. Fans should realize, like with Wood, Contreras has given the Sox fans the best of times, so they should cut him some slack, but he cannot be going out there and blowing it. Ozzie must find some use for him.

Their offense just looks old. Sometimes they wake up and play, but they look old. Its sad when you have Konerko, Dye, Thome, and your best hitters are Alexi Ramirez and Carlos Quentin! With that being said, Quentin was a surprise, but he shouldn’t be a surprise. He was the number 1 draft pick by Arizona in 03 or 02. He was considered a stud and think about all the other young players Arizona has gotten and succeeded with? (Upton, Reynolds, Drew, Webb, etc.). I guess it makes up for trading for Chris Young.

I think this team will win the division because I don’t think the Twins will be able to keep it up. If they do, then they deserve it. The tigers? Sheffield is old, so is pudge. Cabrera is waking up, but he has been a disappointment so far. He is eating himself out of the league. Their pitching is not that good for them to play well. Sox should win the division, but there are some concerning things about them that I could see them falling. However, you can look at it another way and say that these old guys can come to life. But Konerko and Thome have shown signs of slowing for the past couple of years so lets see what happens.

I hate Nick Swisher….don’t be fooled Sox fans, he will suck sooner or later. He has had a good month or so, but he has gotten a pass because he is a good interview. Good interviews (DeRosa, Swisher) get a pass in this town. Also, he should be shot for doing those gay ass commercials for Comcast sports. What a f*cking ham!

Their bullpen has impressed me. Even though the Cubs got to them in Wrigley, Thorton and Linebrink have been solid. Especially Thorton. He is nasty. Linebrink is showing some chinks in his armor, but he should be ok. He is not a closer and they need TRailor Park Jenks back. Jenks looks so white trash. I am surprised we don’t have to hear a feel good story about him like we do about Josh Hamilton. I am surprised Jenks isn’t a recovering alcoholic, oh, he is….nevermind.

I like Ozzie. I am a big supporter of Ozzie, but sometimes he gets crazy and it seems he plays favorites. He doesn’t like Orlando Cabrera. Its obvious, but Dye was damn wrong in that argument he had with OC. That was just selfish…..if Dye struck out or the OC was tagged out, then maybe he has beef. They scored, they won, shut up and be happy. Instead, Ozzie downplayed it and kept it quiet. I still like him and his no holds barred attitude.

OK, too much analysis. This is what I think based on watching most cubs games and some sox games.

Again, feel free to let me know what you think about this, or anything else.

- Kam