I took my 7 year old niece to yesterday's 2-1 snooze-fest of a loss. Before the game, she said she was going to cheer real loud for them, so that they would win. I said. "good luck with that kid". And in the 6th inning, when the Reds tied the score at 1-1, I asked my niece, "Hey! Why aren't you cheering? Now the game's tied!" She replied, "because they're not doing anything. I have nothing to cheer for." From the mouths of babes...
Though, Travis Wood had not given up as much as a hit until the 5th inning yesterday, and only gave up 2 runs through 7, The Cubs could only muster 3 hits, including a Nate "trade bait" Schierholtz home run. Nothing to cheer about indeed. Well, except the starting pitching. The Cubs starting pitching ranks 12th in the majors with a 3.82 ERA. The bullpen, except a few guys like Gregg 0.96 and Russel 1.46 is a different story. The overall bullpen has a 4.27 ERA and is ranked 26th. So it's obvious, we need a new bullpen. We would have won more games if we had a better one, period. So forget Wrigley, get on the bullpen renovation Theo and Jed. Soooooo sick of losing.
The main reason for yesterdays loss is obvious. No hitting. And it wasn't just yesterday either. This lack of lumber has been most of the year, except for that week of blowouts against the White Sox. Hahahaha. Did you know that the Cubs OBP of .298 is the worse than that the Houston Astros? Starlin Castro is batting .238 right now. .238!! Anthony Rizzo hasn't hit a home run since mid May, and of the top 5 batting averages on the team, not one is a regular starter, and one of the top 5, is yesterday's bad luck loser, Travis Wood, a pitcher! The Met's recently sent down the scuffling prospect Ike Davis, to figure out his hitting troubles in the minors. The Cubs should do the same with Starlin Castro.
I remember when the Cubs played the Yankees a few years ago, and they put up a billboard with Starlin Castro on one side, and Derek Jeter on the other. I thought, oh dear god no, Castro is raw and unproven, how could you put pressure on him like this at such a young age, comparing him to a future HOF'r like Jeter? Stupid! I think it might be finally time to come to terms with the fact that Starlin Castro is not as good as we all thought he was. And he's certainly no Jeter. He's flailing miserably out there. Swinging at terrible pitches, striking out 47 times, with only 3 homeruns. He just looks miserable out there. Pulling up short, not running hard out of the box. The fire is gone from his belly, and it's obvious to everyone. Let him figure it out with the pressure off. Is he injured? Does he have the yips? Whatever the problem, it's getting worse, not better, and needs to be addressed before Castro totally freaks out, and sucks for eternity. At least let him figure it out enough to trade him.
The Jury is still out on Rizzo, but I have a bit more hope for him, just because he seems like a smarter ball player than Castro. However, if I have to watch him ground out weakly to second base one more time, I may just slit my wrists. Rizzo looks like the new Aaron Miles out there, who was terribly adept at the very same thing. Making outs. I wouldn't even mind all the Rizzo strikeouts if he had at least 5 more Homers to go with it. He's only got 10, and is batting only .248. Not good enough. Rizzo's just not totally developed yet, and I can accept that. For now.
As far as everyone else goes. Darwin Barney, flat out can't hit. Great fielder, but he's a .200 hitter. Let's go get Robby Cano from the Yanks. Our catchers can't catch. Welington Castillo leads all catchers in the majors with 7 errors. And he's not making up for it by only batting .246. Our third base situation is meh. Valbuena or Ransom will most likely be traded anyway. The aging Soriano, an unfortunate fixture in Left, and the highest paid player on the team, is batting .267 with only 7 homers. But he'll be here, til the contracts done. Ugh.... And our over all outfield is basically trade bait.
So, as Cub fans, who can we blame for such a lack luster 2013 effort? What can we hope for out of "future stars" like Baez and Soler if yesterday's "future stars" aren't even panning out? I know most of you have drank the Kool Aid about this rebuilding thing. But I remain unconvinced. Dale Sveum is the wrong choice as manager. Inexperience managing inexperience. Stupid. And Theo and Jed think they know it all, like a hedge fund manager that claims you can't lose money in his mutual fund. They are young and fool hearty. Just because they did it in Boston doesn't mean they can do it here. They aren't magic. They may not even be that intelligent. The Cubs general coaching, especially the hitting coaching, has also seemed to turn some of our best hitters into pitch taking, second guessing marshmallows. Almost everything is wrong with the Cubs.
So what is this hope for the future? We are getting a scoreboard. New restaurants. A farmers market. A pedestrian Bridge. Family bathrooms. Maybe a freakin mascot? But how bout a new team? That's what we need......a whole new team.... take it to the bank.
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