Indiana Lee And The Kingdom Of Homers: Cubs 3, Astros 5

Hill doing at Iowa? He was so good for us in the past, it’s hard to believe that he wouldn’t be able to get it back together soon. If not Hill, then I say Hart. But I really think if we pick up a pitcher from outside, were probably not going to get anything better than what we’ve already got.

“Just check out my outing on Friday”

OK, lets see it.

but just had to say I agree, that SI cover is pretty cool.

we beat the …....outta the best team in the nl. we beat the ….outta the mets. we pretty well go into houston and shut out berkman and lose 2 of 3. my momma said there would be days like this—my momma said. just forget about it and move on to the pirates and hopefully demolish them.

5 or 6 guys are hitting the stuffing out of the baseball, on the road, only 1 or 2. We should have swept the ‘Stros IMO. Dempster walks only 2 but gives up the GS and Gallagher gives up a 3 run jack on an 0-2 pitch. If those few pitches had different results, we probably win all 3. But, that’s baseball and we’ve got to start a new streak in Pittsburgh.

I think the last two losses really come down to lack of offense. Demp had a weaker, though not altogether horrible, outing. Gallagher wasn’t great last night, but he kept the Cubs in the game. I guess if any pitcher in baseball was due to have a good outing it was Chacon.

In other words, as frustrating and disappointing as these last two games were, I don’t think the Cubs played poorly per se - they just couldn’t push enough runs across the plate. I knew - just knew—that last night’s early three-run lead wouldn’t hold up. I think, unless your No. 1 or No. 2 starter is on the mound, you have to score at least five runs in the Juice Box to have a chance. The heart of the ‘Stros lineup is damn imposing.

Fortunately, the Cubs don’t play them again until mid-July, and I won’t miss Fat Elvis, Miggy Stardust or Punter Hence one damn bit.

Did Hoffpauir get any chances in left field last night?

I saw his at-bats, and he certainly ripped those double. While he didn’t look good against Valverde, neither did Lee.

Gallagher looked liked his stuff was solid, evident of getting Berkman on strikes twice. But the hanger to Lee, I wanted to toss eveything that wasn’t tied down.
I think Gallagher has the “stuff” but maybe behind on his approach to the hitters.
Just want to see the Cubs get a series win on the road against a good club.

Before giving anyone the horns, let’s examine the facts. The team’s OPS is .894 at home and .714 on the road. The worst roadies are Sori, Fuku, Johnson and DeRosa. Add to that the horrible acquisition of Edmonds and you have the recipe for failure. Perhaps the occasional start of Hoffpauir in RF and Fukudome in CF is worth looking at.

After the 1st inning the only bright spot was the obscene laughter when Berkman waltzed, skipped, lollygagged to 2nd base. The fact that they called it a ‘steal’ is funny…...it was handed to him on a platter. Then I had to listen to the stupid Astros fans ‘remind me’ that the ‘Cubs Suck!’ (that was original) as I walked out of Minute Maid.

But what bothers me is the lack of offense by the Cubs in the later innings. It used to be our trademark in 2008, but not in this series, or on the road in general.

He will be fine eventually. This year? Remains to be seen.

He obviously had some nerves last night, losing focus on the Berkman steal and just trying to finish the inning after the ricochet off his leg. I like what Lou and Jim are doing. They’re giving him another start, to see how much of it is just rookie shakiness. If he can settle down in his next 2-3 starts, then great. If not, by then Marshall will be ready, Hill may also, and even Kevin Hart will have been stretched out as a starter.

Teams have embraced a new paradigm: The young player is more important than ever before. The success of every-day players from the 2005 draft (Justin Upton, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Jacoby Ellsbury, for example) and pitchers from the ‘06 draft (Tim Lincecum, Max Scherzer, Joba Chamberlain, Luke Hochevar) has persuaded front offices to give opportunities to their youngsters.

Except Pie.

Couldn’t agree with you more about sticking with the youngsters and looking within the organization rather than without. I would like to see them keep Gallagher in the lineup, give him a chance to get some experience and show us what he’s got.
These losses do not bother me, although losses in May still count in September, because we are not going to win every series. I do know that they are going to have to find a way to duplicate on the road their home success. However, this is the first time in a while that the Cubs have a real home field advantage!
By the way, Al, I want to thank you for the professional way you handle this website. It is a pleasure to come here and read your insights every day.

...in a ‘mini-slump’?

Thoughts?

I’d really like to see these two get more of a fair shake instead of playing time going to the likes of Fontenot and Edmonds. But if the top brass won’t give them that much, then for their sake I hope they’re packaged in a deal someplace where they can play every day while netting the Cubs one more solid starter or outfielder.

Scroll down to the bottom. Side gig??

Hmmmmmmm…

Re: rotation; I don’t think it’s time to “give up on” Gallagher, but all the same, I’d like to see Marshall get his shot. I’ve always been bullish on Marshall.

Re: youngins: Anyone ready to buy out some of Soto’s free agency years with a big contract? If he keeps playing the way he has been, he could be the face of the Cubs through the duration of Soriano’s contract.

in Houston against that pitching staff. You aren’t going to win like that.

...and Soriano sits instead, though I agree with that decision.

I wish he were hitting more in Iowa. Only one hit in 23 ABs, for a .043 BA, .185 OBP, and SLG of .174.

He also has an error, and has one SB and one CS.

Not very encouraging. Unless he improves, I think Edmonds is gonna be around for a while.

I wish more attention would be paid to baseball’s lack of homeruns in the post-PED era. This is a pretty good article on the modern era of home runs.

There’s also a correlation beyond merely homers relative to plate appearances. Roughly one of every 12 hits in the 1970s was a home run, a number that has steadily dropped across the decades. Roughly one per 9.5 in the ‘90s, it’s down to one per 8.4 this decade even with last year’s relative power outage.

I’m no Moneyball expert, but you’ve got to believe that the deciline in the home run ball has helped teams with smaller payrolls such as the A’s deliver runs without relying so heavily on “expensive” stats like homeruns. Just a thought.

I saw The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at 12:01 Thursday morning. By far the worst one. There were…aliens. But go see it-it sure as hell is entertaining.