"We beat up on terrible pitching, but make mediocre pitchers look like Cy Young candidates"

by CalDeano on Jun 13, 2009 11:46 PM CDT

I said it in this post. Many of you questioned it and ridiculed me, saying we are supposed to do worse against better pitching.

Well in today's recap, Al said

"The Cubs made Anthony Swarzak look like Greg Maddux today"

Sound familiar? This is now the MO for this team. If we face a pitcher who is simply no good, or a decent one struggling, we pound him. Anyone else - a half decent pitcher, a barely decent pitcher, a fully decent pitcher - we struggle.

I have a son playing little league, and this is a familiar pattern. There are kids who crush the ball in BP, but simply can't hit live pitching, when the velocity is up a bit and the pitcher is actually trying to get them out. Usually the cause is a hole in the swing or other swing mechanics issues. But it's obvious who those kids are. And most of the Cubs - including but not limited to Mr. "helicopter swing" - are those kids.

I think Perry needs to go and get a fresh approach in here. I'm not saying it's all his fault, but rather that a fresh set of eyes and advice could help. Or maybe Kosuke and the others just need to fix their swings. Whatever it is, something needs to done to try to fix it, or this season will be gone.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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And the following the game, the Twins sent Anthony Swarzak back to the minors.

Talk about adding insult to injury. Teams are calling up kids from Triple AAA and shutting out the Cubs. Ugh.

Go Green! Go White! GO STATE!
King Leonidas: Spartans! What is your profession?
Spartans: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!

by Zeke on Jun 14, 2009 6:26 AM CDT reply actions

If it's not Perry's fault, why fire him?

I just don’t see how a guy who was hitting coach for a team that led the NL in runs last year suddenly turned dumb.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jun 14, 2009 7:03 AM CDT reply actions

I agree with that

unless Perry has changed his philosophy and teaching mid stream, which I doubt.

Because of the ARam injury, it srewed up any balance we have on the field and at the plate. I’m not going to dissect the domino effect here which has been rehashed ad infinitum, The more we lose or play poorly against mediocre or average pitching, it makes the Cubs’ hitters squeeze their bats even more. You know they are saying to themselves that they should be crushing some of these guys, so it adds to the frustration.

I thought that we may have pulled out of this when we had that mini 2 game winning streak a week ago. We scored 13 runs in 2½ games, now we’ve scored 6 in 4 games.

Being impatient is part of the problem. It helps the other pitcher greatly. That’s why this snowballs like it does.

If one or two guys are pressing and exhibiting crappy AB’s, that’s normal in the course of a season. It affects everyone sooner or later, but to have all most of your every day guys and their subs not hitting is unreal.

Lou doesn’t help, either. He said he’s tried everything, but that’s crap. Fox hardly gets in there at all and the same with Hoff. There is a certain point when defense be damned and get some freaking hot sticks in the game. It’s not that you need them to carry the team, just get hits and on base and let the others relax and get back to normal hitting.

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by BigJohnAZ on Jun 14, 2009 9:16 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

There is a term for that

Guys that rake during BP and fail to do the same in game situations are referred to as “5 o’clock hitters”, meaning they hit like crazy in BP but when the clock hits 7, they melt. I’m not sure that is the case with these guys because most of them have produced at high levels. I’m more afraid that it’s simply the beginning of the end for many of them.

Who needs a stinkin' tag line? What are they for anyway?

by krummy12 on Jun 14, 2009 9:05 AM CDT reply actions

Slumping in sync...

Thank Gawd DLee is starting to hit. Gives one a little bit of hope.

You know Soriano is better than this (should be around .270 or .280)
Theriot is a better hitter than this (.280 or .290 with more walks)
Bradley is a better hitter than this (.300ish with more walks)

HOWEVER

Dome is NOT better than this. (Turning out to be a horrible signing)
Miles is NOT better than this. (Definitely a horrible signing)

MAYBE

Soto is better than this (though we don’t have much to go on)
Fontenot is better than this (though he’s better off the bench)

Enough with the David Patton situation. Return him to Colorado, then call up Jake Fox and get his bat in the lineup somehow. Ditto Hoff.

Man do we need ARam back! His absense is exposing a lot of weaknesses.

I have nothing funny or creative to write.

by Canadian Cubs Fan on Jun 14, 2009 9:58 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Jun 14, 2009 11:21 AM CDT reply actions

Well Swarzak is a good prospect

3-5 rotation spot guy.

Get Peavy already! I want my #44 jersey!

by Cub Style on Jun 14, 2009 12:47 PM CDT reply actions

I said it in this post. Many of you questioned it and ridiculed me, saying we are supposed to do worse against better pitching.

That’s probably because it’s a dumb thing to expect anyone to do otherwise. Good pitching is called that because everyone does worse against it.

I have a son playing little league, and this is a familiar pattern. There are kids who crush the ball in BP, but simply can’t hit live pitching, when the velocity is up a bit and the pitcher is actually trying to get them out. Usually the cause is a hole in the swing or other swing mechanics issues.

Clearly lessons from little league are directly applicable to professional sports and anyone who doesn’t understand this just doesn’t know sports. Why just today in the fifth Theriot missed a ball he could have gotten to because he was drawing shapes in the sand instead of paying attention. And then there was that play later where Lee started running to third base instead of first, and then started crying when the coach started yelling at him.

by Wreckard on Jun 14, 2009 7:47 PM CDT reply actions