Everyone is throwing out all sorts of facts the last couple days about how much our team is struggling.

You all have time to do this research while being on the ledge of your office building?

Geovany Soto is a great example. How many times has he struck out looking on a fastball right down the pipe the last few days. He is overthinking. You need to have defensive swings when it’s on 0-2 count and you can’t simply look for a ball to drive because most of the time you’re not going to get a ball to drive in that situation. On the season, Geo has 29 BB and 42 SO

*Theriot normally has more walks than strikeouts in past years, but this year this does not hold true (19 BB, 42 SO).
*Fontenot has been pretty awful with 26 BB and 45 SO.
*Soriano has been garbage (24 BB, 70 SO), but what can you expect from a terribly disciplined hitter.
*Bradley is currently sitting on 27 BB with 37 SO
*Lee had a rough start, but he’s getting better obviously. Season totals are 29 BB, 43 SO
*Fukudome has been our best with 41 BB, 48 SO.

At times, this team will swing freely at first pitches, but that kills us because the opposing team starter always gets a low pitch count. The team always adjusts later in the ballgame, but then the starter always thrown a first pitch strike, putting the batter in an immediate hole. It’s just been like a teeter totter for the Cubs batters in ball games. I feel like this has been a huge problem for the Cubs.

League BA .262. Cubs BA .109.

“It’s [expletive] luck,” – Billy Beane.

Every sabermetric study ever done shows that he concept of clutch hitting is nonexistent. There is no such thing as a consistently “clutch” hitter. The Cubs have been really unlucky this year, and things should turn around.

Look at the Cubs recent history (last 5 years). The first number is their BARISP rank among NL teams. The second number is where they ranked among NL teams based on the number of wins. Definitely a correlation. I didn’t find the BA with RISP for Cubs pitchers, but I bet it would show a similar relationship.

08 – 1/11
07 – 6/2
06 – 16/11
05 – 10/10
04 – 6/4

A team’s BARISP over time should mirror their overall average. When it doesn’t, I think it’s because the players are putting too much pressure on themselves to produce. I also think this gets contagious. When everyone slumps, like the Cubs have been, individual players lose confidence in the ability orf their teammates to deliver a clutch hit. That increases the pressure on them, because they feel if they don’t get the clutch hit, no one else will. I believe the Cubs will start to hit consistently, based on the history of their players. Once this happens, the confidence will return, the pressure will ease and they’ll start to hit with RISP.

the RISP stats for about a month now in game threads.

In 2006, after the Sux won the World Series, they had a terrible season with RISP – almost to a player. It can last an entire season. That’s baseball.

However, this year’s Cub team was constructed by Jim Hendry as he counted on utility players, and then career minor leaguers to play starters – when they really aren’t:

I.e., Mike Fontenot, Aaron Miles, Jake Fox, Andres Blanco…Now think how his plan of trading Mark DeRosa, who was already “paid for”, could have really changed not only a couple (or 4/5) losses into wins, but all of the sudden the bench becomes deeper, and there is more flexibility for the manager when Aramis gets hurt. Which he does every year.

Jim Hendry gambled in 2009, and so far, he is losing. Dumb shit! You’d think that 2006 would have reminded him WHY he signed DeRosa in the first place.