The Chicago Cubs begin their 2008 championship season today in a spring game against the Bonds-less San Francisco Giants.
Ryan Dempster gets the starting nod in an attempt to make his way closer to the starting rotation. Kosuke Fukudome also gets a look at his first (American) major league pitching.
Aramis Ramirez will sit this game out, replaced at third by Ronnie Cedano. This spring training season will give manager Lou Piniella the ability to play around with the line up, trying to figure out which combination will produce the most base runners, and ultimately the most runs.
Piniella has stated over the past couple of weeks that he is looking at batting Fukudome in the number three spot, followed by Derrick Lee, and Ramirez at five. This will be a huge opportunity for Ramirez to drive in runs. And Lee is an incredible hitter, especially hitting doubles.
With Fukudome's speed and OBP, we should see good RBI/run production out of these three. The Cubs have to improve on their dismal performance in last season's wild card series against the Diamondbacks, to say the least.
I will report back tomorrow with the results of today's game and some analysis of the line up.
3 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Bob Warja about 1 year ago
Nice article Chis, thanks for the update. Isn't it great to have baseball back again? I too look forward to this Cubs season and especially to seeing how Fukudome looks. My sources tell me that Jon Lieber signed because he was promised a spot in the starting rotation. If that's true, then it's either Dempster or Marquis in the 5th spot and barring a trade, I don't think the Cubs can afford to put a $7 mil / yr pitcher in the bullpen. Despite all the talk of him starting, I believe that in the end, unless there's a trade or injury, Dempster will go back to being the closer. Just a hunch.
Keep up the good work,
Bob
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Steve Tutaj about 1 year ago
Chris, do you happen to be in Arizona attending the game? It'll be interesting to see what Fukudome can bring to the table. I'm hesitant to believe that he should be in the 3-hole on opening day. I'd venture to guess he might need a bit longer to get acclimated before he can be highly productive. That said, there probably isn't a more comfortable spot in the lineup than in front of Lee and Ramirez so maybe that will help him.
Hopefully Pie can start out strong in spring training and put an end to the Coco Crisp rumors quickly.
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Chris Byrd about 1 year ago
I wish like heck I was in Arizona, but alas, no I am in Louisiana listening to it on MLB radio. I am like you and wish Pie could show something. Can you imagine a lineup where Pie bats lead off (if he has a good OBP) followed by Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, and if Geovany Soto is as good as advertised, that would be a power line up. No one in the NL could compete with that, and only the Red Sox and the Tigers could compete in the AL. I truly believe our pitching will be good as well. I tell you what folks, this is the season we have been waiting for...
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