(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
I myself am a firm believer that if the middle of your order can't hit, it makes it much harder for the rest of your lineup.
Up until recently, Derrek Lee was completely horrid at the plate. His recent 11 game hitting streak has brought his average up to .268, .25 below par for mister Lee. His OBP (.354) and SLG (.441) are also lower than last years (.361 OBP, .462 SLG).
Then there is everyone's favorite scape goat, Milton Bradley. One that could be blamed on Hendry, but he has thus far, got near the numbers of games played expected.
What wasn't expected, by anybody that pays attention, is that Bradley would be hitting .224, with a OBP of .333 and SLG of .381.
So yes, Hendry took a true gamble, and thus far has lost. On the other hand, he hasn't lost because of the reasons that everyone deemed this a loss prior to the season. He was criticized because Bradley wasn't durable enough and that hasn't been the case, though it has been an issue.
The truth is, nobody would be talking and everyone would be happy if Bradley was hitting even near what he is capable of. If his line looked more like, .300 AVG, .395 OBP, and .550 SLG, what would there be to complain about?
For me, a lot of the blame for the Cubs' offensive woes goes to these two supposed sluggers.
That blame isn't just derived from their stats. Not only because of their offensive lines, but because of what it does to the rest of the lineup.
Once opposing teams saw that these guys were getting themselves out, they didn't have to throw as many fast balls to other players in the line-up. Making it harder on everyone else.
They can afford to let guys like Theriot, Fontenot, Soto and Fukudome get themselves out. This means they can throw more early count breaking pitches and less first strike fastballs.
There is one more glaring concern with these Cubbies.
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