The Chicago Cubs are in the middle (well, hopefully not the middle anymore) of the longest title drought in baseball—hell, in all of American sports.
But this could finally be the year that the Cubbies break through and shed that lovable-loser label that has been cast upon them for the past 100 years.
From top to bottom, this is really the best lineup and pitching staff, in my opinion, in the majors. They don't have many holes, and even the pitchers can hit better than almost any team. (Except for Arizona's Micah Owings—he is nasty at the plate.)
First of all, they are ruling the offensive stat column. Look at OBP (1st in Majors), batting average (2nd), runs scored (1st), walks (2nd), and for a team that prides itself on getting hits, they can jack a few home runs while they are at it (7th).
They have been led by Kosuke Fukudome, who has turned a power team into a team that prides itself by drawing walks, working deep counts, and making their way into the opposing bullpen.
Fukudome gets on base frequently, and follows a hitting strategy that is rarely seen in the majors but is prevalent in Japan. He doesn't look for balls and strikes, he looks for hittable balls and un-hittable balls, if he doesn't think he has a chance, he won't swing.
The strategy seems to be working, as he has a .322 average and a .424 OBP, and it is rubbing off on his teammates.
Even Alfonso Soriano, who spent most of the season slumping or on the DL, has picked up the pace and brought his OBP up to .304. Not exactly what Cub fans are looking for, but he is picking it up and will be up to a normal OBP and average in no time.
They aren't only a hitting team—the pitching staff is doing pretty well, too. Carlos Zambrano is pitching out of his mind, at 6-1 with a 2.03 ERA. Ryan Dempster, who came into this season hoping to be in the starting rotation, is 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA.
Carlos Marmol is continuing to thrive in middle relief with an ERA of 1.04, giving the Cubs a good man to help get to Kerry Wood, who has nine saves in 12 opportunities (not great but definitely not bad) with a 3.74 ERA.
And all these stats and individual performances aren't just for nothing, the Cubs are tied with Arizona for the most wins in the Majors.
Their record is 26-16, half a game behind the Diamondbacks, who they swept last weekend, for the best record in MLB.
Could this season be the season that they finally come back and make it all the way to the glory land of a World Series victory?
I think so, and hopefully Chicago agrees with me.
I'm Joe W.
Statistics for this article were found from MLB.com and ChicagoCubs.com
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2 months ago
Great article and this season seems to get better and better after each win. I hope the team can stay healthy like they have been able to so far. In the preseason everyone was saying Wood wouldn't be able to hold up and fans were giving him an over/under on how soon he would be on the DL. However, Wood has kept his health in check, and with the smooth transition of Soto at catcher and Dempster to the rotation, this team has found the image they wanted to display.
2 months ago
Great article! I really hope this streak continues. I also hope they can stay healthy because I really think they can take it if they do. I'm glad Wood is turning things around. Marmol is a solid reliever in front of Wood. I'm also glad to see that Bob Howry is turning things around. Scott Eyre will also be a valuable lefty out of the bullpen. Keep up the good work and Go Cubs!
2 months ago
Great article like always.
I do believe that they have all the parts in place for a run at history. Having said that, I do see some problems that needs to be addressed.
1) Another starting pitcher of no. 1/2 caliber in a rotation. We have enough people we can part with to make that happen after the All-Star break.
2) Making the bullpen more stable, which starts with making Marmol the closer. Something even more pressing than that is to get a legitimate left-handed pitcher that we can use to get left-handed batters out. Eyre is not a lefty specialist, and cannot fill that role. Whether this will happen through a trade or bringing someone up doesn't matter.
3) Just staying consistent on offense and getting quality outings from the pitching staff.
To be honest, I am not as confident in our pitching as you are, but that could be because I am a perfectionist. It's definitely a good rotation, but it's not a great one. The only way the Cubs will reach the World Series, much less win it, is if they go on a ridiculous run like the Rockies did last year. They had offense, and capable pitching. They shouldn't have made it as far as they did, but because of the big Mo', they did.
Positives are definitely the output from this team. But what impresses me the most is their ability to draw walks and get on base, which you wrote about. That's something Cubs teams have never done in the past. They have always been a swinging-the-bat team, thus winning by hitting alone. World Series winners always have high OBP, and without it the Cubs aren't going anywhere. Personally, I think it is the ability to get on base that will prove to be the difference for this team and what might break that 100-year long drought.
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