Bleacher Report - Articles by Jim Sheldon

The Sad Truth about the NL West

Jim Sheldon — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:34:02 -0400

I know the Chicago Cubs are good. I know their lineup is maybe the best in the National League. And I know there's no maybe about it when Alfonso Soriano isn't pulling a Mark Prior every other month. And I definitely know it with Geovany Soto batting his way onto the All-Star team from the six-hole.

And I know Carlos Zambrano making $18 million looks like a bargain.

But jeez, is the entire National League West a Port-a-Potty?

The Padres needed a mercy rule Monday night, and if you want to know how the much-praised Arizona Diamondbacks came in here with the best record in baseball last Friday, it's because they won 17 games against the NL West.

You know how Houston got back into the NL Central race? By sweeping the Dodgers in Los Angeles and winning five of their last six against NL West teams.

The NL West is such a foot-wipe division that I'm off my Brandon Webb Cy Young man-crush.

Yeah, he's 8-0 with an ERA of 2.41, but five of those wins have come against NL West teams. What's more, another one of his wins came against Cincinnati, which is bad enough to be an NL West team.

In Webb's five wins against NL West teams, he has allowed seven earned runs, compared to eight earned runs in his other three wins against teams outside the division.

So, Webb has company: Carlos Zambrano.

I know, he just beat the same lame Padres that Webb beat, and I know that Zambrano also beat the same lame Reds, but Zambrano's ERA is better (2.03), he has faced tougher lineups, and the only reason he's 6-1 is sloppy bullpen work.

Memo to Lou: Carlos Marmol Should Close for Chicago Cubs

Jim Sheldon — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:37:16 -0400

Kosuke Fukudome had just lined his fourth hit of the game into right field.

My uncle asked me, "So what do you think of Wood as the closer?"

I responded, "Well, it's hard to say because the last few times they've warmed him up, the team scored a bunch of runs and he couldn't get a save, so I'm not sure. Let's see how he does in a close game."

Low and behold, I got my wish. Wood entered the game with a 3-1 lead and was set to face Craig Counsell, a pinch hitter, and Jason Kendall.

I thought to myself, “Kerry, finish these guys off and let's head to St. Louis on a good note.”

He presumed to hit Craig Counsell on his first pitch. What a start!

Of course, Len and Bob had to mention that in Kerry's first appearance this season against the Brewers he hit Rickie Weeks with the first pitch. The Brewers then went on to score three runs in the inning.

So I kept that in the back of my mind but didn't think much about it. The next batter, Gabe Kapler, lined a double over the head of Alfonso Soriano, putting runners at second and third with nobody out.

Jason Kendall, the former Cub, hit a ball up the middle that was knocked down by Theriot. Counsell scored, cutting the deficit to one, at 3-2. Wood then walked Rickie Weeks, making the bases loaded with no outs. Mike Cameron was then up.

Cameron struck out on a high fastball, and I thought it was an okay double play here, game over. First pitch to Ryan Braun, a devestating slider, 0-1.

Where was this earlier Woody, I said to myself.

The next pitch was lined over Fukudome's head. Kapler scored. Kendall scored, but Weeks was thrown out at the plate.

However the damage was done, the Brewers led 4-3. Fielder then grounded out to second to end the inning. Another blown save for Kerry.

The Cubs entered the bottom of the ninth against Eric Gange, who has struggled to say the least. Ronny Cedeno led off with a walk, and I thought it was an alright but good start.

Come on Soto, two-run homer here, let's end this. Soto struck out looking on a questionable call, one down. The next batter, Felix Pie, grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end it.

Final score: Brewers 4, Cubs 3.

My uncle looked over at me and said, "Why didn't they just leave Marmol in? He struck out four of the five batters he faced. Instead they bring in Wood and he blows it again."

One should know that I was on the Kerry Wood bandwagon in the beginning. I felt that as long as he didn't get hurt, he could close for this team.

The wagon has since crashed and burned, and I hopped on to the Carlos Marmol wagon. Marmol has the best stuff of the guys in the pen and maybe the best stuff on the team.

In 15 games this season, Marmol is 0-0 with a 1.42 ERA. He has pitched 19 innings, giving up only nine hits, three runs, and has struck out 27 batters. He also has two saves.

Give this kid a chance! Wood is a shell of his former self and could become a quality set-up man but not a closer.

Marmol has been the glue that has held the bullpen together and deserves a shot at being the closer. After all, he can't be any worse than Wood.

Bulls-Bucks: Chicago Prevails in "Defensive" Affair

Jim Sheldon — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:00:46 -0400

Glad to see that the Bulls' offense was in high gear the other night against another hapless team, the Milwaukee Schmucks.

The Bulls scored 151 points. And the game didn't even go five overtimes, either. Of course, the Bucks rang up 135 on the Bulls' pathetic "D". Wasn't much defense played in this one, I can see.

There were numerous uncontested layups and shots. In your face, ball-hawking defense was definitely not the norm in this NBA fiasco.

Chris Duhon, a Bulls' guard, scored 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting. When Duhon shoots like that, you know that defense was nearly non-existent.

Or maybe several Milwaukee players were on the take.

Duhon, he of rich Duke hoops royalty, is the individual who came late to a Sunday shoot-around prior to tip-off. He missed a flight because his "alarm didn't go off." That previous Saturday, Duhon had attended a Duke basketball game. Television crews showed Duhon's face in the Duke crowd several times.

If I were Bulls general manager John Paxson, I would have done one of two things to Duhon. Paxson should have either launched Duhon for good, or at least suspended him for the remainder of the season.

With or without the former Blue Devil, the Bulls were not going to make the playoffs. But Duhon did dish out 15 assists against that tenacious Milwaukee defense.

Speaking of assists, Bucks guard Ramone Sessions had 24 assists in the same game. I rest my case.

In short, that Bulls-Bucks game, if you want to call it that, was a complete farce. The Bulls did shoot 67.7 percent against the Bucks, making 63-of-93 shots. More than half of those buckets were probably easy layups or breakouts with few defenders rushing back past the midcourt line.

The Bulls' season, which in the preseason began with much promise, thankfully concludes tonight when the Windy City Underachievers host the Toronto Raptors. A clutch victory would give the Bulls a 33-49 record.

I honestly believed at the season's outset that the Bulls had a legitimate shot at making the Eastern Conference finals. And dare I say now, that I even thought the NBA Finals against the likes of the Lakers or Spurs was a possibility.

Like most everyone else, I guess I overestimated at how good these Bulls would truly be. In reality, they turned out to be awfully lousy. A collective group of mopes.

Some excellent college players like Kansas State's Michael Beasley and Memphis' Derrick Rose have declared for the NBA draft. So has UCLA center Kevin Love, who unfortunately is no Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) or Bill Walton.

The Bulls are in the lottery again. Say your prayers.