Cubs' Season Is Not Early

Don’t tell me the season is early. Leave that for  pitchers and catchers reporting in February…and meaningless games in March. That’s early.

Believe me, I understand this is a marathon season…we’re only six games in…there’s plenty of time to turn things around. I get that.

But as of last Monday, these games count…it’s part of the 162…a loss is a loss…a win a win…doesn’t matter how you get there…it all counts in the standings.

There’s no good reason for the Cubs to be 2-4…they’ve had five quality starts in the six games…they’ve held the lead in each outing…and for heaven’s sake, they’ve had plenty of opportunities to score runs.

In the three games at Cincinnati, however, the Cubs left 25 men on base…25…unreal! Collectively the lineup is batting .197…Theriot, Ramirez, Soriano…they’ve all been awful.

First inning, bases loaded, no outs…and the Cubs fail to score a single run against a 22-year-old rookie making his major league debut. Sad, sad, sad.

I use to say Soriano’s bat would make up for his many miscues in the field. Who wouldn’t stomach a few botched fly balls in favor of a 40-40 season?

But those days are long gone…at least until Soriano proves he can stay healthy…and put up the numbers we expect from him…30-plus bombs and 100 RBI.

At this point, unfortunately, Sori’s liability in the field doesn’t match his bat…his error was the root cause of the Cubs’ loss Sunday…and you can’t win like that.

It’s a frustrating situation with Soriano…the Cubs need his bat…the bullpen needs a better glove. If you’re Lou, where do you turn?

Loved Gorzelanny’s effort. He was strong through six…threw strikes..stayed ahead in the count…and was deserving of a win, nonetheless.

You look at this starting rotation and there’s no reason to believe the Cubs shouldn’t compete for the division.

But the bullpen, God love’em, is ridiculously bad for a rotation this talented.

For certain, the Cubs will not win without improvements to the middle relief…it just ain’t gonna happen.

But until that days comes, losing games in the eighth inning and beyond is something we’ll just have to choke down. Better grab the salt shaker.