How about a little shoutout for Gerald Perry?
After 20 games, and keep in mind 14 teams use designated hitters, Cub hitters rank third in MLB (2nd NL) in walks, second in MLB (1st NL) in both on-base percentage and hits, and lead the majors in runs scored and pitches drawn per plate appearance.
Perry has track record as a hitting coach of improving teams in those categories, but it’s been awhile since we saw that in Chicago. The chance of starting eight fielders all with on-base percentages over .400 (Fukudome .477, Soto .429, DeRosa .415, Johnson .415, Lee .411, Ramirez .409, Theriot .408, Cedeno .406) might be a first in Cubs history.
That pitches-drawn category might seem like a minor statistic at face value, but there aren’t a lot of stellar bullpens out there, and the more starters you force out early on pitch counts, the more late runs you’re going to score and the more teams you’ll put away before they can chip away at your lead. If this was a playoff series against the Mets and New York had to burn four relievers for 77 pitches in three innings like they did yesterday (without even pitching the ninth), you compromise their bullpen for the next day too.
I don’t like to get this excited this early, but it just feels like there’s a different atmosphere this year. There’s an awful lot to like about these Cubs, and to twice shut down and then pile on a Mets team that’s been predicted to win the NL, even with Soriano on the shelf, is a very good sign.
Oh, and the ex-Cub of the Week is former reliever Todd Wellemeyer, who’s 2-0 in four starts for the Cardinals with 26 strikeouts in 25 innings.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Let's Play 1-2/3!
Twenty-seven innings is three games, right?
Well, not so much. The Cubs outlasted the Pirates in 15 innings last night on the heels of a 12-inning win to open the series in Pittsburgh. Despite a series of mini-disasters, the Cubs find themselves the winners of four straight and two games above .500.
The win was particularly encouraging. After letting a win slip away in the ninth and again in the 14th, they didn't let it turn into a loss. Sure, you're supposed to beat teams like the Pirates, but a difference between contender and pretender is the ability to actually do it when there's a hiccup or two in the bullpen and almost every pitch for six innings could be your last.
I'm reminded of the 1986 NLCS. The Mets beat the best of a good stretch of Astros teams in back-to-back long extras, 12 innings and 16 innings. Jesse Orosco gave up a game-tying 14th-inning homer in game 6, but had more left in the tank than the Astros' Aurelio Lopez and eventually won the clincher. Last night, Kevin Hart gave up a game-tying 14th-inning homer of his own, but settled down enough to give the bats one more chance and earn his second relief win in five days.
But relief pitchers aren't used the same way anymore; the five Roger McDowell relief innings that got the Mets to Orosco in the 14th would now be handled by four or five pitchers and start an inning or two sooner. Get past about the 12th inning these days and a lot of teams start to find themselves stuck with whoever's out there come hell or high fastballs.
Even after 14 innings of eight-hit ball, the Cubs still had two starting pitchers in the pen in yesterday's callup Sean Marshall, who pitched the 15th for his first professional save, and Jon Lieber. And while the 2008 Pirates are no 1986 Astros, the Cubs could theoretically have gone into the 20th or 21st inning with a fresh veteran pitcher who would have made most rotations, and I don't think there's another team in either league that could say that.
In other news, the most recent in a sporadic series of Ex-Cubs of the Week is Corey Patterson. Yeah, that Corey Patterson. He's batting .323 for Dusty Baker's Reds and is tied for second in the majors in home runs with four in eight games after a ninth-inning game-tying shot last night off Eric Gagne and the Brewers.
Well, not so much. The Cubs outlasted the Pirates in 15 innings last night on the heels of a 12-inning win to open the series in Pittsburgh. Despite a series of mini-disasters, the Cubs find themselves the winners of four straight and two games above .500.
The win was particularly encouraging. After letting a win slip away in the ninth and again in the 14th, they didn't let it turn into a loss. Sure, you're supposed to beat teams like the Pirates, but a difference between contender and pretender is the ability to actually do it when there's a hiccup or two in the bullpen and almost every pitch for six innings could be your last.
I'm reminded of the 1986 NLCS. The Mets beat the best of a good stretch of Astros teams in back-to-back long extras, 12 innings and 16 innings. Jesse Orosco gave up a game-tying 14th-inning homer in game 6, but had more left in the tank than the Astros' Aurelio Lopez and eventually won the clincher. Last night, Kevin Hart gave up a game-tying 14th-inning homer of his own, but settled down enough to give the bats one more chance and earn his second relief win in five days.
But relief pitchers aren't used the same way anymore; the five Roger McDowell relief innings that got the Mets to Orosco in the 14th would now be handled by four or five pitchers and start an inning or two sooner. Get past about the 12th inning these days and a lot of teams start to find themselves stuck with whoever's out there come hell or high fastballs.
Even after 14 innings of eight-hit ball, the Cubs still had two starting pitchers in the pen in yesterday's callup Sean Marshall, who pitched the 15th for his first professional save, and Jon Lieber. And while the 2008 Pirates are no 1986 Astros, the Cubs could theoretically have gone into the 20th or 21st inning with a fresh veteran pitcher who would have made most rotations, and I don't think there's another team in either league that could say that.
In other news, the most recent in a sporadic series of Ex-Cubs of the Week is Corey Patterson. Yeah, that Corey Patterson. He's batting .323 for Dusty Baker's Reds and is tied for second in the majors in home runs with four in eight games after a ninth-inning game-tying shot last night off Eric Gagne and the Brewers.
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