Results tagged ‘ Carlos Pena ’

PRINCE FIELDER-ARAMIS RAMIREZ-DAVID WRIGHT

There has been a lot of speculation about where Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder will land this winter.  While I would love to have either of these players on my team, I think it would be best if the Cubs went for Fielder rather than Pujols.  I may sound crazy saying that, but I have several reasons for this decision.

Albert is older than Prince.

Albert will probably “cost” more than Prince.

Prince would be that coveted left handed power bat the Cubs desire.

Those three reasons are enough for me.

If the Cubs were to sign Fielder, I would love to see Aramis Ramirez stay with the team.  I realize that would require a multi-year deal and I’m not too excited about the idea of giving ARAM anything over two years.  I think he wants at least three years…..so, this probably won’t happen.  I think Ramirez is kind of like Robin and Prince would obviously be Batman.  I think this dynamic duo would drive in a lot of runs in the Cubs lineup.   If the Cubs decide to keep Carlos Pena, then I think it would be foolish to bring Aramis back.  He’s not the go to hitter you need in the middle of the lineup.  He is an excellent complimentary hitter though.  He could provide the protection for someone like Fielder.

If we don’t work out a deal for Ramirez, which sounds realistic, I would love Theo and Co. to look into a possible trade with the Mets for David Wright.   I know that would cost the Cubs a lot of talent that we really don’t have, but I would like to “kick” the tires on this idea and see what happens.

Finally, from everything I keep reading it seems that Mike Maddux is the leader for the vacant managing position with the Cubs.  I hope he gets the job!

WHAT A MESS

What a mess that the Cubs have right now.  We aren’t going anywhere this year and probably not next year either.  We had the chance to deal Carlos Pena to the Yankees, but decided to keep the great fielding, power bat and .225 average.  Starlin Castro was railed on by Bobby Valentine on ESPN recently during a game where the young shortstop was lackadaisical on the field.   Veterans Ryan Dempster and Aramis Ramirez have options for 2012 for $14 million and $16 million respectively.  That’s a lot of money for a couple of guys in their mid 30s.  Quade keeps getting ejected from games…6 for season now and it’s obvious that he is frustrated with this team’s performance.  The bottom line is that this team is a mess and it’s going to take a while to clean it up.

Now for the good news!  Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney seem to be a potentially really good double play combo for the next few years.  Andrew Cashner may be be joining the Cubs in September after suffering a rotator cuff injury in April.  Brett Jackson, Cashner, Chris Carpenter and Trey McNutt are some of our younger players scheduled to play in the Arizona Fall League this year.  Tony Campana has had a positive impact on the Cubs this summer and has a strong chance of making the team in 2012.  Tyler Colvin has been getting regular playing time and has hit the ball hard despite having a terrible average.  Matt Garza is pitching much better than his record would indicate too.

Even with all our troubles we have a lot to look forward to.  It’s just going to take a little time.  I hope the Cubs are patient and make the right moves with our players and future General Manager.

RANDOM RANTS

Well, the Cubs have actually played decent baseball as of late.  We’ve won something like 4 consecutive series.  We are finally playing as I had hoped back in April.  There are still some things that need to be figured out for next season though.

1.  What to do with Carlos Zambrano?  I say he’s gone, but who’s going to take him???

2.  Find out if Tyler Colvin can play everyday?  I think he can.

3.  Find a way to improve our starting rotation.

4.  Are we going to resign Pena again or go after Albert or Prince?

I think our rotation will have Dempster and Garza for certain.  Anything after that is up in the air for next season.  I really doubt the Cubs take Big Z back and it’s probably for the best.  I am hoping that Andrew Cashner will be healthy next season too.  I believe he has a high ceiling and the Cubs could use another good arm in the rotation.  I think Randy Wells will be a back of the rotation guy next season.  I like his competitiveness, but he’s a number 4 starter at best.  We could use another quality starter, but I don’t know who that would be as of today.

I think Tyler Colvin needs to play everyday in order to be effective.  I think this season proved that he is one of those guys that can’t be a successful as a platoon or bench player.  The early season platoon with Fukudome hurt his development.  He was sent down to Iowa and is finally hitting the ball since getting called back up and playing more regularly.

While I like Carlos Pena we need someone that can hit over .225.  His power is undeniable, but how many times have I seen him called out on a third strike with runners on base???  It’s killing me!!!!  Go after Albert or Prince!

Finally, I think Quade should have read my blog back in April.  I wanted the Cubs to bat Ramirez third in the lineup and Byrd fifth.  Well, he kept batting Byrd third and the Cubs struggled to score runs.  Look at the difference now though.  ARAM is hitting third and clubbing the ball like we expect from him.  Should have been hitting there all season!

 

ANOTHER ONE SLIPS AWAY

Well, after taking a 4-3 lead in last night’s game against the Pirates, I really thought we were going to get a win.  Our bullpen has been one of our strengths this year in my opinion.  Some could blame the bullpen for being overworked, but closer Carlos Marmol didn’t make any excuses for last night’s performance.  I like that!

Still the Cubs cannot seem to put it all together.  Carlos Pena has been hitting homers left and right since the start of May.  Aramis Ramirez has been on a tear for about a month now.  Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro have been solid all season.  Our outfield has been plagued by inconsistency and injuries unfortunately and the same thing can be said for our starting rotation as well.  However, like I said earlier, our bullpen has been one of our strengths this year.  Unfortunately, they let one slip away last night.

Going into the All Star break the Cubs will be baseballs only team without a 3 game win streak this season.  That’s pretty sad.  It shows how inconsistent we have been.  Some of that inconsistency can be blamed on the large number of injuries we’ve sustained, but good teams have deep benches that pick up the slack.  However, even our bench players have seen time on the DL this year.  Both Reed Johnson and Jeff Baker have spent time on the DL this summer already and they are 2 of our better bench players when healthy.

When it’s all said and done, we just aren’t winning baseball games.  Our starting pitching is weak mainly due to injuries.  Our defense has also been a weakness, but I feel like it has improved some and we need that to continue.  Our bullpen is usually very good, but even they have bad games.  It’s everything combined together that is causing the Cubs to lose games.  Hopefully, we can turn that around after the All Star break.

TIME OFF

Over the last few weeks I haven’t written one single post.  There are a combination of reasons (excuses?) for doing this.  I felt like I was beginning to get negative and whine about my team’s performance.  My goal is to be positive on this blog.  I have also been busy with my son’s baseball team.  And it’s summer now and I have plenty of other things going on.  One of those things was digging a hole trying to find where my water line enters my basement.   I had to reseal it because there was a small leak and I needed to fix it before it became a bigger problem.  Anyway, those are just a few things that have kept me from writing anything on here as of late.

As for the Cubs, I have been happy of the play of Castro, Ramirez and Pena as of late along with some strong starting pitching.  I feel we can still put together a respectable season.  At least, that’s what I am hoping for.  If not, I look forward to the changes the team will make in the upcoming weeks.

So, I’m back and don’t plan on taking any more breaks anytime soon.

THE DREADED “L” FLAG

This is a picture that Cub fans are getting used to seeing this year.  It’s not one we want to see either.  Until the Cubs start playing better or until I change my mind, this will be my gravatar picture.

Don’t get me wrong, I want the Cubs to win, but it’s hard to do so with so many injuries and overall poor play.

 

Now some good stuff!  The Cubs have three players that I think are worthy of making the All Star game this year.  Darwin Barney, Starlin Castro and Sean Marshall.  Barney and Castro are both hitting over .300 while Marshall boasts a 1.07 ERA as of this post.

On another bright note, both Carlos Pena and Aramis Ramirez just homered off Bronson Arroyo in Cincinnati!!!!

That’s all for now.  I’m going to finish watching today’s game!  GO CUBS GO!!!

DEFENSE WINS GAMES TOO!

Wow, last night we scored 5 runs and still lost. I didn’t think our pitching was all that bad. However, our defense was miserable! I know that the wet weather didn’t help us any, but the Reds only made one error compared to our four. So, there is no excuse for yesterday’s loss in my eyes.

On a bright note, Carlos Pena is heating up and raised his average to .231 with five homers. Hopefully, that hot hitting continues and spreads to our other power hitters.

We also optioned Tyler Colvin to Iowa. I think this is a good move for Colvin since he’s not getting much playing time. I understand that it’s hard for Quade to find playing time for everyone, but he wasn’t giving Colvin much of a chance this season after Tyler had such a good performance in spring training. To start the season, he was platooning Colvin with Kosuke Fukudome in right field. Kosuke batted played against the right handed pitchers and Tyler batted against the left handers. Considering Colvin is left handed himself, this wasn’t a good idea in my opinion. Then Colvin was regulated to the duties of pinch hitter. He hasn’t gotten consistent at bats and needed to be sent down to get some regular playing time. I hope he does well in Iowa and returns to the Cubs soon.

I am still getting familiar with the switch to word press. I wonder if there is a way to have my comments posted automatically without me having to approve them first? If anyone has an answer for me please let me know. Thanks!

THE OPTIMISTIC CUB FAN THAT I AM

The Cubs have been off to a relatively slow start this season.  If you’ve read any of my posts over the last month you probably know that I’ve been frustrated with their play.  However, things are beginning to look up.  We just finished a road trip with a winning record.  Wells and Cashner are getting closer to returning from the DL.  Carlos Pena homered in consecutive games against the Dodgers.  Ryan Dempster had a great outing last time out.  Castro and Barney are exceeding my expectations and look like they could make a great pair up the middle for years to come.  

I’m expecting Aramis Ramirez to start hitting home runs soon if he can get some protection in the lineup.  If Pena’s power burst continues then I think A-RAM will start hitting bombs too.  If that happens, then we could see a domino effect and several guys may start hitting better.  At least, that’s what I am hoping for.  
Alfonso Soriano is hitting homers like we have been wanting him to since he signed with the Cubs.  Now we need to get some men on base when he is batting.  I like him lower in the lineup too.  It gives us a major power threat in the 6th or 7th spot that many teams don’t have.  
This nine game home stand we are about to start tomorrow may be a big boost for us if we can win more than we lose.  I know it’s early still, but this home stand could be huge for us.  Let’s hope we step it up and wins some ballgames!

SOME GOOD STUFF

Wow, I’m upset that I wasn’t able to stay up for the entire game last night.  I fell asleep somewhere in the bottom of the 7th inning.  When you get up at 5:00AM everyday, those late night games are a struggle to watch.  But I did get to see Carlos Pena smash his first homer.  I hope that opens up the flood gates and he starts ripping them on a regular basis like he’s capable of. 

Another good thing I’ve been seeing lately is the hitting of Geovany Soto.  The catcher is only hitting .239, but he’s hit 4 doubles in the last 3 games and is hitting the ball hard and taking it to right field.  If he keeps hitting the way he has lately I think his average and power numbers will increase greatly for the month of May.  
Finally, Ryan Dempster did not get the win last night.  Yet, he looked great!!!  He pitched 7 strong innings giving up only 1 run against Ethier, Kemp and the Dodgers.  Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless 8th inning for the win and Marmol got the save.  Niether Wood nor Marmol walked anyone or even gave up a hit.  The Cubs also played good defensively not making any errors.  That’s the perfect recipe for winning ballgames.  Let’s hope this continues!
One last thing I forgot to mention.  Jeff Samardzija is putting together a solid season.  He has 2 wins, 1 hold and a 2.45 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched.  He still needs to cut down on his walks, but he has been more than effective and hasn’t given up a run since April 12th against the Houston Astros.  
Overall, I am starting to get excited again.  We are finally starting to look like a team that can win more than we lose.

MEDIOCRE PLAY WON’T WIN THE CENTRAL

The Cubs have started this season by playing mediocre baseball in April.  When we’ve had decent pitching, our defense or offense has let us down.  Other times we’ve hit the ball, but our pitching let us down.  Sometimes it’s the starters and other times it’s the bullpen.  When we get guys on base and in scoring position we are not driving them in.  Our defense was terrible in spring training and it hasn’t been that good to start the season either.  Our manager has also made a few mistakes as well.  Combine all of this together and we get mediocre baseball!

First, let me start with something positive.  Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney are hitting great at the top of the lineup.  Both players have really impressed me.  It’s encouraging when your younger players come to play everyday and put up numbers like they are.  Castro is capable of hitting anywhere in the lineup in my opinion while DB has shown that he’s a capable number two hitter.  As of this morning, Castro is hitting .357 and DB is hitting .320.  They are also rank number two and three on the team in RBIs.  Soriano leads the team with 15.  That’s where the bad news starts to come in to play.  Marlon Byrd has only 5 RBIs.  Not what you want from your number three hitter.  Even though he’s hitting .293, he’s not driving in runs when he has the opportunity.  He’s hitting .185 with runners in scoring position and he’s unfortunately killed several rallies.  I hate saying this because Byrd is one of the players I really like on this team.  He plays the game the right way and never gives up.  I think he’s better suited batting somewhere else in the lineup.  I hope Quade realizes this soon.  Anyway, these failed opportunities are also hurting Aramis Ramirez, our cleanup hitter.  He has a good average, .329, but only 1 homer and 9 RBIs.  With runners in scoring position he’s hitting .286 with 6 RBIs.  Those are respectable numbers, but Byrd has limited his chances of driving in runs.  
Next we have issues with our starting pitching.  It doesn’t help when two of your starters go on the DL right after their first start of the season.  There is also something that is bothering me that is probably not that big of deal.  Our manager seems to trust our veteran starters, which is a good thing, but in my opinion, there’s been several times when he’s left the starter in too long.  This happened on Dempster’s first start of the season against Pittsburgh (a loss), also against Houston on the 11th (a win….barely) and again against the Dodgers on the 23rd(a win).  I think Quade needs to trust his bullpen more and not leave our starters in there too long.  I may be way off on this, but it’s frustrating when your team is winning and you can tell the starter is about out of gas and Quade tries getting another inning out of him.  It’s April for crying out loud!   There’s no need to push the starters to the limit this early in the season.
I guess the bottom line for me is that we aren’t scoring enough runs and I believe changing our lineup would help tremendously and that we need to trust our bullpen more.  We also need to play better defense.  I know the homers for Ramirez will come.  I also hope Pena starts hitting bombs into the bleachers in right field.  That would help a lot too.  Until then, we are just playing mediocre ball.
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