Can the Cubs Turn Their Season Around?
Written by Tyler Juranovich, Thursday May 13 2010
The Cub's season hasn't started off too bad, but some think they have underperformed given the payroll and the "stars" they have on their lineup. You can make a legitimate argument that the rate the players are getting paid, they should be performing at a higher level, yielding better results. But that doesn't seem to be the case.
The Cubs have the third highest payroll($146,859,000), only trailing the Red Sox and, of course, the Yankees. Since your paying these players the big money to win you hope they can win a division title or, idealistically, a World Series title.
It doesn't look the World Series drought will end this year for the Cubs though. Their record stands at 15-20, and it's the future is not looking bright for the 'lovable losers'.
Kosuke Fukudome, Alfonso Soriano, and Geovany Soto have been playing much better this year than last, but Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez have both struggled miserably, slowing down the production of Fukudome, Soriano, and Soto.
Ramirez is batting a dismal .159. Lee's is .229. Very low numbers for players that are supposed to be the backbone of the offense, hitting in the #3 and #4 spots of the lineup. Don't even mention Ramirez's strike-out rate. It's just terrible.
Ramirez and Lee aren't the only problems with the Cubs.
The pitching, especially the bullpen, have been sub-par. The Cubs don't have legitimate closer. They don't even have a seasoned relief pitcher. How can you expect to win games when your bullpen is loaded with a bunch of no-name rookies? You can't. The Cubs can also boast that they have the most overpaid setup man to ever play baseball. Zambrano had one good year. It should be no surprise he hasn't done anything after that. His command can get way out of hand, and once that happens Zambrano loses his temper, and after that all hope is gone.
Ted Lily, the most consistent Cub pitcher of the past few years, is having a rough start of his year, going 1-3 with a 4.88 ERA. Granted he is coming back form a major injury and surgery so fans can expect him to get back on track, but that can't happen if the offense just isn't producing.
The offense, over the past seven games, have mustered an average of two runs per game. No wonder the Cubs aren't winning.
So what do the Cubs have that's positive?
Besides the three batters that are hitting well, the Cubs might have found a gem ion Starlin Castro. It is still very early to tell, and he did have a game where he committed four errors, but let's not hold that against him for too long. The kid showed he can hit the ball. The Cubs need more of that.
The season is still young at no team, yet, has taken total control of the Central Division. The Cubs, over the next month, need to start producing some wins for them to get any credibility around the league as a team that can get into the postseason.
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