ChicagoDawg1991
Guest
Well the 1st half of the Theo Epstein era has come to a close at 32 wins and 52 losses. That's bad but considering the guys on the roster, that is expected. There have been quite a few surprises most notably Bryan LaHair who has been a career minor league player has been named 1 of 2 Cubs to be on the National League's All-Star Team with the other one being shortstop Starlin Castro. LaHair batted .286 with 14 homeruns and 30 runs batted in with an OPS of .883 in 74 games.
Another surprise is the highly touted prospect Anthony Rizzo who is batting .354 hitting 4 homeruns and driving in 9 runs in 12 games as their everyday first baseman. The Cubs are 8-4 since Rizzo was called up from Triple A Iowa. Travis Wood who was acquired in the deal for Sean Marshall, has been pitching well since being put in the rotation. In 10 starts, he has 7 quality starts and has won his last 4 starts and allowed just 4 runs on 17 hits, walking 9 and striking out 18 while his ERA has dropped by 1.53(4.58 to 3.05) as well. Luis Valbuena despite batting only .225 has 3 homeruns and 14 rbis in 23 games since being called up in June. If he got more timing on his batting, that average could go up but he has been doing much better than Ian Stewart who will miss the rest of the year due to wrist surgery.
Pitching has had its moments where they looked like Cy Young Winners and than they turn into Triple A pitchers the next start but the offense has been struggling the entire year and right now they look like a different team now that Sveum has mixed up his line up almost everyday. Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza continue to be among trade rumors while Jeff Samardzija is still trying to find out whats been up with him lately. Overall i'm not disappointed with the bullpen but things could be better on the back end of both the pen and the rotation.
The Cubs need 39 wins to match the 71 win total they had last season and that road will certainly not be easy, but hey stranger things have happened right? Enjoy the All-Star Break Cub fans!
Another surprise is the highly touted prospect Anthony Rizzo who is batting .354 hitting 4 homeruns and driving in 9 runs in 12 games as their everyday first baseman. The Cubs are 8-4 since Rizzo was called up from Triple A Iowa. Travis Wood who was acquired in the deal for Sean Marshall, has been pitching well since being put in the rotation. In 10 starts, he has 7 quality starts and has won his last 4 starts and allowed just 4 runs on 17 hits, walking 9 and striking out 18 while his ERA has dropped by 1.53(4.58 to 3.05) as well. Luis Valbuena despite batting only .225 has 3 homeruns and 14 rbis in 23 games since being called up in June. If he got more timing on his batting, that average could go up but he has been doing much better than Ian Stewart who will miss the rest of the year due to wrist surgery.
Pitching has had its moments where they looked like Cy Young Winners and than they turn into Triple A pitchers the next start but the offense has been struggling the entire year and right now they look like a different team now that Sveum has mixed up his line up almost everyday. Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza continue to be among trade rumors while Jeff Samardzija is still trying to find out whats been up with him lately. Overall i'm not disappointed with the bullpen but things could be better on the back end of both the pen and the rotation.
The Cubs need 39 wins to match the 71 win total they had last season and that road will certainly not be easy, but hey stranger things have happened right? Enjoy the All-Star Break Cub fans!
