Chicago Baseball Week In Review: Five Things I Know About The Chicago Cubs

At 21-15, the Chicago Cubs are 1.5 games out of first place in the National League Central, which should not come as a shock to anyone. What is shocking about the start of the season is that the team has yet to play its best baseball, let alone good baseball.

We're a little past the one-fifth mark of the season, and there are 10 things that are standing out.

1. The Top Of The Order Is Producing. If the Cubs had anything resembling a strong heart of the order, they would be running away with the division. Instead, Derrek Lee has left his big stick in 2005. Milton Bradley has brought his baggage, but lost his bat. And Geovany Soto lost his love for hitting the ball over the wall when Hank White was (inexplicably) not brought back.

The average slash stats for Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome are as follows: .302 BA/.387 OBP/.921 OPS

2. Ted Lilly Is The Rotation's Ace. When it is all said and done, GM Jim Hendry's best signing might have been his most fabled. EKG machine, Ted Lilly, yadda, yadda, yadda ... but in his third year of the four-year $40 million deal, Lilly is still producing. He currently owns a 5-2 record and 3.27 ERA, but more importantly he isn't allowing the team-high nine gopher balls to plague him. Mostly because of his excellent 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (38 K, 9BB) and 1.05 WHIP.

3. Ryan Dempster Was Not Worth A $48 million extension. Don't let that distraction game he plays with his glove fool you, Derek Lowe would have been a much better bargain at that same price. Wouldn't D-Lowe's sinkerball and 5-1 record look good at Wrigley Field?

4. The Jury Is Still Out On Milton Bradley, But For How Much Longer? Of Crazy Uncle Milton's 15 hits, five of them are of the extra-base variety (including four home runs). And even though he has shown signs of breaking out of his early season slump, Bobby Abreu (.293 BA, .383 OBP) and Adam Dunn (.292/.432/1.024 OPS/11 HR/30 RBI ) are making Hendry look foolish for shelling out a three-year $30 million contract to a glorified designated hitter.

5. Angel Guzman Is The New Carlos Marmol. The former prized prospect is emerging out of the bullpen almost in the same way Marmol did in 2007. Guzman has a 3.32 ERA, but has shown flashes of brilliance of late as he currently sports a 0.95 WHIP and 19 strikeouts in 19 innings. If the Cubs can have another reliever emerge from the suckfest that is the Cubs bullpen, manager Lou Piniella could avoid burning out Guzman like he did Marmol.

Other observations:

• Derrek Lee (.696 OPS) shouldn't be batting in the middle of the order.
• Kevin Gregg is bad.
  
• Ryan Theriot (.851 OPS in 2009) has swaggerjacked Mike Fontenot's (.909 OPS in 2008) moniker of "Lil' Babe Ruth."
• Reed Johnson is good for a highlight-reel catch, but not much else (.236 BA/.317 OBP/.291 SLG).
• Ryan Freel is on the team, and he supposedly likes casual encounters.

So how are the Cubs going to regain the "Cubbie Swagger" that jolted the team to a 97 win season last year? I don't know, but maybe Manny Ramirez's Miami-based doctor might

Pardon The Interruption: Chicago Baseball Week In Review Will Be Seen Later

Who needs Chicago Baseball Week In Review when you've got Mariah Carey?

Sorry, loyal readers. The good news for you is that we've got some good stuff in store for you later in the week.

Before you complain, you could write my three-page paper on Saluki softball, a 2,000 word paper on whether or not student-athletes should get paid or not and a five-page paper on media relations.

That's what I thought.

So enjoy Mariah and the canned heat we've got coming to you this week.

Photo Credit: Chickipedia

A Trip Back In Time Leads Off This Week's Chicago Baseball Week In Review

Here at the Chicago Baseball Week In Review, The Big Dead Sidebar will tackle each of Chicago's baseball team's most pressing issue. For the Cubs, it's like 2007 all over again ... and that's not good. While on the South Side, the revolving door in center field keeps turning.

When Lou Piniella began his first year as manager of the Chicago Cubs, he was accused of being asleep at the wheel by fans and media. And while it seemed like that on paper, micro-managing the bullpen while constantly flip-flopping the batting order early in the season helped Piniella figure out which players he could win with.

Now, Piniella is back to his old tricks. Today, Kevin Gregg is closing, but tomorrow it could be Carlos Marmol. Alfonso Soriano went from lead-off hitter to fifth to second back to lead-off down to third and then (you guessed it) back to lead-off.

But those issues pale in comparison to the rest of the crap Sweet Uncle Lou is toiling with.

Without Mark DeRosa, Piniella is pushing buttons trying to find out how many guys it takes to fill all the roles one man like DeRo could fill. Fontenot is flopping, Miles has been mind-boggling and Hoffpauir's defense is damning. Yet, Piniella has to try to put square pegs in round holes in hopes that something sticks.

So, Cubs fans, be patient. It might not be until June when Piniella finally figures out his ball club.

Luckily, it seems as if the White Sox have one problem it really needs to work the kinks out of. Unfortunately for The Good Guys In Black, it has been the same problem they have been trying to fill since 2006.

While I stand by my belief that Jim Thome is the offensive threat the Sox need to carry an offense, the team (and its fanbase) has desperately missed Aaron Rowand. And The Human Crash Dummy is still beloved and isn't really doing a bad job out in San Francisco, but since he's been gone, there's no denying the gaping hole in center field.

Jerry Owens, Brian Anderson, Nick Swisher and Ken Griffey, Jr. headline the center field flops since Rowand's departure.

So what's the solution to this problem? Simple. Employ less contact pitchers.

The Cubs have lead the National League in strikeouts the last few years, so they could afford to have a less than stellar defensive outfield because a good chunk of outs came via the punch out. If the White Sox could scout out more punch out experts, they could survive with an adequate center fielder.

On the offensive end? Hope that Thome, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin pound the snot out of the ball.

Nick Swisher's ERA (Not Batting Average) Leads Off This Week's Chicago Baseball Week In Review

Here at the Chicago Baseball Week In Review, The Big Dead Sidebar will tackle each of Chicago's baseball team's most pressing issue. For the White Sox, it's Nick Swisher's big mouth and miniscule earned run average. While on the North Side, the Cubs' bullpen is making a non-believer out of me.

Stop me if you've heard this story before. Nick Swisher comes to a baseball team in a major metropolitan area and befriends the media. If you have heard this before, you might be a Chicago baseball fan. Specifically, a fan of the White Sox.

Swisher (better yet, his alter ego Dirty 30) charmed the pants off Chicago baseball reporters and fans with his personality. A strong start didn't hurt either. Now, Swisher is back to his old tricks, but this time in The Big Apple where he slurps everyone from A-Rod to Jeter to Joe Girardi. (I don't blame him for slurping Jeter: his leftovers are dimes. I'd wanna be his best friend, too.) But heed this warning Yankees fans, players, management or anyone that will read this upstart blog ... be careful what you wish for.

The antics of one Nick Swisher wore thin as the year went on, which is understandable when you're batting .200. So when Swish says Joe Girardi is the best manager he's ever played for, he's basically calling out White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen in the process. So, why call out Ozzie Guillen? The only logical answer is to get into a media sparring war. And as beloved as Swisher is now, Guillen has the support of Chicago and a fandom that was "sick of Dirty 30 juice."

The Tribsters are all over it:

"All of a sudden, [Swisher] knows everyone on the ballclub. ... You only got one week, two weeks on the team, and everyone is nice?

"That's the way Swisher is. Things work out for him good, everyone is great. That [stuff] doesn't work out for him, it's someone's fault."

Talk about a seamless transition: who's fault is it that the Chicago Cubs' bullpen sucks?

Is it Lou Piniella for putting guys like Neal Cotts and Kevin Gregg in pressure-filled situations? How about the players? They deserve blame, too, right? Well, it's early (get ready to hear that a lot as we enter baseball's third week), but I blame GM Jim Hendry.

Gregg would be good if he was a middle reliever in low-stress situations. I wouldn't mind seeing Neal Cotts ... in another uniform. And when a Rule V draft pick and a White Sox reject round out your bullpen, nothing good can come of it.

In search of a solution? Piniella says throw more strikes. I say throw some scientists into a room and find a way to clone Carlos Marmol as soon as possible.

Steve Phillips' "Analysis" Leads Off This Week's Chicago Baseball Week In Review

Here at the Chicago Baseball Week In Review, The Big Dead Sidebar will tackle each of Chicago's baseball team's most pressing issue. For the Cubs, the Marmol v. Gregg debate is raging again, while the White Sox are searching for answers at the top of the order.

ESPN's Steve Phillips catches a lot of crap at his job, mostly because he is bad at it. Cubs closer Kevin Gregg is also bad at his job. I wonder how Gregg feels about Phillips, because America knows how Phillips feels about Gregg -- especially after allowing a ninth inning home run to Rickie Weeks.

"Carlos Marmol has swing-and-miss stuff. Kevin Gregg doesn't. Look, Kevin Gregg is a serviceable major league pitcher, but when it comes to getting the big out in the ninth inning ... "

On the surface, replacing Kerry Wood with Kevin Gregg looked like a bad idea. In the clubhouse, replacing Kerry Wood with Kevin Gregg looked like a bad idea. On the mound, well, Cubs fans see it, right?

I'll agree with Phillips' assessment of Gregg as a serviceable reliever, as he is a guy I wouldn't mind seeing in non-pressure middle relief outings. Contact pitchers fail in the ninth inning (see Joe Borowski, Ryan Dempster) and since Gregg has never converted a meaningful save, I find it difficult to feel comfortable when he toes the rubber in save situation.

It won't be long until "Gregg is our closer" becomes as annoying as "Rex is our quarterback."

In Marmol We Trust.

One week into the season, I feel as if White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is just looking past the No. 1 hitter in the order. Dewayne Wise got the job, but wasn't getting it done. You would have been foolish to think he would. Don't be surprsied if Guillen flips the script and throws out a line up where Quentin, Fields, Thome, Dye and Konerko are batting one-through-five because only that man is that batsh*t crazy enough to make it work.

Who knows, maybe Guillen can catch lightening in a bottle with Josh Fields hitting second instead of ninth. But if the ChiSox could find that on-base guy to get on in front of the thumpers, they would run away and hide with the division.

Ooh, I found that guy. His name is Gordon Beckham.

Since Scott Podsednik stole some hearts by stealing bases in 2005, the South Siders have been searching for the right kind of lead off hitter and is a bit reminiscent of the North Siders' search for a productive third baseman.

The difference is, Pods produced a ring.