A Bull in the Bullpen

As we come to an end of the first month of baseball, I am disappointed. And to be honest, I’m not disappointed in the Cubs players, but I am disappointed in Lou Piniella.

Let’s face it, the Cubs starting pitching staff has been stellar! Until getting blown up yesterday against the D-Backs, the Cubs starters led the MLB in ERA. AND, virtually every Cub hitter is hovering around .300 or above with the exceptions of D-Lee and Aramis.

With that said, why are the Cubs 10-13? The answer is simple…Lou Piniella. Everyone points the finger at the bullpen or D-Lee and Aramis, but they’re not the only reason the Cubs have a sub .500 record.

As of yesterday…here are their NL rankings based upon hitting order.

1. 1st – .352 AVG
2. 3rd – .315 AVG
3. 15th – .200 AVG
4. 10th – .231 AVG
5. 14th – .221 AVG
6. 3rd – .313 AVG
7. 1st – .312 AVG
8. 3rd – .324 AVG
9. 16th – .092 AVG

I found this data by simply hopping on ESPN.com. If I can do it, why can’t Lou? Yeah, D-Lee and Aramis aren’t hitting and neither are our pitchers or pinch-hitters. You know what that means? MIX IT UP!!! Until they start hitting again, put the guys who ARE hitting in the middle of the order.

And as much as I don’t want to get into this, I have to. Why is our #1 starter in the bullpen??? He makes $19M to be the pitching workhorse of our team. Does anyone truly believe that Big Chief Carlos Silva is going to continue to give us quality starts every time he rolls out to mound? If you do, you’re crazy. Big Z will give you over 200 innings as a starter. We’re basically taking 100 of those innings and giving them to our 5th starter. Makes me sick.

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