State of the Team

The Cubs only have 2 problems: inconsistent hitting, and inconsistent pitching.

Since the Nomar aquisition, the offense has been considerably better despite the recent slump. I think the Cubs have a good chance at scoring 4-5 runs every time they take the field, which is exactly what this team needs to do. The Cubs cannot manufacture runs, don't do a good job with situational hitting(not many contact hitters), don't have ideal OBP, are incredibly right handed, and are absolutely horrible baserunners. How do we score ANY runs?! Well, say hello to my lil' friend. It's HIGH, it's DEEP, it's GONE. Backbackbackbackbackbackback...

Homers. Cubs lead the NL. Alou, Ramirez, Lee, and Sosa will all have 30. Nomar, Patterson, Walker, and Barrett can all take one out from time to time. Too many of the homers have been solo shots, due to the unspectacular OBPs, but there have been plenty of homers. I think the reliance on homers is most detremental to the Cubs on cold days at Wrigley when the wind is blowing in. Often the other team can scratch out a run or two with some combination of walks, our poor fielding, and a lucky hit from a contact hitter of theirs. The Cubs, on the other hand, have a hard time scratching out runs. With Patterson/Lee/Nomar at the top of the lineup I think the Cubs have improved somewhat in this area, with Patterson's blazing speed, Lee's OBP, and Nomar's frequent base hits. Nomar has truly solidified a lineup that desperately needed a high average contact hitter.

Most of the pitching problems have been the bullpen. I believe this is either due to bad luck or bad coaching, Hendry tried to piece together a decent pen and just hasn't had any luck. Borowski fell off the face of the earth, Hawkins decided to be less stud reliever and more batting practice pitcher, and Farnsworth is still Krazy Kyle. The bullpen has been fine at times, sometimes very good. But at all the wrong times the pen has been very, very poor. The starters are fine, Prior is the only one who hasn't proved he is ready for the stretch run. His 2 games before the latest "Oh Canada!" disaster were actually pretty good, I thought Prior was building up to a really solid performance. Maybe he still is, I hope he is close to figuring it out.

Even if Prior can't get it right this year, this rotation and somewhat flawed offense is good enough to win the Wild Card. There are two things to be won here: a playoff spot, and a Nomar contract. It is time to get to work boys.