Once again, following a strong one run win by the Cubs, they follow it up with being on the wrong end of a blow out. I think Wells has been great for this team this year but today the Rockies proved to be too much for him. The amount of wins he’s collected for us and the recent innings he’s eaten up have made him one of our most valuable Cubs this year. And now with Zambrano out with spasms, who knows how much more we’ll need to get out of him. We might have to keep asking for too much from the youngster in order to keep up the W’s while the L’s seem to keep chugging along aside them.
Two games behind the Cards now as neither team has really been able to take advantage of the other’s mediocrity. I have to feel like the Cardinals are a little closer to having it together though and the Cubs need to find a way to be more consistent. Ironically, that’s been the one constant through the entire season. There’s a reason why when people say ‘at least I’m consistent’ after they make another mistake they are joking and making light of a bad situation. Unfortunately the numbers don’t lie and it’s going to be hard for the Cubs to make light of a situation that could end up with them quickly falling to the middle of the pack in the Central if the Cardinals do prove to be the team closer to having it together in upcoming weeks.
I feel like this team has been kept together by duct tape, gauze and bandages all season long. It still blows my mind that we’re two games back even without having all our guys on the field most of the year. It’s been this weird game of watching the 15 day DL rotate throughout the year and a stressful one at that. I need to research and find out how many games each of the guys have missed this year. Hard to wonder where we’d be had we been able to stay healthy. I’ve thought losing DeRosa has had a big impact on this team this year, but DeRo or no DeRo, he’d have no influence on guys staying healthy.
The latest lineups have been entertaining though and I like that Piniella isn’t afraid to try new things and look for the fix. Fukudome’s been fairly consistent no matter where in the line up and I like what he’s doing with Soriano. Lee has turned it around and is pushing towards having another 30 HR 100 RBI season. Having Rami out with a sore shoulder is scary as we saw what a force he was for the Cubs run production when he returned to the lineup.
Hopefully Piniella and the staff are wise in how they use everyone going forward. Need guys as healthy as possible going into September which is exactly what we’ll be heading into come the end of Zambrano’s stay on the DL. And hopefully that will translate into more consistency and less of a see-saw performance from the team to round out the year. Two games back. Time to tighten it up.
Go Cubs Go!
Prose and Ivy 