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I am going to write a new article about the Cubs every month of the 2007 Cubs season. September 2007 |
The Race
The race is on and going full steam. I think it is going to go right
down to the wire. This is so exciting. I don't think that the Cardinals
are going to be there in the end. I have said from the beginning that
they don't have the starting pitching and they have a game every day
until end of year. The Brewers might be there in the end. I hope not
but it should be exciting.
Bullpen
The Cubs bullpen has been solid this year. Eyre has turned his season
around and the combo of Marmol, Howry, and Dempster has been really
effective. Wood has not been lights out but has been a nice addition.
The other pieces make me a little nervous. Wuertz and Ohman scare me
but hopefully won't make a difference in the playoff race and not be in
games that we have a chance of winning.
Soriano back and
Monroe
It is great to have Soriano back. He provides a ton of pop in the
lineup but things were a lot different when Theriot was leading off.
The Riot was a more usual leadoff guy and Soriano just goes up there
hacking. But Fonzies defense in LF is exciting. He just continues to
gun guys out. Monroe was a nice pickup. He has not been overly
impressive yet but hopefully he hits a couple of homers down the
stretch and proves to be another solid right handed bat off the bench.
Homers -
lineup
The Cubs have not hit a lot of homers this year. In the past we used to
say that the Cubs rely on the home run for run production. Now that I
am thinking about it - that is not such a bad thing. Getting 3 runs
with base hits takes a lot of hits or walks in a row. Three runs via
the homer could come on just 1 hit. The Cubs have power bats in their
lineup. Hopefully toward the end of the year here - the big home runs
will come from guys like Lee.
September Callups
September callups are always a little weird because sometimes it seems
like it gives managers too many options. The Cubs filled in a few holes
on the bench and bullpen but why they called up a kid like Sam Fuld is
interesting. I think that move was made simply to replace Eric
Patterson but I don't see Fuld getting many at bats down the road. Lou
seems to go with the hot hand so hopefully that means a few more starts
for a guy like Soto. I don't want to take anything away from Kendall -
he has played great. But Soto was the MVP of the Pacific Coast league -
they might want to catch some lightning in a bottle there with
him.