God’s Wrath Watch: Derrek Lee Still Has Foot Issues
Last Wednesday, Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee fouled a ball off his foot, and was pulled early from a Spring Training game. No one was terribly concerned - and I don’t want to induce PANIC, I’m not terribly concerned yet either - but Lee hasn’t seen game action since.
Manager Lou Piniella reiterated yesterday that the injury wasn’t serious, calling it “just a bone bruise.” Piniella said that Lee will not be taking Monday’s trip to Tucson to play the Rockies - though many players try to figure out ways to avoid the two-plus hour bus trip, so the fact that Lee is not going is not any additional reason for concern.
The Cubs expect Lee to get back into game action by mid-week.
ShareFirst Spring Training Lineup Holds Clues for the Season
The Chicago Cubs will play their first Spring Training game tomorrow, and manager Lou Piniella has released the lineup for the game:
1. Ryan Theriot SS
2. Kosuke Fukudome RF
3. Derrek Lee 1B
4. Aramis Ramirez 3B
5. Marlon Byrd CF
6. Tyler Colvin LF
7. Mike Fontenot 2B
8. Geovany Soto C
9. Randy Wells P
Now, this lineup is, of course, both early and not necessarily indicative of the lineup Piniella has in his head for the regular season, but a few things should jump out at you.
First is, well, first. Ryan Theriot is batting leadoff, and not Kosuke Fukudome. This could be a sign that Piniella would rather have Theriot leadoff, generally, than Fukudome. Next, note that Marlon Byrd is fifth, with Tyler Colvin - who is holding Alfonso Soriano’s spot - batting sixth. This is almost certainly how things will play out at the start of the season, short of an offensive explosion for Soriano in Spring Training.
Then there is Mike Fontenot getting the nod at second base. This might mean nothing more than the fact that Fontenot was the presumptive starter last year, or that the Cubs expect to face a right-handed starter. But still, it’s interesting. It’s also interesting to see Geovany Soto all the way down in the 8 hole. Wouldn’t it be nice if he had a productive season?
ShareSomeone’s Gonna Bat Leadoff, But Lou Piniella Doesn’t Know Who
Most of the Chicago Cubs’ lineup this year is set. We know that Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez will hit three and four. We know that Marlon Byrd and Alfonso Soriano will hit five and six. We know that Geovany Soto and the second baseman will hit seven and eight.
But one spot yet undecided is at the top of the order. Who’s going to lead off?
Kosuke Fukudome and Ryan Theriot say they want the job, which manager Lou Piniella said he likes to hear, but he’s not sure which will get the job — or whether it will be a combination of the two.
”I haven’t thought about it all that much, to be honest,” Piniella said. ”We’ll see what happens here in the spring with it. We’ll just use one one day and use one the next, and we’ll see. It depends how they’re swinging the bat, depends on who the [opposing] pitcher is — there’ll be some variable.
”But we’d like to stay constant, too. We’ll come up with something.” CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Haven’t thought about it much? Really, Lou? I mean, I get the deflection technique, but isn’t it, like, your job to think about things like that? Aren’t you being paid (an insane) $4 million per season to think about things like that?
Now that I’ve got that out of my system, I’ll say: I continue to hope that Piniella will seriously consider a leadoff platoon. Kosuke Fukudome hits righties so much better than Ryan Theriot. Ryan Theriot hits lefties so much better than Kosuke Fukudome. Look, I get wanting consistency of role, but in this case, the splits are so stark and clear that I struggle coming up with reasons to do anything other than a flip/flop of Fukudome and Theriot based on who is on the mound.
ShareToday is the Positional Reporting Date for Spring Training
By the end of the day, all of the Chicago Cubs invited to Spring Training will be in camp, preparing for the first full-squad practice tomorrow.
Of course, the date is largely a formality, as almost every Cub is already in Mesa. The only four remaining include three that make sense, and one that doesn’t. Veteran, established, positional players often don’t arrive until the reporting date, and so it is with Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez.
But the fourth? Shortstop prospect Starlin Castro. Interesting that a kid who has a lot to show in order to make the big club this year decided not to come early. I’m not criticizing - there may have been good reasons - I just find it interesting.
ShareSpring Training Participants
Here’s a helpful recap of the players participating in Spring Training with the Chicago Cubs this year - pitchers and catchers report this week. Thanks to Bruce Miles for putting this together.
Pitchers: Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, Esmailin Caridad, Ryan Dempster, Rafael Dolis, John Gaub, Tom Gorzelanny, John Grabow, Jeff Gray, Angel Guzman, Ted Lilly, Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall, Marcos Mateo, Mike Parisi, Blake Parker, David Patton, Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Silva, Jeff Stevens, Randy Wells, Carlos Zambrano
Catchers: Welington Castillo, Koyie Hill, Geovany Soto
Infielders: Jeff Baker, Andres Blanco, Mike Fontenot, Micah Hoffpauir, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot
Outfielders: James Adduci, Marlon Byrd, Tyler Colvin, Kosuke Fukudome, Sam Fuld, Xavier Nady, Alfonso Soriano
Nonroster invitees
Pitchers: Andrew Cashner, Casey Coleman, Thomas Diamond, Jeff Kennard, J.R. Mathes, Vince Perkins, James Russell
Catchers: Robinson Chirinos, Steve Clevenger, Chris Robinson
Infielders: Darwin Barney, Starlin Castro, Blake Lalli, Kevin Millar, Chad Tracy, Josh Vitters
Outfielders: Matt Camp, Brett Jackson, Bryan LaHair, Bobby Scales, Brad Snyder
Obvious player to watch: Starlin Castro
Dark-horse candidates to watch: Darwin Barney, Blake Parker
Pitching prospect to watch: Andrew Cashner
Annual Rule 5 pick: Mike Parisi
I’d also suggest watching John Gaub, a lefty with a chance to make the pen, Jeff Stevens, a righty with a chance to make the pen (received from the Indians, together with Gaub and another prospect for Mark DeRosa), and Casey Coleman - the Cubs’ minor league pitcher of the year last year, whom I think could have a very outside shot at landing the fifth spot in the Cubs rotation.
ShareJim Hendry is All Kinds of Reactionary
I suspect that if Jim Hendry were an avid investor in the stock market, he probably wouldn’t have too much success. You see, in the market, you have to anticipate moves. You need to see where the market is going to be in 6, 12 months, not where it is right now. You can’t simply react to every latest craze (though you can sometimes ride the wave for a little bit, but I digress).
The reason I say this is because being a reactionary has been Jim Hendry’s MO for the last several years with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs lacked a leadoff hitter one year, so Hendry hastily signed a poor fit leadoff hitter to a gigantic contract (Alfonso Soriano). The Cubs had a few games of bad luck against right-handed pitching, so Hendry decided he had to dump a righty or two and get a lefty in the lineup (Milton Bradley (switch hitter)). Then the Cubs had a bad clubhouse guy, so Hendry decided to go out and grab as many “good” clubhouse guys he could find.
That’s all fine, but it reflects a guy who is merely reacting to the needs of his club, and not anticipating them before they percolate to the surface. And when it comes to Milton Bradley, Hendry should have anticipated what happened - but to hear it from him, nothing would have gone wrong if Bradley had just hit better in April.
“Offensively, he was the right guy. It wasn’t like we didn’t do our homework,” Hendry said Thursday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “If he’d have hit like he normally did the first couple of months probably a lot of the issues wouldn’t have come out. He was probably our best player in spring training.
“I remember having some chats with Derrek Lee and Aramis [Ramirez] during camp, and they were thrilled to have him. He just got out of the gate so poorly and just didn’t handle that lack of success well. He had always been a good hitter and really good the couple years before we got him.”
Bradley was coming off the best season of his 10-year career after batting .321 with 22 home runs and 77 runs batted in for the Texas Rangers in 2008. He signed a three-year, $30 million contract before the 2009 season, giving the Cubs’ lineup a left-handed bat. His volatile temper was even thought to be a good thing, bringing some energy to the Cubs clubhouse.
But Bradley got off to a rough start, batting .118 in April. The Cubs suspended him for the rest of the season in September for his conduct. He finished his only season as a Cub batting .257 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs.
The Cubs traded him to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Carlos Silva and cash in December. They have added several players with reputations as good clubhouse guys such as outfielders Marlon Byrd and Xavier Nady, Silva and Kevin Millar, but Hendry said that is the norm while Bradley was the exception.
“Until Milton we had always had [good character players] so it wasn’t like a U-turn in philosophy,” Hendry said. “We’ve had a great bunch of guys here for a long time, and we still do. Obviously, I made the mistake of trying to fit in the perfect type of offensive player. Obviously when that didn’t work the other issues came out. It was fortunate we put it behind us but [signing good character guys] wasn’t a conscious effort.” ESPN Chicago.
Bradley was a disaster waiting to happen no matter how he hit in the early season. The guy hasn’t lasted more than a full season anywhere he’s been in the last half decade. There’s a reason for that, and it has nothing to do with how he hit early in the season.
I’m sorry if it seems like I’m continuously ragging on Jim Hendry, but it frustrates me to hear him espousing this kind of revisionist history in an obvious effort to stump for continued employment after 2010. I hope the Cubs win in 2010, I truly and painfully do. But it’s becoming more and more clear that, if they should win this year, it will be in spite of Jim Hendry’s recent efforts, not because of them.
ShareThe Butt of a Joke
The Maple Street Press puts out a Cubs Annual every year, and 2010 is no different. Well, maybe it’s a little different.
Oh Derrek Lee. Why couldn’t you have been just a few inches shorter?
I know it was just a goof, but now I can’t stop thinking: what if Cubs Anal was, like, a thing? Maybe it means you get really uptight when the Cubs are playing. Maybe it’s a certain kind of intercourse that sounds like a good idea, is fairly uncomfortable, and feels like it lasts 100 years without a payoff. Or maybe it’s simply when the Cubs take a tough loss, right in the butt. I think I like that one.
“Fly ball to left field. Should be a routine play for Brown, and the Cubs will lock up the Wild Card. Oh no! No! He dropped it! Sigh. Well, that’s Cubs Anal for you.”
If you’d like to order the book, which I’m sure actually has some solid content inside (I swear, that one was not a pun), you can head over to BleedCubbieBlue.
h/t Sons of Ivy.
ShareLive Together, Die Alone: LOST and the Chicago Cubs
“Every man for himself is not going to work. It’s time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we’re going to survive here. Now, I found water. Fresh water, up in the valley. I’ll take a group in at first light. If you don’t want to go, then find another way to contribute. Last week most of us were strangers. But we’re all here now. And God knows how long we’re going to be here. But if we can’t live together, we’re going to die alone.” - Jack Shephard
I have generally avoided using this space to pontificate on things personal and outside of baseball. I figure you all come here to read about the Cubs, not my thoughts on health care reform. And for a guy who has an obsession with the television show LOST that is equaled only by his obsession with the Cubs, it’s hard not to go off about the show from time to time. Warning: this is one of those times.
But the truth is, this post is as much about the Cubs as it is about LOST. The parallels weaving their way through the show, the Chicago Cubs, and Cubs fandom are worth at least one, little article as we approach tonight’s premiere of the much-anticipated final season and dramatic conclusion of LOST. The article’s a bit longer than our usual fare here at Bleacher Nation, but I think it’s worth your time if you’re a fan of the Cubs or a fan of the show. Keep reading up on the Cubs-LOST crossover.
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