Cubs lineup from your point of view

[The Heartbreak Yid]

Everyone sees their own team from a certain point of view, when their hot, you see them through rose colored glasses, when their cold, they're all horrible. However, opponents fans usually view them pretty much the same at all times. For instance, with the Brewers, everyone fears Braun and Fielder, but as for the others, I always fear Jason Kendall. Granted, hes an easy out for every other team, but hes always been a thorn in the Cubs side, even when he was on the team. Also, Craig Counsells a pain, because the Cubs always have trouble with the gritty white guys.

 

Is there anyone on the Cubs who you guys consistantly fear, in its current configuration? Im just curious how they look from someone elses point of view.

[RyDogg66]

Aramis Ramirez for sure. Soriano kills us too. Derek Lee for some reason no longer strikes fear into me, maybe it is because of his GIDP for the final two outs last year to get us into the playoffs.

[Tedaldtada]

Theriot is a freaking pain in my neck but he doesn't scare me. Reed Johnson and Fukudome always kill us too.

[Invader3K]

Really only Ramirez and Soriano at this point, honestly. Derek Lee seems to have declined quite a bit.

[JohnBriggs12]

When Soriano's hot, he can hit anything at anytime and hit it a long way. Ramirez has earned his reputation in the clutch. Those are the guys you can't let beat you.

 

The other guy you need to bear down on is Zambrano. Really.

[sgtcluels]

I'll echo Aram and Soriano with the bat. Seem to hit Brewers pitching well.

 

Irrational Fear: Theriot and formally DeRosa. Gritt kills us.

 

DLee saves so many errors that even if his Bat regresses, he saves the Cubs more runs then if he was replaced. ARam owes his entire 3B carrier to him. Marmol scares me, when he's right he's simply unhittable.

[Ennder]

Fukudome seems to always kill the Brewers. Aramis as well.

 

Soriano tends to either win (HR) or lose (bad defense) a lot of games we have against the Cubs. He's given us quite a few runs over the past couple seasons with his shoddy defense.

[DHonks]

I don't really feel like Ramirez, Soriano, or Lee kill the Brewers. Yes they do well, but I feel like Fontenot, Theriot, and Fukudome have been much harsher to the Brewers recently.

[Tbadder]

I fear the midget. I FEAR THE MIDGET. I-I FEAR-FEAR-THE-THE-MIDGET-MIDGET. Seriously, every time he gets up I expect him to bang one in the gap. Irrational? Yes. But short players really creep me out. They're baseball's version of carnies. (insert shiver)

[strawbossisevil]

I am not so scare of A-Ram at this point, with his shoulder likely to continue to be a problem until he has surgery, it will likely sap a lot of his power. Derrick Lee is proving to be washed up offensively, he isn´t the player he used to be.

 

I can´t stand Theriot, or his 5 HR. I don´t even know how he´s managed to put so many over the fence this year. If someone gave me an over under of 5 HR for the whole season I would have taken the under. Everything screams "fluke" when it comes to him. Thankfully he´s horrible defensively, so even with his moderate offensive skills, he´s not that great of a player.

 

Soriano remains the most dangerous player on the Cubs. I´m glad that he likes hitting at lead off, it gives me joy when the majority of his HRs are solo shots. I think we´ll begin to see his decline in the next couple of years as well, which will be awesome.

 

Soto would have been one of my "feared hitters" going into the year, but apparently he decided to use the offseason to deposit as many twinkies into his body as humanly possible, and he´s now nothing but a fat slob of a player.

 

All in all, what everyone thought was going to be the juggernaut this year turned out to be nothing but a bunch of aging mediocre players.

[naivin]

because the Cubs always have trouble with the gritty white guys.

Sigh...If you mean they have trouble with good baseball players, who fall short of superstar talent, and happen to be white, I agree. Every team does.

[Ennder]

"I can´t stand Theriot, or his 5 HR. I don´t even know how he´s managed to put so many over the fence this year"

 

He hit another one Sunday so it is 6 now. I agree with you though, I'm shocked that he has that many.

[The Heartbreak Yid]

I fear the midget. I FEAR THE MIDGET. I-I FEAR-FEAR-THE-THE-MIDGET-MIDGET. Seriously, every time he gets up I expect him to bang one in the gap. Irrational? Yes. But short players really creep me out. They're baseball's version of carnies. (insert shiver)

Fontenot, Theriot, or Miles? You have to be more specific when refering to the midget. I suppose you can narrowit down to 2, because Cubs fans are the only ones fearfull when Miles comes to the plate with anything on the line.

[hawing]

I wonder if Tbadder means any short player. We could call it the Eckstein Effect.

[naivin]

All in all, what everyone thought was going to be the juggernaut this year turned out to be nothing but a bunch of aging mediocre players.

To this point, that's true (although the ARam injury has a lot to do with it). It is still only June 10th however. I suspect Derrik Lee will finish the year close to his norms, which means he will have a pretty solid rest of the year. Soto and Bradley are seemingly the key guys (in addition to ARam). If they begin to hit, the Cubs likely become close to what people thought they would be. If they don't...they are probably not much to worry about.

[wibadgers23]

I can't stand Theriot either. Fontenot, Reed Johnson, and Aramis too.

[Ennder]

It is still only June 10th however. I suspect Derrik Lee will finish the year close to his norms, which means he will have a pretty solid rest of the year

 

I don't know if I agree with that. Last year the only month he had with over an .800 OPS was April. At this point in his career I think last years .823 OPS is probably about what you are looking at out of him and he is sitting at an .795 right now.

[naivin]

I'm not positive I agree either...that's just what I think is gonna happen. I understand all good things must come to an end, but the guy has just been such a good hitter, I guess I've just gotten used to it.

[crewcrazy]

Last year the Cubs' offense in general was just scary, but I probably feared Jim Edmonds the most. Words cannot describe how happy I am to see him out of the division (and out of baseball at the moment). This year, Soriano is still the guy I hate seeing up to bat. He's golfed too many low-and-inside changeups for go-ahead home runs in the late innings over the past couple years...you can't even pitch around the guy because he swings at everything and somehow manages to hit it out if he makes contact. It used to be Ramirez, but with his injury this year my fears have subsided for a little while. I still have that walkoff HR off of Cordero two years ago ingrained into my memory. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

I think the Cubs have a nice set of complementary bats in their lineup (esp. Fontenot, but also Theriot, Fukudome, & Johnson), but for me it's the obvious three -- Ramirez, Soriano, & Lee. Soto is somewhere in-between those two levels, and should probably have a pretty nice career barring any major injuries.

 

What confuses me most, however, is still the trading away of DeRosa. He fit nicely just at or above the 'complementary' guys I noted above, and can play all over the diamond. Hendry really dropped the ball on that move imho. If he'd gotten something that made sense, I wouldn't find the move as perplexing.

[naivin]

If Marmol doesn't pitch as they need him to (which he hasn't done most of this year), none of this matters anyway, and its over for the Cubs, barring a significant trade.

[cwolf2012]

One relief pitcher is going to break the Cubs? He's only going to pitch at MOST 100 innings. I'd say Rich Harden and Zambrano's health is far more important to the Cubs than Marmol.

[naivin]

One relief pitcher is going to break the Cubs? He's only going to pitch at MOST 100 innings. I'd say Rich Harden and Zambrano's health is far more important to the Cubs than Marmol.

Ummm...yes! Have you seen the Cubs' bullpen overall, or the way he is used? From an impact standpoint, it would be the equivalent of Hoffman becoming very ineffective for the Brewers...maybe worse. Forces everyone else to have to do things they probably are not cut out for. When he doesn't pitch well, that team is bad.

 

Of course Zambrano, Dempster are important, but my point is, if Marmol isn't Marmol, none of that matters because the Cubs are already cooked.

[cwolf2012]

Let's say you're a Cub fan. If you had to choose between Carlos Marmol being ineffective and Carlos Zambrano being a replacement level starter (i.e. turn into Suppan) for the Cubs, which would you choose?

 

EDIT: On that note, here's the Brewer equivalent of that statement:

 

Let's say you had to choose between Trevor Hoffman being ineffective and Gallardo turning into Suppan. Which would you choose?

[The Mexican Weez]

I dont have stats to back me up but back in the day I'd always hate having to face Hollandsworth and Grudzelanek in a clutch situation. Thank God that they are both gone from the division.