The Chicago Cubs are still in the running for the divisional crown. They are only 2.5 games out of first place and one game back in the loss column. You can look at it, and say, "Hey, the Cubs are right there." I'm not looking at it that way.
The Cubs wasted a good night from pitcher Carlosl Zambrano who pitched 7 solid innings and lost the game when the bullpen allowed Geoff Blum to beat them with a 9th inning game winning hit. Blum, who played on the 2005 World Series Champs White Sox and hit a home run in a key game, now plays for Houston and he beat the Cubs. That's the game of baseball.
If the Cubs can't right their bullpen soon, this season will go up in smoke. The Cubs let Kerry Wood go to Cleveland and cleared out some money so they could sign Milton Bradley, who is so not on fire, he might as well be playing for the Rockford Rocks. If he runs the bases and doesn't get hurt stepping on 2nd base, that would be a surprise. Every other day, he is nicked up, and can't play. When can he play? The hope is when the weather warms up in Chicago, his legs will feel better, and he can concentrate on hitting the ball, which is why the Cubs payed him millons of dollars.
Want to know how good Aramis Ramirez is? He's on the DL until July and the lineup has no power punch. Ramirez is a great hitter. He was good for 30 HR's and over 100 RBI's a season. The Cubs miss him dearly. I hope he is on the mend, because with him back in the lineup, it's a different team.
But the Bullpen may do the Cubs in before Ramirez returns. Carlos Marmol, the righty who stuck out nearly every batter he faced last season, is lost. He doesn't have his confidence and Piniella is giving him a rest. He is such a talent, I hope he can straighten himself out. He has to change his approach to pitching and learn how to be a pitcher, not his version of Kerry Wood. No one in the bullpen gives me confidence. If it is a close game in late innings, the Cubs will lose. That's not being optimistic. But it is being realistic. They don't have a guy who can throw strikes and get people out.
I am a long-time Chicago Cubs fan and the last several years the team has been winning. Winning becomes a habit. But this season, the Cubs seem unable to get out of their own way. You can't win when you do that.
