Slump it up!

My First Baseball Post of the Year

My Cubs got off to a great start, and by all indications, they should be competitive for the division title by the end of the season. But lately they have been sucking it big time. They have lost 5 out of their last 6 games, and the favorite move seems to be leaving men on base. However, this means that they are hitting well, since they are getting on base--they just have had a little trouble transferring these hits into runs.

Soriano, Theriot, and especially Fukudome are doing their best to make it happen, but then star pitchers flub it up, and the non-existent bullpen does even worse. What a pile of crap this bullpen is.

To all of this add the fact that Aramis Ramirez (who has been awesome so far) and Carlos Marmol (the only reliever who can pitch these days) are both injured, and things are not looking good right now. Milton Bradley is also injured, but he has proven to be a giant dud, and I'm glad he's injured because I like Reed Johnson more. Derrek Lee is inured, too, but he has been in a giant slump and pretty much a non-factor. But still, all of these injuries don't help the situation.

Anyway, I know it is very early in the season, and many, many games lie ahead. But I set my own secret goal that the Cubs would not drop below .500 all season. Well, today they are at .500, so tonight's game against the D-Backs is essential for my sanity. We'll see.

Update @ 8:49 PM: Milton Bradley is back in the lineup, which means nothing. But Marmol is also back, so that could help. Ramirez won't be back for several more days.