Chicago Cubs

Watching Nick Punto of the Twins bunt for a base hit with two outs to score a run in today’s Cub game exemplifies everything that is wrong with the Cubs and the way Cub GM Jim Hendry has constructed this team.

I have been reading a lot of articles over the past few weeks that have been throwing Jim Hendry under the bus.

In turn, over the same time period, I have put a lot of thought in to who is really to blame for the Chicago Cubs struggles.

While many didn't like his moves this past offseason, is it really his fault?  Or, is it possible that the personnel isn't holding up their end of the bargain?

Filed: June 12, 2009

Milton Bradley reacts to his eighth-inning blooper Friday (Cubbie Nation/file)

Click here for the photo gallery of Friday's game.

On the whole, Chicago Cubs fans are a gentle bunch.

That willingness to boo that gives White Sox supporters a little extra bite? It just isn't our style.

That penchant for mass collective sarcasm that Yankees fans have perfected? Not our cup of tea.

Sure, once in a while, we have a "getting drunk and throwing garbage on the field" problem. And certain segments of the bleachers are reputed to have a bit of a racism problem.

To begin with the obvious, this season hasn’t began like most Cubs fans expected.  Cubs fans have the right to be pissed off at the lack of production on the field.  If you pay money for tickets, go ahead and be pissed off. 

But let’s be rational about it, OK?

Look, it's not as if luck has gone the Cubs way over the years. In fact, it might be fair to say that lady luck has conspired against the North Siders in the form of black cats, Gatorade-soaked gloves and Steve Bartman.

So it should be no surprise to see a couple of close, but critical umpire calls go against the Cubs in the early part of a 4-3 loss to the Reds at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

Two years ago, the Chicago Cubs made a bold decision. The one-time face of the franchise, the future of the starting rotation, the hope of the city of Chicago, Kerry Wood, was going to move to the bullpen.

The decision was partially made to give Wood a career. He had a longer laundry list of injuries and surgeries than he did pitching successes. But he always busted his tail to get back on the bump for the Cubs, so, out of respect for that, the team moved him into a role that would use his arm and shoulder more conservatively.

With just about one-third of the season behind us, I thought this would be a good time to issue the Cubs starting rotation their first progress report.

Starting Pitching

Carlos Zambrano: B-

Carlos Zambrano is 4-2 with a 3.72 ERA.   His stuff has been real good, but he's missed a total of four starts due to an injury and a suspension.  The other issue with Big Z is his lack of command.  

Sammy Sosa has been out of the game for almost two years now. He hasn't officially retired, as he is waiting for the phone to ring with the hopes that a team somewhere will give him one more shot. Recently, there have been reports surfacing that Mr. Sosa is going to call it quits.

This begs the question of whether or not Sosa will be elected to the Hall of Fame after being out of baseball for five years. Let's take stock of his numbers.