Cubs, Hendry Standing Pat

Has jim hendry recently watched good ol Bobby Howry pitch? Seriously you're not going anywhere if your bullpen falters . I agree our hitters will starting hitting but we need one more pitcher (i'm thinking ...George Sherill) to sure up the pen

To paraphrase Rev. Jeremiah Wright, "GODDAMN YOU, JIM HENDRY!!!"

The truly sad thing about all this is that when John Lieber gets off the DL, he'll be back to letting other teams hit homers off him as a middle-reliever. Hey, Jim Hendry, why not bring Michael Wuertz back up???

One more thing, how could Hendry be putting so much faith in Samardzija??? Sure, he did okay in his one outing, BUT THAT WAS ONLY HIS FIRST OUTING IN THE MAJORS!!! HE COULD STILL WIND UP SUCKING!!! Wow, talk about a fool's gamble. Man, I thought Hendry was smarter than this (unless, this statement is part of some misinformation strategy).

I think I hear "Taps" in the distance.

Well, maybe this is all for the best. The more the Cubs crash and burn in the second half of the year, the better the chances that Hendry (or his successor under new ownership) will make the drastic moves the Cubs need to remove the cracks in their foundation (i.e., cutting Lee/Ramirez loose in favor of big bats who spend more time "hot" than they do "sucking").

Ummm nothing like Corey Patterson. Corey couldn't hit, period. Lee is still hitting .300. and riiight... get rid of Lee and Ramirez with their no-trade clauses....

Many teams would love a Lee and Ramirez at their corners.

Yeah, Sam throws fairly hard from what I hear - but Lou loves how he doesn't screw around and continues to throw strikes.

Hendry said: "'We aren't hitting since the break like we want to, but we aren't going to go out and replace our star players because they're having a bad week,' Hendry said. 'And the other players, let's give them their due, the Ryan Theriots, Mike Fontenots, Reed Johnsons and Henry Blancos. Those people are doing more than their fair share. You don't upgrade from that.'"

WTF??? Have you watched ANY of the games in June and July, Jim Hendry??? Lee, Ramirez, and Fukudome (and Soto too), haven't just been having a bad week! Of course some of the "lesser" guys on the team have been producing, but this does not mean the Cubs are in good shape. Sure, Reed Johnson and Fontenot may win some games for the Cubs with timely homers, but these guys will not be the ones to win in the NLCS or the WS. To win here, we need the Cubs' heavy artillery (Lee, Ramirez, Soto, and Soriano) to start creating some extra-base havoc; and just having one of these guys get hot, while the others slumber, ain't enough. Plus we need Fukudome to get his groove back and learn to hit breaking balls (maybe give him an entire week off).

Awww, crap on it all.

I hope you're right about Samardzija, scribbletone. Still, it would be nice if Hendry could get a tried and true "blue chip" reliever as an insurance.

True, Lee is still hitting .300, but I'd rather see him hitting .250 or .240 and have 30 homers and 80 something rbi's, for this slugging is what the Cubs are lacking.

Do Lee and Ramirez really have no-trade clauses?

but I'd rather see him hitting .250 or .240

Ew. Let him hit .300.

and yes, they have NTC.

The offense is not the problem! We are leading the NL in runs! The rotation is probably the best in the NL. We have a lights out closer. I think Marmol will eventually figue it out. A guym with that good of stuff and that much success don't just stop mid-season. We have a ton of huys that can help out in the 7th asuming the starter goes 6 which they will almost all the time. We have Marshall, Cotts, Eyre, Howry, Wuertz, Samardzija, Lieber. A lot of options. You may not like it, but the Cubs have the best team in the NL and possibly the MLB.

"The offense is not the problem! We are leading the NL in runs! The rotation is probably the best in the NL."

Yes the offense is a problem. The reason the Cubs still lead the NL in runs (and are still in 1st) is because of the excellent production in April & May. Since then it has been spiraling down, and the team average has been declining with the passing of every month (as has Fukudome's). What the Cubs need is for Lee and Ramirez to get hot like in April (and not just get hot for a series and then go back to "struggling").

As for the pitching, yes the rotation is great. The problem is the relievers. Wood and Marmol are great, but they're only used in the last two innings, AND ONLY IN GAMES WHERE THE CUBS HAVE THE LEAD. When the Cubs are in a tie, or are losing, guys like Howry, Lieber, Cotts, etc. are put in and they F#@$ IT UP (and this can be fatal on a day that the Cubs batters are on valium, especially on the road). Hopefully, Samardzija will be the savior for this situation.

The Cubs played a great game today (7/27), but tomorrow's series with Milwaukee will be a real test. If they could just break even in this series, and then go on to have a great August (a home field advantage month), they may be able to resurrect themselves for the final push into September where their schedule will be hellish. I sincerely hope they make it and would like nothing better then to have them shove humble pie down my gullet.

GO CUBS!!!

The thing is Samardzija gave up big money to play baseball he could have easily been a first round draft pick in the NFL a few years ago.

oh, how quickly we fans turn on the panic switch. calm down and give it a little while before you wanna go out and sell the farm. Baseball is a long, long season, and there will be up and down stretches. My Cubs started off absolutely on fire, so the law of averages said they'd hit a rough patch before the end of the year. My guess is all the day games in June and July have some of the guys a little worn out. the only change i think Lou needs to make is to give Ramirez, Lee and Fukudome a day off here and there to let them get they're wind back for the stretch run in September. he couldn't do that with Edmonds and Ward hurt, but both of them seem to have recovered, so now he has enough bodies to do that.

about Howry, yes, i think maybe his age is starting to catch up to him, but up until last season he'd been one of the most reliable relievers in baseball for 5+ years. blowing a prospect for people like Arthur Rhodes (who hasn't actually done anything since the Mets got rid of him years ago) is just ridiculous. Lou keeps using him because Howry has a history of getting it done. if he can't get it done when Lou needs him, he'll be benched for somebody who can, no big tragedy.

The Cubs are currently constructed are inarguably one of the top teams in all of baseball. Lou's a veteran manager who knows how to get it done when it matters, and i believe he'll do just that for us in both the regular AND post season.

The Brewers got hot after the break, great for them, maybe this year they can hold onto their WILD CARD lead.

"Wow, just wow.

Derrek Lee slugging .495
Ryan Howard slugging . 504

I can't even be bothered to look up the stats for the other completely asinine chatter here."

We're just trying to make you feel at home. Wow, just wow, I guess that .495 slugging says it all: Lee doesn't have any probs at all. Lee's hitting doubles doesn't do any good if nobodys on base and if the guys behind him ground out. WHERE'S THE HOMERUN SLUGGING??? WHERE'S THE ABILITY TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF A GAME WITH ONE SWING???