In no way do I disagree with anything Kurt wrote on the last post.  In a year where very little was done in the offseason, save the removal of a soul-sucking parasitic tumor, we Cub fans are subject to a potent concentration of 'wait and see'.

Which, frankly, is the way it should be with so many players signed to long term expensive contracts.  In theory, at the time these contracts were initiated and signed, the player in question was at or near the top of his game,or at least, his usefulness to the Cubs, and for the 3, 4, or God help us, 8 years of the contract, this valuable, 8-figure-making hero of a man should be more than capable of helping us win.  Therefore, on a team with 8 men making more than $10 million in annual salary (including Jabba the Silva), you would assume you have 1/3rd of your roster of All-Star caliber.

It worked out that way in 2008, in which we won 97 games.  Last year, when one of the 8 figure guys had a dislocated shoulder, another had knee surgery, a third had a desperately ill newborn, a fourth had both back problems and temper tantrums, a fifth ended up needing arm and knee surgery, and a sixth was a soul sucking leech...we won 83 games.

Kurt averaged the two outcomes together and set the over/under at 90.  I merely choose to set it at 87.  Because, even if Ramirez is healthy again, and Lilly does recover, and Z acts more adultlike simply due to age alone, and the drain on our economy as well as our oxygen supply, Milton Bradley, is gone from our existence...we still have the corpulent Carlos Silva taking up a roster spot that could be used by a Braden Looper or some other mediocre innings-eater that still would be better than Silva the Hutt.  That's worth three games right there.

Then,of course, we have the Human Hitting Streak, the man who is more of a contradiction than the Scotch-Korean Starburst eater, the most well paid Cub and the actual heart and Key to the Chicago Cubs, #12 in your programs, and #5 in the most highly paid major league humans...

What is Alfonso Soriano bringing to work this year? 

It is funny...yes, I have come out here, repeatedly, in fact, over the past three years and railed on and on about Soriano's isolated style of play.  Some of you read that to mean I was saying he was 'selfish', which has led to the Goatriders meme of saying that "Soriano hit two selfish homers today" or something of that ilk. 

I do not believe that Soriano is a self absorbed player, as Sammy Sosa certainly was.  I don't think he goes back to the clubhouse between innings to check his stat sheet, and I don't think he mopes about an 0-for-4 when we win a game.  It is fact, though, that he has balked at times verbally at his manager's suggestion that his role or position should change.  So what, lots of guys do that.  It is also a fact that his production at the plate tends to trend downward when he does change his position or his place in the order. 

What is also clear, at least to me, that in the first two years of his tenure here, as the leadoff man for the Cubs, he did not operate at the plate in the manner of what I felt we truly needed.  He was a run producer, yes.  He hit a lot of home runs, and that produces runs.  More on that in a minute.  I think, though, what Jim Hendry was hoping to get was more of a Rickey Henderson-esque figure, someone who hits homers, yes, but at other times, draws walks, and otherwise gets on base, makes things happen on the basepaths, rattles pitchers, draws infielders out of position to make plays on stolen bases, etc.

To be fair, Soriano was never a plate discipline guy, so it was unrealistic to believe he would start once he came here. Also, his legs have failed him since he came here.  In fact, this time last year, it appeared his legs were as healthy as they had been since his last year with Washington, and I had predicted a banner year on the basepaths for him.  That worked out well.

What I was hoping for out of him, provided he was hitting leadoff for us, that he would become part of an integrated offense.  For example, if the eighth hitter got on, and the pitcher bunts him over to second, and Soriano comes to the plate, that he would keep the inning going around 40% or more of the time with some sort of base-advancing contribution, a hit, a walk, or a grounder to the right side, something to keep things going  to the heart of the order, where big innings with crooked numbers happen.

But, that isn't what his game is.  He IS hot or cold.  He is not a normal guy, he does not move the game along the basepaths.  No, he is a sixth hitter hitting leadoff, not a true two-outcome guy, but he is a guy who hits a ton of homers, strikes out a lot, and hits a lot of fly balls.  And when he is not going well, he kills rallies by the armfuls.

But why is he such a contradiction?  Because, when he is hot, and he was hot for most of 2007 and 2008, he hits LOTS of homers, which produces a lot of production, and frankly, won us a lot of games we had no business of winning. He is like a secret weapon, who actually isn't so secret.  I mean, if I had the choice of a ham-and-egger who hits singles a lot, and a guy who can mash, sure, gimme the mash.  We NEED the true Soriano, the one that can carry a team for 10 days or two weeks.  I always said he operated independently of the rest of the Cubs offense, and sometimes that has been good, particularly when he bails us out when nobody else is hitting. 

Well, now he is down in the order, where hopefully his streakiness will be somewhat mitigated, and also hopefully a lot of his solo homers to begin games can take place with runners on base.  Also, hopefully, he is healthy enough to play the games, take good swings, hit homers, and not be too much of a tinker in left field. 

Whether you like it, or not, and honestly, I don't...but as Alfonso Soriano goes, so do the Cubs.  Which is probably fair, since he makes the most money.  And, since he's at 80 to 85% these days, I figure so are the Cubs.  So...87 wins, over/under.

UPDATE: look!  Good Soriano news!!

For his first two seasons with the Cubs, Alfonso Soriano had a nasty habit of starting slow, getting hurt, and eventually returning in a fiery burst of offensive ass-kickery.  Then, in 2009, Soriano started the year in an unusual manner -- 7 homeruns, 14 RBI, a .284 AVG and a .955 OPS for the month of April.  Suddenly it looked as though he just might justify that ridiculous contract of his.

Then, in May, he batted .216.  He followed that with a .198 effort in June.  By the time he managed a .345 July, the Cubs were pretty much a non-factor in the NL Central and Cub fans were justifiably booing him for his disappointing start and ridiculously indefensible defensive ridiculousness. 

Cub fans here and elsewhere described him with many, many non-flattering words.  Cub bloggers here and elsewhere pointed out that we all knew this day would come -- you don't sign a 32-year-old to a 7 year deal without expecting some years of suck to be injected here and there -- but none of us were expecting it to come so soon. 

Eventually Soriano found himself dropped from his traditional spot at leadoff -- something that should have happened oh, I dunno, three years ago -- and he actually put up better numbers.  In 41 games as the 6th hitter, he batted .268 with a .759 OPS and 6 homeruns.  That's right, .268 and .759 were actually improvements on his previous production. 

He'd eventually leave the team for the disabled list -- having been suffering from leg injuries during the whole period of his offensive mediocrity -- and had surgery for the first time in his career on September 5th.

So here's the contention: Cub fans frustrated with his output have said that Soriano is selfish because he wanted to bat lead-off, and because he never changes his hitting approach, and because of that ridiculous little hop of his in the outfield, all multiplied to the Nth degree because of his near $20 million per year contract. 

But his teammates have never railed against him, his manager has never criticized him, and he has never spoken harsh words to the press even as Cub fans lit into him like he was a firecracker ready for their match.  More importantly, as poorly as he played in '09, it is extremely evident that he did so with a damaged knee that absolutely would have been detrimental to his performance. 

Therefore, is Soriano officially a bust?  I'm not convinced.  Is he the wrong kind of player for Chicago?  I haven't seen any evidence of that.  Is he an intelligent player capable of adjusting his performance based on in-game situations and other factors?  Not that I've seen.  In other words, maybe Alfonso Soriano is far from a poet laureate, but he is neither selfish nor vindictive -- nor entitled, for that matter, like certain trouble-making Cub outfielders who are now playing baseball in Seattle. 

2009 was certainly a disappointment for Soriano and the Cubs, but 2010 is entirely a year in which he just might surprise us.  Still, he's got four years remaining on his contract and, realistically, he's probably got two good years left in his already-collapsing body.  If he's going to give the Cubs the championship they're paying him to win, it's going to have to be soon.

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Let's be honest for a second. The Chicago Cubs -- versions 2007 and 2008 -- would have never made the playoffs had it not been for Alfonso Soriano. In the first two years with the team, despite nagging injuries and cold starts to the season, Soriano was an offensive sparkplug and a defensive secret weapon in left field. It's true that he would bungle the occassional catch -- and I believe that that's easily fixable if Lou spoke with him about using both hands -- but Soriano's cannon arm effectively ended more than one threat when players tried to test him.

What do Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Milton Bradley all have in common?  Scratch that -- the more appropriate question is what don't they have in common.

All three have big contracts, given to them by a general manager who was likely bidding against himself.

All three are putting up "worst case scenario" numbers -- statistics you won't likely see from a playoff-bound outfield.  Soriano is batting a meager .243 with a .303 OBP, 19 homers, 52 RBI, and 110 strikeouts in 108 games.  (That's 7 more than he had last season in 12 more at bats.)  Fukudome is batting .272 with a .390 OBP, 10 homers, 43 RBI, and a 43% success rate at stealing bases.  And Bradley is batting .259 with a .390 OBP, 8 homers, 30 RBI, and a bad attitude.  Oh, and collectively they're making something like 40 million dollars this season.

But apart from their big contracts and offensive suck, they have something else in common too -- they were coveted by OCD Hendry for years before he signed them.  Soriano had been a target of the Cubs since his earliest days with the Yankees, where he was a reported Target of Interest in the never-occurred Sosa trade.  Fukudome was being spoken of at Wrigley from as early as 2003, and Hendry had vowed to pursue him even before the 2006 season.  And Bradley was a target of Jim's back in the Dusty days, with Baker pondering his ability to manage the troubled star should a trade come-to-fruition.

At this point, Hendry's idiosyncracies aren't even disputed anymore.  He will always go out and acquire three of whatever he needs -- when the one that would suffice goes elsewhere.  And he'll always covet certain players who, mark our words, will someday make their way to Wrigleyville.  In a way, it's miraculous that ex Reds (and current Nationals) Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns -- perhaps Hendry's Most Coveted -- have avoided a Cubs uniform, but if Jim remains in charge it's probably only a matter of time.

So now we're left asking how the Cubs repair these mistakes.  Let's break it down by player and problem:

Alfonso Soriano
When Soriano signed with the Cubs, my initial reaction was of joy and despair, mixed in equal portions.  I wrote at the time that only Hendry could turn the joy of such an acquisition into a move that we'd all hate within three-or-so years (while also saying I wouldn't care if the Cubs won a Series beforehand). 

So, here we are, at Year Three on the cusp of a possible -- if not probable -- Soriano decline.  He has 5 years remaining, he'll make something like 18 million per year until he's done, and the Cubs are stuck with him.  One reader suggested that Sori should be waived and given to the first team that claims him, although that's putting a huge assumption in any team stepping up to eat that albatross of a contract.  I EMailed one Cubs beat writer asking if he knew as to whether or not Sori passed through waivers, and he said, "clubs, and particularly the Cubs, try to keep that stuff private. But I'm sure he was put on waivers, and I'm sure he cleared easily. Who would want that contract? Nobody in their right mind."

Therefore the Cubs may need to first hope that he will rebound from this horrible season, which remains a strong possibility.  Soriano is 34 next season, and while he will almost certainly never hit 40 homeruns again it's still possible that he'll be a 30 homer guy if he gets everything working.  As for his defense, he clearly belongs in the American League where they can hide him in the DH spot, but since that's not going to happen then the Cubs probably have to consider posturing to move him to first base once Lee's contract ends.

Otherwise, Hendry will need to consider dealing Soriano and eating probably half his remaining contract to find an interested buyer.  For a guy already in his 30's when he signed, an 8-year 130+ million deal was just ridiculous.  There's no way his career ends on a high note, unless his last homerun is a walk-off that wins the World Series.

Kosuke Fukudome
We were hoping he'd be Our Ichiro.  Turns out that was a bit of a mistake on our part.  But while Fukudome is not, based on his numbers, a 14-million-a-year guy, he is defensively solid and he's not a negative presence in the lineup.  It's just that he doesn't give enough positive, either.  Still, in 160 fewer at bats this season he's already matched-or-surpassed last year's totals in doubles, triples and homers.  I don't know if Rob would still call Fukudome a "bust," but he's certainly a winner only if we view him with diminished expectations.

On a team where Soriano is killing the ball, Fukudome's decent-but-not-rah-rah-great statistics would be acceptable.  On a team where he is flanked by Milton Bradley, however, Fooky is a disappointment.

Milton Bradley
Earlier this year I compared him with Moises Alou, whose first-of-three years with the Cubs was a huge disappointment.  The difference was that Alou got mad, stayed mad, and hit the crap out of the ball.  When Milton gets mad, though, he seems to come apart mentally.  Not good.  He may not have the fortitude to ever succeed in Chicago.

But I'm willing to give him the chance.  Maybe he's not the guy you want to be the face of the organization, but contrary to what fans seem to hope for, he does not appear to be a clubhouse cancer like Sosa was.  Maybe he's never going to play in 150 games in a season, but we knew that coming in.  What we were hoping for -- if not expecting, though -- was an OPS around 1.000 in his 120 games played. If he stays strong mentally, I expect him to meet that hope next season. 

Still, it's pretty crappy that we have to basically hope for the unlikely -- in his and Sori's return to productivity -- because Hendry has left us with no alternative.

So, that brings us back to the general manager Jim Hendry.  His time with the Cubs has been very mixed.  He was, at the onset, viewed as a prospect guy.  Only that's turned into a bust.  Therefore to save his job he had to turn to expensive, somewhat old free agents.  It worked, he's still got a gig, but burning the field to save the farm has its setbacks and we are experiencing that now.

So, since he hasn't been able to draft and develop, and since he's backing the Cubs into an unwinnable corner when it comes to huge contracts for untradable players, and since he can't seem to fill his team's gaping holes in a sensible way ...

...perhaps it's time for Jim Hendry to resign, or be fired, or get turned into a scout, or anything to get him out of a decision-making role in Chicago.  Enough is enough.

I have to preface this comment by saying it is not positive. After last night’s win, it probably should be, but it is anything but.

I hate Alfonso Soriano.

In a city that idolizes the everyman and "grinders" and guys who just play the game, any game, the right way, Soriano is the antithesis. He cares not about his team or this city or sometimes, I don’t even think he cares about his own stats.

I went to the game last night, stayed all the way to the end and when he came up with the bases loaded, no outs, and an 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts in his box score, I was almost upset. Not that he would screw it up. No, I was upset because I knew he was going to win it. I was upset because the guy who looked terrible for 4 at-bats and then just plain childish on one (the no run grounder), was going to be vindicated by being the de facto hero of the game. Anyone (with the obvious exception of little leaguer Mike Fontenot) could have won that game in that situation, yet it had to be the guy who mentally needed it the least.

You could make the argument that he did need it and it was helpful for him mentally, but I just don’t see that happening. I see him taking away 1 thing away from this game: Soriano can do whatever he wants. He can be god awful for 12 innings, but if he does just one thing right, he’s doing his job. It’s like dealing with a toddler. If you don’t explain the consequences of right and wrong, they’re just going to continue to do the same thing over and over. (And if you don’t think the analogy of Soriano being a toddler is accurate, then you haven’t seen this embarrassing video of his cluelessness.)

I hope I’m wrong, I’ve been positive about most things that have occurred this season, but when that ball landed way out in center and he did that stupid face swipe motion to everyone (including stiffing Quade on his high five request around third. Seriously, just pitiful) I couldn’t have been more annoyed that I stayed there for three hours to see him get mobbed at the plate by his more deserving teammates.

Alright, ranting finished. I’m not even sure this made sense; I didn’t have time to proofread it at work. Let’s stay in first. Go Cubs.

(with contributions from Kurt)
Makes sense, I guess.

When the Cubs failed to score in the bottom of the 12th, I was thinking the top of the 13th would be a breeze.

"What they should do here," I said to myself, "is let the NL leader in stolen bases take first on a base hit to lead off. They'll waste an out on Kaz calling for a bunt. Then we walk Tejada, because everyone knows Carlos Lee sucks in the late innings against young pitchers who rely too much on their fastball! Easy DP."

Check.

To continue my lengthy soliloquy, I pondered, "Now what would make the most sense for the bottom of the 13th? Lee, Ramirez, and Bradley are due up... They'll probably figure out a way to get on base. What I really want to have happen is for Soriano, the guy with three strikeouts and another out on a bad hustle play, to have to win this game. Naturally, I can expect him to hit a grand slam home run to put the game away and give the Cubs another night in first place."

It made sense then, and it makes sense now.

At times, it seemed as though the Cubs were trying to give this one away. In the bottom of the 9th, Lou seemed to overthink a bases-loaded, one-out situation. Rather than use Jake Fox to try to bring the winning run home, Lou played The Handedness Game, putting in a lefty (Fontenot) to face Valverde.

Things looked more or less fine, until a 1-1 pitch from Valverde went outside. Fontenot tried to bunt, but couldn't get the bat on the ball; at the same time, Milton Bradley broke from third. The squeeze was foiled, and the game slogged on.

Excellent outings from the bullpen regulars. Heilman, Marmol and Marshall were shutdown. On top of that, the Jeffs (Stevens and Samardzija) contributed 3.2 scoreless innings, giving the Cubs every chance to win.

And win they did, in grand fashion.  After failing to capitalize on early opportunities, the Cubs finally broke through the Astros bullpen and, after loading the bases with no outs, Alfonso Soriano hit the game-winner in grand fashion.

I saw that one coming, too -- or at least, I entertained the possibility when I noticed the bases were juiced.  "It'd just be fitting," I told myself, "for Soriano to not only win the game with a hit, but to win it definitively."  Granted, I was in an empty room at the time, and talking to one's self out loud and later admitting to it on a blog is probably on the wrong side of the crazy line, but I was right.

This was one of those games that could mean more than a simple W in the standings.  Not that the Cubs necessarily need it -- they've already seemed to find the momentum they've been lacking all year long.  But consider that the Astros have been even hotter than the Cubs this month, and yet the bullpen managed to hold them to 0 runs for 6 innings.  Then, consider that Soriano has turned a cold streak into a career move, but last night's grand slam is the icing on top of a great month for him. 

This was a gutsy win, and a much-needed victory that helps Chicago keep pace in the NL Central. Tomorrow, the Cardinals face Chad Billingsley, while we get Roy Oswalt, and a thin Astro bullpen. Guzman and Gregg should be available for the Cubs.

One random thought on the Cubs-Phillies Games
In the ShoutBox yesterday, one reader suggested that it's difficult to really get excited because the Cubs got beaten by the Phillies not too long ago.  But consider the facts...

The Cubs lost two games out of three on the road against one of the best teams in the NL.  Their first loss -- a blow-out -- occurred in part because it was Ted Lilly pitching for the Cubs.  Lilly has since then been placed on the DL with a sore shoulder and had his knee scoped.   Might it be fair to suggest that on most days, Lilly and the Cubs do not surrender 10 runs to the Phillies?

The second game, which they also lost, took 13 innings of play.  The Phillies didn't exactly win with authority. 

And the third game was a Cubs route.  Just saying -- with a healthy Lilly on the mound, the Cubs may not have lost two games there -- and even the loss that came "honestly" was one that also came in extra innings.

The Story:

This game looked like it was going to be a complete and utter thrashing during the bottom of the first inning. The team had hit for the cycle within the inning, and the bases were loaded with one out for Koyie "Iron Man" Hill.

Stupidly, Koyie swung at the first pitch. Arguably, the rout was over.

Regardless, the Cubs continued to battle, and good pitching kept the Reds in check throughout the game. Nice win!

The Star:

Fortunately for the Cubs, Kevin Hart was able to settle in after a mildly shaky top of the first. Hart's final line: 6 IP in 94 pitches, 5H, 1BB, 4SO, 1ER. Smashing!

The Other Stuff:

If not for the gutty performance from our starting pitcher, Alfonso Soriano might have to have been named the Player of the Game for today. The Fonz went 3-for-4, including a solo shot to deep left on a low breaking ball. I don't know what's gotten into him, but I am very much in favor of it. Whatever it is. (Common sense? Nah.)

Also adding on to the late Cub lead was Milton "The Rumors Are False!" Bradley (Note: despite rumors that stated otherwise, it appears that Milton will remain a Cub this season). It's encouraging to see him go deep every once in a while; he and Aramis Ramirez now have the same number of homers.

Also, speaking of A-Ram, Clutchy McClutcherson continued to rack up RBIs today, driving home two runs on a first inning homer. God, it's good to have him back.

The starting pitching and offense were solid, and for the most part, the bullpen was too. Aaron Heilman had a rare bad outing, serving up two jacks to Reds hitters before KG came in for the one out save. But Marmol struck out the side, and Guzman was super kewl.

Now let's sit back and enjoy the Phillies' drubbing of the Cardinals. Ladies and gentlemen, it appears as though tomorrow may present the Cubs with an opportunity to assume first place in the Division.

As in, OMGWTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Go Cubs!

I guess all it takes to wake up the Cubs' bats (other than two days of suck) is an ancient lefty soft-tosser. Something about the line-up being predominantly right-handed, need a lefty power bat, can't get it? Whatever.

Anyways, the Cubs won today! Woo hoo!

Lots of Cubs had multiple hits today (Theriot, A-Ram, Bradley, and Soriano). Also, Ryan Theriot stole three bases. I guess that means he'll get picked off twice tomorrow.

Despite the offensive onslaught, only two of our 13 hits went for extra bases (both doubles), and only one of our runs scored with two outs. So, still no soul-crushing big hits, still no clutch performances, but 11 singles and 9 walks should get you somewhere.

Z was actually really hittable today, giving up 10 hits in his start, along with three walks. But it was good enough for today, thanks to all the Cubs that got themselves safely to first over and over.

---

As far as the series goes, I for one think these three games were pretty indicative of what we can expect from the team here on out.

Some days they'll slap a bunch of singles off a crap starter having a bad day, and some days all those pokes will roll right to infielders and will mostly turn into outs. Against top line starting pitching (guys like Rodrigo Lopez and Joe Blanton), the Cubs will have trouble scoring runs. And the whole time, the pitching will be more or less good enough to give the team a chance to win.

We will continue to hold out hope for this offense. It'd be great if Soto could heal up by, say, tomorrow. The Baker/Fontenot platoon at second base looks pretty alright. If Bradley can get better, and Soriano can stay hot... well, then, who knows what might happen.

Getting Dempster back soon will make the pitching that much better. I hope the Cubs quit jerking Samardzija around and just stash him in Iowa for the rest of the season when Demp does come back (we need him to start, not handle mop-up).

Beyond those things, what else can you really do?

Current Record: 48-45
Position in the NL Central: 2nd place, 1.5 games out
Best Possible Record: 117-45
Worst Possible Record: 48-114
Record needed to win 110: 52-5
On Pace For: 83-79

Fact: this game sucked.

Ted Lilly did not pitch well. He gave up home runs with men on base, as well as many hits overall.

On the positive side, the bullpen did pitch well. Jeff Stevens, Aaron Heilman, and Angel Guzman allowed one hit (a Ryan Howard solo shot) and no walks over the last four innings of the game.

Now, back to the negatives.

The offense sucked. They had six hits. Half of those were collected by Alfonso Soriano. The other three were doubles by Kosuke Fukudome, Ryan Theriot, and pinch-hitter Andres Blanco.

That means our 3, 4, and 5-hitters all posted oh-fers. The same goes for the 7 and 8 spots (Font and Hill) as well.

So, yeah. Not a good game. My consolation for you this morning? Remember this--just as 11-3 drubbings of the lowly Nationals count as one win, 10-1 beatdowns at the hands of the Phillies only count as one loss. If it were 10-9, or 1-0, a loss is a loss.

Let's try calling this one a bad night and see where it gets us for the rest of the series.

Kurt
Ah yes.  A 10-run drubbing, also known as "the reason dopey Cub fans feel vindicated for doubting."  You know, I know, even the Phillies know that, more often than not, Ted Lilly's not going to get his ass kicked the way he did last night, not by the Phillies nor by anybody else.

Still, Philadelphia has a scary offense.  Actually, though, I think their pitching is overrated -- at least by Kyle, who complimented them in his Series Preview.  If they weren't desperate for arms, they wouldn't have sprung for Pedro.

Anyway, as a fan I'd almost rather get blown out than see the team lose a close one.  Last night wasn't really painful -- it was comical.  A loss tonight, however, would be painful.  So, memo to the Cubs: don't lose.

^{Chris Carpenter (6-3, 2.32 ERA) vs. Rich Harden (5-5, 5.35 ERA)}

Story Lines
The Cubs come into the series against the Red Birds just 3.5 games back even after losing 2 of 3 against the Braves. That makes this weekend 4-game series this weekend pretty big. A split and the Cubs start the second 3.5 games back, but winning 3 of 4 and all of the sudden the gap is 1.5 games.

This series won't be easy, and today's match up might be the toughest. The Cards will toss Chris Carpenter against Rich "Wild Thing" Harden. Carpenter has thrown extremely well this season, with the exception of one start against San Francisco.

We all know that the Cubs have struggled to score runs. There isn't much to say at this point. It looks like Jim Hendry is not able to make a big move. We can only hope that this group of players gets hot at the same time.

With Geovany Soto out with an injury, the Cubs will relay on Koyie Hill for a few days. Hill's actually been pretty good the last seven days. He's 4-for-9 with a walk this week.

Who's Hot
Mike Fontenot - The 2B has seven hits in his last 20 AB's, but he's only got one walk. Hopefully he can keep getting on base.

Kosuke Fukudome - It doesn't look like Fukudome is leaving the leadoff spot anytime soon, even with Alfonso Soriano's cries about being benched. Fukudome has six hits and four walks this week for a 1.101 OPS.

Who's Not
Derrek Lee - It seems odd to put Lee on this list, but he's slowed down a little again. He has hit .217 in his last six games, of course he did hit two HR's.

Milton Bradley - What can we say? Is he the worst FA signging since Todd Hundley? I'm not sure, but it sure is heading that way. "Don't wake Daddy" only has 3 hits in his last 15 AB's. Also, he's struck out seven times during that time.

Conclusions
Things were supposed to get better with Aramis Ramirez getting back to the team. The jury is still out on Ramirez, who has three hits so far. A lot of wrongs would be righted this weekend, or their hopes could be dashed. Needless to say, this weekend is big. Today's match up doesn't seem good, but maybe Harden can bring his "A" game to Wrigley.