Game 33: Not Enough Recovery Time

Cubs 2 @ Brewers 8

Today’s game was tough to watch. There was a glimmer of hope in my heart that there would be some fight left in the Cubbies after how close the game was last night. But alas, those hopes were dashed as we were beat 8-2 by Chris Volstad and Starlin Castro. Here’s the rap:

Offense: Mr. DeJesus picked up right where he left off, smacking a double to lead off the game. Then Tony Campana got a bunt single and moved him to third. These first two at-bats were really great, and I had a very positive outlook for the game. But then Castro GIDP to score DeJesus (no RBI, though) and LaHair struck out, leaving him hitless in his last 7 at-bats. After that, the Cubs bats were pretty quiet; Campana was our leading hitter today, going 2-4 with an RBI double. The Brewers’ TV broadcaster complimented him as “a pesky offensive presence.” My mom has adopted him as her third child, fanatically cheering for him every time he steps up to the plate. If he can’t win over the tough, stats-crazy man portion of the Cubs’ fan base by his hitting, he has a good chance of winning over the motherly, female portion of it by his boyish features.

Defense: The defense was less than good. When Braun was caught in a sloppy rundown, Nyger Morgan was able to tie the game because nobody was paying attention to him. In the fifth inning, Castro misplayed a grounder to short because he wasn’t even looking at the ball. The replay showed him looking into left field rather than at the ball. That miscue opened the door for a horrendous sixth inning: Barney started off the inning with an error on a double play that the Cubs just could not recover from. Other than that, nothing was extraordinarily bad.

Pitching: Chris Volstad was his normal, terrible self. He was alright for the first 5 innings, allowing only one run, but after that it went down the tubes. He intentionally Ishikawa to load the bases, then gave up a grand slam to Edwin Maysonet. Word has it that Sveum wanted to get Volstad to 100 pitches. My question is: What on Earth was Dale thinking? When a pitcher is struggling like Volstad is, why punish the rest of the team? There was no way our offense could have dug its way out of that hole. I shake my head at you, Dale.

Closing Thoughts: Overall, quite a disappointing game. Leading into the game, LaHair was 0 for his last 6 at-bats, and only had one hit today. Is this the beginning of a slump? Let’s hope not. But if the rest of the guys on the team can pick up some slack like DeJesus did last night, it might not be totally devastating.

Like what you see here? Never miss new content. Follow Us:

Mark_Strickler

At some point the Yankees made the decision to offload a slick-hitting second baseman by the name of Soriano; they suspected that his glove wouldn’t improve over time and he didn’t project in the outfield. At some point the Cubs will need to perform the same type of analysis with Castro – will his defense ever improve? If not, can he be converted into a left fielder and will there be room for him out there? Every year we see the same dog and pony show from the Cubs brass about fundamentals, doesn’t matter if it’s Epstein/Hoyer/Sveum or Hendry/Baker/Piniella/Quade. But nothing ever changes – I’ve gotten to the point where I’m pretty skeptical about everything they say, particularly with these new guys!
cap’n obvious

seems the coaching staff might have told the training staff that Marmol needed some DL time. At least we won’t have to see him for a while. They had to try to get Volstad to 100 pitches because the bullpen was decimated last night.
BLPCB

Ready to throw it in after just 33 games?
Norm Bothwell

They traded Soriano because they went after the best player in the game. If the Cubs were getting Matt Kemp back for Starlin, maybe they think about trading him.
Eddie Von White

Pat said that in his last 18 starts Vohlstad is 0 and 18. But I still prefer to watch him over Zambrano. I was disappointed with the loss on Friday and disgusted on Saturday. But today is a new day. I think Sveum is simply the front man for Theo and Jed.
Jedi

Maybe I was watching the wrong game; Castro was looking directly at that pitch as it was thrown and then hit deep into the hole in short LF. It was a textbook infield single. I’m also not sure how that play opened the door for the 6th inning from Volstad that went as follows:

2B, 1B, FC, 2B, IBB, HR (Grand Slam), Groundout, 1B, Flyout.

Even if you want to hold Barney responsible for the ‘failed double play’ (it would’ve been an impressive turn – and there was no error on the play), Volstad had another Volstad-esque inning where he couldn’t stop giving up big hits. It’s simple we lost the game because of Volstad.
Doc Raker

I thought that a wek or so ago, DL, rehab him, pray he can get people out for a period of time and then find a sucker.
Eddie Von White

Castro has an attention deficit at shortstop.
Dusty Baylor

Zambrano is 1-2 with a 1.88 ERA, 1.04 WHIP
Volstad is 0-5 with a 6.92 ERA and a 1.462 WHIP

Uh..I’ll take Zambrano?
Jedi

So now we’ll be reading him into every loss?
Jedi

2012 Carlos Zambrano, member of the Miami Marlins does not equal 2012 Carlos Zambrano, member of the Chicago Cubs.

It was time to move on…many said it at the time – the trade had zero to do with who would perform at a higher level in 2012.
Eddie Von White

He’s all yours.
Dusty Baylor

My point was more that Volstad has sucked, hugely. I do not prefer to watch him. Jedi’s point is most likely 100% correct.

Game 33: Not Enough Recovery Time

Cubs 2 @ Brewers 8

VFTB Post Schedule

Bullpen Health Report

Visit Our Friends

Go Tickets

Best Show Tickets

Recomended Links

Poker Sites