Cubs 17-10 (1st)
Brewers 15-12, -2 (3rd)
POTG: C SOTO (2 HR, 6 RBI)
Runner Up: LF Johnson (2 R, H, BB), SS Ryan Theriot (2 H, 3 R, RBI, BB), 1B D Lee (2 H, 2 R, RBI, 2B), PH-2B Ronny Cedeno (2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB!), 3B A RAM (2B, 3 RBI), RF Fukudome (2 H, 2 R, RBI), 2B-3B Mark DeRosa (2 H, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 3 R), SP Ryan Dempster (6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 5 BB, K, QS [4], W [4/63])
That works!
People with an OPS+ over 100
* Soto
* Lee
* DeRosa
* A Ram
* Theriot
* Fukudome
* Cedeno
* Blanco
The offense this April has been insane. First in batting average, first in on base, second in slugging, 1st in runs. The worry was this team was going to be relying on home runs too much, but they’re somehow second in the league in walks. It’s not just one guy (Fukudome), because no one’s in the top 10 – they just have 6 different starters with 12 ore more walks. This is not the Cubs team I’m familiar with.
There’s only six rookie batters in MLB with another plate appearances to be eligible according to ESPN. #1 in OPS is Soto. #2 is Fukudome. One of them has to win the rookie of the month award they just invented.
What’s the point of having five hundred pitchers on your active the roster if you have to leave multiple pitchers out on the mound to die? Both Suppan and Turnbow were left to twist in the wind (and then not left when Yost couldn’t stand his own strategy), which seems to be against the point of loading up your team with guys who can throw the ball. Suppan’s ERA will take a long time to recover, but I think Turnbow’s worse off and mentally done for a while.
As Lou said, 17 wins in a month is pretty good, and 17 wins times 6 months will definitely get the Cubs into the playoffs. Z’s fully capable of taking the series this afternoon.