The Status of Chicago Baseball

With the trading deadline only a few days away, the Chicago White Sox have already made a trio of moves to improve their ballclub to contend with the top teams in the American League, while the north siders on the other hand are looking to make moves to build for the future and beyond. 

Lets start with the Chicago White Sox.  The White Sox as of yesterday made an interesting move to bolster their rotation in acquiring Fransisco Liriano from their division rival, Minnesota Twins.  You ask me my opinion of this trade...I believe it would be a pretty helpful move for their rotation.  Pitchers like Chris Sale having arm fatigue problems and others such as Gavin Floyd and John Danks having injury issues as well, this was a move Kenny Williams almost had to make.  Given the fact that Liriano hasn't been stellar this year with a 5.30 ERA, he can be dominant as the White Sox saw last year when Liriano no hit them last May.  Their is talk that the White Sox will go with a six man rotation, I believe that could only work for a few weeks because pitchers are a creature of habit and the littlest things by giving a pitcher an extra day can throw everything out of whack.  If the White Sox do go with a six man rotation, the only way it's going to work is if they go with it short term.  Other moves of significance that Kenny has made in acquiring Youkilis and Myers were and will be very good pickups.  Youkilis fills in at a position where they were getting absolutely nothing from and Myers helps a bullpen where they needed a veteran arm to take the load of the rookies in the back end of that bullpen.  It ought to be interesting the last few months on the South Side of Chicago to see if this will lead them in the playoffs and beyond.

Now onto the Cubs.  The Cubs have been playing better baseball recently, with a record of 18-10 and 17-10 with Rizzo in the lineup.  Yes those records are leaving Cubs fans very optimistic but it shouldn't steer them away from what Theo and Jed came in here to do and that is to build for the future.  Yes Cubs fans, that means Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza need to be traded in order for the Cubs to continue their plan of getting younger.  Just recently, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer all but completed a deal that wouldve sent Ryan Dempster to the Atlanta Braves for one of their top prospects in Randall Delgado.  HOLD IT!! Ryan Dempster has 10 and 5 rights which means he has been in Major League baseball for 10 years and 5 years on one team so he is able to control where he wants to go in the market.  This left Cubs fans, including myself, very disappointed because they were to have acquired a 22 year old Top 50 prospect in baseball but now are unable to because of Dempster's rights.  Dempster has earned that decision as a player in this league and just like any other employee in the work world would have done, was do what was best for him and his family.  Hopefully with only a few days left, Theo and Jed are able to find a suitor without having to cave and just give Dempster away.

Well that's the thoughts now on Chicago's baseball teams and we will see what happens the next few hours to see what goes down up until 3 pm eastern Tuesday afternoon. It should be very interesting leading into the dog days of August.

Cubs (18-36) vs. Brewers (24-30)

Tuesday:  Ryan Dempster (0-3, 2.90 ERA) vs. Yovani Gallardo (4-4, 4.22 ERA) 7:10 p.m.

Wednesday:  Paul Maholm (4-4, 4.82 ERA) vs. Zack Greinke (6-2, 3.46 ERA) 7:10 p.m.

Thursday:  Matt Garza (2-4, 4.10 ERA) vs. Randy Wolf (2-5, 6.05 ERA) 1:10 p.m.

KEY NOTE: Ryan Dempster has gone winless this year despite a 2.90 ERA and that dates back his last 18 starts in which he has had 13 quality starts.  The Cubs with their first pick in the 2012 First Player Draft, drafted Albert Almora, a high school outfielder, from Hialeah, Florida.  Almora, has already received the comparison to Ryan Braun, a right handed power hitting outfielder the Cubs will surely need in the coming years.  For more on Albert Almora I have provided a link to the espnchicago Website. 

https://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/8009706/chicago-cubs-select-outfielder-albert-almora-first-round-pick-mlb-draft

Blue Jays (28-26) vs. White Sox (31-23)

Tuesday:  Ricky Romero (6-1, 4.04 ERA) vs. Philip Humber (2-2, 5.37 ERA) 7:10 p.m.

Wednesday:  Brandon Morrow vs. TBA (Likely Jose Quintana) 7:10 p.m.

Thursday:  Henderson Alvarez (3-5, 3.75 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (6-1, 3.05 ERA) 7:10 p.m.

KEY NOTE:  The new offensive hero lately for the White Sox has been Gordon Beckham.  In his last three games, Beckham has three home runs and eight RBI's leading the charge for the south siders who continue to remain red hot.  The White Sox with their first pick in the 2012 First Player Draft, drafted projected outfielder Courtney Hawkins from Carroll High School in Corpus Christi Texas.  

For more information on Courtney Hawkins and the rest of the White Sox draft, go to the link provided.https://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/8009883/chicago-white-sox-select-outfielder-courtney-hawkins-first-round-mlb-draft

White Sox (29-22) vs. Mariners (23-30)

The White Sox return back home to Chicago tonight having won their last 8 games and 12 of their last 13. Coming of a sweep of the playoff caliber Tampa Bay Rays, it has White Sox fans believing this team could be for real. A lot of the White Sox success has been lead by Dayan Viciedo in which he is hitting .552 with four home runs and 14 RBIs that during his current seven game hitting streak. Viciedo has always had the potential to be a real threat in the White Sox lineup but now he has become that what everybody had expected when Kenny Williams signed him away from Cuba. In Viciedo's last 14 games, he has raised his average nearly 100 points from .196 to .291 and driven in 23 RBIs. Viciedo's offense along with Adam Dunn's and Alex Rios' resurgance this year has lead to a very dangerous lineup on the South Side.  Here are the pitching matchups for this three game series:

FRIDAY:  Felix Hernandez (4-4, 3.17 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (6-1, 3.07 ERA) 7:10 P.M.

SATURDAY:  Hector Noesi (2-5, 5.26 ERA) vs. Gavin Floyd (4-5, 5.02 ERA) 3:10 P.M.

SUNDAY:  Kevin Millwood (3-4, 3.56 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (6-2, 2.34 ERA) 1:10 P.M.

Cubs (18-32) vs. Giants (27-24)

After losing a near record 12 straight games, the Cubs have now won three straight going into their 4 game series in San Francisco. Given the Cubs had three games against the lonely Padres, they were still able to produce quite a few runs against a pretty respectable pitching staff. The most impressive day coming on Wednesday when the Cubs trailed 6-3 and were able to score five unanswered runs, including a game winning two run, walkoff home run by Darwin Barney in the bottom of the 9th. The rally was keyed by Cubs having patient at bats and the speed of Campana and Castro in the 8th inning of a win that gave the Cubs their first 3 game winning streak since last July when they swept the Houston Astros at home. The bullpen was also a key part of the series. Shawn Camp, Randy Wells, and James Russell among the "core" of the bullpen all put together solid outings in the last two games of the series to help the Cubs and Dale Sveum enjoy their actual winning streak of the season. Here are the matchups to what should be a competitive series this weekend in San Fran.

FRIDAY:  Paul Maholm (4-3, 4.62 ERA) vs. Madison Bumgarner (5-4, 3.14 ERA) 9:15 P.M.

SATURDAY:  Matt Garza (2-3, 4.22 ERA) vs. Matt Cain (5-2, 2.79 ERA) 6:15 P.M.

SUNDAY:  Travis Wood (0-1, 5.94 ERA) vs. Barry Zito (4-2, 3.41 ERA) 3:05 P.M.

MONDAY:  Jeff Samardzija (5-3, 3.09 ERA) vs. Ryan Vogelsong (3-2, 2.36 ERA) 2:45 P.M.

Cubs vs White Sox Recap

Going into this series at Wrigley Field not too much was expected to happen, except for three games to be played between two teams that are below .500 and struggling to find their ways to play good baseball. Well...a lot more has happened than people expected and why should anybody who is a Chicago baseball fan be surprised? Kerry Wood announced his retirement, Paul Konerko gets hit in the face leading to a pitch being thrown behind the head of Cubs first baseman Bryan LaHair and contreversial calls by umpires to start the series. 

Kerry Wood's announcement didn't surprise too many but it did come to surprise others, Cubs fans or not. This year Kerry struggled to get it going and was clearly frusterated, throwing his glove into the stands at one point after a bad outing versus the Braves.  Kerry's time had clearly passed and it was time for him to hang it up. The story couldn't have been written any better with him going against the Crosstown rival with his son being there for his final bullpen appearance. Jamie Quirk, the fill-in manager, after Dale Sveum had been ejected for arguing a questionable call at second base, brought in Kerry Wood to matchup against Dayan Viciedo. Viciedo was the perfect guy for Kerry Wood to go against with his control problems all year long and Dayan's aggressive led to a nasty curveball in the dirt and a strikeout to cap off Kerry's career.  Kerry was then taking out for James Russell, to give the Cubs fans one last chance to say goodbye and if you weren't crying when Kerry hugged his son coming off the field then you were on the verge of tears. It was an emotional moment for Kerry Wood and everybody involved. I will write another blog exclusively coming up on Kerry's career but on that note here is the matchup for today's ballgame at Wrigley Field:

Sunday: Jake Peavy vs Paul Maholm

KEY NOTE: Watch to see if Jake Peavy throws at any Cubs player after Friday where he was clearly frusterated about Paul Konerko being hit in the face.  It should be interesting to see in a game where the White Sox look to continue their dominance against the Cubs over the past few years.

(17-17) Tigers vs White Sox (16-19)

The White Sox go into the series against the Tigers, having losing two out of three to the (13-20) Kansas City Royals and struggling to find a secure spot for one of their top arms on the pitching staff. The weekend against the Royals was capped off by the losing the last two of the 3 game series in which just about every person who is a baseball fan expects them to the series easily. While the offense continues to struggle, at least Phillip Humber was able to come around and pitch six plus solid innings to rebound from his awful aftermath since his perfect game. Humber's start was wasted by a poor performance from the bullpen, most significantly Matt Thornton. Thornton, who was the loser in Sunday's game, has now given up six runs in his last five games pitched. With that being said the White Sox now face a short two game series against the Detroit Tigers whom they have gone 3-3 against this year.

Monday: Drew Smyly (1-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. John Danks (2-4, 5.89 ERA)

Tuesday: Max Scherzer (2-3, 5.73 ERA) vs Jake Peavy (4-1, 1.89 ERA)

KEY NOTE: Chris sale as now been moved back to the starting rotation, supposedly after his MRI showed no structural damage and plans to stay there until the White Sox have closer issues again.

(14-20) Cubs vs Cardinals (20-14)

The Cubs come off of a wild weekend in Milwaukee, in which on Friday they used every player except their four starting pitchers and a game in which they took a three run lead in the 7th and a two run lead in the 9th. Given both of these leads, the Cubs bullpen wasn't able to hold on to either of them and in the end losing a "key" arm in the bullpen.  Carlos Marmol, took over in the 7th inning after David DeJesus had given the Cubs a 3 run lead in the top of the inning, after he had delievered a pinch hit grand slam.  Marmol who had retired the first two batters rather easily, then walked Braun and gave up a RBI double to Ramirez, before leaving the game to a strained right hamstring.  It was a key part to the inning because for some reason, Dale Sveum, had Michael Bowden warming up instead of Kerry Wood and he couldn't retire a batter before giving up the lead. With the injury to Carlos Marmol, now Kerry Wood, who Dale Sveum had no confidence in, will now fill into the 8th inning role that he hopes will be solidified from here on out. The Brewers ended up taking two of three but the good news was the Cubs finally broke their 10 game losing streak in Milwaukee.

Monday: Ryan Dempster (0-1, 1.02 ERA) vs. Jake Westbrook (4-2, 1.76 ERA)

Tuesday: Paul Maholm (4-2, 4.05 ERA) vs. Kyle Lohse (5-1, 2.08 ERA)

KEY NOTE: Alfonso Soriano still hasn't hit a home run this year and so to try something different that makes a whole lots of sense, Soriano has taken the advice of his manager, Dale Sveum, to swing a lighter bat, going down to 32 1/4 ounces from 33 1/2 ounces.

(13-18) Cubs vs Brewers (13-18)

The Chicago Cubs head north up I-94, to battle the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend in a three game series.  Coming off a six game homestand where the Cubs won two of three in each series against the Dodgers and Braves, Dale Sveum's ballclub, looks to continue the momentum behind their great starting pitching of late.  It all starts Friday night when Matt Garza takes the mound against the injury plagued Milwaukee Brewers. Garza, who was skipped in his last start due to the flu, looks to keep it rolling against a lineup that has lost a few key parts since the last time the two teams met at Wrigley Field in early April.  Mat Gamel and Alex Gonzalez both have been lost for the season, with ironically the same injury: Torn ACL in the left knee. The Brewers have searched for options at both first base and shortstop, and for right now Travis Ishikawa and Cesar Izturis have filled in those postions respectively.  Milwaukee has been rumored to have interest in free agent Derrek Lee, but nothing has come about those discussions as of now. With that said here are the pitching matchups for this weekend's SHOWDOWN of two teams tied for 5th place:

Friday: Matt Garza (2-1, 2.67 ERA) vs. Randy Wolf (2-3, 6.68 ERA)  7:10 p.m.

Saturday: Chris Volstad (0-4, 6.55 ERA) vs. Shaun Marcum (1-1, 3.41 ERA)  12:05 p.m.

Sunday: Jeff Samardzija (4-1, 3.03 ERA) vs. Marco Estrada (0-2, 4.50 ERA)  1:10 p.m.

KEY STAT: Bryan LaHair leads the National League in OBP (On Base Percentage) with an .476 clip.

(11-19) Royals vs White Sox (15-17)

The Chicago White Sox return home from a road trip that ended up with a 3-4 record and potientally losing one of their key pitchers in the pitching rotation to the bullpen. Chris Sale was moved to the bullpen after he had been complaining about elbow pain in his left throwing elbow.  Not only was he moved to the bullpen but he was given the closer tag for the time up until a few days ago where Addison Reed was given that role. This has to be very concerning to not only the fans of the White Sox but most importantly the organization and manager Robin Ventura.  Chris Sale, an important piece to the White Sox rotation not only this year, but for years to come is reportedly set to undergo an MRI in the coming days on that left elbow and determine any further damage. The White Sox look to move on and try to continue their winning ways from the Indians series with this weekend series against the Ned Yost led, Kansas City Royals.

Friday:  Felipe Paulino (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Gavin Floyd (2-3, 3.03 ERA)  7:10 p.m.

Saturday: Luke Hochevar (2-3, 9.00 ERA) vs. Eric Stults (0-0, 3.00 ERA)  6:10 p.m.

Sunday: Danny Duffy (2-2, 4.00 ERA) vs. Phillip Humber (1-2, 6.83 ERA)  1:10 p.m.

KEY STAT: Adam Dunn's 10 HR's is already one home run away from the total he had all of last year when he had only 11.