Re: Commentary: Is Ben Zobrist the missing piece for Cubs?

Hot Dog Vendor [54]

CubPulse: 100%

Posts: 115

Joined: 2019

Jul 1, 2019, 12:54 PM

I said this yesterday. It would be great to have Dee Gordon at 2nd base and bat leadoff. He would provide not only steady defense but hitting and much needed speed, which the Cubs lack. We can't continue to rely on the long ball to win games. I lost count how many times the bullpen has not been able to hold a lead or blown a save opportunity. With the amount of bullpen pitchers we have and now the possibility of Morrow returning along with Cj one would believe that the bullpen would be one of the strongest in the division. We'll have to wait and see what happens in the the 2nd half.

There are a areas that have to change from an offensive and defensive level. One is they have to play better fundamental baseball, such as bad baserunning mistakes, errors. There have been games when it appears they are unaware of the current situation mentally not in the game. They are better than that.

Another area that needs improvement is show some patience at the plate, I'm all for aggressive approach, but when the opposing pitcher has walked a couple of batters why not take the first pitch? Teams are doing to us what we did to them in 2016. Go deeper in the count get the opposing pitchers pitch count up. I don't how many times I've seen our starters throwing 50-60 pitches in the 1st three innings. Pretty hard to go deep in a game with that many pitches. Then it turns into a bullpen and and we know how that usually turns out.

It's frustrating for me to watch these type of mistakes game after game. Lately we've played from behind from the 1st inning on, only to see a comeback squashed by the bullpen by not having that shut down inning. The starters are just as guilty

Unless we clean these areas up its going to be another quick end to the season. It would be nice to see a little small ball played, get on, getem over and drive in a run. In other words we need to start manufacturing some runs and not rely on the homerun as much. Take a walk, give yourself up to get into scoring position, start putting some pressure on the other team. Way too many strike outs and men left on base.

We'll make the playoffs. How far we go will depend on how bad they want iy

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

While I generally am in agreement with chi2pd - I went through divorce and a significant non-marriage living relationship while the CEO of a $17M organization and didn't have the luxury of taking months completely off from my career to deal with it, no matter how messy - I think there is a "Baseball Practical" reason why thinking a Zobrist return would be a difference maker is wildly optimistic.

He hasn't faced live opposition pitching in two going on three months.

And believe me, your focus and "back to normal" doesn't remotely begin the day after your Divorce Decree is signed. At home OR at the office.

Ben's just going to pick up a bat and start making contributions to an offense that plays down to the level of their competition and is wildly inconsistent? I think that is a hope, not a likelihood.

We like and respect Ben the person and are sorry for his personal issues, but he is not the answer for this team. The Cubs lack a Killer Instinct that makes them want to rip out the throats of each opponent every day because they're standing in the way of them and a championship. If the regulars can't develop this by now, Ben Zobrist returning isn't the guy who's going to bring it to them (but perhaps a different style of manager could).

Unless Theo was feeding us all BS when he said the window is closing on this particular team and he wants to win NOW in 2019 (sound familiar, Blackhawks fans?), then this team needs immediate impact action a whole lot more impactful than Ben Zobrist returning for spot duty.

CubsHQ Boards

Commentary: Is Ben Zobrist the missing piece for Cubs?