| Triple Play: Baseball With a Riot | ||||
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The Chicago Cubs opened up the second week of the season with a victory in their home opener against Colorado and now are sitting atop the National League Central after a riveting series with the Cardinals. At 7-4, the Cubs are tied with St. Louis and look to distance themselves in the coming week. Triple Play reflects on three events of the past five games:
1. He’s A Riot Ryan Theriot is hitting everything in sight. After posting an O-for-Colorado, he came back strong against St. Louis and recorded five hits in 12 at-bats, and is now batting .400 on the season. With seven runs scored and three stolen bases, Theriot is quickly becoming a fantasy owner’s best friend. He has been batting primarily in the seventh and eighth spots in the batting order, which has obviously been working. But, one thing to take note of is that when Theriot gets on out of the eight hole, he has a pitcher succeeding him. The pitcher can bunt him over, but following that is Alfonso Soriano, who only has two hits this season with runners on base, zero of which have come with a man in scoring position. Granted, Soriano’s two hits were game-winning home runs, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to consider moving Theriot to second in the lineup so a guy like Kosuke Fukudome (.571 average with runners on as well as runners in scoring position) can drive him in consistently. 2. Cardinal Rule Taking two of three from your most fierce division rival is a great way to start the year against them and establish the tone for the season. After falling victim to a shaky bullpen in last Thursday’s opener, the Cubs offense came to life in the latter two games and contributed to the fantastic back-and-forth baseball played. Last Friday’s victory was a combined effort, with three players (Derrek Lee, Micah Hoffpauir, and Aramis Ramirez) having multi-hit performances, and five different players (Soriano, Fukudome, Hoffpauir, Ramirez, and Geovany Soto) driving runners in. What became the final game of the series due to Sunday night’s rainout was more of the same. Aaron Miles even got in on the action, knocking in two in the sixth inning to take the lead and exact revenge on his former team. The two victories against the Cardinals put the Cubs in a tie with St. Louis in the early season standings. St. Louis’s 8-5 start gives them a little cushion as they now embark on a journey without ace Chris Carpenter who was placed on the DL with a tear in his left oblique muscle. Carpenter is expected to miss four to eight weeks, and that does not include any possible rehab starts he may make. P.J. Walters didn’t do a bad job in his ML debut, allowing three runs and striking out seven in four innings of work, but this rotation is going to have to pick up the pieces for the next month or two or else be buried near the bottom of the Central. As unfortunate as it is to see Carpenter go down, this could be a big break for the Cubs. 3. Down on the Farm Outfielder/first baseman Jake Fox is tearing up AAA Iowa through the first 11 games, batting .478 with already seven home runs and 22 RBIs. Fox led the Iowa Cubs to an 8-2 victory over Round Rock on Sunday, hitting his sixth homer in his past six games while collecting his 21st and 22nd hits of the season. The major league Cubs currently have a logjam of outfielders with Soriano, Hoffpauir, Fukudome, Reed Johnson, Milton Bradley, and Joey Gathright so it is highly unlikely that Fox will be called up any time soon. Hoffpauir can also play first base with Derrek Lee, reducing Fox’s chances even more. At 26, this is his seventh year in the minors, so he is no highly touted prospect by any means. Still, keep an eye on this guy’s progress because if he keeps playing like this, it will be hard for the Cubs to say no. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Record Through 4/19: 7-4 Closing Quote: "We have a good lineup, but that's the importance of depth. It's hard to have all guys clicking at one time, but right now Sori's hot. He's carrying us." -Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee
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