The Cubs opened the second half of the season with a bang sweeping the Astros. Unfortunately, I can not comment on the games because I missed a large portion of all 3 games due to a combination of Ottawa Lynx games. Until I catch up on those games I’ll stick to talking about the future except for one thing… Alfonso Soriano batted 5th against Wandy Rodriguez on Sunday. Lou Piniella wanted to add a bit more right handed power to the middle of the lineup against lefties. He believes the Cubs lost a little pop against south paws with the Barrett trade and the demotion of Matt Murton. In other news, Cliff Floyd has had a sore shoulder the last few days and is day-to-day. Henry Blanco has still not started his rehab assignment due to pain in his shoulder, but is expect to start in the next few days.
Tonight, Barry Bonds will be chasing history. Barry Bonds is sitting on 751 homeruns and can very well tie Hank Aaron during this series. After getting off to a hot start in April hitting 8 homeruns) he has cooled off quite a bit. He has hit only 9 homeruns since April. He hit his last homerun July 3rd off Aaron Harang, a 2 run shot on an 0-2 count. The hype surrounding Bonds will likely overshadow a great match-up of young pitchers on the mound. The future Star, Tim Lincecum will face the young but struggling Rich Hill.
Tim Lincecum (4-2, 4.63)
Lincecum was really on the fast track to the majors. In 2006 with the University of Washington Lincecum had a great year. He went 12-4 with a 1.94 era in 125.1 innings pitched. He struck out 199 while only walking 63. His rate stats were equally impressive. (14.29 K/9, 4.52 BB/9, 5.39 H/9, .57 HR/9, 1.10 WHIP. In his professional career, he has also been impressive. Like most players adjusting to the major leagues he has had some growing pains. After posting a 2 wins and a 3.24 era in 33.1 innings pitched in 5 starts in May, Tim struggled with his control in May. In 5 starts he lost 2 games and posted a 7.71 era in 25.2 innings pitched. The biggest reason for his struggles? He walked only 11 batters in May, then lost his control and walked 18 in only 25.2 innings in June. The Good news for the Giants is that he seems to be back on track in July. In two starts, he has gone 2-0 with a 2.08 era and only walked 3 batters while striking out 17 in 13 innings pitched. Hopefully, the Cubs will face the June version.
Rich Hill (5-6, 3.81)
Rich Hill has really been struggling over the last month or so. The Cubs seem to believe Hill might be tipping his pitches but have been unable to find and correct the issue. I’m no expert on the matter but I think another problem could very well be a lack of a quality 3rd pitch. Hill has a good fastball and a really good curve ball but that is it. He also throws both of these pitches in great numbers. My assumption is that hitters are likely sitting on the fastball or curve ball and hurting the ball when they see it. Oddly, enough, Hill’s strikeout rate has actually increased and his walk rate decreased during the his struggles. This leads me to believe that his struggles likely are not here to stay. The Biggest concern for Hill is the long ball. He gave up 13 homeruns in May and June as well as 2 in one start in July. He gave up only 3 in April. This is very good news for Barry Bonds. For the those that are wondering, Barry Bonds is 0-2 with one 1 walk against Hill.
Lineups (Will be Posted when Available)
