The Cubs will be going for win number 6 tonight against the Rockies. It really seems like the Cubs can do no wrong at the moment. I’m still in shock the Cubs gave up 6 runs in the 9th two days ago and still can back and won. I think the Cubs are starting to show that cubbie swagger. I can’t help but think the fighting and brawls the Cubs have been involved in the last few weeks has lit a fire under this team. The team is really hustling on the bases and everyone is picking each other up. If you have access to mlb.tv watch a game in may and compare the effort to the games recently. The team has a completely different attitude. I think a lot of credit should go to Lou Piniella. In my opinion, a manager’s primary job is to motivate his troops. Lou isn’t afraid to go with the hot hand. Mike Fontenot was called up and has been on a tear and has been rewarded with a major increase in playing time. I love the play hard or sit mentality Lou has brought to this team. He doesn’t play favorites at all like Dusty.
The Cubs now hold a 65-61 advantage over the Rockies all-time.
Today’s Starters:
Jason Hirsh (3-6, 5.06) VS Carlos Zambrano (8-6, 4.27)
Jason Hirsh:
Hirsh was not able to pitch out of the 5th inning in both of his previous starts. He allowed 10 runs on 11 hits in those 8.2 innings pitched. Hirsh appears to pitch to contact as his low strikeout totals indicate. Hirsh seems to be equally effective against right handers (.251/.308/.480 in 179 at bats) and left handers (.255/.351/.441) in 161 at bats). Not surprisingly, Hirsh has pitched better on the road (2-2, 4.39) than he does at Coors (1-4, 5.62). Jason Hirsh has never faced the Cubs. Hirsh is 1-24 at the plate with 1 sac bunt and 16 strikeouts.
Carlos Zambrano:
Carlos has gone 8 plus innings his last 3 starts winning 2 out of the 3. He tied his career high of 12 strikeouts his last time out. It looks like we may finally be seeing the Carlos of old. Zambrano has been lights out against right handers this year (.178/.261/.325). However, left handed hitters have given him a bit of trouble (.314/.401/521). Lefties have historically hit Zambrano better (.616 OPS for right handers compared to .735 for left handers), but the split has never been this extreme. This is likely just the result of the small sample size but may also be due to Carlos Zambranos lower arm angle this year. Perhaps the lower angle is allowing hitters to see the ball better. The lower arm angle also changes the plane on his pitches and this may also contribute. Zambrano has made 7 starts against the Rockies. He is 1-4 with a 3.14 era in 48.2 innings pitched. He made one start against them last year. He went 7 innings allowing 2 runs in losing effort. At the plate this year Carlos has been outstanding for a pitcher. He owns a .273 batting average (9-33) with 2 homeruns, 1 2B and 4 RBIs.
There has been a lot made of Zambrano supposedly not pitching well with Barrett. This list is the opponents slash stats (BA,OBP and SLG) with the the top 4 catchers with most games caught with Zambrano.
1. Barrett (.224/.317/.364) in 77 games
2. Blanco (.222/.310/.350) in 29 games
3. Miller (.269/.366/.366) in 17 games
4. Bako (..206/.283/.285) in 17 games
As you can see, it doesn’t matter who is behind the plate. A pitcher controls his destiny out there. I don’t want to hear any more about how Barrett was holding Zambrano back or that Barrett was the reason for Carlos’ struggles.
Today’s Lineups:
Rockies (Career Vs Zambrano)
Cory Sullivan CF (No History)
Kaz Matsui 2B (.250, 1-4)
Matt Holliday LF (.200, 2-10)
Todd Helton 1B (.167, 3-18)
Garrett Atkins 3B (.400, 2-5, 1 RBI)
Brad Hawpe RF (.000, 0-8)
Troy Tulowitzki SS (.000, 0-2, 1 RBI)
Yoruit Torrealba C (.250, 2-8, 1 RBI)
Jason Hirsh P
Cubs (Career vs Hirsh)
Alfonso Soriano LF (No History)
Mike Fontenot 2B (No History)
Derrek Lee 1B (No History)
Cliff Floyd RF (.000, 0-2, 1 RBI)
Angel Pagan CF (No History)
Mark DeRosa 3B (No History)
Koyie Hill C (No History)
Ryan Theriot SS (No History)
Carlos Zambrano P
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