Chicago Cubs Baseball

As promising as the week began for the Chicago Cubs was as quickly as they crashed over the weekend. After taking two of three contests from Central Division-leading Milwaukee and two quick wins over Atlanta, the Cubs were poised to present the promise that Chicago management and fans had envisioned.

But as history has showed us more often than not with the Cubs, the chasm between pretender and contender is as wide as ever. Here is the weekly Chicago Cubs baseball report card for the week of June 4 to June 10:

Starting Pitching:
After a strong April, the tandem of Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis looked like the gems in Chicago General Manager Jim Hendry’s spending spree. But both have faltered of late. Marquis hasn’t won since May 9th, while Lilly’s been pounded in three of his last four outings. Perhaps last night’s ejection saved the lefty from a fourth consecutive shellacking.

As Marquis and Lilly have faltered, youngsters Rich Hill and Sean Marshall have manned up. Hill looks like the dominant pitcher he was in April, while Marshall finally got some run support to notch the first two wins of the year by a Cubs fifth starter.

And we can’t forget about Carlos Zambrano. The Big Z, fresh off a pounding of teammate Michael Barrett, showed glimpses of the Zambrano we’ve come to know and …

Relief Pitching:
For the first time in over a month, the Cubs bullpen performed up to season-opening expectations. Well, mostly.

After putting together five straight games of superlative relief, Chicago relievers showed signs of cracking on Saturday, before the dam burst open on closer Ryan Dempster in Sunday’s bizarre finale with the Braves. In all fairness to the Cub relievers, Sunday’s ejection of Lilly put the corps in a tough spot.

Dempster’s blown save was just another week-ending reminder that these Cubs still have a long way to go before anyone - including fans - can take them seriously.

Hitting:
An injection of Felix Pie seemed all Cub batters needed to break out of what looked and felt like an eternal slump. Pie, in his second call-up this season, took to heart whatever instructions Cub manager Lou Piniella gave him while in Iowa. Pie not only performed well for himself, but seemed to help those around him.

Alfonso Soriano raised his home run total to 10, including three dingers against the Braves Friday night.

Unfortunately, a rash of injuries could curtail the Cubs recent offensive surge. Today, Aramis Ramierez was placed on the 15-day disabled list, leaving the Cubs without a bona fide clean-up hitter. Meanwhile, Derrek Lee continues to struggle with the outside pitch and has watched his batting average plummet, while his strike out total continues to climb.

Base Running:
Chicago runners took the week off from any glaring base path guffaws. Maybe special assistant and base running coach Bobby Denier’s instructions are finally paying off.

Defense:
The call-up of Pie did more than add a little spark to the Cubs offense. As a true center fielder, Pie’s presence is able to solidify an average-at best outfield. The Cubs defense was far from perfect, however.

Marquis committed an error in each of his two starts, and his throwing error in Saturday’s start opened the door to four unearned runs, an early exit and a 9-5 loss. Barrett, the Cubs catcher, provides pop with his bat, but continues to give runs back with sloppy work behind the plate. Although scored a wild pitch, Barrett’s inability to stop a Dempster 54-foot slider allowed the winning run to score from third in Sunday’s loss to the Braves.

Managing:
An ejection, team meetings, clubhouse fights - all within a span of four days brought further attention to the downward spiral of Cubs baseball. But Piniella’s ejection may have been the best thing to happen to the Cubs as they went out and won three of four under the supervision of bench coach Alan Trammell.

It was agonizing enough watching the Chicago season slip away, but the Cubs looked like nothing more than a dysfunctional family of brats in the process. The mini-win streak may have tempered any further grumblings for now. Whether Lou can reel the boys back in and put them on course may be another story.