Chicago Cubs Baseball

Judging by the way the month began, who would have guessed the Chicago Cubs would have finished June with their best month of baseball in 2007? For that matter, who would have guessed the Cubs could put their dysfunction aside long enough to play baseball?

Chicago finished the week with a 5-1 record and put together a 17-11 month. Not bad for a team that at the beginning of June slugging each other and others than earning wins. But here we are nearing the All-Star break and the Cubs have reached the coveted .500 mark for the first time since May 12.

Yeah. It really has been that long. But what looked like at times like a free-for-all is starting to resemble a winner-take-all season.

Here’s this week’s Chicago Cubs baseball report card for the week of June 24 to July 1 from the skewed view of a Corked Bat:

Starting Pitching:
Can we say role reversal? The starting pitching which once looked like the strong part of the Cubs pitching staff seems to have traded places with the bullpen in recent weeks. With the exception of Carlos Zambrano, none of the Cubs starters can seem to put together strong back-to-back efforts.

Both Rich Hill and Sean Marshall struggled against the lefty-killing Brewers. And Hill has looked ineffective since he went to the slide step at the bequest of manager Lou Piniella. On the bright side Jason Marquis picked up his first win Sunday - 52 days later after his last victory.

Beyond Zambrano the Cubs need another reliable arm if they’re going to make a run at either the Brewers or a wild-card playoff spot.

Relief Pitching:
Where the starters have faltered, the Chicago bullpen seems to be gaining strength as the season progresses. Carlos Marmol has looked nothing but overpowering since his call-up, and could be ready to success Ryan Dempster for the closer’s job.

The pinnacle of the bullpen’s success came Friday after Hill was shelled for five first-inning runs and removed three innings into the critical first game with Milwaukee. No problem. The bullpen combination of Marmol, Michael Wuertz, recent call-up Billy Petrick and closer Bob Howry shut the Brewers out for the next six innings - allowing the Cubs to rally for the win.

If the starters can put in some innings to keep the bullpen rested, this is a group that could be a difference maker in the Cubs run for a playoff slot.

Hitting:
Timely hitting, more than any single player, has been the difference between the Cubs recent success and just another week in Chicago baseball. Last week, the Cubs put together, not one, but two terrific rallies on way to a seven-game win streak.

Mike Fontenot has been the spark plug and Alfonso Soriano, along with Aramis Ramirez, has supplied the pop. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the contribution of Mike DeRosa throughout the season.

Amazingly, Derrek Lee has six home runs through three months of baseball and is third on the team in RBIs. And the Cubs are still winning?

Base Running:
The Cubs aren’t going to beat you with speed. Unlike the first two months of the season, the Cubs, for now, have stopped running themselves out of innings. And Chicago is winning some of the close games they were losing earlier in the year.

Coincidence?

Defense:
Outside of Saturday’s three-error stinker against Milwaukee, the club has seemed to have found its stride defensively. The interchangeable parts of DeRosa, Fontenot and Ryan Theriot at second, short and third has been adequate, if not spectacular, up the middle.

Overlooked has been the addition of Ryan Bowen behind the plate. Michael Barrett who?

Managing:
When the television camera scans the Cubs dugout these days, grimaces of anguish still can be seen on the faces of Piniella and pitching coach Larry Rothschild. But as the Cubs begin to assimilate themselves to Lou ball, the pain of watching bad baseball is becoming less evident.

It took nearly three months, but Lou seems to have finally assembled the club necessary to win. Or it could just be a string of good luck.

As in all things… time does tell.