They have gone from hoping they had a chance to knowing they do. That’s what resulted from the Cubs’ three-game weekend skirmish with the White Sox.
It wasn’t only that their offense finally emerged from hibernation. Or that Matt Clement and Jon Lieber provided another wave of solid starting pitching.
The energy was back. So was the enthusiasm.
Manager Don Baylor had offered these ominous words a few hours before Friday’s game: “If you can’t get started [against the Sox], you’re never going to get started.”
The Cubs did get started. But they have a world of finishing left to do.
Here are five things we learned from the series:
Todd Hundley isn’t washed up
Only 10 days ago, the question wasn’t whether Hundley would return to his form of 1996-97, when he slugged 71 homers for the Mets. It was whether Hundley would even reach his all-time low batting average of .187 from 2001.
Hundley’s average had dipped to .133 before he lined a home run off the top of the wall at Seattle’s Safeco Field on June 8. Hundley singled in his final at-bat to earn a start for the next game–and the game after that.
Even after going hitless in three at-bats June 10, Baylor started him the next day. Hundley delivered with his first three-hit game in a Cubs uniform.
So is it as simple as Hundley has said all along–that playing time is all he needs to produce? He’s making that case with 11 hits in his last 25 at-bats, including three homers against the Sox.
“Hitting is hard to do,” he said. “It’s easy to hit in the cage off a guy who’s throwing 50-60 m.p.h. It’s different when they can sink and curve it at 90. Baseball is a feel game. And when you don’t get in there every day, you don’t feel it.
“I’ve always said: `I’ll hit you 20-30 [homers] and drive in 80-100 [runs] if you let me go.’ All I ask for is playing time. But I’m not here for my personal numbers. I want a World Series ring.”
Realistically how often can Hundley catch?
“Every day,” he said. “It’s physically impossible, but that’s your goal. That’s what you shoot for.”
The Cubs have no ace
Lieber, who took the ball on Opening Day, qualified as the team’s first ace. Then Kerry Wood emerged after firing two complete games in four starts. Then Jason Bere, the supposed fifth starter, gave up just three runs over three outings.
The Cubs’ most consistent starter has been Clement, who was considered merely an add-on to the deal that brought closer Antonio Alfonseca to Chicago at the end of spring training.
Then there’s Mark Prior, who shut out Seattle over seven innings and has struck out 10 or more batters in three of his five starts.
This much is clear: The Cubs have no Pedro Martinez, no sure thing. But top to bottom, the Cubs have one of the best rotations in the National League.
Just imagine if Wood weren’t 1-2 with a 7.94 ERA in his last four starts.
The Cubs have a strong bench
The numbers say one thing. Cubs pinch-hitters are 13-for-76 (.171) with two homers, including Mark Bellhorn’s eighth-inning blast Sunday. But the Cubs’ reserves are better than that. All they have to do is prove it.
The switch-hitting Bellhorn continues to kill lefties (.385, 13 RBIs in 39 at-bats). Chris Stynes has hit well (.297) off the bench. Joe Girardi and Darren Lewis provide excellent defense. Delino DeShields can be an effective pinch-runner.
If only Roosevelt Brown (3-for-17) could find his stroke off the pine . . .
The bullpen needs to be better
Most Cubs fans could tell you about the team’s league-low batting average. But do they know that Cubs relievers have the league’s worst ERA?
It’s true. The Cubs’ 4.95 bullpen ERA is far and away the highest in the league. Philadelphia’ 4.52 is next.
Some of those woes were on display Sunday, when Carlos Lee whacked a three-run homer off Carlos Zambrano on a chest-high 3-2 slider. It’s tough, however, to fault Zambrano. He had not pitched since June 3, a span of 13 days.
The Cubs bring mid-90s heat from the right side with Juan Cruz, Kyle Farnsworth and Alfonseca. Tom Gordon’s return in about two weeks will provide another boost. But so far the results have not matched the potential.
They have a long, long way to go
The Cubs should be grateful for that old baseball axiom: It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Two weeks ago they were one loss to Milwaukee away from having the worst record in the National League. Now they appear on the verge of making a run. But after failing to sweep a single series this season, they have miles of ground to make up.
At 28-39, the Cubs need to play .568 baseball to finish with their first back-to-back winning seasons in 30 years. And they need to win 65.3 percent the rest of the way to win 90 games.
Impossible? No. Unlikely? Oh yeah.
