Nick Drafke's NFL Football fan blog

It has been a while since my last post, which was bitter to say the least. A month and a half later I can hardly find much to complain about when it comes to the Cubs. They look like the best baseball team in the National League right now (obviously their record doesn't disagree), and after a 7-0 homestand this week, my baseball excitement is at its peak. I can't miss a Cubs game anymore. I make a point to try to watch or listen to every game, and I went to two games during the undefeated homestand. They have just been so entertaining to watch. Their play has been solid all around, and their offense has just been hilarious. Geovany Soto has been incredible, and he looks like he is going to be a legitimate NL all star catcher for years to come in the shadow of Mike Piazza.

Of course there is always room to nitpick and complain about some things, even if your team has looked dominant for the first two months. The starting pitching outside of Zambrano and Dempster has been adequate at best. Ted Lilly has been bad in more starts than he has been good, and Jason Marquis has been bad too (isn't he supposed to be good in the first half of the season?). Sean Gallagher has done pretty decent for stepping up from AAA. I don't know what the hell happened to Rich Hill but whatever it is, I don't like it. I would like to see Lilly step up, I just can't see Dempster finishing the season 20-4. Carlos Marmol has been incredible, but unfortunately I can't say the same about anyone else in middle relief. Howry is starting to look better, and if Neal Cotts can be of any use to this team at all, it would be a super bonus, because I pretty much forgot about his existence on this planet (and he was the setup man of the year in '05 with the Sox). I just don't want Lou to have to put Marmol in every single time they need some clutch outs and burn out his arm before the second half of the season.

Continue reading "Cubs Tearing Up the National League"

I never liked the "Soriano Hop". I never thought it would actually cause him to hurt himself though. I am not a Soriano fan. He's an absolute offensive mammoth when he gets hot, but when he's not hot, he has very little value to this team. And he is a terrible leadoff hitter when he's cold. His on-base is .230. Let's face it: this is one of the worst contracts  in baseball right now, second maybe only to Barry Zito.

I'm not saying having him go down is going to help the Cubs. He's still an all-star player, and like I said, when he gets hot, he gets blazing hot. But it's so damn frustrating watching him go up there, spitting 500 times, swinging at everything, spitting, refusing to look at pitches from the leadoff spot, more spitting. All I'm saying is whoever is put in the leadoff spot while he is out, whether that be Theriot or Reed Johnson, (Fukudome?) better step it the hell up and prove to Lou Piniella that he has a bonafide table setter to put at the top of the lineup, so he does't have to stick Soriano in there so he can strike out, hit solo home runs, and not steal bases. This is why Brian Roberts would be nice.

Continue reading "Soriano Injures Himself Hopping"

Still no Brian Roberts, still no centerfielder acquisition. That's okay, because it still looks like at least one of those is going to happen before opening day. And Soriano has finally been nudged from the leadoff spot, thank god. It will be good to see him driving in runs this year. I don't really like him in the 2 spot though because he isn't going to advance any runners (unless they plan on stealing constantly, which may work because pitchers will avoid throwing him fastballs at all costs). 

And as for pitching, it's good to see Zambrano looking like an ace. It would be nice if he were actually able to win some games in April this year and get the Cubs off to a hot start. And as for closer, it's nice to see Kerry Wood might be getting the role. I still think I would prefer Marmol to start off there, because I'm sure he's gonna be there after Woody hurts a shoulder or a back. But as a Cubs fan, it's not hard to get excited about Wood coming back and playing an important role on a winning Cubs baseball team. 

Continue reading "Two Weeks Till Opening Day"

... and nothing overly exciting or positive has happened quite yet. Alfonso Soriano has a broken finger and Mark DeRosa just had heart surgery. Same old, same old.

The whole Soriano thing has been quite bothersome to me. I was jacked up beyond belief when the cubs signed him last year, but like most people, I was mostly let down by him last year. It's hard not to look at that mammoth contract he signed and to think that he is past his prime. He was playing with a bum hamstring last year and his ability to be a base stealing threat was diminished. And now this year, his hamstring supposedly is still not 100%, and now the broken finger. I hate to ask, "What's next?" but I'm sure we'll find that out eventually.

It's not that I'm overly worried about Soriano producing this year, but more that I don't like his role with the team. He came here and was promised to be the leadoff hitter, but quite frankly he's awful at it. I want a leadoff hitter who is going to scrap and fight to take pitches and get on base however he can, and to steal bases to get into scoring pitches for the big boppers behind him. Soriano is the complete opposite of this. The main reason why he wants to lead off is so he can swing at first pitch fastballs and drive the ball over the fence. There no reason why he should have 33 home runs and only 70 RBIs in a season. It's a complete waste of his offensive abilities. I would just make too much sense to bat him lower in the lineup where he could knock in some runs. And as for "only being able to hit fastballs", that is just stubborn. He's an annual all-star and should be able to be more patient at the plate in order to be more helpful to his team.

Continue reading "Cubs 2008 Preseason Begins..."

Finally, the baseball buzz is heating up here in Chicago. I hate the time between the end of football and the beginning of baseball. Especialy this year. I stopped watching Bulls game over a month ago, for obvious reasons- like their absolute suckage causing my eyes to bleed. And as for the Blackhawks and the NHL (RIP), I have been trying to get back into them this year, and the Hawks look like they have a good future ahead of them, but I'm still not to the point of being a raging hockey follower.

But as for the Cubbies, still no Brian Roberts, who knows when or if that deal will ever be made. Originally I didn't really want Roberts and was kind of wishing the Cubs would push for Bedard because he would totally dominate in the NL Central, but obviously that didn't happen. However, I want Roberts now. Not because I think DeRosa wouldn't be good as the everyday second baseman, but mainly so they would have a reason to get Soriano out of th leadoff spot. The leadoff homeruns are nice and everything, but he has no business being in that spot in the lineup, swinging at the first pitch. Plus, if anyone were to get injured in the infield, you have DeRosa there to fill in instead of Ronny Cedeno or whatever hodgepodge of mediocre infielders that the Cubs are so notorious for always having.

Continue reading "Let Baseball Season Begin Already"