Have you heard the word “replacement” enough today? Well guess what? The Cubs are following in the footsteps of the NFL and are fielding our grasshoppers today.

Yay! Third baseman Josh Vitters is back in the lineup Tuesday as the Cubbies open the final stretch of their schedule with nine games against non contenders.

Vitters, Dave Sappelt, Joe Mather and Chris Rusin are all scheduled to play in the opener of a three-game series in Denver against the Colorado Rockies.

Vitters is batting just .167 this month and .114 in 88 at-bats since he arrived in the big leagues.

I’m impressed mehhh.

The Cubs and Rockies began the series with identical 59-94 records. The only team with a worse record in baseball is the Houston Astros at 50-104.

If we win with the kids our chances of receiving the #2 pick in next years draft decrease and our chances of losing less then 100 games also decrease.

Whats more important? The wins, the draft, the integrity, the fans???

Well whateves…….

The Replacement lineup against the Rockies:

1. Sappelt, RF
2. Darwin Barney, 2B
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Alfonso Soriano, LF
5. Starlin Castro, SS
6. Welington Castillo, C
7. Vitters, 3B
8. Mather, CF
9. Chris Rusin, P

So now our job is to rain on Dusty’s parade.

The Cubs and the Reds both have a “Majic” number and it just so happens that its the same number.

5 that’s right folks 5 is the number of games that we need to win in order to not lose 100 games for the third time in team history. And 5 is the number of games the Reds need to win to clinch the pennant and secure home field advantage.

Before Monday’s rain-delayed game against the Pirates, Cubs manager Dale Sveum reiterated the Cubs’ dogged pursuit of 99 or fewer losses.

“The goal for these guys — they started talking about it a couple weeks ago — is about not losing 100 games,” he said. “It’s their motivating factor, as well as (for) all of us bcause nobody wants to be associated with that.”

And here is what he had to say about the Reds clinching at Wrigley Field.

“Word gets out and (players) start knowing,” Sveum said. “Nobody wants anybody to clinch on your turf, that’s for sure. It’s inevitable they will end up clinching. You just don’t want them to do it at your place.”

And tonight’s Lineup:

Cubs

DeJesus, D, RF
Valbuena, L, 3B
Rizzo, A, 1B
Soriano, A, LF
Castro, S, SS
Clevenger, S, C
Jackson, B, CF
Barney, D, 2B
Germano, J, P

• Tuesday 9/18, 8:05 PM ET at Wrigley Field
• Radio: CIN: WLW 700 CHC: WGN 720, WRTO 1200
• TV: CIN: FS-O CHC: CSN

GO CUBS GO!!!

A little to late.

Yes we are going for our 5th straight win but does it really matter?

With our season basically a wash, our Cubs are being Cubs and winning when it doesn’t count and losing when it does.

Once again our fearless team heads out to yet again prove that they have what it takes to be a competitive team when there is nothing to compete for.

With the 2013 draft not to far away it really doesn’t matter how high we draft because there really isn’t anything good to draft. Besides 3-4 guys, this draft isn’t anything special to look forward to. We will land a decent prospect whether or not we draft in the 2nd spot or the 4th but don’t be to excited.

What should excite you is the fact that we have Soler, Almora and Baez waiting in the wings while they develop the most needed adjustments that previous regimes were unable to accomplish in the past.

Justin Germano doesn’t need any reminders of how poorly he’s pitched lately for the Chicago Cubs. Facing the team he last beat may help take his mind off those tough outings.

He’ll try to avoid a fifth consecutive loss while the visiting Cubs seek their first five-game winning streak of the season Tuesday night against the Houston Astros.

Shouldn’t be to hard to accomplish right?

Germano (2-6, 6.95 ERA) has a dismal 11.09 ERA over his last four starts after giving up seven runs in four innings of Thursday’s 9-2 loss at Washington, his shortest start of the season. He’s allowed at least five runs in each outing during his slump as opponents have hit .369.

The Cubs will put this lineup on the field Tuesday night in Houston.

NO.    Chicago
1.    D. DeJesus, CF
2.    L. Valbuena, 3B
3.    A. Rizzo, 1B
4.    A. Soriano, LF
5.    S. Castro, SS
6.    S. Clevenger, C
7.    B. LaHair, RF
8.    A. Cardenas, 2B
9.    J. Germano, P

8:05 PM ET, September 11, 2012

Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas

GO CUBS GO!!!

Yes once again Chris Volstad (Voltron) is back on the mound again tonight. If Chris can play like Voltron instead of like Volstad we might be able to pick up yet another win in this dismal season.

Volstad (2-10, 6.23 ERA) will try to help the Cubs snap that skid while bouncing back from his first loss in three games. The right-hander gave up five runs and nine hits over five innings in a 9-1 defeat in Washington on Wednesday after recording back-to-back wins for the first time since June 25-30, 2011.

The Cubs (54-86), meanwhile, swept a three-game series in Pittsburgh with Alfonso Soriano hitting the go-ahead homer during a 4-2 victory Sunday. The two-run shot was his fifth in 10 games.

So once again our boys will try once again to win 4 games in a row against the worst team in baseball.

The lineup for today:

Chicago

1.    J. Mather, CF

2.    D. Barney, 2B

3.    A. Rizzo, 1B

4.    A. Soriano, LF

5.    S. Castro, SS

6.    W. Castillo, C

7.    J. Vitters, 3B

8.    D. Sappelt, RF

9.    C. Volstad, P

GO CUBS GO!!!

What’s there to talk about?

Well not much.

Instead of talking about breaking records for best batting averages, most home runs, ERA etc. The only record were talking about breaking is the 100 losses record. The team does seem adamant about  spoiling it for division rivals and will be putting the best lineup on the field (which isn’t much) for those games. We will see the likes of speedsters Tony Campana and Dave Sappelt in the lineup a lot this September. You will also see the likes of newcomer Miguel Socolovich and also recalled Chris Rusin who is on the mound tonight.

Veteran right-hander Edwin Jackson (8-9, 3.53 ) will try to make another contribution to the Nationals’ division title chase by building on a superb outing Tuesday night against the visiting Cubbies.

Chris Rusin (0-1, 1.80) will try to help the Cubs snap a three-game skid as he returns to the majors. The left-hander gave up one run and one hit over five innings in his MLB debut Aug. 21 in Milwaukee but took the loss in a 5-2 defeat.

I’m not going to sit here and bore you with blah blah blah because there isn’t blah blah blah to talk about.

The lineups consists of:

Cubs lineup:

DeJesus RF, Valbuena 3B, Rizzo 1B, Soriano LF, Castro SS, Castillo C, Jackson CF, Barney 2B, Rusin P

Nationals lineup:

Werth CF, Desmond SS, Zimmerman 3B, Morse RF, LaRoche 1B, Espinosa 2B, Moore LF, Flores C, Jackson P

GAMETIME:

7:05 PM ET, September 4, 2012

Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.

Go Cubs Go!!!

These noon starts always sneak up on me.

Today: Justin Germano (gag. Why can’t HE be shut down the season, as well) takes on Not-Really Tim Lincecum (7-14, 5.30)

Lineup:

DeJesus
Valbuena
Rizzo
Soriano
Castro
Castillo
Jackson
Barney
Germano

It occurs to me that this is the first time in a LONG time that Soriano is hitting 4th and actually DESERVES to be hitting 4th. Huh.

First pitch happened at 12:05 pm CT on WGN.

So While Julie is off having pregame drinks with Ryan, I am here to amuse you.

While this season has not been an easy road for the Cubs or the Brewers we have seen some improvements to our ball club.

The Cubs aren’t getting too down on their losses, and are beginning to build team chemistry through the rocky road of 2012.

Milwaukee is in the midst of a sub-.500 season after winning the National League Central in 2011, while the Cubs are left to again wait for “next year.”

When Jeff Samardzija broke a bat over his knee last week, do you have any idea how lucky we all were that he didn’t, you know, break his wrists? He has however proven that he can withstand a starting pitchers role and will most likely be in that position for years to come.

Darlin’ Starlin’ got the contract he deserved and Shark should be next in line to receive the same sort of treatment. I for one would like to see him stay a Cub and think that he will progress strongly as he gains more starting experience and has a team behind him that can produce runs.

After going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts Anthony Rizzo has been relieved of his duties and we will see our other struggling 1st baseman Brian LaHair next to the bag tonight.

Brett Jackson is starting to show much improvement at the plate and has transformed himself into somewhat of a walking machine and power hitter as of late.

Spellcheck tees off again tonight and the lineup is as follows:

Cubs
DeJesus, D, RF
Valbuena, L, 3B
Castro, S, SS
Soriano, A, LF
LaHair, B, 1B
Castillo, W, C
Jackson, B, CF
Barney, D, 2B
Samardzija, J, P

Wednesday 8/29, 7:05 PM CT at Wrigley Field

Well I’m sure that Julie is thrilled that Ryan Dempster has been traded and I must say so am I.

After all the speculation and what not, Jed confirmed that he did not foresee Demp nixing the trade to Atlanta and that it put quite a damper on the front office and their negotiating strategy.

Losing Delgado was a killer and many high-up scouts agree that we did not get a lot back in the trade before the deadline that sent our indecisive over the hill, nap having divorcee to Texas.

Tweet this Demp!!!

Although Jed says that there is no love lost between Demp and the front office, what about the love lost with the fans and the city of Chicago for screwing our team Mr. I’m all about the Cubs and what’s best for the organization?

Good thing we don’t play Texas this year because I don’t think the reception would be quite good to Mr. I want to think about this and that and I have a family and children and I said I would go to ATL but I decided I didn’t really like cat fishing as much as I thought I would.

(Venting over)

The trade is complete so enjoy the heat in Texas Ryan. I hope your ex-wife doesn’t move out there because you know the good ole’ saying….(Singing a country song)

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: Bye Bye Dempster…”

This guy.

Round 2: FIGHT.

We got rain-delayed into oblivion yesterday because the world just wasn’t ready for the two pitchers that will be squaring off today. Jeff Samardzija and his Flowing Locks will face Bronson Arroyo and his Acoustic ’90s Jams this evening to open the series in Cincy.

We all know this team has some offensive… issues. Collectively, they managed a line of .237/.294/.339 for the month of April, and while that’s admittedly a bigger gap than I expected to see between their AVG and their OBP, it’s still pretty awful. But it’s a new month, right Dale?

“New month, obviously, and the weather warming up and things like that will play into hitting more home runs,” Sveum said. “Would we have more than we have now if the weather was different and the wind wasn’t blowing in [at Wrigley Field]? Of course we would. At the beginning, we came across a lot of good pitching, and now it’s leveled off. All that comes into play.”

I wonder how long it’s going to take before his optimism starts to crack. Lineup behind the jump.

» Continue reading “Live Game Thread: Cubs @ Reds, 6:10 CT”

Finally, we get to see the Marlins’ home-run monstrosity for ourselves. Sort of. If we have CSN. Which I don’t. Let me know how it is.

Ryan Dempster goes for the Cubs tonight against righty Josh Johnson, and Clevenger gets the start behind the plate. Otherwise, no real surprises in the lineup. We won’t, however, be seeing Kerry Wood, as he has flown back to Chicago to get a cortisone shot in his shoulder. (Uh oh.)

Carrie Muskat tweeted that the Cubs took advantage of the nice weather for an early workout, and apparently the roof will be open for the game. Every other beat writer in the world appears to have either been chasing down Ozzie Guillen or Carlos Zambrano, so expect all manner of choice quotes in tomorrow’s papers. Paul Sullivan is winning the prize so far with this:

Lineup below the fold.

» Continue reading “Live Game Thread: Cubs @ Marlins, 6:10 Central”