Category Archives: Report Cards

Week One Report Cards: Cubs/Tigers

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Can we please put an end to the debate? There is no question Chicago is the greatest baseball town in the world.  In this first week of the season, not only did I have the privilege of getting sunburned and a bit intoxicated amongst the brick and ivy in the bleachers of baseball’s greatest cathedral last weekend (though I had to suffer through Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol defiling another solid start by Matt Garza), but I get to head down to Mobile Phone Park today to watch the Tigers avenge yesterday’s tough loss to the South Side nemesis.

Seven or eight games certainly isn’t enough of a sample size to draw any definitive conclusions about the long season ahead, but that’s not going to stop me from doing it here.

Cubs: C+
The Cubs 3-5 record masks what has been a surprisingly productive offense that ranks in the NL’s top five in Runs, RBI, and Avg. and better than average starting pitching. Despite poor outings by 4th and 5th staters Chris Volstad and Paul Maholm, Cubs starters have a combined 3.51 ERA with 50 Ks in 51.2 innings. Garza and  Ryan Dempster have both had quality starts spoiled by the bullpen which is the only thing keeping them out of first place in the division.  Is it too early to question the wisdom of the ‘Messiah’ Theo Epstein for trading one of the game’s best left-handed relievers in Sean Marshall for Travis Wood who is on a bus somewhere in Iowa now?  Nope.

Tigers: A-
It wasn’t hard to predict the Tigers would have a good offense, but to lead the AL or rank second in Runs, Hits, Triples, RBI, Avg, OBP, and SLG% is even more than I could’ve hoped for.  With an offense like that, the pitching only has to be average, which it has been, ranking in the middle of the AL with a 3.80 ERA despite having to rely on minor league call-ups Drew Smyly and today’s starter Adam Wilk due to Doug Fister‘s mysterious left side injury. Even the defense has been decent despite the lack of range.  The only thing that worries me is closer Jose Valverde who has already blown a save and couldn’t stop the bleeding when Justin Verlander inexplicably imploded after eight dominant innings on Wednesday.  Papa Grande needs to return to his 2011 form before I can give the Tigers full marks.

So now I’m off to 35th & Shields where the Sox have an awful record against staters they’ve never seen before—I’m sure PV has the numbers. A shaky Gavin Floyd looks to be the next punching bag for the Tigers potent offense. I’m just hoping Roger ‘Sodfather’ Bossard can draw the batter’s box correctly today.

All-Star Break Report Cards

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Jim Hendry: you are an EPIC FAIL

Detroit Tigers – 49-43, 1st place, AL Central

Hitting: B+
413 Runs (5th AL)
819 Hits (4th AL)
90 HRs (6th AL)
.264 Avg (4th AL)

Pitching: C-
4.27 ERA (11th AL)
621 Ks (9th AL)
.260 Avg. Against (11th AL)
1.37 WHIP (11th AL)

Defense: D
.982 FPCT (11th AL)

Head of the Class: Justin Verlander – 12 Ws, 2.15 ERA, 147 Ks

Overall Grade: B-
The Tigers are certainly happy to take over first place on the last day before the All-Star break (as opposed to losing it a year ago) but there’s clearly a lot of work for Dave Dombrowski to do if they expect to hold off those pesky Indians and the suddenly resurgent Twins. A frontline starting pitcher will be at the top of their wish list as the trade deadline approaches. Houston’s LHP Wandy Rodriguez might fit the bill.

Chicago White Sox - 44-48, 3rd place, AL Central (5 games back)

Hitting: C-
366 Runs (9th AL)
791 Hist (7th AL)
89 HRs (7th AL)
.252 Avg. (9th AL)

Pitching: B-
3.86 ERA (6th AL)
650 Ks (2nd AL)
.256 Avg. Against (8th AL)
1.28 WHIP (6th AL)

Defense: A
.987 FPCt (1st AL)

Head of the Class: Paul Konerko - .319 Avg., 41 Runs, 22 HRs, 67 RBI

Overall Grade: C+
Despite decent numbers across the board, the Sox have lacked the chemistry and timely hitting to win consistently thus far. Kenny Williams cannot be happy entering the All-Star break after losing a home series to his nemesis, the Minnesota Twins, and the trade winds have been swirling.  Expect a big shake up in the next week or so that could involve Carlos Quentin and/or Edwin Jackson.

Chicago Cubs - 37-55, 5th place, NL Central (12 games back)

Hitting: B
375 Runs (8th NL)
836 Hits (3rd NI)
79 HRs (8th NL)
.263 Avg. (2nd NL)

Pitching: F
4.62 ERA (15th NL)
676 Ks (5th NL)
.269 Avg. Against (15th NL)
1.47 WHIP (16th NL)

Defense: F
.977 FPCT (16th NL)

Head of the Class: N/A

Overall Grade: F
What can you say about the Cubs that hasn’t already been said?  MAJOR changes need to happen immediately, but it would take a miracle for Jim Hendry to be able to unload any of the albatrosses that permeate this roster due to bad contracts. The future is as bleak as it ever has been, and that’s saying a lot.

April Report Card: White Sox

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They stink! This is not going to be a long write-up about the White Sox and the positives and negatives of their April. They are under .500, they have hit into more double plays than any other team in baseball and their starting pitching has been atrocious except for John Danks and Freddy Garcia (only one bad outing with seven runs.) The bullpen was good. They are also at the bottom of the league with hits with runners in scoring position where they bat under the Mendoza line and the Sox have now used four different leadoff hitters as they enter into the first two games of May.

The only good news is that nothing is won in April and the AL Central always seems to be a three-team race as of late with someone dropping out around mid-September.

As far as I’m concerned about giving a team a report card it fails to point out the intangibles which the White Sox have non of those kinds of stats. They are pressing because they know their team has underperformed and Ozzie Guillen does not seem to be able to get them out of their funk. You might be tempted to give their offense a B because they are third in home runs and first in stolen bases. Not gonna happen because who cares when you don’t win games.

Individual stats mean nothing unless your are winning, so giving an offense a C, and the starting pitching a D, and so on because of some numbers on a piece of paper or someone’s batting average has never worked for me. It’s a team game and this team gets a big fat F.

A quick opinion: In regards to the Tigers report card and the Cubs report cards. While I would give the Tigers an A, the Cubs with a $140 payroll would also get a big fat F for April (their May is looking better thus far.)

April Report Card: Chicago Cubs

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Month one into “Year One” (as the Ricketts family likes to call it) is in the books but it seems like the same old circus we’re used to with the north-siders.  Zambrano’s in the pen, Soriano lost the hop but is still scared of the wall, and the Cubs best hitters, Ramirez and Lee are both below the Mendoza Line.  Finishing April with a very mediocre 11-13 record, the Cubs already find themselves mired in third place, 5 games behind NL Central Division rival Cardinals.

Starting pitching, believe it or not, has been a major strength so far. Ryan Dempster (2-1, 2.78 ERA), Randy Wells (3-0, 3.45 ERA), Carlos Silva (2-0, 1.73 ERA) and Tom Gorzelanny (0-3, 2.45 ERA) have been more than respectable. But Ted Lilly (1-1, 4.90 ERA) was tremendous in his return from the DL against Milwaukee and anything but in his second start this past Friday versus Arizona (I was privileged to witness that monstrosity from the bleachers).  However, the real problem has been the perennial underachiever, Carlos Zambrano (1-2, 6.56 ERA).  Fortunately, Lou has the insight (and the balls) to tell their overpaid “superstar” he would better serve the team as the 7th/8th-inning set-up man, turning a weakness into a strength.

Speaking of, the bullpen had been like a high-wire act on a windy day with Cubs pitchers combining for a dismal 10.80 ERA in the eighth inning, but the addition of Zambrano has had a stabilizing effect.  The jury is still out on whether Zambrano will remain happy and effective in this less prestigious role.

The offense has been descent despite the lack of production from Derreck Lee (.193 avg.) and Aramis Ramirez (1.56 avg.). Kosuke Fukudome (5 HR, 16 RBI, .344 avg.),  Ryan Theriot (16 R, .337 avg.) and welcome addition, Marlon Byrd (4 HR, 14 R, 16 RBI, .348 avg.) have carried the load in their absence.  And you’ve got to believe Lee and Ramirez will pick it up soon—they’re just too good not to—so there is reason to believe offensive production will only go up from here.

Defensively, Alfonso Soriano is a butcher (3 errors in a month in the outfield is almost unheard of) and is almost solely responsible for bringing the grade down, but overall, they’ve been about average.

After one month, there are legitimate reasons to believe the Cubs can improve in all areas and make a run at the Cardinals, but there simply isn’t much room for error at this point.

Report Card
Offense: B (112 Runs – 4th in NL, .266 Avg – 6th in NL)
Defense: C- (18 Errors – 11th in NL)
Starting Pitching: B (3.47 ERA – 5 in NL)
Bullpen: C- (4.52 ERA – 9th in NL, 4 Saves – 10th in NL)

Overall: C+

Player of the Month:
Kosuke Fukudome (13 R, 5 HR, 16 RBI, .344 avg.)

April Report Card: Detroit Tigers

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One month into the season, Tiger fans have plenty of reasons to be happy with what they’ve seen so far.  Coming off an important series win over Minnesota, the Tigers sit at 14-10, just a game-and-a-half games behind the Twins. They’ve proven they are contenders in the race for AL Central Division crown. Ten come-from-behind victories give fans reason to stick with them to the bitter end as they’ve shown a knack for finding ways to win games despite lackluster starting pitching performances.

Austin Jackson‘s emergence as a potential superstar is clearly justifying GM Dave Dombrowski’s controversial off-season trade of Curtis Granderson.  Jackson is batting .364 which includes a 5-5 performance against the Angels last night.  Miguel Cabrera is on pace to win the MVP award with a Major-League-leading 25 RBI and Magglio Ordonez (.303 avg.) is continuing his second-half surge from last season.

Starting pitching might be the only blemish (other than defense) on an otherwise sparkling resumé.  But Justin Verlander (1-2, 5.530 ERA, 1.4458 WHIP) and Rick Porcello (2-2, 8.027 ERA, 1.9054 WHIP) can’t pitch much worse and have track records to prove they will turn things around.  The other key piece in the Granderson deal, Max Scherzer (1-1, 4.229 ERA) had been great  until Wednesday’s 3.2-inning setback against the Twins.  Reclamation project, Dontrelle Willis (1-1, 3.750 ERA), has been a welcome surprise while Jeremy Bonderman (1-1, 6.968 ERA) has been solid despite one really poor outing versus Seattle.

The bullpen has been incredibly solid with Major-League-leading 2.23 ERA anchored by off-season addition, Jose Valverde (7 saves, 0.750 ERA) and a healthy Joel Zumaya (1.227 ERA) who looks like he’s back to his flame-throwing self.

The defense needs some work with a league-worst 21 errors, but I don’t think the early-season numbers are necessarily indicative of the team’s true defensive prowess and should improve over the long haul.

Report Card
Offense: A (120 Runs – 2nd in AL, .282 Avg – 1st in MLB)
Defense: D (21 Errors – last in AL)
Starting Pitching: C (5.68 ERA – last in AL)
Bullpen: A (2.23 ERA – 1st in MLB, 8 Saves – 3rd in AL)

Overall: B

Player of the Month:
Miguel Cabrera (16 R, 5 HR, 25 RBI – 1st in MLB, .344 Avg.)