Hendry not panicking over sluggish start

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry seems as mystified as anybody by his team's slow start.

However, Hendry knows as well as anybody why the Cubs got off to that start - an inconsistent offense and hitting funks by first baseman Derrek Lee and third baseman Aramis Ramirez.

"Unfortunately, obviously, Aramis and Derrek are off to tough starts," Hendry said before Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Florida Marlins. "You'd like to think they're going to get back to their old selves. Hopefully, that one or two good games will get them going.

"I think we're 13-4 when we just score 4 runs or more. Offensively, we're certainly much better than 2 to 3 runs a game. We're in a funk. There's nothing you do about it except fight your way out of it. I don't think any of us would think we should be 5 or 6 games under .500. Nobody expected that. Nobody saw it coming."

Hendry was quick to say the Cubs have the right field manager in Lou Piniella.

"We just got to get through it," Hendry said. "We've been there before. Lou's the right guy to bring us out of it. The staff is working hard. There's nothing wrong with the coaching staff. Nobody can tell me we don't have good enough position players to swing the bat better than we have."

The Cubs also opened play Wednesday 6½ games behind the first-place Cardinals in the National League Central. They ended the last homestand with a three-game winning streak over the Diamondbacks, but went 1-5 in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh before losing the first two games against the Marlins.

"You never want to be where we've headed the last seven or eight games," Hendry said. "I think when we had gotten done with the Diamondbacks, we felt like, 'Hey, we're going to go on the road trip and probably be .500 or a little better and come home for a nice homestand and get after it.'

"As usual in this game, over 162 games, you don't get to write the script very often and have it turn out that way, without a fight. You don't want to get too far behind. You also don't want to start like, 'Well, we're far behind, but we'll stay in the wild-card race.' It's a little early for that. We just need to start playing better.

"I think we're capable of winning a lot more ballgames, and I believe we have enough talent with our position player group that I don't think anybody expects us to average 2 runs a game over too long a stretch. I have a lot of faith in Derrek and Aramis performing at the all-star level that they have for years."