For Cubs, April turnaround a big hit

One year ago, the Cubs were mired in a little difficulty, to borrow a phrase from former manager Lee Elia, who lit into some Cubs fans 25 years ago today.

Things would get much worse before they'd get better for the 2007 Cubs, who went on to win the National League Central.

Fast-forward one year. Despite a lackluster 2-3 road trip that ended Sunday with a loss in Washington, the Cubs entered Monday atop the NL Central. They've already matched their franchise record for victories in April, and the tension that permeated the clubhouse last year at this time is long gone.

So what's the difference? Team meetings? Better chemistry?

Nah. It's a lot simpler than that, according to one team leader.

"We didn't swing the bats last April; that's the bottom line," said first baseman Derrek Lee, who has 7 homers, a .359 batting average and a .432 on-base percentage. "We came out swinging the bats better. Our pitching was great, I thought, last April. We didn't score any runs. This year, we've scored runs.

"Our attitude was really good last year. It just took us awhile to get going. Also, we had a whole new coaching staff, some new players. We were trying to jell things together. This year, we came in more settled."

With all of that in mind, let's take a look at the Cubs' "leading indicators" and which way they point heading into May:

Offense: The transformation here could not be any more stark. Cubs hitters are working counts and taking walks.

Instead of all those walks clogging up the bases, they're crossing the plate to the tune of 145 runs scored compared with 112 for all of April 2007.

Much of the credit goes to Kosuke Fukudome, who is second in the NL with 4.54 pitches seen per plate appearance. Fukudome is first on the Cubs with 19 walks and first in OBP at .444.

"Everyone's pretty much their own hitter, but I think it's always contagious when you're seeing the ball well, there are guys on base and the guys in front of you are hitting," Lee said. "Then, you become a better hitter."

The Cubs have not hit a home run since Wednesday's series opener at Colorado. Although the Cubs have more than held their own in the absence of injured left fielder Alfonso Soriano, they may be starting to miss his power. Soriano is set to return Thursday.

The team's baserunners are only 20-for-30 in stolen-base attempts, well below the 75 percent success rate that most stats-oriented analysts say makes the reward worth the risk.

Indicator arrow: Up.

Starting pitching: The Cubs have turned in 13 "quality starts" -- that's at least 6 innings pitched with no more than 3 earned runs -- this season. The team record in those games is 8-5 and the starters' ERA is 1.68.

Since April 16, the Cubs have 8 quality starts.

Lefties Ted Lilly and Rich Hill have been slow out of the gate while Carlos Zambrano has pitched like an ace, and Ryan Dempster is 3-0 with a 2.90 ERA.

Tonight's starter, Jason Marquis, is 1-0 with a 3.47 ERA, but his WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) is high at 1.50, while Dempster sports a 1.03 WHIP and Zambrano's is 1.13.

Cubs starters don't have anything close to a complete game, but they've gone at least 6 innings in their last 4 starts and in 6 of 7.

Indicator arrow: Up.

Bullpen:ŒThe bullpen has been the bane of general manager Jim Hendry's existence since he took over as GM in 2002. Hendry paid big bucks for middle and setup men such as Mike Remlinger, LaTroy Hawkins, Bob Howry and Scott Eyre, only to get mixed results, at best.

Howry has struggled. Usually dependable Michael Wuertz went back to the drawing board last week.

Carlos Marmol has been spectacular at times, but Piniella runs the risk of overusing him. Kerry Wood is 4-for-6 in saves and has held opposing hitters to an OBP of .224.

Indicator arrow: Sideways

Attitude: Winning usually breeds attitude and "chemistry." For those who value those "intangibles," the Cubs say they're just fine in manager Lou Piniella's second year. There's been no need for a players-only meeting, such as the one the Cubs called at the end of May last year.

Last season, they had to grin and bear it before some clubhouse changes in June and a rush to the finish line.

"We had a meeting on Opening Day, and he (Piniella) just said last year, we got off to a slow start," said third baseman Aramis Ramirez. "That stuff is hard to overcome. We did it last year, but we don't want to be in that position."

Added pitcher Carlos Zambrano: "When you play as a team, you're going to have good games … We have a good team. We go out there, and we fight to win."

Indicator arrow: Up.

What a difference a year makes

The Cubs enter tonight's series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers with a record of 16-9. They didn't win their 16th game last season until May 9. Even though April still has two more days to run, the Cubs already have piled up more runs, home runs and walks than they did for the entire month of April a year ago:

April April Key stats categories 2008 2007

Team batting average .280 .270

On-base percentage .367 .326

Runs scored 145 112

Home runs 27 19

Walks by batters 113 69

Strikeouts by batters 171 162

Team ERA 3.68 3.60

Source: Cubs