Starting pitching, Lee among Cubs' concerns
The Cubs are getting a couple of days to pause, reflect and refresh.
They'll need to do all of those things because they're faced with a demanding test as they try to wrap up their second straight National League Central title.
Hurricane Ike wiped out Friday's and today's games against the Astros in Houston, and as of early Friday evening, the Cubs were still awaiting word as to when the games would be played. They planned a workout for Saturday at Wrigley Field.
After this weekend's mess gets resolved, the Cubs will come home to play the Brewers and Cardinals before going on the road to finish up with the Mets and Brewers.
All of the remaining teams on the Cubs' schedule have winning records.
A playoff spot isn't a lock, but it's well within reach. But as the 2004 club proved after a hurricane delay, anything is possible.
So here are some things to watch once the Cubs resume play:
Rotation roulette: The suddenly compressed schedule may put added pressure on a starting rotation that manager Lou Piniella had so nicely mapped out Sunday.
Somebody may have to go on short rest. It's unlikely that those somebodies are Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano, both of whom have cranky shoulders (and sometimes crankier dispositions).
Harden's velocity was down Thursday night in St. Louis. He had five double-digit strikeout games before his shoulder acted up on him at the end of August, and he totaled just 3 Thursday.
Zambrano hasn't pitched since Sept. 2, when he pulled himself from a game.
Stuck in the middle: One solution to the rotation problem would be to use lefty Sean Marshall as a starter.
However, Piniella doesn't want to do that, saying that he needs Marshall in the middle, in part because Neal Cotts is the only lefty in the pen.
Can Lee get his groove back? First baseman Derrek Lee has looked anything but like the old, productive Derrek Lee lately.
His OPS (on-base plus slugging) in August was .787, and it's an anemic .692 this month.
"As for the power, I don't have an answer," he said. "I'm not tired. I'm just not swinging the bat well."
Piniella has noticed, too, but he hasn't talked of moving Lee out of the No. 3 spot of the batting order. Lee, perhaps because he's a team leader, is one of the few players Piniella hasn't lit up in his public comments.
"Oh gosh, he's been struggling, he really has," Piniella said. "He's probably trying to do too much. He's probably pressing a little bit. Boy, he's had opportunities. Maybe these two days will be good for him, also, probably better for him than anybody else."
Lee will need to light it up offensively if the Cubs are going to go deep.
Center of attention: The Cubs need for somebody to start hitting in center field, and Piniella is aching for some production from the left side of the plate.
Left-handed batter Jim Edmonds is 3-for-14 this month, and he sat against right-handed pitcher Todd Wellemeyer on Thursday.
Maybe the answer is to give Felix Pie a couple of starts back to back to see if the Cubs can catch lightning. Reed Johnson, a right-handed hitter, is 3-for-13 this month.
Not all right: Speaking of left-handed hitters, right fielder Kosuke Fukudome has gone from an international sensation to a $48 million defensive replacement.
Fukudome has lost his selectivity at the plate, and it looks as if he's lost his confidence as well. Rookie Micah Hoffpauir is an option, but Piniella seems more content to move Mark DeRosa from second base to right field and play Mike Fontenot at second.
Fukudome presents a short-term problem and a potential long-term disaster for the Cubs.
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