Piniella believes his hitters are getting swing of things

Posted May 31, 2009 11:00 pm

By Bruce Miles

Alfonso Soriano's last home run was May 17, and in 12 games played since then, Soriano has gone 7-for-49 (.143) with 3 walks and 19 strikeouts. Associated Press

Is that creaking you hear the sound of the Cubs' window of opportunity closing as certain older players begin their declines?

Manager Lou Piniella prefers to think of it as the window opening.

Piniella sounded reasonably upbeat Sunday as May ended with the Cubs 1 game over .500 for the season (25-24) and 2 games over (15-13) for the month.

It was during May that the Cubs lost their most productive and dependable hitter, Aramis Ramirez, to a dislocated left shoulder that will have him out for at least another month.

"Other guys will step up," Piniella said. "Let's take a look. You look at our lineup, and you look at our batting averages two weeks ago and you look at them today, there's been a big improvement. And I think if you look at this thing two or three weeks down the road, you'll see another good improvement.

"Basically, guys reach their level, where they start off really, really good or start off poorly. Invariably, they get somewhere to where they belong. I think what you're seeing now is an improvement, and I think you'll see a steady improvement going forward."

Piniella was looking specifically at batting averages, which still are nothing to get excited about.

But the Cubs are lagging badly in other offensive categories that are much more important.

For example, Kosuke Fukudome entered Monday third in the National League in on-base percentage (.439), but you have to go all the way down to No. 40 to find another Cub, Ryan Theriot, at .355.

When you combine on-base and slugging percentage to get OPS, it's the same story. Fukudome ranked 13th, at .946. The next Cub on the list again is Theriot, at .814, and he's not even a power hitter.

Let's take a closer look at the past two weeks for five players who've had various degrees of success and failure in Ramirez's absence.

Alfonso Soriano

Guess how many RBI Soriano has in the last two weeks?

Zero.

His last home run was May 17, and in 12 games played since then, Soriano has gone 7-for-49 (.143) with 3 walks and 19 strikeouts. To his credit, he hasn't used his sore left knee as an excuse, but maybe the knee is hurt more seriously than he and the Cubs are letting on.

Soriano's batting average has fallen from .280 to .246 in the last two weeks. His OBP is dangerously low, at .307.

Derrek Lee

At least Lee is doing a little better than Soriano in the RBI department over the last two weeks.

He has 1.

Lee fares a little better in Piniella's batting average test, climbing from .226 to .248 over the past two weeks.

The Cubs need his OBP of .325 and his slugging percentage of .411 to get much better.

Milton Bradley

The Cubs right fielder has gone from .195 to .224 over the past two weeks. He's 11-for-39 with a homer, 5 RBI and 5 walks in that time.

Bradley's OPS is .740. Last year, he led the American League at .999.

Geovany Soto

Soto's average has gone up only slightly in the last two weeks, from .204 to .216. He has 2 RBI in that time, but he hasn't homered since May 13.

Soto's OBP and slugging are inching upward, but Piniella expressed concern, if not outright worry, over his catcher's throwing arm. Two Dodgers stole bases Sunday night, and Soto is 6-for-32 in gunning down runners this year.

Mike Fontenot

Piniella says Fontenot is the main man at third base, and maybe the manager's declaration was calculated to get Fontenot to relax.

Fontenot's batting average has gone from .204 to .224 in the last two weeks, when he went 10-for-35.

However, he has not homered since May 3, and he has just 1 walk over the past two weeks. Fontenot's OBP last year was .395 in 119 games. Now, it's just .307 with a .392 slugging percentage.

For the above-mentioned five players, that's 2 home runs and 11 RBI over the past two weeks. During the just-concluded homestand, during which the Cubs went 4-3, their biggest contributors were Reed Johnson and Theriot.

Still, Piniella remains optimistic.

"Look, I think we've got probably 4-5 players here in the lineup that you'll see batting averages go up 30-40 points," he said. "That will dictate to me that we'll score more runs consistently."

Mike Fontenot has started hitting better since Lou Piniella declared him the third baseman until Aramis Ramirez returns. Associated Press

Milton Bradley has gone 11-for-39 with a homer, 5 RBI and 5 walks in the past two weeks. Paul Beaty | Staff Photographer

Geovany Soto is lagging in both offensive and defensive categories. Associated Press

Derrek Lee's batting average has risen from .226 to .248 over the past two weeks. Associated Press

Law of averages Cubs manager Lou Piniella cited rising batting averages as a sign of hope for his team's struggling offense. Here is the difference in batting average for key players over the past two weeks: Alfonso Soriano Average two weeks ago: .280 Average today: .246 Derrek Lee Average two weeks ago: .226 Average today: .248 Milton Bradley Average two weeks ago: .195 Average today: .224 Geovano Soto Average two weeks ago: .204 Average today: .216 Mike Fontenot Average two weeks ago: .204 Average today: .224 Cubs scouting report Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves at Turner Field TV: Channel 9 Tuesday; Comcast SportsNet Wednesday and Thursday Radio: WGN 720-AM Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Randy Wells (0-2) vs. Kenshin Kawakami (3-6) Tuesday; Ted Lilly (6-4) vs. Derek Lowe (6-3) Wednesday; Carlos Zambrano (3-2) vs. Jair Jurrjens (5-2) Thursday. All games begin at 6:10 p.m. At a glance: This is the first meeting of the year between the two clubs. The Cubs were 6-0 against the Braves last year, 3-0 in Atlanta. The Braves' Chipper Jones began Monday fifth in the NL in OBP, at .434. Atlanta ranked 10th in runs scored entering Monday, while the Cubs were 11th. In team OBP, the Braves were sixth, and the Cubs were 10th. Derrek Lee is 11-for-28 with a homer against Lowe. Alfonso Soriano has 3 homers against Lowe. Jeff Francoeur has 2 homers vs. Zambrano. Next: Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, Friday-Sunday

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