Kasper: Cubs' Stewart, Brewers' Ramirez will be fine
Q. We've just seen two third basemen - the Cubs' Ian Stewart and the Brewers' Aramis Ramirez - who have gotten off to slow starts. Do you see both of them picking it up soon?
A. Bruce Miles has written about Stewart's batting average on balls in play (BABIP), which has hovered around .220. His career BABIP is over .290, and the prevailing thought is that a really low BABIP signals some bad luck.
There's no question he has hit into some hard outs in the early going, but lately he has seen some positive results.
I do know this: Dale Sveum is going to be very patient with him and let him figure this out while playing every day.
It's the one nice thing about a transitional year in that you can give guys more rope than they would normally get in an effort to get their careers back on track.
As for Ramirez, his long track record says a slow start isn't that big a deal in the big picture and that by year's end his numbers will look just fine.
Q. The Cubs will get another crack at the Cardinals in St. Louis this week. Do they seem to be a more confident team than the one that lost two of three to the world champs a month ago?
A. No question the Cubs are playing with more confidence since their rough 3-11 start.
I think the series win over the Cardinals at Wrigley (the Cubs' first of the year) was huge in turning things around. It allowed everyone to relax a bit after such an awful start.
You have seen the starters (aside from Chris Volstad) get in a really nice groove, the offense has gotten a spark from Bryan LaHair's hot streak, and the emergence of Rafael Dolis, James Russell and Shawn Camp has kept the bullpen from sinking.
The biggest factor has been the unwavering confidence, positivity and hard work shown by this coaching staff.
They never panicked early on, and that had to help the players' mental state in April knowing their manager and coaches believed in them.
Q. People may think your workday begins with the start of each day's telecast. But you get to the park early. Can you tell us about your workday and the preparation you put into each broadcast?
A. I once had a friend in a road city ask me if I could have dinner before one of our games. I said, "But I have to be at the park tonight." He said, "Well, it's a 7 o'clock game, so you don't have to be there until then, right?"
Um, no. For a 7:05 game, I'm usually at the park between 3:00 and 3:30. For a 1:20 start at home, I try to be there by 9:30.
My daily research begins at home on my laptop, where I spend 1-2 hours reading about the Cubs, their opponent and other baseball news. And this continues through the off-season, too.
My work at the park before the game involves talking to Dale Sveum, the coaches and players and perusing the game notes and stats.
If it's called work, it's the best type of work I can think of.
Q. What are your favorite road cities?
A. It's funny, I'm asked this a lot, and my answer always starts with this: There are no bad cities we travel to.
I particularly love the western stops: San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, Seattle (we need to go back there soon!) are all great cities.
New York is awesome, especially now that Shea Stadium no longer exists.
Actually Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are underrated mainly because I can walk to the park from our hotel in about 5-10 minutes! Nothing beats convenience in our business.
ŸLen Kasper is the TV play-by-play broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. Follow him on Twitter @lenandbobwww.wgntv.com/lenandbob;http://www.wgntv.com/blogs/lenandbob/[URL]. Subscriber Total Access members can email him [/URL]questions;mailto:cubsquestions%40dailyherald.com?subject=Reader%20question[URL] each week via our online link.[/URL]