Barney’s game much more than defense for Cubs
You probably didn’t have Darwin Barney as your pool pick to hit the Cubs’ first home run of the season.
And no doubt few fans would have figured Barney to hit a walk-off homer Wednesday to beat the San Diego Padres.
But Barney is the author of those two memorable shots.
No, the 5-foot-10, 186-pound second baseman isn’t a power hitter and isn’t going to be one, but he hopes some added strength will help him to become a more consistent player for a full season.
“Keeping my weight on is one thing that helped,” he said after belting Wednesday’s game-winner. “I think that might have something to do with it, but I’ve been working a lot with Rudy (hitting coach Jaramillo) and Dale (manager Sveum) on my path and the way I’m striking the ball, trying to be more downhill and linear.”
Entering the weekend series at San Francisco, Barney has a hitting line of .274/.326/.429 with 13 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers and 15 RBI.
Barney hit 2 homers all of last year, when he had an overall line of .276/.313/.353. The first-half and second-half splits tell a more important story.
Before the all-star break, Barney was at .306/.334/.374. After the break, he tailed off to .238/.286/.328.
Another measure of extra-base ability is isolated power, or ISO on the various stats sites. You arrive at it simply by subtracting batting average from slugging percentage. While Barney’s ISO last year was .077, it’s .155 this year.
And then there’s defense. Barney is rated above average in whatever advanced metric you like. He also passes the eye test.
In the ninth inning of Wednesday’s victory, he turned a nice double play with shortstop Starlin Castro, ranging up the middle to backhand the ball and flip it to Castro.
“That’s my No. 1 thing,” he said. “We’ve talked about it all year. We want to be the best infield around, and that’s kind of what we’re working for. It starts with positioning. It starts with working hard.
“Good things will happen when you put the work in.”
Bullpen makeover:
Think back to Opening Day and remember what the bullpen looked like: Carlos Marmol was the closer. Kerry Wood was the eighth-inning man. James Russell was the lone lefty, and the Cubs had Shawn Camp, Lendy Castillo and Rafael Dolis. They added Rodrigo Lopez for the second game of the season.
Wood and Marmol each blew saves on the first two days of the season, and now Dale Sveum has a completely revamped bullpen.
Wood retired. Marmol lost the closer’s job and recently came back from the disabled list. Dolis went from middle man to closer to middle man to the minor leagues. Castillo, a Rule 5 pick, now is in Arizona rehabbing an injury. And Lopez is in the minors.
Russell and Camp are the closers now, and each sets up for the other. Marmol is trying to work his way back as a middle reliever.
Michael Bowden, who gets little action, came from Boston in the Marlon Byrd trade, and the Cubs are getting good work from former starters Casey Coleman and Randy Wells. Blake Parker has seen limited action since his call-up from Iowa.
In the three games against the Padres this week, the bullpen worked 9 innings, giving up 9 hits and 1 run. That included 4 scoreless innings Wednesday.
“It’s just been great,” Sveum said. “The bullpen is just doing a great job. Coleman came in and pitched a nice inning (Wednesday). It’s definitely one of those things where you’re getting the best out of guys right now.
“You’re using them in situations that they’ve never been put in, and they’re doing one heck of a job.”
Sveum gave journeyman Camp some of his highest praise this week.
“You can’t say enough about Shawn Camp this year,” he said. “To be put in all these different roles, the job he’s done against left-handed hitters, he’s done a great job.
“The fact of the matter, Camp’s been probably our MVP up to this point.”
Working with Wilken:
It was nice of new scouting and player development chief Jason McLeod to acknowledge the work of Tim Wilken, the Cubs’ director of amateur and professional scouting.
Wilken, who ran the Cubs’ drafts from 2006-11, now works as part of a team under McLeod, but he still has a prime role in the draft process.
Here’s hoping Wilken stays with the Cubs long term. He’s one of the most respected “eyes” in the game.
His Cubs drafts have been a bit controversial, as he took outfielder Tyler Colvin and unknown pitcher Hayden Simpson with first-round picks. Other top picks were Josh Vitters, Andrew Cashner, Brett Jackson and Javier Baez.
Wilken also stuck his neck out by drafting pitcher Jeff Samardzija in 2006 after Samardzija gained most of his fame playing football at Notre Dame.
That pick is looking pretty good now.
Vitters took 7 homers at Iowa into Thursday’s action, and he’s still 22. Cashner was traded for first-base prospect Anthony Rizzo, who’s nearly ready for the big leagues at Iowa.
Other Wilken picks on the Cubs’ big-league roster are Darwin Barney, Tony Campana, Steve Clevenger, James Russell, Casey Coleman and Blake Parker.
McLeod says he respects Wilken’s experience and his “voice.”
“There’s the excitement of debating and arguing in the room,” McLeod said of draft preparation. “The one thing I like to tell everyone is, ‘Let’s check our egos at the door.’
“Tim Wilken is one of the most respected scouts, probably of all time. I’m going to disagree with him, even though he has 30-plus years of experience. He’ll disagree with me, and everyone should have disagreements.
“That’s how we feel we get the most information (about) the players we talk about.”
bmiles@dailyherald.com