Quade proving adept at putting out house fires

By Bruce Miles

Cubs manager Mike Quade has had a couple of brushfires to put out since spring training.

There was the whole Carlos Silva contretemps (two of them, actually) during spring. On Sunday in Milwaukee, the issue of communication came up after Marlon Byrd was caught trying to steal second base in the ninth inning with the Cubs down a run in a game they lost 6-5.

Quade has acted quickly and decisively in all instances, and he addressed the communication issue before Monday’s 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

It’s important for a newer manager to establish things like tone early. We’ll get to all of that shortly, but the Cubs had bigger issues as their nine-game road trip continued.

The biggest was a lack of timely hitting that had the 2011 season starting with all the look and feel of the 2010 season. That wasn’t such a great feeling for the Cubs and their fans, who watched hitters repeatedly fail in key situations.

In Sunday’s loss, the Cubs were 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position. That puts constant pressure on the pitching staff and provides the bullpen with no margin for error.

Fortunately for starting pitcher Ryan Dempster (1-2), the Cubs executed early and often Monday night, getting a two-out RBI double from Alfonso Soriano in the first inning.

Quade’s revamped top of the order got the job done in the second. With Kosuke Fukudome day to day with a left hamstring strain, Quade put Starlin Castro in the leadoff spot for the second time this year, following him with Darwin Barney.

Castro got fooled on an off-speed pitch from Nelson Figueroa with two outs but still was able to muscle into center field for a hit. Barney, who looks like he can be a valuable player if used wisely, tripled to right-center and came home on Byrd’s single.

That’s the kind of stuff the Cubs have been lacking. But after Byrd hit an RBI single in the fourth, the Cubs did not get another hit.

Speaking of Byrd, Quade said he analyzed what happened Sunday, and he applied a problem-solving approach to it.

“It was just a green-light sign (problem) for me,” Quade told reporters. “It was whether or not (Byrd) had the green light. I didn’t think he had it, (third base coach Ivan) DeJesus didn’t think so, but (Byrd) thought he did. So we had three guys, and the three of us screwed it up.”

In handling it that way, Quade was able to diffuse blame instead of assigning it.

“Anytime a problem arises, you start looking for solutions,” he said. “So the solution might be to change a sign or simplify it. We talked about all of that today.”