The goal will be to give a lot of preview articles now, and once the season gets into full swing, give you guys an article a day.

Why am I being so nice?

Because you the reader deserve it.

It will take me a bit to get back into the swing of things, so postings for now will be somewhat sparce, but once I get going, we will be posting quality Cubs content (hopefully) daily. After all, shouldn’t I live up to the name, The DAILY Cub.

The Cubs are now 1-0 in Spring Training (although that matters just about as much as what I ate for dinner) so hopefully we will get things back in a positive direction this season.

For now, I’m Joe W.

Before the All-Star Break, the Cubs split a four-game series with the Cards. Since the break, however, the Cubs are 8-2. The Cardinals are 4-6 since the break, including losing two of three against the Phillies in their most recent series.

The Cards now go from facing the defending champions to facing this season’s best team, the L.A Dodgers, in a four-game series. The Cubs face the Astros, and have a chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division.

But what has caused the Cubs recent resurgence?

It starts with the starting pitching staff. Kevin Hart has been Randy Wells II, starting three games and not allowing more than two runs in any start.

With Ted Lilly on the DL, the Cubs will need him to continue playing at a high level, and if he does, then the Cubs may not even need to trade for a starting pitcher. But more on trades later.

Rich Harden has been struggling all season, but in his last three starts, he hasn’t allowed multiple runs to cross the plate. He has dropped his ERA from 5.47 to 4.55 in that span.

However, the pitching staff is not the only reason for the Cubs making waves in the second half.

Before the break, the Cubs scored an average of 4.1 runs a game, since the break, that number has been 5.6.

The reason for the sudden increase in runs has been the revival of Kosuke Fukudome, Milton Bradley, Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez.

Fukudome was batting .255 before the break, in the ten games since, he has been batting .382 with an OBP of .477 and an OPS of 1.006.

Bradley was looked at as the disappointment of the century when he came to the Cubs and was essentially awful. However, since the break, he has been better in every facet of the game.

Bradley’s average, OBP, slugging, and OPS have all been at or above league average. However, you can’t look at this as just ten games for him, as these have come after he spent a few days out of the lineup and working with manager Lou Piniella on his swing.

Ramirez wasn’t exactly playing bad before the break, he just was out of the lineup. However, Ramirez has been having a career year in every offensive category that goes by an average.

His return has been a big part in the Cubs recent run, as they are 11-6 since he made his return to the lineup.

Soriano has been streakier than he has ever been this season, and he knows it. But his .444 average since the All-Star Break has been a big part of the Cubs coming back.

“I remember with the Yankees and Texas, I was also [streaky],” he said. “But what’s happened this season never happened to me before. I’ve cooled off for two to three weeks before, but never for a month and a half. That’s the first time in my life.”

But while all these players have been coming from virtually nowhere to make big contributions, the Cubs still will likely need to make a deadline to have a legitimate chance at taking their NL Central lead and turning it into a World Series.

They still have inconsistent bullpen play from most everybody besides Kevin Gregg, and could use another lefty bullpen arm. Despite Sean Marshall’s current 8.2 inning scoreless streak, the bullpen still lacks depth.

Bullpen depth could come with Baltimore Orioles reliever George Sherrill, whom the Cubs have been rumored to be interested in.

Sherrill has a sub-2.5 ERA and has 20 saves this season. A new arm in the bullpen is needed with the Harden, Wells and Hart in the starting rotation, who usually won’t give the bullpen a night off.

However, they are also said to be eying Orlando Cabrera, who can play both second or short stop. Cabrera, currently on the Oakland A’s, also has the Twins interested in him.

Cabrera would make a lot of sense for the Cubs, who could use some middle-infield depth, as Aaron Miles has been struggling in the minors and might not make it back to the majors this season.

Cabrera brings a consistent bat, solid defense, and some speed when he gets on base. He would solidify the infield and give Mike Fontenot a chance to play from the bench, where he thrived from last season.

However, the biggest potential move might not even involve a trade. With the recent signing of B.J Ryan, the Cubs are hoping that he can return to his dominant ways.

He has been working his way through the minors, and has been moved up to the AAA Iowa Cubs roster. Reports are that he has pitched well at every level so far.

“The guy has a good history and has pitched in the ninth inning in huge games,” general manager Jim Hendry said. “We wouldn’t ask him to do that. If it works, he can maybe add to the pen with ( Sean) Marshall.”

Whatever the Cubs do this season, they will need to continue their strong play, as the Cardinals just got Matt Holliday, and they won’t be playing the Phils and Dodgers every game.

-Joe Willett

“Oh gosh, we were just talking about getting [ Ryan] Dempster back,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We were happy about that, and all of a sudden, the Lilly situation [comes up]. It seems like every time we get a player, we lose one. But let’s see what the MRI says on Theodore, and we can go from there.”

Lilly has been the most consistent Cubs starter this season, going 9-7 with a 3.59 ERA.

However, the timing of the injury couldn’t be better, as Dempster is getting ready to make his first start back from a freak injury this Tuesday against the Astros.

The Cubs are also hoping that released reliever BJ Ryan can make a return to the form he had years ago before he had Tommy John Surgery.

“[Ryan] feels good about himself, and feels he still has something left in the tank,” Hendry said. “The first week has been real encouraging.”

Ryan used to be one of the best closers in the game, and consistently had save numbers in the upper 30’s along with low ERA’s in his time with the Blue Jays and Orioles.

However, this season, he has blown two saves in four opportunities and has an ERA just under seven, he is currently rehabbing in the Cubs farm system.

-Joe Willett

Note: I have another trip to Michigan this weekend, expect no new posts until Monday, I will put up a recap of the Cubs weekend as well as any news on the Cubs then.

Derek Lee lead the Cubs with a career-high seven RBI’s on two home runs, going 2-4 on the day.

Ryan Dempster had a decent start, allowing just three earned runs in six and 2/3 innings, tying a season high with nine strikeouts.

The Cubs scored all of their runs on home runs, starting with Lee’s first home run, a three-run jack in the first inning which also drove in Sam Fuld and Ryan Theriot.

Two batters later, Jake Fox hit another home run, this one a solo shot that put the Cubs up 4-0 in the first inning.

The Brewers battled back in the second with a Mike Cameron home run that also knocked in Prince Fielder.

The Cubs again broke out in the fourth inning, starting off with a Geovany Soto solo home run with no outs.

Later inning, Lee stepped to the plate with one out and the bases loaded and drove the ball completely out of the park, also driving in Fuld, Theriot and Mike Fontenot.

The Brewers scored three more runs throughout the game, but were no match for the Cubs’ power and couldn’t pull off the comeback.

McClung only lasted three and 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs by the Cubs.

Alfonso Soriano was given his second strait game off, as the three time Silver Slugger Award winner hasn’t hit a home run since June 7 and has been batting just .179 over the last 35 games.

The nine runs were the most runs for the team since May 25 when the Cubs scored 10 runs against the Pirates. They had also been shut out twice in the four games heading into tonight.

Aramis Ramirez is slated to start his rehab tomorrow in Single A ball. Reed Johnson will start the next day, also in Single A.

Jeff Baker update

Jim Hendry had this to say about the new infielder, who will be backing up Ramirez when he makes his return.

“A different kind of player than Freel was. We thought now that he’s healthy again, he might have a little more bang … When you’re not going great and you’re not playing the way you’re capable of offensively, you just try to mix and match, get a little spark here like Sammy Fuld gave us [Wednesday] night.”

Baker had this to say.

“I’m beyond excited. Coming in here, this is one of the trips as a visitor you circle every year, and being on this side, obviously you’re excited.”

-Joe Willett

His batting average over the past five games has been a measly .095, and he hasn’t gotten a hit in his last 15 at bats.

However, today, he went 2-5 with one gigantic RBI.

The Cubs started the day locked in an outstanding pitching duel between ace Carlos Zambrano going up against White Sox stud Gavin Floyd.

Neither team scored a run until the sixth inning, as a clinic was put on by both pitchers. However, the White Sox were able to work on a home run by Alexie Ramirez, who homered in each game of this series, and were up 5-1 by the eighth inning.

The Cubs were down to two outs in the eighth when Derek Lee sparked the comeback with a 3-run homer to pull the game to 5-4, a manageable score.

Then, Geovany Soto, who has been batting .188 over the past five games, belted another home run to tie the game with two outs in the eighth inning.

All four runs that were scored in the eighth were unearned runs, thanks to an error, and all were scored against White Sox pitcher Scott Linebrink.

“I didn’t make pitches. You’ve got to make pitches against guys like that — Derrek Lee, Geovany Soto — those guys can hurt you,” Linebrink said. “And the last thing I want to do is go out there and put them in a situation where they can get back into the game.”

The Cubs used their momentum and came into the ninth still tied, and after a Reed Johnson single and Andres Blanco sacrifice, the aforementioned Soriano knocked a two out bloop single to give the Cubs the game with a score of 6-5.

“Truthfully, he’s too talented to have a valley as big as he’s been in. You can have some peaks and valleys, but he’s been in a gorge,” Lou Piniella said. “Look, for us to be a good offensive team, we need Soriano to hit. Let’s be perfectly clear about that.”

The walk-off tied the season series between the Cubs and Sox at 1-1 after the first game of the series was postponed.

The Cubs needed this win desperately after they dropped the first game of the series.

However, all of the Cubs’ problems weren’t fixed with this game, they were just 2-8 with runners in scoring position, an aspect of the game that they have been struggling with as of late.

The Cubs also needed this game to avoid falling further under .500, and with the win, they were able to get back to even at 31-31.

They also avoid falling further behind Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, as they are 0.5 games behind the Reds and four game behind the Brewers for the division lead.

Kosuke Fukudome went 0-3 on the day, bringing his hit-less streak up to 21 at bats.

The win was given to Kevin Gregg, who is 1-1 on the season. The loss was charged to Matt Thornton, who is 4-2.

The Cubs travel to Cincinnati over the next three games for a crucial series that could move them up in the NL Central Division rankings.

-Joe Willett

He has started 6 games this season, with an ERA of just 1.86.   He has never allowed more than three runs in any appearance of his career.

However, Wells has yet to find his first win, thanks to an unlucky combination of poor offense and poor bullpen pitching in the games he has started.

In fact, Wells’ record stands at 0-2, a record that you might expect for a pitcher who is just getting into the starting rotation.  However, the rest of his stats tell a completely different story.

Wells didn’t allow a run until his 14th inning on the year.  That’s almost two shut-outs to start a career.

In Wells’ two losses, the Cubs scored a combined two runs, while Wells allowed a combined five runs in 14 innings.

Wells has left four games with a lead and has yet to get a win.  In fact, the Cubs are just 2-4 in games that Wells start.

The worst bullpen performance in a Wells start was against the Houston Astros in his second start.  Wells allowed no runs over six innings, then watched as Kevin Gregg allowed back-to-back home runs in the ninth.

After hitting a batter, Aaron Heilman came in and allowed a game-tying home run, leaving Wells with another no-decision.

Despite all of Wells’ great starts (he has five quality starts in a row), he has yet to pull off his first win.

“You can’t pitch any better than he has,” manager Lou Piniella said after the bullpen blew a lead against the Atlanta Braves. “He should be 4-0.”

However, the 6-3, 230 pound Illinois native will have to wait for his first win, and as games go by, one wonders how long until the bullpen can finally come through for this newcomer.

-Joe Willett

However, they have struggled mightily this season and they have been unable to live up to the high expectations that accompanied a seemingly unstoppable pitching rotation and batting order.

As of late, the Cubs have been even worse, as they have gone 3-5 in the month of May.  What the problem has been for the Cubs is an inability to be consistently strong.

When they have great offensive days, they have been accompanied with great pitching days, and bad offensive days have been accompied with dismal pitching.

In the Cubs three wins this month, they have scored 7, 10 and 11 runs in each game, but in their five losses, they scored 0, 1, 3, 2 and 2 runs.  Compare that to the 2, 3 and 3 runs allowed in the three wins and the 3, 7, 4, 8 and 7 runs in the losses.

The Cubs need to be able to put together more wins, and that starts with both sides of the ball being held responsible when both sides are dismal in the same game.

One of the main reasons for the Cubs woes so far this season is the awful offensive production by players who were looked at as people who needed to contribute for the Cubs to be strong.

Mark Bradley, who was brought in to give the Cubs a strong left handed bat, isn’t averaging a hit for every 10 at bats, and has hit just one home run in a Cubs uniform.

Derek Lee is hitting just .200 with only one home run so far this season, he also has just 10 RBI’s and hasn’t stolen a base this season.

Last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, Geovany Soto, is batting just .111 and hasn’t hit a home run.  This adds to the fact that he has missed five full games this season and has accounted for just five runs (2 RBI’s, 3 runs).

But their hitting isn’t the only problem for the Cubs this season, their pitching has been just as bad, if not worse, than the hitting.

More Cubs have an ERA over 6.00 than one under 3.00 (four to two).

And, the Cubs vaunted starting pitching, which was supposed to be one of the best starting fives in the MLB hasn’t lived up to the hype.

Every starter has an ERA over 3.00 and the Cubs top two pitchers are pitching the worst in the lineup.

Despite a quality start last night, Carlos Zambrano’s ERA is 4.64 and Ryan Dempster’s is 5.40.  This is the opposite of what you want from what was supposed to be one of the best starting lineups in all of baseball.

The two “quality pitchers” in the Cubs bullpen, who were in the heated closing competition all spring, are both having dismal seasons.

Carlos Mamol’s ERA is 6.75, and Kevin Gregg’s is 6.23.  Who knew that Neal Cotts would be having a better season than both of these two.

The only pitcher with over 10 innings pitched and an ERA under three is Aaron Heilman, who has a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings of work.  He also has as many wins as Zambrano, Rich Harden and Ted Lilly, and more wins than Ryan Dempster.

The Cubs need to finally get their stuff together, and they need to start playing up to their full potential.  The Cubs are a team that needs a lot of production out their power spots in the lineup, and they just haven’t gotten that this year.

Without the pitching to make up for it, the Cubs may be in line for a mediocre season without much winning.

Then again, there are 142 games left for the Cubs, and anything can happen.

-Joe Willett

Fresh off of a Blackhawks shutout over the Detroit Red Wings (I had to watch hockey today with my family) the Cubs will try to add another win for Chicago tonight.

I have been pretty dormant lately and I figured I could offer a few thoughts on the Cubs through the first five games of the season.

We are only 3-2 and the start has not been that impressive

Sure, we could easily be 4-1, but that will be talked about a little later. This Cubs team can look amazing (see the eight run first two innings against the Astros) but they haven’t been able to put together a full game yet.

I am a little scared that we haven’t been able to pull together a dominant performance even with the stout pitching and amazing hitting we have on paper.

Milton Bradley may only have one hit, but he has been impressive

If you look at Bradley’s raw hitting, it isn’t too impressive, but when you take into account each time he has walked to the plate, he still almost always finds a way to get get on base.

Despite being one for 16 at the plate, Bradley has an OBP of .318 thanks to five walks and a hit by pitch. He also has scored three runs thus far this season.

Oh, by the way, his one and only hit was a solo home run.

Besides Lilly, the starting pitching has been fantastic

Cubs starters continue to put up quality start after quality start thus far this season.

Carlos Zambrano has started two games this season, pitching 12 inning, allowing four runs, for a 3.00 ERA. Ryan Dempster’s last outing was strong, with six innings pitched and just two runs scored, he had a very successful showing in his season debut.

Rich Harden was lights out in his debut, allowing just one earned run on three hits in six innings.  Harden even struck out a ton, as usual, fanning 10 in an impressive start.

The only bad outing has been thrown by Ted Lilly, who was backed up by 11 Cubs runs, allowing him to avoid the L despite allowing five runs in five innings.

Kevin Gregg scares me as the closer

Listen, he had a great Spring Training, and I am trying to take nothing away from his ability, I just don’t trust him to hold down the fort in the ninth inning.

He has already blown one save this season as the Brewers were able to tear him apart in the ninth inning two nights ago, and the fact that he led the majors in blown saves last year is a big red flag.

I think that Sweet Lou should start throwing Carlos Marmol in the ninth and moving Gregg into the eight inning, everything would probably go a lot smoother and everybody would pitch better under those circumstances.

Kosuke Fukudome anybody?

The man was looked at as a possible major liability to this team, with a monster contract and seemingly not enough talent, the Asian Sensation was seemingly done in the MLB.

Then, something crazy happened, he had a great spring. Then, unlike Gregg above, he brought that momentum into the regular season.

Fukudome is batting over .400 with two home runs, three RBI’s, and one stolen base. More good news for Fukudome, Piniella just announced that he will no longer be lifting the surprise player for defensive purposes.

-Joe Willett

Off news that he pitched yesterday while under the influence of food poisoning (yea, I know the wording scared you for a second) he is quickly working his way ahead of Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster.

I have decided to throw together five reasons that Rich Harden is a great player who I just love.

Duh…Playing with food poisoning

I don’t know if any of you have had food poisoning, but if you get hit right, it can be just terrible. For Harden to play through that is outstanding.

Also, he pitched for four innings, throwing 63 pitches, striking out four, including former Cub prospect Eric Patterson, and allowing no runs on just three hits.

Harden lost about seven pounds after eating bad chicken salad.

He was almost as good as the supernatural CC Sabathia

Sure, Harden didn’t get nearly the press that Sabathia got for his stint, but Sabathia only got that press because he did what he did on a bad team, not one that was already good.

Although Harden didn’t turn the Cubs around any, he went 5-1 with a 1.78 with 89 strikeouts in 71 innings.

That is an outstanding stat line and one that would make any pitcher ecstatic with their play, and he’s being looked at as the possible fourth in the Cubs rotation.

His health didn’t disturb him as much last year

Although he has had frequent health problems (he has just been Mark Prior with more bounce-back ability), when he has played, he is one of, if not the, best pitch in the majors.

What should scare people is the fact that he pitched 148 innings last season, nothing amazing, but surely that would be enough to satisfy most of Chicago if he would pitch that and be ready for the post-season.

If Harden throws together a full season, other teams should be worried.

He comes cheap (relatively)

With all of his outstanding ability, Harden made three million less than Ryan Dempster, four million less than Ted Lilly and 12 million less than Carlos Zambrano last season.

This season, Harden is slated to earn seven million dollars, which is still cheaper than what Dempster, Lilly and Zambrano are slated to make.  For somebody who may be the best in the majors, thats pretty cheap.
Hey, he fits in with the rest of the team

Although fellow oft-injured pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are now long gone, he still has some other injury prone players to work with.

The most notable of these is Milton Bradley, who has missed at least 12 games in each season since 2002, however, he still thinks that he will be there to play.

Who knows, if Harden and Bradley both stay healthy, the Cubs may be in a position to make some noise.

But all that really matters right now, with 11 days til Opening Day, is that Harden is getting healthy, and that he is working his way into a position to be one of my favorite players.

-Joe Willett

When the Cubs are on, they are one of the better teams in the majors, and that has been shown throughout the spring, even though the players aren’t playing full games.

They have won two of their last three games by over 10 runs (13-2 over the White Sox and 20-5 over the Athletics) which is quite a staggering number, and with players playing longer and longer each game, each of these games become more and more of a prediction of how the season will go.

Carlos Zambrano pitched just two games ago for six innings, striking out six and not allowing a walk in a 5-3 win over the Mariners.

The Cubs are, at the time of this article, 13 days and 20 hours away from their first game in Houston against the Astros, and they are starting to get their players accustomed to playing full games, which is exactly what they are doing.

Cubs players, however, are ready to get to Houston and start playing games that count.  Derek Lee has said that he wants to shorten the current Spring Training schedule, which consists of 39 games.

“I don’t think anybody needs that long to get ready. So it’s nice that soon there’s some games that are going to count,” said Lee of the current Spring Training system.

Sweet Lou Piniella has said that he is getting ready to start shortening his roster, as he plans to have the team down to 30 players by Tuesday, which is when he will start playing his starters with much more frequency.

Piniella has also said that he wants Ted Lilly back to the team as soon as the World Baseball Classic is over, and has him slated to pitch a simulated game the day after the WBC finale.

The Cubs fear that he is falling behind on his workouts and would be better off with the team, Lilly hasn’t pitched since March 17th.

The closer position, which seemed to be suited better for Carlos Marmol, is now looking more wide open, as former Marlin Kevin Gregg hasn’t allowed a run this spring, but the fact that he led the majors in blown saves last year leaves the Cubs weary of handing him the reigns.

A much more slept-upon position battle is for the second catcher spot on the team.  Paul Bako, a former Cub, is back with the team and has plenty of experience, but Koyie Hill is batting over .400 this spring and has looked fantastic.

Piniella has said that he doesn’t feel that the decision on that spot needs to be made anytime soon, however, and he might wait a while before choosing who gets to stay in the majors.

The Cubs are playing well, and they look like they could have a great season.  Are they World Series ready?  We’ll just have to wait and see.

-Joe Willett