Heath's Random Thoughts

Dempster Gets It Done...Against Popular Belief

A few days ago, the Cubs got their first win of the season behind a solid starting pitching effort by Ryan Dempster. What makes this story even more interesting is that Dempster, was the Cubs closer for the last 2 seasons. When he originally joined the Cubs, he was part of their starting rotation, but a glut of starters and a lack of a solid closer out of the bullpen caused the team to experiment with him at that position. He did well enough to hold down the spot and that is where he remained for 2 seasons.

During his time as a closer, Dempster was solid and consistent, but for whatever reason, fans never warmed up to him at that position and would constantly criticize and hound him. I have actually met Ryan in person and I can say he is a very easy going, affable guy with a good sense of humor. These things probably helped him get through the times when fans were on him so much. Honestly, I believe many Cubs fans were taking their frustrations out on Dempster purely because they did not know where to lay the blame on an underachieving team. So, over time he became the scape "goat."

After last season, the club decided to move Dempster back out of the closer role and give him a crack at the starting rotation again. The thought was that if Kerry Wood and/or Carlos Marmol continued to perform at such a high level they could easily take over that closer role. After being asked to compete for a starting role again Dempster could have easily been frustrated by the constant shifting of his responsibility, especially knowing that a starting spot wasn't necessarily guaranteed. Also, taking into account, that he would need to recondition himself to be able pitch past one or two innings and be able to get six to seven in every fifth game.



Well once spring training came around, it was obvious that Dempster was ready to go. He performed so well that he was named the starting third pitcher in the rotation early on in camp. He probably could have been the second pitcher behind Carlos Zambrano, but that spot was being reserved for a lefty, which Ted Lilly filled. As anyone who watches baseball knows, someone who performs well in Spring Training could easily stink during the regular season and vice versa, but Dempster went out and gave a solid first performance.

The Cubs are now 4-3 after a typically sluggish start and so far the only solid starting pitching has come from Carlos and Dempster. Ryan, pitches in his second game of the season on Wednesday so we will see if he can keep it up. My question is, will Cubs fans continue to hound him or see that we actually have a pretty good pitcher in this guy?

Labels: baseball, Cubs

posted by Heath @ 8:38 AM 2 Comments

Cubs Being the Cubs

Well, after 100 years of relative futility you think the Chicago Cubs would be coming out of the gates hungry to win and prove they can be a force to be reckoned with in Major League Baseball. Instead they have come out and sputtered in their first 2 games against a key division rival.

Initial analysis would suggest that they are picking up where they left off last year with minimal run support for starting pitching and stranding runners throughout the game. On paper this team is built to dominate a weak NL Central but in reality they just don't seem to live up to expectations, excluding a handful of players. If they don't start playing with some fire, fans will soon begin to think that this team just has no fire in their belly and are content going through the motions.

The average rabid Cubs fan does have to keep in mind that most of these players haven't suffered through the years of frustration that we have gone through following this team and may not understand when fans become pessimistic and upset. But the players also need to remember that they are out there putting a product on the field for the entertainment of the fans and one begins to wonder if they are giving it their all. I have no doubt that there are competitors on this team, but sometimes I wonder if they are out-weighed by those who are "just happy to be here."

I know the season just started, and believe it or not, I still think this team is going to pull it together, but it is tough to watch them struggle, yet again right at the beginning. I am considering putting together a separate blog for this year's Cubs team as a way to celebrate and commiserate the, no doubt, roller coaster ride this team will be putting us through this year. I will let you know where to find it once I put it together.

Go Cubs Go

Labels: baseball, Cubs

posted by Heath @ 4:50 PM 1 Comments

One 5 game win streak later...

Labels: baseball, Cubs

posted by Heath @ 3:12 PM 11 Comments