Tagged: Emilio Bonifacio
Cubs Conspectus: Game 24
Cubs 4, Brewers 0
The Cubs avoid the sweep; I think I’ll weep for joy.
The Good
Starlin Castro belted his third and fourth home runs of the year today. His solo shot to lead off the second inning off a 95-mph Wily Peralta fastball went to dead center and started the scoring for the day. It really ended up being the biggest play of the game as strange as that sounds.
Then, for good measure in the eighth, Castro yanked a hanging slider down the left field line. He had never had two home runs in the same game before this season, and he did it twice this month.
Oh yeah, then there was Jason Hammel again. All he did was throw seven scoreless innings allowing three hits and two walks while striking out seven, and the bullpen actually picked him up today. Scratch that, they were flawless. Pedro Strop went one-two-three in the eighth, and then Hector Rondon struck out the side in the ninth. I do not know exactly what is going on with Rondon right now. I have no idea why he is so much better than he was last year, and even though he did not get a save today because he had a four run lead, I think he is pitching his way into that closer role.
The Bad
Junior Lake went 0-4 from the two hole, and that slot in the lineup continues to plague the Cubs so far this year. I have already mentioned that it is the most important slot in the lineup, and the Cubs do not have an answer right now.
The Ugly
Darwin Barney. His defense is great, but if he is not playing every day, he really should not even be up with the club, and let me clarify, he should not be playing every day. 0-4 today, and his batting average drops to .108 on the season. I cannot overstate how important Emilio Bonifacio has been to this club so far this year.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 21
Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 2
After winning the first two games of the series, the Cubs fail to win their first series of the year.
The Good
Edwin Jackson was actually pretty good today. Seven innings, five hits, four strikeouts, two walks, and three runs. That is a quality start, and it should have been good enough to beat Mike Bolsinger.
Emilio Bonifacio went 2-4 in the leadoff spot, and Anthony Rizzo belted his third home run of the year (off a lefty).
The Bad
The rest of the offense was putrid. The Cubs hit 5-33 and only walked twice.
The Ugly
Jose Veras again. It keeps getting worse and worse. In one inning he gave up two hits, one walk and 2 runs. His ERA is now at 15.88 for 2014.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 19
Cubs 9, Diamondbacks 2
Holy cow! Two in a row!
The Good
I have often started with the starting pitcher so far this year, and there was no reason to discontinue that trend today. Jason Hammel was very good, again, and I will reiterate how that should return dividends via trade for the Cubs in July. Seven innings, four hits, no walks, four strikeouts, one run, and just like Travis Wood, the lone run was on a solo home run.
The Cubs scored nine runs, so virtually everyone hit well. Luis Valbuena led off tonight giving Emilio Bonifacio the night off, and he set the table well going 2-4 with a walk. Mike Olt hit a three-run home run continuing his power surge, and it was his first off a right-handed pitcher.
The Bad
Blake Parker gave up two hits and a run in the ninth giving him an ERA of 16.20 on the season, and the Cubs do not seem to have a clue what is going on with their bullpen still.
The Ugly
John Baker beat out George Kottaras for the backup catcher position this March, and the Cubs cut Kottaras on March 26th. He resigned with the Indians and was assigned to their AAA team. Despite the fact that Kottaras has not had a plate appearance in the majors this year, he has the same number of hits as John Baker. Baker went 0-3 tonight with two strikeouts and is now 0-17 on the season.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 17
Reds 8, Cubs 2
Cubs fail to win their first series of the season and now prepare to host the only team in the National League with a worse record than themselves, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Good
The top of the order hit very well today. Emilio Bonifacio 2-4, Ryan Sweeney 2-4, Anthony Rizzo 2-3, Nate Schierholtz 2-5. You don’t expect the first four hitters to start things like that and only score two runs.
The Bad
The Cubs only scored two runs. Despite the top of the order hitting as well as they did, the Cubs were only 3-15 with runners in scoring position again. After hitting an MLB worst .218 with RISP last year, the Cubs are hitting .197 in the same scenario this year. Only San Diego and Houston have been worse.
The Ugly
Carlos Villanueva stunk it up again despite looking very good in spurts. He struck out seven in only four and two-thirds innings, but he allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk.
The only thing worse was watching Jose Veras come into the game. In one inning he allowed two hits, two walks, and three runs. Both hits were home runs. His ERA is now 15.43 on the season. Citing ERA for a relief pitcher usually tells you nothing about how he is pitching on the season, especially 17 games in. I remember Will Ohman one year have a zero ERA a couple weeks into the season, but in reality he would come in with men on base, allow all of them to score, and then get a few outs before allowing any of his own runs to score. And, just like in Ohman’s case, the 15.43 ERA makes Veras seem like he has pitched better than he actually has.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 16
Cubs 8, Reds 4
“Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win!”
The Good
The Cubs scored eight times as many runs today as they did in their previous three games combined. Emilio Bonifacio started the day with a single and ended up going 3-5 while scoring two runs on the afternoon. Bonifacio continues to be a great pickup this spring and is setting the table nicely for the Cubs. It is hard to imagine who would be leading off if the Cubs had not picked him up, and it is even scarier to think how much worse their record might be right now without him. In the Cubs’ five wins, Bonifacio is hitting .409 and has scored nine runs.
Mike Olt belted another home run giving him three on the year which ties him for the most on the team with Welington Castillo despite the fact that Olt has 17 fewer plate appearances. He still is not hitting consistently, but he is slugging .515 on the season. All three of his home runs have come against lefties, and even though it is the smallest of sample sizes, he has quite the split against lefties and righties this year. He needs more opportunities against right handed pitching, but right now it has to be difficult for Rick Renteria not to just use him and Luis Valbuena as a straight platoon right now.
The Bad
Edwin Jackson was not bad, but he was not good either. He provided another Jacksonian start which is becoming more and more of a thing. Five and two-thirds innings giving up eight hits and two walks. He struck out five and managed to only allow two runs across. He kept the ball in the park today which is why he was able to pick up the win. If he could be just a little bit better, he would be so much easier to stomach. You watch him pitch, and you cannot understand why he is not a better than league-average pitcher, but it really all comes down to command. He has spent time with Dave Duncan in St. Louis and Don Cooper on the south side of Chicago, two of the best pitching coaches in the past 30 years. If they could not get him to produce better, I do not think Chris Bosio is going to save him in the next two and a half years.
The Ugly
I am going to give the Cubs their first pass of the year on this. Hector Rondon was not pretty today, but he was not ugly either, and he was due a bad outing as he has been the best relief pitcher for the Cubs this year. Maybe I am getting soft, or I am still in a daze, because the Cubs actually won today.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 15
Reds 4, Cubs 1
The Cubs have now scored one run in the past three games.
The Good
Jeff Samardzija. Again, the starting pitching was good. It is very frustrating to lose three straight games when your pitching is good. Samardzija went seven innings allowing three runs, only one of which was earned due to a catcher’s interference and an error by Emilio Bonifacio in the sixth. He struck out seven while allowing six hits and two walks, and his ERA is now at 1.29 through his first four starts, and his record stands at 0-2. He is the shining example of why win-loss record does not tell us anything about a pitcher.
The Bad
The Cubs only managed to get six hits again, with Anthony Rizzo delivering the only multi-hit performance, again. Rizzo went 2-4 and raised his batting average to .345 on the season.
The Ugly
Junior Lake wen 0-4 with three strikeouts from the two hole. This seems like it is going to be an ongoing problem all year. Not Lake, but the number two spot in the lineup. Manager Rick Renteria seems keen on having Starlin Castro hit lower in the lineup (he batted fifth today). I do not disagree with this idea on its face. If Castro continues to hit fairly well throughout the season, I think having a guy like him who gets a lot of hits and does not walk very much, the five spot is a good place for him. However, it leaves a big gap in the number two spot with no one to fill it right now. Research shows your best hitter should be batting second, not third or fourth as most people believe. We see the Reds’ new manager, Bryan Price, adhering to this logic by batting Joey Votto second. Votto went 0-3 today, but he drew two walks, and just like that, your number two hitter has a .400 OBP for the day in front of your run producers in the three and four holes. However, you cannot blame Renteria for tinkering with the slot, because no one has proven worthy of it so far. Bonifacio needs to be leading off, and Rizzo really should be hitting cleanup, but no one else is hitting well enough to consistently be placed near the top of the order.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 11
Cardinals 10, Cubs 4
This is pretty much exactly what I expect from a Cubs/Cards game.
The Good
Junior Lake belted the first pitch of the game over the left field fence off Adam Wainwright. That was pretty much the pinnacle of the game for Cubs’ fans.
Starlin Castro and Nate Schierholtz both went 2-4, and Schierholtz raised his batting average over .300 on the season.
Chris Rusin came in and pitched five innings in relief only giving up three hits, one walk, and one run in the process. He might have earned himself a start the next time the five spot in the rotation comes up until Jake Arrieta gets healthy.
The Bad
Pretty much everything else.
The Ugly
Carlos Villanueva was horrendous. He pitched well in his first start of the season, but the Cardinal hitters just teed off on him this afternoon. Three innings, ten hits, and nine runs. U-G-L-Y.
Darwin Barney went 0-4 lowering his average to .143 on the season. He is a horrific hitter no matter how gold his glove is. I truly hope we continue to see a lot more Emilio Bonifacio this season.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 10
Cubs 6, Cardinals 3 (11 innings)
The Cubs could have been 0-9 coming into this game, and I still would have been thrilled with beating the dreaded Cards on the road in the first game between the two rivals in 2014.
The Good
Jeff Samardizja was better than good. He pitched exactly seven innings for the third straight game to start his season. He didn’t walk a single batter, and that can make all the difference against a good offense like the Cardinals. He walked two in his first game, and three in his second game. He allowed one run on six hits and struck out four. He made the Cardinals hit a lot of ground balls, and that helped him get out of two jams by inducing double plays.
Rick Renteria made the easy decision to pinch-hit for Samardzija to lead off the eighth, and Justin Ruggiano promptly rewarded the decision with a single. Emilio Bonifacio successfully bunted Ruggiano to second (more on that later). Mike Matheny went to the pen to gain the lefty-lefty advantage, and Renteria countered by pinch-hitting Mike Olt who also singled, moving Ruggiano over to third, and then Anthony Rizzo drove him in with a sac fly. It seems like this is exactly the kind of inning the Cubs could never manage to put together last year. Everyone to this point executed a successful at-bat. Nate Schierholtz then slapped his third hit of the night to bring in another run, giving the Cubs a 3-1 lead at that point.
And, Welington Castillo did this in the 11th, and all was right with the world.
The Bad
Starlin Castro cooled off going 0-4 on the night, but he drew a walk and scored a run.
Luis Valbuena went 0-3 before Renteria pinch-hit for him in the eighth. I think Renteria is still playing around with the lineup a bit, but I just don’t feel like Valbuena is the guy the Cubs want batting second very many game this year.
The Ugly
The effing bullpen! I cannot and will not rehash what happened in the ninth inning. I will just say after the Cubs took the lead in the top of the eighth, Pedro Strop walked two men but also struck out two, and he managed to get out of the inning without blowing the lead. Jose Veras walked one in the ninth, but he also hit two men while blowing his second save of the year in as many chances. It is still early, and Renteria has been patient so far, but I would not be surprised to see the next save opportunity go to someone else. Hector Rondon picked up the save in this one, but I would guess Justin Grimm or Pedro Strop gets the next shot in the ninth.
Renteria is bunting WAY TOO OFTEN! I cannot imagine the guys in the front office are thrilled with these decisions thus far. I thought the point of them hiring Brandon Hyde was to have a guy who could convey some of these sabermetric principles to the manager when they are needed. Now, tonight the bunt worked out, but I am going to try to convince you why I still believe it was a bad idea.
The data from last year shows a team who has a man on first with nobody out is expected to score 0.83 runs. Even if you successfully lay down the bunt, like Bonifacio did tonight, a team who has a man on second with one out was expected to score 0.64 runs last year. So, your likelihood of scoring a run GOES DOWN! Now, tonight was a difficult choice. When it is the eighth or ninth inning, and you only need one run, the bunt starts to make a lot more sense. However, you also have to factor in that Bonifacio is getting on base 50% of the time this year; his OBP was .500 entering tonight’s game. So, the Cubs just gave away an out with that bunt, and that dramatically decreases your chances of scoring multiple runs. Now, the Cubs only needed one run, but with this bullpen against the Cardinals, did Renteria really think that was going to be enough?
Like I said, tonight would have been a difficult decision, and perhaps Renteria made the right choice; it certainly worked out. However, you cannot explain having Ryan Kalish bunt in the first inning yesterday with no outs and Bonifacio on second. To be fair to Renteria, it appeared Kalish was trying to bunt for a hit, and I am not even sure that call came from the dugout. However, with the amount of bunts we have already seen this year from the Cubs, the situation needs to be called into question. We are only ten games into the “Renteria era,” and he has never been a big league manager before. So, for me to pass any judgment at this point would be asinine, but I truly hope this trend declines throughout the year.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 9
Pirates 5, Cubs 4
As Bleacher Nation so eloquently put it, “The Cubs’ bullpen offered us up a gut-punch sandwich today, choking away a 4-0 lead against the Pirates.”
The Good
Travis Wood delivered another solid outing even though he was not rewarded for his efforts. Wood went six strong allowing one run on four hits and three walks while striking out nine. Wood gave up a double to Neil Walker to start the seventh, and then was pulled for Brian Schlitter who promptly came in and Shlit all over Wood’s 4-0 lead.
Starlin Casto stayed hot going 3-4 from the dish to raise his average to .342. He drove one run in and scored another.
The Bad
Emilio Bonifacio and Ryan Kalish went 0-8 from the one and two slots in the lineup. It is difficult to generate runs when your top couple of hitters are not getting on base. Bonifacio did walk once and steal two bases.
The Ugly
Bullpen! Not the entire bullpen, but as previously mentioned, Schlitter entered the game in the seventh with a runner and second and a four run lead. He threw six straight two-seam fastballs to Travis Snider to start the at-bat. The seventh pitch was a slider that Snider fouled off, and then he tried one more two-seamer which Snider promptly launched more than 400 feet to dead center.
He got Travis Ishikawa to fly out, Starling Marte singled, and Jose Tabata lined out to Castro. With two outs and a two-run lead, Schlitter walked Andrew McCutchen after having him down in the count 1-2.
Rick Renteria went back to the bullpen to get James Russell to gain the lefty-lefty matchup advantage against Pedro Alvarez. It was the right decision. It was a no brain move. Russell’s first pitch was a slider right across the heart of the plate that Alvarez blasted to dead center, making Snider’s homerun look like it barely got out. Just like that, all of Wood’s hard work was erased, and the Cubs never scored another run.
Cubs Conspectus: Game 8
Cubs 7, Pirates 5
The Cubs win game two of a series meaning they have their first rubber match of the season tomorrow.
The Good
Emilio Freaking Bonifacio. 2-5 tonight with two runs scored, and his batting average now sits at exactly .500 for the season through eight games.
Jason Hammel again was great. Seven innings allowing three runs on three hits and one walk while striking out six. All three runs he surrendered were solo home runs, and it was one of those nights where the wind was blowing out pretty steadily at Wrigley. So, three runs in seven innings is very good. Just ask Wandy Rodriguez.
The entire offense was great. Every position player had at least one hit. Anthony Rizzo was 4-5, and Mike Olt and Junior Lake delivered “back-to-back jacks!” (as Ronnie would have said) in the fifth inning. Olt golfed his out while using the wind to his advantage. Lake on the other hand just absolutely killed his ball.
Also involving Junior Lake, Rick Renteria used a timely challenge in the sixth after the umpires ruled Lake had grounded into an inning ending double play. Turns out Lake was safe. A run scored on the fielder’s choice, and had the call not been overturned, the Cubs would have found themselves in a one-run game in the ninth with the wind blowing out.
The Bad
Despite the fact that the offense slashed 14 hits and drove in seven runs, the Cubs were still 2-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Ugly
Pedro Strop came in with a 7-3 lead in the ninth and gave up back-t0-back jacks of his own. Granted, the wind was blowing out, and Strop managed to strike two guys out as well. The key for the Cubs pitchers was keeping men off base. All five runs from Pittsburgh came on solo home runs, and the Cubs’ pitchers walked only one batter all night.
Bullpen Sessions 