Nomar No-more
According to early reports from ESPN.com, Nomar Garciaparra has a "ruptured" groin. The muscles in his groin have torn, at least partly, away from the bone, meaning he's off to the 15-day DL. The results of the MRI are not entirely known, but he will miss roughly 2-3 months (according to Yahoo! Sports), meaning the Cubbies will be missing their first-choice middle infielders Nomar and 2B Todd Walker until at least June.
So what does this mean? Let's see what happens. Jerry Hairston Jr., the man brought over in the Sosa/Orioles trade, needs to have an impact as an everyday 2B, something he's flirted with over the last couple of years. I'm not so worried about Neifi Perez - he's shown some grit since coming into the lineup, and regular play will only help his batting improve to the level of his steady and reliable defense in the hole.
Let's see what happens - middle of the 1st in St. Louis, Ramirez ended the inning with a double play, squandering a pair of singles by Perez and Patterson respectively. 0-0, Bottom 1.
posted by Jim Hendry @ 1:09 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Offensively, the key to the team is going to be Corey Patterson. Sure, Rameriz, Lee, and Burnitz are the RBI guys, but there has got to be the guy up front who puts the real fear into the defense, the guy the other team worries about getting on in front of the RBI guys. Otherwise the defense is just thinking it's okay to face them because the Cubs won't have a big inning.
It would be nice if Neifi and Hairston could do the job, but I don't see it happening very often. Corey could be the guy that teams fear, a guy like Lou Brock was. The type of player that the defense was constantly thinking about regardless of who is at the plate.
I agree about Corey Patterson. His OBP is hovering around .305 for his career, and I liked him in the leadoff spot. At number two, he's coming in having seen Hairston Jr. ground out weakly or strike out looking. It just doesn't work.
Corey has the ability to be the most effective leadoff guy for the Cubs this year. Last year he was extremely effective towards the head of the order, his OBP was .320 despite high strikeout totals.
At the moment, yr right - without Ramirez, Lee, and Burnitz, the Cubs lineup is not looking threating in the slightest. When Lee was batting in the six spot, teams had nothing to fear - Hollandsworth, Barrett/Blanco, and the pitcher.
Corey needs to be the big man on campus, that much is very true.
Post a Comment
<< Home