So, What’s Good?

4-8 ain’t great.

Not much has gone right so far this season, but we can’t get bogged down by the misery. Here are some things that have actually gone right. And some silver linings to things that haven’t.

  1. Nate Schierholtz

    Nate has been, well, just splendid. Through 11 games he’s off to the best start of any right fielder who has come and gone since Sammy Sosa left the building.

    * In recent years Cubs right fielders have specialized in having a slugging percentage lower than their on-base percentage.
    Year Player AVG OBP SLG OPS
    2005 Jeremy Burnitz .273 .313 .500 .813
    2006 Jacque Jones .188 .250 .313 .563
    2007 Jacque Jones .313 .333 .469 .802
    2008 Kosuke Fukudome .333 .458 .487 .945
    2009 Milton Bradley .042 .281 .167* .448
    2010 Kosuke Fukudome .306 .325 .444 .769
    2011 Kosuke Fukudome .375 .500 .375* .875
    2012 David DeJesus .281 .439 .344* .783
    2013 Nate Schierhotz .343 .410 .629 1.039

    Nice.

  2. Carlos Villanueva

    The top two spots on this list go to the two offseason acquisitions I had the highest hopes for. Between an 0.64 ERA through two starts and a meme-worthy moustache, Carlos Villanueva has quickly threatened to become my favorite Villanueva since Hector.

    Villanuevas with moustaches

    One of these is more ironic than the other.

  3. The Resurgence of David DeJesus

    Dude was raking during spring training, then hit a wall when the season started. But, after going hitless the first 4 games of the season, the Lover has started to get his mojo mojo’ing and remains key to the potential for a sneaky good offense. And, thanks to his wife’s twitter, we know the plate isn’t the only place he’s heating up.

  4. Starting New Hashtags

    Thanks to twitter user @RunningFlannel the #KyujiFuji hashtag hopes to take off soon, while two others should be naturals – Wellington Castillo, AKA #TheBeef and David #TheLover DeJesus.

  5. Anthony Rizzo’s Power and Patience

    This is definitely the silver lining entry. Rizzo is well below the Mendoza line, but the peripherals are still solid – an OBP 120 points higher than his batting average, 3 home runs and 2 doubles, producing 9 RBI. The 16 K’s is troublesome, but all it will take is one good week to get everything back on track.

So, what are you pleased with about the season so far?

About Dylan Steele

A Louisiana native, Dylan Steele now lives in Halethorpe, Maryland. A web developer by day, he is also an occasional musician, frequent dog walker and sometimes hoopster. And now he blogs, too.
This entry was posted in Chicago Cubs and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *