7/15 Cubs lineup
Ryan Dempster starts Friday for the Cubs, his first game since his early exit against the Pirates. Dempster didn’t agree with Mike Quade’s decision to pull him after 87 pitches over five innings last Saturday. Quade said the two have talked and the manager was able to explain his reasons. Let’s see what happens at Wrigley Field on Friday vs. the Marlins. Here’s the lineup:
RF Fukudome
SS Castro
3B Ramirez
1B Pena
CF Byrd
C Soto
LF Soriano
2B Barney
P Dempster
– Carrie Muskat
mlblogsmuskat1
RF Fukudome (wasting a space better suited to evaluate a kid)
SS Castro (part the future)
3B Ramirez (not wasting a space as there’s nobody coming up but he is inconsequential to the team)
1B Pena (wasting a space/money better suited to evaluate LaHair)
CF Byrd (servicable yet inconsequential)
C Soto (servicable yet inconsequential)
LF Soriano (wasting a space/money better suited to evaluate a kid)
2B Barney (part the future)
P Dempster (should hang around as a no. 3 starter behind Garza and whoever the next GM gets as the team’s ACE)
It all adds up to NOT GOOD ENOUGH. When a team is better off with a light hitting speedster like Campana playing regularly over the non-contributing Soriano in LF and a bench player like Johnson better than the every day bust Fukodome in RF the club is in a sorry state. Quade would be better served benching both Soriano and Fukodome and going with Camapan and Johnson flanking Byrd. This way the team would have a better chance of singles, doubles, stolen bases….all possibly leading to a run or two making a difference in the game’s outcome. Soriano and Fukodome? There time has come and gone.