Results tagged ‘ David DeJesus ’
6/19 Cubs lineup
Bryan LaHair is in right field again and David DeJesus in center in Tuesday’s second game against the White Sox. Travis Wood is pitching. Here’s the lineup:
DeJesus CF
Castro SS
LaHair RF
Soriano DH
Clevenger 1B
Barney 2B
Valbuena 3B
Soto C
Campana LF
– Carrie Muskat
6/2 Cubs lineup & new No. 3 hitter
David DeJesus, who has primarily been the leadoff man, was moved into the No. 3 spot in the Cubs lineup Saturday for Game 2 against the Giants. DeJesus has hit third in 126 games in his career and has a .292 batting average there. He did so in 23 games last year with the Royals, batting .193 (17-for-88). He’s 11-for-33 in his last 10 games, and has hit safely in nine of his last 21 games. The Cubs No. 3 hitters are batting a collective .300 so far with two home runs. DeJesus may not provide much pop but he can deliver doubles and triples. Joe Mather is 6-for-27 (.222) so far in the No. 3 spot. Here’s the lineup:
Campana CF
Castro SS
DeJesus RF
Soriano LF
LaHair 1B
Clevenger C
Barney 2B
Mather 3B
Garza P
– Carrie Muskat
6/1 May days
It’s June 1. What did we learn about the Cubs in May?
* They don’t have a closer. Carlos Marmol had the job, then lost it to rookie Rafael Dolis, who is now at Triple-A Iowa trying to find his command. James Russell, Shawn Camp and even Casey Coleman will take turns saving games as Dale Sveum goes with the best matchup.
* Bryan LaHair is not Babe Ruth. The first baseman hit .390 in April with five homers, eight doubles and 14 RBIs, then cooled off in May.
* Starlin Castro may not be a No. 3 hitter.
* They survived a 12-game losing streak, and won three in a row earlier than last year’s team did. Give credit to even keel Sveum and his staff.
* They need more catchers. Geovany Soto, Steve Clevenger, and Welington Castillo went on DL in a matter of days.
* Kerry Wood’s career ended perfectly with one last strikeout May 18, and he can now focus on 6-year-old son Justin’s Little League games.
Numbers game:
Team batting
April (23 games): .237 BA; .294 OBP; .339 slugging; .633 OPS; 9 homers, 75 RBIs
May (27 games): .259 BA; .320 OBP; .429 slugging; .748 OPS; 30 homers; 96 RBIs
Team pitching
April: 8-15; 4.21 ERA; 2-for-5 save opportunities
May: 10-17; 4.47 ERA; 5-for-10 save opportunities
May showers
Ryan Dempster: 0-2, 3.72 ERA, 6 starts
Matt Garza: 0-2, 6.86 ERA, 4 starts
Bryan LaHair: .253 BA; .343 OBP; .448 slugging; .792 OPS; 2 doubles, 5 HR, 8 RBIs
May flowers
Darwin Barney .284 BA; .344 OBP; .489 slugging; .832 OPS; 2 HR, 10 doubles, 8 RBIs
Starlin Castro .304 BA; .311 OBP; .452 slugging; .763 OPS; 4 HR, 1 double, 18 RBIs
David DeJesus .317 BA; .400 OBP; .495 slugging; .895 OPS; 7 doubles, 4 triples, 1 HR, 8 RBIs
Alfonso Soriano, .290 BA; .353 OBP; .591 slugging; .944 OPS; 7 HRs, 7 doubles, 17 RBIs
Shawn Camp 2-1, 13 games, 1.35 ERA
Paul Maholm 2-1, 3.56 ERA, 5 starts
Jeff Samardzija 3-2, 2.48 ERA, 6 starts
– Carrie Muskat
5/21 Lineup stays the same for now
There was no turnover Monday at the top of the Cubs batting order as manager Dale Sveum hinted he might do.
“I didn’t say I was changing it,” Sveum said. “I considered it. I decided not to.”
Why not? Part of the reasoning is Sveum wanted to overload the lineup with left-handed hitters against Astros starter Bud Norris. The other reason is the Cubs will face left-handed starters for three games, beginning Tuesday, and he’ll be using his right-handed hitting lineup for those games. But Sveum did come close to some tweaks.
“Very close, I will admit,” Sveum said. “I decided to give it one more week, the right-handed lineup.”
It isn’t that Sveum is upset at the job David DeJesus, Tony Campana and Starlin Castro are doing in the 1-2-3 spots. The Cubs haven’t been able to turn the lineup over. They’re batting .231 with runners in scoring position.
“The bottom line is we’re still not scoring runs,” said Sveum, whose team ranks 14th in the National League in RBIs. “We’re not scoring runs off the starting pitchers and it’s been going on all year. It’s kind of weird. We’re better against the back end of the bullpen than we have been against starting pitchers.”
For example, in the three-games against the White Sox, all losses, the Cubs were outscored 16-6, and only two of those runs came off a starter, Philip Humber.
“I think the top three, we’re doing a decent job getting on base for the guys behind us,” DeJesus said. “[Sveum] knows what he’s doing — we trust him, we stand behind him and whatever he has in store for us, we’ll deal with it and go out and do it.”
– Carrie Muskat
5/21 Cubs lineup
So much for change. Apparently, Dale Sveum changed his mind, and left the top of the Cubs order the same Monday against the Astros. David DeJesus wasn’t sure what to expect Monday.
“I think the top three, we’re doing a decent job getting on base for the guys behind us,” DeJesus said. “He knows what he’s doing — we trust him, we stand behind him and whatever he has in store for us, we’ll deal with it and go out and do it.”
Here’s the lineup:
RF DeJesus
CF Campana
SS Castro
1B LaHair
LF Soriano
3B Stewart
2B Cardenas
C Hill
P Garza
– Carrie Muskat
4/19 Marlins 5, Cubs 3
The Cubs began their first road trip with a confidence-boosting win over the defending World Series champions, and ended it Thursday with a sputtering offense. Greg Dobbs hit a two-run double to back Ricky Nolasco and lift the Marlins to victory and a sweep of the Cubs. They went 1-5 on this trip. Jeff Samardzija (2-1) took the loss in the shortest outing by a Cubs starter this season, lasting 3 2/3 innings. He deflected Logan Morrison’s liner off the meaty portion of his right hand in the fourth but stayed in to strike out Giancarlo Stanton and was then pulled.
“I should’ve caught it,” Samardzija said. “That was the least of my worries.”
The problem was a lack of first-pitch strikes. In Samardzija’s first start of the year against the Nationals, he threw first-pitch strikes to all but five of the 31 batters he faced. On Thursday, he did so for 12 of the 21 batters faced.
“I’m not 100 percent disappointed,” Samardzija said of his outing. “There are just things you have to work on.”
* The Cubs rank last in the Major Leagues in home runs and are 28th in the Majors in slugging percentage. Since their April 13 win over the Cardinals, they’ve been outscored, 34-10. They’re not panicking; just need some consistency in all facets of the game.
“It’s tough,” David DeJesus said of the five-game skid and overall 3-10 record. “We come to the field to win the games. It’s not like we’re coming to hang out and have fun. We just have to get better as a team. We have to focus and take every at-bat the way professionals do. I feel that will lead to better innings and ‘W’s in the win column.”
* The Cubs finally got the big inning they’ve been looking for in the second, sparked by Darwin Barney’s three-run triple. But in the three-game series at Marlins Park, the Cubs were 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 baserunners.
* Geovany Soto posted his first multi-hit game of the season. He led NL catchers in 2011 with 21.
* Starlin Castro extended his hitting streka to seven games, and is .444 in that stretch. He’s reached base safely in 52 of his last 53 games since Aug. 15, 2011.
* Ian Stewart had two hits to end an 0-for-13 skid.
* On Friday, the Cubs open a three-game series and six-game homestand against the Reds. Chris Volstad will face Homer Bailey on Friday.
– Carrie Muskat
4/3 Cubs lineup – UPDATED
Bryan LaHair is not in the Cubs lineup Tuesday. He has not played since Friday because of tightness in his back. Blake DeWitt will start at first. The Cubs close the Cactus League season on Tuesday with an early game against the Brewers at HoHoKam Park:
RF DeJesus
2B Barney
SS Castro
LF Soriano
3B Stewart
C Soto
CF Byrd
1B DeWitt
DH Johnson
– Carrie Muskat
4/2 Cubs 8, Diamondbacks 3
What went right:
Kerry Wood needed just 11 pitches to get through the fifth inning Monday, striking out the first batter he faced. It was his final spring outing and he retired the side in the fifth and picked up the win in relief. Manager Dale Sveum predicted pre-game an 11-pitch outing. Wood will leave Arizona with five innings total. The Cubs hope that’s enough.
“[We're] just a little more patient this year,” Wood said. “We get here [to camp] and we’re excited to be around the guys and next thing you know, six days later, we’re facing hitters. We backed it off a little bit.”
At 34 and entering his 15th season, Wood should know how to prepare. His 2011 season ended early because of a torn meniscus in his left knee but that hasn’t slowed him. The light workload may be more preventative than anything else.
“I feel good, my body feels ready to go,” Wood said. “Counting back stuff and side stuff, I’ve been off the mound enough.”
He said his command has been good, he’s been able to throw his cutter to both sides of the plate and just needs to fine tune his curve.
* In the game, Alfonso Soriano, Jeff Baker and Geovany Soto each had two RBIs, with Soto’s coming on his fourth home run.
What went wrong:
Jay Jackson had a 2-0 lead, then gave up three runs on five hits over four innings. He’ll open the season at Triple-A Iowa.
Quotable:
“It’s coming along. Sometimes it’s a process for people. Sometimes they look too deep into things, especially veteran players in Spring Training. it’s just wait and see what happens during the season. I know Rudy [Jaramillo] and he have talked. It’s been interesting actually. It could be a huge impact on why the numbers haven’t been there the last year.” — Dale Sveum on David DeJesus, who was batting .207 this spring.
Injury report:
* Bryan LaHair was expected to play Tuesday in the Cactus League finale against the Brewers. He has not played since Friday because of tightness in his back. Milwaukee also has a night game Tuesday, so most of the squad will be from the Double-A Huntsville roster.
* Marcos Mateo continues to rehab from right elbow soreness. He will not be ready for Opening Day.
This and that:
* Jeff Samardzija tuned up for the regular season by throwing four scoreless innings at the Cubs Minor League camp. He is scheduled to start April 8 against the Nationals at Wrigley Field.
* The competition for the final bullpen spots is coming down to the wire. There are eight relievers for seven spots. Carlos Marmol, Kerry Wood and James Russell are set and Rodrigo Lopez appears to be the long man. Others to be considered include Rafael Dolis, Lendy Castillo, Manuel Corpas and Shawn Camp.
Camp threw Sunday against the Angels and had a better outing, Sveum said.
“Guys like him, they have to stay out of the middle of the plate and keep the ball down otherwise their stuff doesn’t allow them to be in the middle of the plate up,” Sveum said. “He makes the ball go sideways, but he has to be down because his velocity is only 88 miles an hour.”
Up next:
Travis Wood, who will open the season at Triple-A Iowa, will close the Cactus League action on Tuesday against the Brewers. Tuesday’s game will start one hour earlier at 12:05 p.m. Arizona time and be broadcast on WGN Radio. The lineup will be a preview of Opening Day with DeJesus in right, Darwin Barney at second, Starlin Castro at short, LaHair at first, Alfonso Soriano in left, Ian Stewart at third, Marlon Byrd in center, and Geovany Soto catching. The Cubs will use a DH and Reed Johnson was slated to start.
– Carrie Muskat
3/30 Opening Day lineup?
Dale Sveum may be testing his Opening Day lineup on Friday when the Cubs face the Dodgers at HoHoKam Park in Mesa. Next Thursday, the Cubs play for real at Wrigley Field when they host the Nationals. The forecast for Chicago next week calls for sunshine and temperatures in the low 60s. Perfect. Here’s Friday’s lineup, where it’ll be near 90:
RF David DeJesus
2B Darwin Barney
SS Starlin Castro
1B Bryan LaHair
LF Alfonso Soriano
3B Ian Stewart
CF Marlon Byrd
C Geovany Soto
P Ryan Dempster
– Carrie Muskat
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