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Starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano endured the worst outing of his career Monday, surviving just 1 1/3 innings and surrendering eight runs, an inauspicious beginning to what became a downright ugly loss for the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day.
The Atlanta Braves got nine RBI combined from shortstop Yunel Escobar and rookie sensation Jason Heyward en route to a 16-5 win.
New center fielder Marlon Byrd hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning for Chicago, but Atlanta got six in the bottom half. By the time Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez cracked a two-run homer in the third ...
Too bad there's no such thing as mulligans in baseball. Carlos Zambrano's first two innings were just about as bad as they come, as the Atlanta Braves pounded on the Cubs in the season opener.
You really have to squint to see anything good in this one, but there are some promising remarks to be made. First, the bad.
Zambrano (0-1) left the game after 1.1 innings pitched, in which he pitched a monstrous 49 pitches, only 28 being strikes. Along with his eight earned runs, two walks, two home runs, and 6.00 WHIP, ...
All of the promise of offseason trades and unbelievable expenditures culminated on Monday afternoon as the Chicago Cubs traveled to Atlanta to face the Braves.
It only took an inning to ruin the Cubs' season.
Jumping out to an early 3-0 lead in top of the first inning, the Cubs looked like they were ready to stake their claim and end the streak of something like 500 straight years without a World Series title.
Then the Braves came to bat. Soon it was 3-3, and rookie Jason Hayward came to the plate to take his first major league swings. He hit a ...
This article is the final part of a five-part series of articles breaking down the Cubs' roster. You can view part four, which covers the starting lineup, here.
In the first four parts of this series, I laid out the Cubs' roster as it currently stands and projected out many of the different decisions that will need to be made during the season.
I kept subjectivity to a minimum and did my best to present the information as fully as possible, allowing readers to formulate their own ideas of what may happen this year.
Now I'm going to finally open myself up to ...
Even from the writer who told you that the Cubs' pitching is the teams' Achilles heel, I will not say "I told you so."
That's right, for even with the White Sox, who I picked to win the AL Central this year, they may have won easily but you won't hear any gloating.
Why? Repeat after me, IT'S ONLY ONE GAME.
I know, Carlos Zambrano was horrible and the defense was bad. Alfonso Soriano played as if he couldn't care less.
And Jeff Samardzija, who is only on a major league roster because he has a big contract (relatively speaking), like Carlos Silva, ...
Ready for the first pitch?
The Chicago Cubs open up the 2010 campaign facing the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field at 3:10 PM CST today for the first time in the club’s history. Only four other times have the Cubs and Braves met in an opener.
The most recent matchup was at Wrigley Field in 1993, when Greg Maddux pitched his first game as a Brave and shut out the Cubs, 1-0, in 8 1/3 innings of work. Maddux went on to win the Cy Young Award in ‘93, and in ’94...and in ’95.
The clubs also ...
This article is part four of a series of articles breaking down the Cubs' roster. You can view part three, which covers the bench, here .
In part one of this series I mentioned that there are a lot of fresh faces on this year's Cubs team.
The truth of the matter is that most of those fresh faces are fighting for the last spot in the rotation, holding on to a spot in the bullpen, or riding the pine. The same players, save one, will be in the starting lineup on Monday in Atlanta that were starting for the ...
2009 ended with a loss. And this season? (Cubbie Nation/file)
I really wasn’t going to do this.
Defining in advance the success or failure of 30 major league teams over a 162 game season is probably something of a fool’s errand. But after receiving yet another e-mail from an editor asking for predictions and prognostications on the upcoming 2010 season, I’m going to take my shot.
Let me say a few things specifically about the Cubs first. I like this team. Some of my readers might disagree with that statement, but there are some good things happening here, in my opinion. If the ...
With Opening Day upon us, I decided to take a look around the league to see how many former Cubs will be suiting up elsewhere when the 2010 seasons starts.
I only included players who saw major league action with the Cubs and only players who are on big league rosters to open this season.
While the list is mostly made up of utility players and relievers, there are a handful of players I would not mind seeing in Cubs uniform once again, namely Michael Wuertz, Scott Downs, Jake Fox and Mark DeRosa.
So on that, here are the former Cubs that will ...
This article is part three of a series of articles breaking down the Cubs' roster. You can view part two, which covers the rotation, here .
Although they may not be at the forefront of every fan's mind, the players that make up any team's bench can be a huge factor in the failure or success of a season.
In the National League, where it isn't uncommon to have multiple pinch-hitters or a few defensive replacements in a game, these guys are crucial.
For the Cubs, a team whose Opening Day lineup will have an average age of just over 30 and ...
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