While the Cubs' NLDS roster won't be officially named until Wednesday morning, Paul Sullivan reports in the Tribune Tuesday night that Felix Pie will be on the roster and Micah Hoffpauir will not.
Given Mark DeRosa's balky calf, it's not hard to understand the Cubs' desire to have, in Paul Sullivan's words, a "late-inning defensive replacement...if DeRosa gets a start in the outfield." Pie, who hit .241 in 43 games for the Cubs this year, is a capable glove man with lots of speed; Hoffpauir, who hit .342 in 33 games for the Cubs this year, is a butcher in the outfield.
In other words, I buy Pie over Hoffpauir, but what I don't buy is the non-hitting pinch-hitter Daryle Ward over Hoffpauir.
Despite connecting for one of the season's most dramatic home runs, a three-run, ninth-inning rocket that lifted the Cubs past the Marlins in a game in mid-August, Ward had a horrible season. Among the 51 National League pinch hitters with at least 25 plate appearances this year, Ward was 29th in on-base percentage (.294), 31st in OPS (585), and a dismal 45th in batting average (8-for-55, .145).
To be fair, Hoffpauir didn't do much in his 14 pinch-hit plate appearances, registering just three singles and striking out seven times.
Still, even though it might mean having to cast a rookie into a do-or-die moment on baseball's most dramatic stage, the post-season, I would much rather see Hoffpauir called upon than Ward.
Note: according to Sullivan, Hoffpauir, catcher Koyie Hill, and relievers Michael Wuertz and Kevin Hart "will report to the Cubs' facility in Mesa, Ariz., to continue working out in case they are needed for the NL Championship Series when the Cubs can change the roster if necessary."
Daryle Ward has started in 497 Major League games and has never had a five-hit game. (For that matter, Aramis Ramirez has started in 1,291 Major League games and has never had a five-hit game.)
But last night, in just his 11th Major League start, Micah Hoffpauir banged out five hits—two home runs, a double, and two singles—in the Cubs' 7-6 loss to the Mets.
Hoffpauir is in a fight with the 33-year-old Ward, among others, for one of the precious spots on the Cubs playoff roster. If this team was managed by veteran-loving Dusty Baker, we could be sure who would capture that spot, but the current Cubs manager is at least suggesting there's a possibility he would give the 28-year-old Hoffpauir the nod.
"You know, we're looking for a couple spots, we're looking for some offense," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Put it this way, he'll be in the lineup [Friday] against Milwaukee..."...The Cubs have three games remaining to finalize the playoff roster. The Cubs still don't know who they'll be playing, and Piniella said that could determine who he picks.
"We have to know who our opponent is first," Piniella said. "Hoffpauir's not hurting himself."
On the subject of hurting yourself relative to a post-season position...
Carlos Zambrano, who has been awful recently outside of his no-hit game against the Astros, has lost out to Ryan Dempster, who has been mostly brilliant this year at Wrigley Field, in a bid to win the starting assignment for Game 1 of the NLDS.
Late word from Wrigley Field Wednesday night, as reported by Paul Sullivan on the Trib's Hardball blog, is that Jim Edmonds, pending the results of a physical, "is expected to be in a Cubs uniform Thursday afternoon."
If the new Cub is in the starting lineup for Thursday's game, he will be facing former Cub Greg Maddux, who will be starting for the Padres against Ryan Dempster.
The irony is obvious: Cub fans will presumably be rooting for a formerly hated opponent to succeed at the expense of a still beloved, former Cub.
For the record, Edmonds has gone .263/.282/.500 against Maddux in 38 AB's, with 2 HR and 4 RBI.
Cubs.com also notes that Daryle Ward is suffering from a bad back. If Ward has to go on the DL, lefthanded-hitting 1B/OF Micah Hoffpauir could be summoned from Iowa. Since reporting to the I-Cubs on May 7th following recovery from a pulled muscle in his rib cage, Hoffpauir has gone 9-for-27 with 2 HR and 10 RBI, 9 of them coming in just two games, Monday and Tuesday night.
As Mike Wellman pointed out at The Cub Reporter, that's more RBI in two games than Matt Murton had produced in 23.
Zero: the number of home runs Daryle Ward hit for the Cubs in 52 plate appearances as a pinch hitter in 2007. (Ward's pinch home run was a key blow in the Cubs' 6-4 win over Seattle on Friday.)
Zero: the amount of interest that the Cubs showed this winter in free agent centerfielder Torii Hunter. (Hunter told buddy Derrek Lee that if the Cubs had asked, he would have been highly interested.)
Zero: how much Jose Ceda enhanced his chances of getting from Class "A" to the big leagues in one big jump by allowing five hits and four BB in just two innings this Spring. (Ceda was one of nine Cubs sent to the Minor League camp on Friday.)
Zero: the number of at-bats Alfonso Soriano has gotten in the last six days. (Soriano is scheduled to return to the Cubs lineup Saturday, just a week after fracturing his right middle finger during a fielding drill.)
Zero: the number of hits Ichiro has in ten AB so far this spring. (That's five fewer hits than Ichiro's countryman, Cubs rookie Kosuke Fukudome, has collected in Cactus League play.)
Zero: the likelihood that I will EVER set foot in U.S. Cellular Field to see the Chicago Cubs play a "home" game. (Note: every time Crane Kenney opens his mouth, bad things come out.)
Tom Tango, aka tangotiger, has published his fan-generated 2007 Scouting Report.
The premise is simple enough: tangotiger invites fans to fill out team ballots like this one on which they rate their favorite clubs' players in a number of defensive categories, including instincts, first step, throwing accuracy, et al. Importantly, he asks fans to not consult any defensive statistics but rather, to rely on their own powers of observation.
You'll find the '07 Cubs report right here. Seventeen Cub players received grades. The most graded player was Jason Kendall (rated by 43 fans); only 11 fans completed ballots for Daryle Ward.
Felix Pie, Derrek Lee, and Ryan Theriot got the highest marks, while the aforementioned Ward, Michael Barrett, Cliff Floyd, and Matt Murton were down at the bottom.
Overall, I would say this fan consensus squares very much with how I would have rated the players.
Interesting stuff, as tangotiger's always is.
(Also, right here, The Hardball Times compares the Fan Scouting Reports with some of their own defensive metrics.)
