New Nastys
What a thriller last night as Ryan Dempster left the bases loaded
when he coaxed a groundball to SS off the bat of Kevin Mench to end a
9th-inning threat and preserve a 5-4 Cubs win. Dempster had been
lights out the last half-dozen outings and was really in a groove
prior to last night. The bottom line is to get the job done which he
did, albeit with a little extra drama. The one thing we need to
remember is that closers aren't perfect. I say that because I sense
that every time Dempster allows even a baserunner, Cub fans get
nervous. I understand it because the stakes are so high, but the
tightrope he has to walk in these huge, close games isn't always a
cakewalk. Marmol, Howry and Dempster have formed a solid 7th-8th-9th
inning wall that many teams would love to have. In the long-term,
that 9th inning may be Marmol's ultimate destination, but for the
rest of this year, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be
the veteran Dempster, with lots of backup help if needed.
Len
Comments
dempster really scares me when he comes in,i have always said he does not have "closer stuff" he is just simply the guy who pitches the ninth for the cubs,that being said i cannot wait untill they move marmol into that role.when we get into the post-season or (if)i like to see lou go back to choosing the closer by the game situation,demp would really make everbody nervous coming into the game in the post-season with only a one run lead,and he defenatly cannot face the mets!!!but we aint there yet so i guess lets finish what we got on are plate now and get there............well i see we are down by 4 in the 4th today so we got some work to do.....go cubbies!!!
Posted by: leo s. | August 31, 2007 2:36 PM
Well, yep, I'll admit I'm one of those that tend to get a little nervous in that situation. It's that 'drama' factor that does it. His performance can be awesome, but when it isn't it's too excruciatingly painful to watch. If it's a close game and his pitching is off, all we can do is hang on and hope he gets out of the jam...if he doesn't then we're helplessly watching the other team take our win from us. I just hope he continues to improve, we're certainly all behind him.
Posted by: ShowMeCubs | August 31, 2007 7:31 PM
looking at the lineup for today it looks like we got a powerhouse of right-handed thumpers in there,monroe,ramirez,lee.soriano,etc. you would think we would fair well against leftys like lee said "with our right handed dominate hitters".and i love the addition of monroe,he is a huge guy,pure powerhouse......just K's a little too much but im sure we will see him launch some bombs,he has adam dunn type power,last few days i looked up some archived games he played in a hit hr's and man some of them were moonshots.........and hooray for tracsel,nice to have a veteren to spot start and he will help in the post-season if we get there....go get em today cubbies!!!!
Posted by: leo s. | September 1, 2007 12:14 PM
I understand Jacque has experience and all...but why not sit him for a couple of games and rest and let Pie have a few games under his belt....not like we'd miss the production..Jacque's been o for his last couple games. And what is up with that trade for Monroe? I think just letting Murton play more would have been better. The trade for Trachsel was ingenius in my eyes...can never have enough quality starters with experience.
Posted by: Kevin Edgell-Oklahoma | September 1, 2007 1:28 PM
Len, I'm sure you believe that, but the look on Lou's face just didn't glow with "that's my closer".
Posted by: James Miller | September 1, 2007 4:17 PM
Dempster is Not a closer! LeTroy Hawkins, Antonio Alfonseca, Rick Aguilera and Mel Rojas were NOT closers yet the Cubs continued to insist they were. Marmol or Howry would be so much better. Just because a guy has pitched as the closer in the past doesn't mean you let him remain when there are more qualified canidates. It might hurt his feelings, but tough. We Cub fans have waited to long to let a guy remain the closer just to be nice.
Posted by: Kevin Veneskey | September 1, 2007 8:44 PM
The Cubs have reaquired the "Human Rain Delay" in Steve Traschel. His secret is to lull the opposition into swinging at anything just to keep from going to sleep. Unfortunatly it also has the same effect on our defence. I attended one of his games years ago when he threw over to first 14 times, the pitching coach then came out to the mound, had a talk with Traschel and then he proceded to throw 2 more times over to first before finally striking the batter out. As I can recall, the hitter was Dykstra and he looked worn out walking back to the Phils dugout. Welcome home Steve, you'r one in a million.
Posted by: Vincent K | September 1, 2007 10:46 PM