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I am going to write a new article about the Cubs every month of the 2004 Cubs season. Here is issue #2. We are Hurt May 2004 So it is almost June and here we are as Cubs fans. We have had a lot of ups and downs already this season. We have had more downs than ups. Those downs can be summed up in one word. Injuries. |
Injuries
It has been well documented that the Cubs have had a lot of players on the disabled list. In fact I think they have set a Cubs and maybe I think even an MLB record so far for most players on the DL at this point in the season. The Cubs have had 9 players on the DL and there record for a season is 16. I hope they don't achieve that. The bottom line is that the Cubs are still winning with their top players out. This is a good sign. I just hope we get Prior, Wood, and Sosa back very soon or this might be a long summer.
Score runs
Something that has bothered me quite a bit so far this season is that our offense is pretty inconsistent and not scoring enough runs every game. It is weird. One day the Cubs score 8 runs and they score 0 the next day. You figure with 9 players in the lineup plus guys coming off the bench, one or two of them would be hot on any given day and be able to put some runs on the board. That has not been the case. I think we can point this lack of runs finger at guys like Derrek Lee and Corey Patterson. These guys have to stop striking out, put the ball in play, and get some timely hits. I had heard enough about the slow start for Lee. The season is 2 months old. Come on General Lee, let's get the party started.
Hang Around 1st Place
I guess the important thing when it is all said and done is that the Cubs are still a game or so out of 1st place. This is an important month or so coming up with all the games against NL Central teams. So if the Cubbies can can hang around until mid-June when hopefully our big guns are back, we should be in good shape. This could be a blessing in disguise. Maybe all these guys will come back 100% and be ready for the long hot summer and cool playoff baseball in the Fall.