Good or bad? Like the ending to some movies, I would have to say bad. On the flip side, if that movie had an unexpected twist that nobody saw coming, I would say good. One word titles to a blog everyday may get old quick, while posting before a certain time each day is reliably good. Our baseball teams have become predictable, both in good ways and bad. The Cubs and Sox have both been following a predictable script lately, and that continued Saturday.
The Cubs trading away some of their best “right now” players to get players for the future is predictable. We all had to know this was coming again this year… and it did, although you can make the argument for both of the players involved in this trade that they could have been long term pieces. You can also make the argument that the players the Cubs received in return for these guys were unexpectedly great. Going into Saturday’s game, after deal #1 of 2014 was made, the Cubs were riding a 4 game winning streak, reaching 8 under .500 for the first time since May 5. The Cubs got slaughtered 13-0. Predictable. Spot starter Carlos Villaneuva gave up 4 earned runs in 2 IP, while one of the guys who just arrived from Iowa, Chris Rusin, gave up 5 ER in 3.2 IP. Did we expect these guys to both unexpectedly arrive at their respective positions and do great? Did we expect this Cubs winning streak to go on forever? It was the Washington Nationals, who appear to be a playoff team, winners of 6 of their last 7, playing at home, with one of their aces on the mound. So, regardless of the scenario playing out in the Cubs dugout, this result could have been predictable regardless. How do we predict the Cubs to respond in Sunday’s rubber match?
The Sox have been trudging along, winning some, losing some. At 6 games under .500, things have been status quo on the south side. In Friday’s affair vs Seattle, it was Sale and Abreu who led the Sox to victory. Predictable. Abreu hit another HR. How many HR’s do you predict Abreu to finish up with this year? 50? Sale had another strong outing. I predicted him to get injured again this season, but every time he is out there healthy, toeing that rubber, he has been outstanding, although Ventura did leave him in for 112 pitches to finish a game that the Sox were up by 7-1. Predictable. Then came Saturday’s game. The Sox scored 2 runs in the 8th inning to go up 2-0 and had their sights set on a 2-0 series lead. Then the bullpen came in and promptly gave up 2 runs in the top of the 9th. Five innings later, the Sox lost 3-2. How many games has the bullpen cost the Sox? What if the Sox just skipped playing on Saturdays? They are 1-13 on Saturdays this season. Who could have predicted that?
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Even the World Cup was predictable… even I who know very little about soccer could have picked the final four teams left standing in this event. There are really no surprises there. So kind of like March Madness, you had some early shockers, but at the end, it was the cream rising to the top. Predictable.
How will this season play out? If my predictions are correct, it’s 75 wins for the Sox and 70 wins for the Cubs. I want an unexpected twist; one that I will be happily surprised by. I will keep writing about Chicago baseball all summer, although you can predict that you will see more Cubs than Sox on this website. I will stop using predictable one-word titles for my blog, and I will try to give some unexpected twists, no matter how small, like ending this blog in mid-…..
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