[IceBox13]

At what point do major leaguers forget about fundamental baseball? When a pitcher is having trouble throwing strikes, you don't swing until they throw you a strike. After having walked both Ramirez and Byrd on 8 consecutive balls, and with a 2-0 count, Soriano pops out weakly to third. The very next inning, with Theriot on, Colvin walks on 4 consecutive balls and Castro swings at the very first pitch, grounding out.

That's the kind of crap that just infuriates me. If they're not smart enough to take these pitches, then Lou needs to give them the take sign. This is exactly the kind of crap that makes me glad Lou is going. He just doesn't care about winning, no matter what he says in his press conferences.

[p2ranger]

Yeah, I was a little disappointed in that myself. Sometimes, especially earlier this season, it seemed as if some Cubs didn't think when they came to the plate.

But on the up side, Cubs win!!! Cardinals lose! Cards have 0 runs and 6 hits through the last 20 innings. Ouch! And Albert went 0-4 today.

Jason

[TheFonz]

Yeah, I'm not going to really complain about that with the win. Castro is 20 years old, and we all know how aggressive Soriano can be at the plate. That said, if you get a pitch you can do something with, you swing at it. I was actually at the game so I don't really know what the pitches were like, but if they are clear strikes that you think you can hit, why not swing?
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“Chicago Cubs fans are ninety percent scar tissue.”

[IceBox13]

Because if you don't swing, it might be a ball, or the next couple of pitches might be balls. There's no excuse for swinging at a pitch before getting a strike when a pitcher is struggling with control (especially if you make an out that ends an inning with runners in scoring position). I don't care that Castro is young. He is young by major league standards, but he has still been playing baseball for years. Soriano definitely should know better. And my point is that if the players don't know better, it's the managers job to make them know better.

Yeah, it might not have mattered yesterday because they won, but I posted that before the game was over. The problem is that it's this kind of crap (and other things) that have killed them offensively throughout the season. How many times have they given a pitcher a 5 or 6 pitch inning? It's just sloppy. It's the reason why a team with a $140M+ payroll can be 10 games under .500, while a team with a $70M payroll can be in first place.

[TheFonz]

I agree with you completely on borderline pitches. If a guy is struggling with his command and the pitch is borderline early in the count, you let it go. Young players will make mistakes no matter how long they have been playing the game, doesn't completely excuse them, but it happens. I can't comment on the specific pitches because I didn't see them close, my only point is that I don't agree with taking all the way on a 2-0 count. If you get a good 2-0 pitch, swing and make something happen. You might not get another good pitch. Assuming it wasn't a borderline pitch, and Soriano saw something in it, he could have let it go and maybe worked a walk but there's no guarantee that the guy behind you is going to drive in runs. IF you get a pitch that you think you can hit well, then try to drive in some runs.

I see your point, especially with Castro. However, on a good pitch, I personally like Soriano's aggressiveness in that situation.
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“Chicago Cubs fans are ninety percent scar tissue.”