Lilly Has A Bum Shoulder ... And It's Not Even 2010 Yet

I nonchalantly dismissed Ted Lilly's shoulder surgery after initial reports of it being a minor scope.  Then I read on, minor scopes don't take pitchers down through April.

Yep, you've got it Cubs fans.  Less than one day after the baseball season comes to an end, the Cubs are already screwing themselves out of next year's pennant race.

Rage after the jump.

Jim Hendry, fuck you.  You too, Lou Piniella.  Now, I try to stay away from the various words you should not say on televsion, but this is a necessary platform in which to do so.

This would not even have been an issue had the Cubs taken my advice (from August!) and cut your losses in early September, rather than push everyone to the limit despite being 10 games behind the Cardinals.  I warned you ... I warned you all.  Having a sense of pride by beating the Pirates, Mets and Reds is not worth mortgaging the team's future.  Apparently, I am one of the few who realize this.

There was absolutely no reason to trot out Lilly for five September starts.  None.  C'mon, Jim.  C'mon, Sweet Lou.  Justify Lilly throwing an average of 107 pitches in his five September starts when the rest of the team was either lying on its back praying for mercy or bent over a coffee table taking it from the rest of the National League contenders.

Come on.  I dare ya.  What?  Did you suddenly think that managing a pitching staff like Dusty Baker was still around was a good idea?

Great, the Cubs beat Houston, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati all at the expense of Lilly's health and the mental health for Cubs fans who will be entering their 101st straight season being the hunter rather than the hunted.  Seriously, guys, what the fuck where you thinking in September?  Did you really think the Cubs were going to overtake the Rockies, Marlins, Braves and Giants with the Jake Fox/Sam Fuld/Tyler Colvin clusterfuck of an outfield?

I didn't think so.

Lilly beat the NL Central's three worst teams en route to having a 12-win season.  Those three teams finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the NL Central.  You wasted a month of the team's best starter on teams that finished with a combined winning percentage of .441.

Oh, and real Cubs fans know "April" really means "All-Star Break" when it comes to a timetable of a pitcher's return.

Is it too early to prepare myself for 20 starts by Tom Gorzelanny?  And if not, how do I do so without getting alcohol poisoning?

Stat Boy Learns That Pitchin' Ain't Easy

So much has been written about the Cubs' lack of hitting, that sometimes people overlook the guys on the bump.  To the naked eye, it looks like the Cubs got waxed in their three-game set against the Cardinals.  But to the wise observer, the Cubs starters should be showered with praise after handcuffing one of baseball's best offenses.

Cubs starters Ted Lilly, Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano combined to eat up 21.2 innings over the weekend.  That's $37.75 million worth of starting pitching earning their respective paychecks.  Lilly and Big Z each allowed two earned runs, while Dempster only allowed one -- on the Brendan Ryan home run with the assist from Bobby Scales' mitt.  The trio's collective WHIP over the weekend  was 1.037.

Those are the kinds of numbers that pitching coaches dream about seeing.  Too bad Larry Rothschild won't get any credit for this.  It's safe to assume that had Dave Duncan been working with this bunch, Teddy, Demp and Big Z would have thrown 27 innings of perfect ball.

More drool-inducing numbers after the jump.

For Lilly, it was more of the same.  Has he benefited from switching from the AL to the NL?  Of course it's only natural. The namesake of former president Theodore Roosvelt, Lilly has posted a 44-25 record since returning to the senior circuit after stints with the Yankees, A's and Blue Jays  His earned run average dipped from 4.52 to 3.84.  Take away his 7.61 ERA in his brief stint with the Washington Nationals Montreal Expos, it drops to 3.68.  And despite a stint on the 15-day DL, Lilly is on pace to make at least 30 starts for the fifth straight year, and seven out of his last eight.

His contract is up after the 2010 season, and if he stays healthy, he could find himself signing an extension to stay in Cubbie blue pinstripes.  At this point, I'd be willing to hook Jim Hendry up to an EKG machine A.S.A.P. to make it happen.

Then there is Dempster, who is pitching more like the guy who won 17 games last season than the guy who imploded in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers.  He owns a 5-3 record in the second half, a 3.19 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a 3.59-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.  Over his last five starts, Dempster has a 3-1 record, 2.29 ERA, 1.245 WHIP and a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The key to Demps' reemergence has been his ability to limit the free passes.  Over his last four starts, Dempster has allowed only five walks in 54.1 innings of work.  In six August starts, he allowed 12.  He has pitched in 13 games in which he has received three runs or less in the run support category.  For those of you keeping score at home, that keeps him in a tie with Lilly.  Harden is close behind with 12 of those types of starts, Big Z has 10 of those and "Hard Luck" Randy Wells has only six.

Also, take note that Wells trails Zambrano by 0.01 runs in the run-support-per-game category as El Toro gets 4.86 runs per game to work with while Wells gets 4.85. 

As for Dempster, apparently, he had some issues at home with his child that weighed on him early in the season as reported via a Ken Rosenthal scoop on FOX Saturday baseball.  I've been one of Dempster's most harsh critics, but upon learning this, I'd like to tip my cap to Demp and wish him and his family the best.  If Dempster can get past whatever plagues him and pitch like this over the next three years, he'd be a welcome piece of the puzzle.

And how can you forget about Big Z, the richest member of the North Side's Big Three.  Zambrano earned a buck or two with a quality performance in St. Louis, a team he doesn't always match-up well against.  He scuffled in the fifth inning but did rebound to work a scoreless sixth en route to a no-decision.  Big Z now has 12 of those this year.  His numbers in NDs are as follows: 75.1 IP 3.46 ERA 1.30 WHIP ... all while holding hitters to a .227 batting average against and an OPS of .692.

If Big Z wins half of those starts, it would put him at 14-6.  And by my count, 14-6 > 8-6.

But what do I know?  I'm just Stat Boy.

Ted Lilly Heading To The DL

While Matt Holliday is headed to St. Louis, Ted Lilly, the Chicago Cubs' lone All-Star, is headed to the disabled list.

Ever since the All-Star Game:

• Lilly had his start against the Washington Nationals pushed back because of his knee.
  
• In his start against the Phillies, Lilly allowed 9 runs (7 earned) on 8 hits (2 HRs) in 4 innings
  
• Paul Sullivan writes there's a problem with Lilly's throwing shoulder.

And all of a sudden, the North Side Nine has a need for a pitcher like Roy Halladay. Just saying.

It looks like the Cubs are back to the days in which they lie to the public about their players' injuries. Is it a coincidence that Dusty Baker is back in town for three games?

Probably Not.

Cubs' Lilly Headed To Disabled List [Chicago Tribune Hardball]

Oh, There You Are Ted Lilly. We've Been Looking For You

When Ryan Dempster was walking everyone in Dodger blue during Game 1 of the 2008 NLDS, Cubs fans searched for help in the bullpen.

Help could have came in the form of Theodore Roosevelt Lilly. The solid southpaw was not scheduled to make a start in the series and could have been the cure to what plagued the Cubs early. He never got into that game (or into any game for that matter) and the rest is history.

Monday, a well rested Lilly threw 6 2/3 hitless innings en route to a 4-0 Cubs win on Opening Day.

Maybe Lou Piniella just wanted to save him for the home opener. If that's the case, I'm glad it worked out.