Wrap up: April 25th 2012 – Progress Pending?

The Cubs may have lost the game, but they won the battle.

After winning the series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs failed to complete the sweep their NL Central rivals much to the shagrin of their fans.  No matter though, 2-3 isn’t bad.

While the Cubs showed progress during the series with two very exciting walk off victories (one in extra innings), today’s game wasn’t all that special.

The Good

• Bryan LaHair went yard off Lance Lynn, giving him his 2nd homerun in as many games. He continues to impress at the plate.
• Both Steve Clevenger and Starlin Castro hit doubles today. Not that its really a big deal, but it’s one of the few high points this game had to offer. Clevenger has been consistent this year, having racked up his 5th double of the season. Nice work Steve! Keep up the good work

The Bad

• No one stole a bag today… and I only say that because Tony Campana was dressed today. He’s quick on the baselines – like jackrabbit fast.
• Ian Stewart went 0-3 and continues to struggle with a .175 AVG. He’s a pretty good hitter, so this is quite surprising. Lets all hope he snaps out of his slump soon.

The Ugly

• Chris Volstad was cruising along nicely until David Freese cranked a monster HR off him. After that? The wheels fell off. The worst part of this situation is that most of the Cardinals offense came with 2 outs. I don’t know if its because Volstad got nervous after getting homered, or if his arm doesn’t have as much longevity as he thinks it has, but he’s having issues. Regardless, he gave up 6H in 6 innings of work and now has a 6.14 ERA on the season. He’s winless in his last 15 starts.
• I hate to pick on Volstad but he threw slider after slider after slider all day. Its pretty easy for the opposition to start raking in the hits if he doesn’t switch up his pitches from time to time. Hitting your spots isn’t good enough against most teams… especially the explosive offense of the Cardinals. Time to mix the bag up.

The Cubs will take the day off tomorrow and will look for more success against the powerhouse Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.