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Ernie Banks' History, Derrick Lee's Bat Lead Cubs Into RFK


Ernie Banks

The 15-18 Chicago Cubs come into Washington Friday to play the 18-16 Nationals at RFK Stadium.

PROJECTED CUBS LINEUP:

1B:Derrick Lee [.383-10-33]

Has to be the scariest numbers of any player we've played ... he can field too ... Gold Glove winner ... doesn't produce well with runners on base ... .477 OBP and .733 Slugging

2B:Jerry Hairston [.261-00-01]
Must have overslept through 1st part of the season ... .358 OBP and .337 slugging ... just a warm body holding the position until they find someone else

SS: Neifi Perez [.298-04-14]
Nice numbers for shortstop, but playing well above his "station" so far this season ... former gold glove winner ... good speed but not good base stealer ... averages less than one K per 50 AB ... good range and strong arm ... outstanding .471 slugging percentage for shortstop

3B: Aramis Ramirez [.258-06-17]
Has become top flight 3rd baseman ... hits well to all fields ... wonderful hitter with runners on base ... little power against left handers ... streaky in the field, can be superstar or slug depending on the day

LF: Todd Hollandsworth [.207 -01-07]
Too undisciplined at the plate, swinging at many balls outside of the strike zone ... on pace to strike out 119 times with no power ... good pinch hitter though

CF: Corey Patterson [.263-08-14]
Great speed and power that will only get better over time ... Mike Cameron tools in centerfield ... tries to hit a home run regardless of the situation, making him an easy out in crucial situations ... on pace to strike out 137 times this year ... bad .300 on base percentage

RF:Jeromy Burnitz [.288-06-21]
One of best fastball hitters in the league ... great plate patience ... hits lefties as well as right handers, unusual for a lefty swinger ... has "throw me a changeup" tatooed on his forehead ... can't check his swing and strikes out a lot on off-speed stuff ... on pace to strike out 132 times ... good slugging average but has anemic .328 on base percentage, a sign of a single dimensional player

C:Michael Barrett [.253-04-15]
Yet another former Expo ... line drive hitter ... can't do much against lefties ... outstanding leadership skills -- likely manager material when playing days are over ... good defensively and has "Brian Schneider" like arm ... Expos traded Barrett after two years as starter producing Schneider like offensive numbers, yet got only cash and "player to be named" for him

The Cubs offense is all or nothing: relatively low average with lots of homeruns and srikeouts. Let's compare their lineup with ours and see whose better:

1B]Derrick Lee
Sorry Nick, but you can't argue with superman type numbers. Though I think that the two first baseman's numbers will be similar at year's end, they arn't now. And Lee is a great fielder too.

2B]Jose Vidro
All star versus journeyman infielder. No contest

SS]Christian Guzman
Though Perez had better offensive numbers now, he wont by years end. Also, Guzman is a much better fielder

3B]Aramis Ramirez
Always liked this guy at third, even when he was a Pirate, and as we all know, it's hard to like any guy playing there

LF]Ryan Church
Still looking for Todd Hollandsworth's upside and haven't found it

CF]Brad Wilkerson
Though a close call, Wilkerson will have many more homeruns by the end of the year. The strikeouts will be similar though

RF]Jose Guillen
Guillen has a much better batting average, strikes out far less, hits about as many home runs and is a superman in right field. Burnitz? Well, he hits a lot of dingers

C ]Brian Schneider
Marty Barrett is Brian Schneider without the defense

The Nationals take 6 positions and the Cubs 2, although to be fair, centerfield and shortstop were coinflip choices. The Nationals have the league's best batting average, one of the best on base percentages, and that's why they get 6 out of head-to-head positions.

More to come on the Cubs throughout the day.
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