The Cubs lost to the Pirates, 1-0, in extra innings. The loss was not a surprise. How the Cubs lost was not a surprise. It was a reprise of 2013.
The Good. The starting pitching was above average, with Samardzija holding the Pirates scoreless through 7 innings, a quality start by any measure.
Bonifacio showed what a traditional lead off hitter is supposed to do: get on base. He went 4 for 5 on the afternoon.
The Bad. The Cubs could not bring in any runners in scoring position. The team was 0-for-11 with RISP. Last season the Cubs lead the league in this futility (at .213) and this start does bode toward repeating that bad title. Overall, the Cubs hitters besides Bonifacio were pathetic: 2 hits. Bonifacio's production alone was 66.7% of the team's total offense.
Bonifacio also showed how a lead off hitter aggressiveness can get you into trouble. He was thrown out at the plate trying to score a run; and he was picked off once from first (and if replay was to be believed probably twice.) Base running errors has been another hallmark of a bad Cub team.
The fear was that Olt was going to be a Brett Jackson brand strike out machine. He did his best. He went 0-3 with 2 strikeouts before being lifted for a pinch hitter (ouch). The Rizzo-Olt middle of the batting order was 0-7 with 5 strikeouts. In total, the Cubs fanned 11 times against the Pirates staff.
The Same. I thought new manager Renteria was timid during spring training. He kept quiet as this is his first managerial job. His spring arguments with umpires were more like casual conversations. He did make a challenge in the Pirates game, and lost.
But the worst mistake Renteria made was in the 10th inning. He inserted fifth starter Villaneuva in the bottom of the 10th. This move made no sense. First, Villaneuva had won the firth starter slot. So he was a starter, working up a routine to take the ball every six days. It was highly doubtful that Villaneuva thought he would pitch yesterday since he was no longer assigned to the bullpen.
Second, we all assumed that Grimm was the long reliever in the pen, taking the place of Villaneuva. Grimm got into the game, but only pitched in one inning, throwing 10 pitches to get one batter out in the 9th. Russell came in to finish the 9th with 7 pitches for 2 outs.
Third, Renteria had a four more guys left in the pen with a day off today: Schlitter, Rondon, Wright and closer Veras. Why was he saving any of them? Especially when the Pirates first hitter in the 10th was lefty Neil Walker, the logical call was to bring in Wright.
But Renteria went with Villaneuva, who gave up a walk-off homer to Walker.
If Renteria was thinking that the game could go deep into extra innings, he had to have a long reliever in the game right away - - - that meant a) he did not think about before the 9th when he used Grimm up for one batter; and b) he could have still used Rondon and Wright in the 10th and 11th before having to get Villaneuva into the game.
Some would say that was a rookie managerial mistake. I say it seems to be a continuing pattern of the last three managers the Cubs have had leading the team.
Nothing in this season opener showed any vast improvement over last season's 96 loss team. The Cubs 40.7% outs by strikeouts ratio was a big reveal. For a front office that continues to say the metric for building the team is OBP and patient hitting, the strike out ratio is the exact opposite of such a philosophy. There continues to be a disconnect in what management says it wants and what is actually on the field.
