PATTERSON HEATING UP, RIPPED BY BOWA

First things first: I have to give Corey Patterson his propers. As of this post, Corey was hitting .288/.339/.474. He has 7 HRs, 21 RBIs and is 26/27 in stolen bases. He has greatly improved upon his K/BB ratio. He has 11 BB and 29 K in 156 ABs. That's a major improvement in quantity as well--increase in BBs and decrease in Ks.

In his last 2 seasons with the Cubs, Patterson had BB/K ratios of 23/118 & 45/168. He's shrunk that to almost 2 to 1.

So now for the Bowa part of the story, from the NY Post:

When Corey Patterson stole second and third in the
seventh inning with the Orioles leading by six runs Larry Bowa believed
Patterson was rubbing it in the Yankees' nose.

From the top step of the third base dugout, Bowa let Patterson have it.

"I told him to play the game the right way," Bowa said. "That was terrible."

Patterson said he didn't know if a six-run bulge would hold up.

"I guess he didn't appreciate me taking third
base, basically. I can't repeat what he said," Patterson said of Bowa.
"I even checked with some people before the inning. If I get on, what
should I do, how should I play it out. I got the go-ahead."

Patterson
said something back to Bowa, but Bowa said he didn't listen to it and
Patterson said he couldn't remember. Patterson has at least one steal
in eight straight games. It's the longest streak in the majors since
Kenny Lofton swiped a base in eight consecutive games for the 1996
Indians.

The most impressive part is how he asked before his at-bat about the situation should he get on. That shows maturity.

His OPS is .813. He's on pace for 80 steals and over 20 HRs. He has only 1 error in the outfield. To be sure, it's a very long season. But for today, Corey looks as if he is everything we hoped he would be here in Chicago. Meanwhile the Cubs will likely be in the market for a CF again next year unless they finally promote Pie.

But Pie is looking more like a marginal prospect instead of a franchise player. He's not even the franchise down at Iowa. He's whiffed 53 times in 212 ABs and is hitting .264/.333/.425. Almost famous.

And meanwhile back at Wrigley Juan Pierre is hitting .244/.283/.312.

What else can you say but--Cubs. No one to blame really. Corey had to go, Pie obviously wasn't ready and nobody thought Pierre would be as terrible as he has been. It's just Cubs. And we shouldn't be surprised.


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