Posts tagged RyanTheriot at FanHouse

It doesn't matter what team you root for, but in every Major League city around the country there is that one player on the team who isn't the biggest star, but draws some kind of cult following anyway. In Chicago with Cubs fans, that player is shortstop Ryan Theriot. He's been beloved by Cubs fans since about fifteen seconds after he first became a regular player with the team last season.

Which is why the Chicago Tribune asked it's readers to send in questions for Theriot to answer in the paper, and in Ryan's answers we find out he's a pretty likeable guy, and he's funny to boot. Oh, and we also learn that he could totally beat up his good friend, occasional double play partner, and former college teammate Mike Fontenot.

Riot, who wins a fight between you and Fontenot? If you two teamed up, do you think you could take Zambrano out? Inquiring minds want to know... -- Erik Burgio, San Francisco

I'd beat Font's butt, though Z might kill us. But I think Z likes me, or at least I hope he does. I would never fight Font, but if I did, I'd hammer him, and he knows that.

This isn't the only interesting tidbit in the Q&A session,either, as Ryan also informs us that he has nine pitches in his repertoire "all of which are awesome," Mark DeRosa is the ugliest guy in the clubhouse though he has huge biceps, and that he thinks cats are cool.

All in all it's a pretty interesting session not filled with the same old boring answers players give to the same boring questions. If you're looking for some time to kill at work today, I highly recommend it.

Monday was a pretty nice day for Cubs reserve shortstop Ronny Cedeno. He only found out thirty minutes before gametime last night that he would be getting the start ahead of Ryan Theriot, and he made the most of his playing time by driving home two key runs off of Aaron Heilman in the 8th inning of what turned out to be a 7-1 Cubs victory over the Mets.

The win was the Cubs 12th in their last 15 games, and improved their record to 13-6 on the season, good enough for first place in the NL Central at the moment. Still, I think he was getting a bit too far ahead of himself afterwards when he started talking World Series.

"We're thinking about the World Series," Cedeno said. "I think we'll be OK if we keep playing like that."

The Cubs do realize it's still April 22nd, right? I mean, after Sunday's win over the Pirates, Aramis Ramirez was more concerned with finding out what the Cardinals had done to see if the Cubs gained any ground on them in the division standings. While there's nothing wrong with having high expectations for yourself, or your team, this is a bit ridiculous.

You can have those types of hopes, but at this point in the season it's better to keep them to yourself, especially if you happen to play for a team that hasn't won a World Series in 100 years. (You do realize, Ronny, that if you don't win the World Series Cubs fans will probably place you up there with every other "curse"?) You've only played 19 games of the 162 you have scheduled, and using my extraordinary mathematical powers, I think that means you still have 143 left to play. Save the World Series thoughts for September and October, for now just focus on doing your job everyday.

Since the Cubs' are the NL Central favorites and not much changed about their team this offseason, there's been a lot of talk revolving around their lineup and where Alfonso Soriano would bat. Today I saw the headline, "Fukudome to hit 2nd, Soriano 3rd" and thought to myself, "Wow, Lou Piniella must get it. That makes a lot of sense." I mean, Soriano's got plenty of power for the three slot and Kosuke Fukudome's power may not translate to America, but his on-base skills and batting average probably will.

Of course the headline doesn't mention who's hitting lead off. Surely Mark DeRosa and his .371 OBP would be there, right? Wrong.

Piniella's new order now goes: Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukudome, Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Mark DeRosa, Geovany Soto, Felix Pie and the pitcher.

Ryan Theriot. .266/.326/.346 last year. I guess he stole a lot of bases last year (28 in 32 attempts), but he only swiped bases at a 70% clip in the minors, which means that the value was pretty negligible. Apparently, Sweet Lou doesn't want his bases clogged. Cubs fans should probably just cover their eyes and pretend the lineup is Fukudome, Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, DeRosa, Soto, Pie, the pitcher, and Theriot. Actually, that lineup would make a ton of sense. Maybe Lou's just messing with us, after all.

Ryan Theriot is a perfectly OK baseball player. He's not great, but he's not horrible. He probably got a bit too much love from Cubs fans last season thanks to the notion that Theriot is a scrappy, clutch player, even if those sentiments aren't necessarily true, but he's the best the Cubs have to offer at shortstop right now. Anyway: Ryan Theriot seems like a nice guy. And he's not terrible at baseball.

The problem is that Ryan Theriot is now assuming a mantle held by David Eckstein for the past, oh, five years or so: mediocre small white media favorite. Apparently, with that title comes this sort of column. It's as if statistics have nothing to do with baseball at all!

Ah, but apparently it is so, and the scrappy Theriot would just as soon tells those statistics to shut up, whether they deal with ballplayers in pinstripes or just plain striped bass. Theriot doesn't hate baseball, but the stats-oriented crew probably can't find much love for him. And that might be their loss. Theriot is one of those throwback players who'd rather get his uniform dirty than impress the pencil pushers at Baseball Prospectus.

The above was written by the Chicago Daily-Herald's Bruce Miles, and the entire story is a treasure trove of talk about "intangibles" and "winning" and so on, as if those who choose to measure production -- and realize that The Riot's numbers are lacking in some important ways -- understand nothing of the joy of baseball. It's 2008: Are we really still having these silly arguments? I mean, even Dusty Baker thinks OBP is an important stat now, right?

Oh. OK. Sigh.

(HT: BBTF)

One of the long debated questions in Chicago this summer was whether or not Alfonso Soriano should be the Cubs lead off hitter. While Alfonso was out with a calf injury, Ryan Theriot stepped into his spot and tore things up. As a result, a great war broke out between Cubs fans as to whether or not Alfonso should bat first or fifth.

As we all know though, when Alfonso came back, he was still at the top of the lineup. As far as Soriano's concerned, he doesn't see what the big deal is. Hell, he thinks it's a fantastic idea!

"People don't realize that the only at-bat leading off an inning is the first one," he said. "One day [at the end of September] I had five RBIs leading off but nothing in my first at-bat."

...

"If I make a good swing, I can put the Cubs up 1-0 already. If I make a hit, I can steal a base.

"I can play both games-hit with power and use my speed on base. To me it's a great idea, and I think Lou Piniella also likes seeing me in the leadoff spot."

Alfonso Soriano, who's been batting third with Derek Lee out of the lineup, isn't likely to return to his lead-off slot this year, or so says the Chicago Sun-Times today. This is a really good idea. It's the type of good idea that's so good that it's generally not had by normal baseball guys. Let me explain

Alfonso Soriano is a speedy outfielder. He used to be a speedy middle infielder. That means that most managers would immediately look at him and say "lead-off hitter." It's why Chris Duffy bats first for the Pirates on most nights even though he's an out machine. It's why Juan Pierre usually bats first despite leading the league in outs last year. Most managers simply cannot think outside the box. They stick to the same tried cliches and standbys that have worked for years, despite the fact that many people know that they don't work anymore.

So here's why Piniella putting Soriano back in the order is a good idea. You've got a guy that's slugged over .500 every year since 2002 (and is at .496 this year). His on-base percentage in those same years has only been over or even close to .350 once (.351 last year, though he is at .351 this year). Players with comparable stats are guys like Lance Parrish, Howard Johnson, and teammate Aramis Ramirez. Do they seem like leadoff hitters to you? Didn't think so.

In Derek Lee's absence (which has seen Soriano bat third), Ryan Theriot has been hitting in the lead-off slot, which is a good place for his .384 on-base percentage. With an extra runner on base and Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez batting consecutively, look for the Cubs offense to kick into high gear when Lee makes his return.

On Monday morning I told you that the Cubs were close to turning things around. Maybe that was cheating because they were already on a three game winning streak. Regardless of that, with today's 4-3 win over the Nationals they've won five in a row and eight out of nine and have pulled their record over .500 at 15-14. If they can stay hot, it's looking more and more like they're going to be the only team in the NL Central that can challenge the Brewers.

As hot as they are, their win today did not come easy against the Nationals. Granted, in two weeks no one will remember that they needed seven pitchers and 21 players total (Jason Marquis pinch ran!) to get the win. And all of those players only served to get the team in position for fifth-outfielder/pinch hitter extraordiaire Daryle Ward to hit a walkoff single in the tenth inning. And Ward's single was only possible because of Ryan Theriot's RBI single in the ninth to tie the game at 3. That was necessary because the Nationals had rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead. If you're getting the impression that the Cubs really had to claw this win out, well, good, because that's the impression I'm trying to give you.

I doubt the Cubs are overly concerned with catching the Brewers in the immediate future since it's still only early May, but they don't have an incredibly easy upcoming schedule. After getting three home games against the struggling Pirates this week, they get to play a bunch of middling teams (Phillies, Marlins, White Sox) and a bunch of good teams (Mets, Padres, Dodgers) to close May out. If the Cubs come to the other side of May with a winning record, they're going to be a team to watch when things really start heating up over the summer.

Previously at the Fanhouse
Saber Bomb: The Cubs Might Not Suck This Year