Looking Back, Ahead

Judging the entire statistics from 2006 was just too unbearable to analyze, but I wanted to get a read on how the Cubs players have been performing the past month (June 14-July 14) which saw Chicago post an 8-18 record.

Over the last 30 days, CF Juan Pierre ranks sixth in the National League with a .352 average and RF Jacque Jones is 10th with a .344 mark. No other Cubs rank among the top 30, but 2B Todd Walker is hitting at a .292 clip, which ranks 37th. Some other notables with at least 3.1 at bats per game during this period include 3B Aramis Ramirez (#54, .268) and SS Ronny Cedeno (#95, .133).

Amongst pitching ERAs during the last 30 days, only Carlos Zambrano ranks in the Top 30 of the N.L., with a 4.09 mark, but is 3-0 during this span. Long time veteran Greg Maddux (0-4, 5.40) and rookie Carlos Marmol (1-3, 5.40) check in at #31 and #32, respectively. No one else has pitched at least an average of 1.1 innings in the last month. So, that's three guys carrying the load.

Here are the numbers and how I would set the lineup in the second half:
CF J. Pierre (105 AB, .352 AVG, 12 R, 9 RBI, 10 SB, .404 OBP)
C M. Barrett (40 AB, .400 AVG, 9 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .479 OBP)
1B D. Lee (59 AB, .254 AVG, 8 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 9 BB, .353 OBP)
3B A. Ramirez (97 AB, .268 AVG, 12 R, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 8 BB, .324 OBP)
RF J. Jones (90 AB, .344 AVG, 13 R, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 10 2B, .366 OBP)
2B T. Walker (72 AB, .292 AVG, 7 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 6 2B, .350 OBP)
LF M. Murton (47 AB, .319 AVG, 10 R, 7 RBI, .365 OBP)
SS N. Perez (47 AB, .362 AVG, 5 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .375 OBP)
Bench
C H. Blanco (50 AB, .340 AVG, 9 R, 4 HR, 11 RBI, .353 OBP)
OF A. Pagan (25 AB, .240 AVG, 4 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI, .269 OBP)
1B/OF P. Nevin (65 AB, .200 AVG, 4 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 9 BB, .297 OBP)
SS/2B R. Cedeno (83 AB, .133 AVG, 6 R, 4 RBI, .151 OBP)