The Cubs can’t blame their poor start on Ryan Theriot.  Theriot has played in 20 games so far this season and he’s 19 for 56 (.339 avg, .737 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  He has been so good that he has taken the starting job at shortstop away from Cesar Izturis.  Look for him to keep the job for a long time as long as he continues to hit the ball.

The Chicago Cubs have placed starting pitcher Wade Miller on the 15-day disabled list due to back spasms.  Miller was horrible when he pitched so far this season.  In 3 starts he has a 0-2 record with a 10.54 ERA and a 2.20 WHIP.  Miller has allowed 24 hits, 16 earned runs and 5 homers in only 13.2 innings this season.  Miller was about to lose his job any way so this injury seems very convenient.

Mark Prior had surgery today that was performed by Dr. James Andrews.  It was an exploratory surgery on Prior’s right shoulder, but, Dr. Andrews was given permission to do whatever needs to be done to fix Prior up.  It’s possible that Prior could miss the entire 2007 season.  We’ll no pretty soon how long he’ll be out.  It’s about time that the Cubs just give up on Prior and spend his money on someone else.

Cesar Izturis is an outstanding defensive shortstop, but he needs to hit a little bit to be an overall asset to the Chicago Cubs.  He’s played in 16 games so far this season and he’s only hitting .174 with a .516 OPS!  Those are horrible numbers!  He’s 8 for 46 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs so far this season.  The Cubs could tolerate Izturis hitting in the .250 range because of his defense, but he’s got a long way to go if he wants to get his average that high.

The Chicago Cubs only went 3-4 last week despite outscoring their opponents 40-30!  The Cubs can’t afford to waste all of the runs they were scoring last week.  They are currently in last place in the National League Central, 4 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers.