Slumping Cubs make bullpen, bench changes
Just two weeks into the season, the Chicago Cubs shook up their roster Tuesday.
Before their 4-2 loss to the Texas Rangers, the Cubs made a flurry of moves. They added veteran relievers Kevin Gregg and Kameron Loe to the roster and designated Hisanori Takahashi for assignment. They also claimed infielder Cody Ransom off waivers from the San Diego Padres and designated infielder/outfielder Brent Lillibridge for assignment.
Also, Gold Glove-winning second baseman Darwin Barney returned from the disabled list.
Few expected much, if anything, from the Cubs this year, but general manager Jed Hoyer said he thought the early results would be better.
"I think we've underperformed the way we've played on the field," Hoyer said, noting the Cubs outhomered the San Francisco Giants 8-1 and lost three of four games last weekend. "You do that and you should win a lot more games than we did. It's been frustrating with the results. The wins and losses, they are what they are, and that's our record, but given some of the production, we should have more wins than we do."
The biggest problems have been a lack of timely hitting -- cleanup man Alfonso Soriano has no RBIs -- and a bullpen that has been giving up runs late in games.
"We're off to a slower start than we would've liked," team president Theo Epstein said. "Some sloppy play that we need to eradicate sooner rather than later. The bullpen is off to a slow start, which can make for some tough losses. We're not that talented that we can get away with playing sloppy ball, so we need to fix that."
