Rich Hill and Mark DeRosa

Rich Hill did his best to copy Mark Buehrle’s performance last night, but could not quite match it. Still, he did put a “W” on the board for the Cubs. Lately, that is more that good enough. That is plenty.

Hill allowed just four hits and three walks over eight innings. He struck out seven and has an ERA of only 0.41. Not only that, but he is the proud owner of three of the Cubs six wins this month. Ryan Dempster came in and threw nine pitches for his third save. It was a proud night to be a Cubs fan.

On the offensive side, both Michael Barrett and Aramis Ramirez slammed solo home runs off Atlanta Pitcher Mark Redman. Later, Mark DeRosa doubled in Ryan Theriot for the Cubs final run scored.

Even though he is hitting just .244, you have to be happy with Mark DeRosa. He has gathered eleven RBIs and hit four home runs. He strikes out a lot, but does when he is not striking out, he is putting the ball in play. He has made an error this year, but his fielding percentage is better than all his infield counterparts, with the exception of Derrick Lee and Ronnie Cedeno. If memory serves correctly, the error DeRosa earned was because of a poor throw from Cedeno. If the call had gone to the correct infielder, DeRosa would be listed among the perfect fielders so far this season.

Even though the Cubs are off to a poor, if not miserable start this season, there are some bright spots. Rich Hill’s pitching has been bright. The bullpen efforts by Ryan Dempster, Neal Cotts, Michael Wuertz and Angel Guzman have been impressive. Derrick Lee and Ramirez return to form has been nice. Recent addition DeRosa, along with Cliff Floyd and Ryan Theriot, have shown that General Manager Jim Hendry does know what he is doing. Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis have been making Hendry look smart.

Now if just a few of the others can step it up a little, the team could put together a string of wins. Alfonzo Soriano could come back from his hamstring pull with some renewed confidence. Wil Ohman could lighten up and throw strikes. Carlos Zambrano could show the league that he really can pitch in April.

Being down is easy. Cubs’ fans have spent most of the past one hundred years down on the team from north end. This team is well built. In a few short weeks, we will see a rotation of Zambrano, Lilly, Marquis, Hill and Guzman. Miller will make a good long man in the pen. Howry and Eyre will be back to form. Soriano and Lee will be leading the attack. The defense will be improved. The baserunning will be improved (Thanks to coach Bobby Dernier).

There are high hopes for this organization. Maybe I am just feeling the effects of a Cubs shut out of Chipper, Andruw and company, but I still think things can come together this year. Bring on the Cardinals!