Healthy Cubs are Dangerous Cubs

The Cubs wrapped up a key road trip on Sunday in St. Louis, and signs of an end to a slight June swoon may be developing. After winning the series with the arch rival Cardinals, a series that should have definitely been a sweep, the health of ballclub is rising.

Daryle Ward went down with bulging disks; he’s now back with the club, and doubled in Sunday’s win. Carlos Zambrano went on the shelf with a mild shoulder strain, but he returned on Friday and was the dominant ace pitcher we remember from April and May. Reed Johnson saw a minimum 15-day DL stint with back spasms, but he is now 100 percent, and has gotten plenty of playing time in the four games since his activation. So as most of the battered Cubs have seen themselves get back on track, their leadoff man is still missing in action.

Alfonso Soriano, who fractured his hand on June 11^th on a hit by pitch against Atlanta, is itching to get back after, like Eyre, his second stint on the shelf. While initial word was 6-8 weeks until a possible return, it has been less than four weeks, and already the Chicago superstar has been sighted in the batter’s box during batting practice. Manager Lou Piniella has made it known that a minor league rehab stint will have to be endured by the veteran slugger, but he has not completely ruled out a pre-All-Star break return. With only six games and seven days until baseball’s traditional mid-way point, the most likely scenario sees Soriano using the All-Star game has his rehab, considering he was elected to his seventh consecutive Midsummer Classic. The morale boost that the Cubs were injected with along with the return of Zambrano hints that the return of Soriano could put Wrigley’s famous winds to work pushing the sails of Cubs’ season.

Last August, Soriano brought tears to the eyes of the Cub faithful and silenced the home crowd, when he came up lame like Barbaro during Tom Glavine’s 300^th win, gimping to third afterd rounding second base. But last year was the year of the leg problem, this year is the hand. He broke his fingertip in spring training, and his hand just three months later. Despite the adversity Soriano faced last year with his injuries, he was still able to settle down and produce.  He was gone for nearly a month last August, but returned for a September that was magical. He hit 14 homers, and drove in 27 runs to carry the North Siders to the playoffs. If he can come back to Wrigley anywhere close to his form of last September or this May (10 HR, 29 RBI), he could provide numerous cases of acid reflux in St. Louis and Milwaukee, possibly propelling the Cubs to defend their division title.

So far he has 15 homers and 40 RBI despite only 212 at bats, a feat that is magnified when you project his numbers with the at bats of teammate Derrek Lee. If Soriano had not gone on the DL twice so far this season, he could be potentially leading the league in homers with 25, and pacing the Cubs with 66 RBI. But the reality is that he has been hurt, and for the Cubs, his return would refill the gas tank for a promising summer race with the hated Cardinals and Brewers.