By now we’ve all heard this.  After 36 games this year the Cubs are 21-15.  Last year, a season in which they won 97 games, they were 21-15.  So everything’s cool.  No reason to worry.  All we have to do now is kick back, and watch to see which NL West team gets to sweep the Cubs in this year’s playoffs.

So why doesn’t it feel the same?  Their place in the standings isn’t drastically different.  Last year at this time they were tied with the Cardinals.  This year they’re 1.5 behind the Brewers, which, on May 18 isn’t a whole lot worse off than being tied.

Given the early play of some of their best players, and the relative health of those players, you’d think we’d be doing cartwheels at where the Cubs are.

The Cardinals started the season with what is likely to be their best stretch of the year.  The Brewers are in the midst of theirs right now.  The Cubs haven’t even scratched their full potential.  It is entirely likely that in June or July the Cubs will put the hammer down and embarrass the NL Central again.

But something is missing, at least so far.  Even if we can’t put our finger on it.

And no, as much as we liked him when he was here it’s not this guy.

That’s Mark DeRosa, at least that’s supposed to be him.  But I think it is, because the caption says this player grew a full beard in the 40 seconds he laid next to home plate with his legs over his head.

Granted, the Cubs do miss Mark DeRosa.  And not just because Mike Fontenot is hitting .204.  But with the injuries to Milton Bradley and E-ramis Ramirez, having a guy like DeRosa who could play both spots, and actually play them well, would have been nice.

The trade that sent him to Cleveland on New Year’s Eve was curious then, and even more so now.  At the time we all thought the Cubs were clearing payroll space for Jake Peavy, but that didn’t happen.  The Cubs traded DeRosa, who was owed $5.5 million this season, and signed Aaron Miles who is owed $4.7 million over the next two seasons.

The move was, we are told, made so that Lou Piniella could put two more lefties into the everyday lineup.  It freed up money to sign Milton Bradley and opened a spot for Fontenot.  Also remember, that at the time, the Cubs weren’t sure Kosuke Fukudome would ever be worth a shit, again, and there was a fear that unless Fontenot played second, the only lefty in the lineup at all this year would be Bradley.

But that doesn’t seem like a decision that needed to be made on December 31, now does it?

It took the Cubs six weeks to find anybody similar to add to the roster.  And when they did it, they actually found two of them.

They brought up Bobby Scales, a man who can play at least two infield positions (and apparently shortstop in a pinch) and the outfield.  The 31-year-old rookie came up the day Carlos Zambrano went on the DL, and was supposed to go back down shortly afterward.  But he stayed.  And then he was joined by a “poor man’s Mark DeRosa,” Ryan Freel.

Freel is best known for the time in Dodger Stadium when he lept into the stands down the right field foul line and kicked an old lady in the face while going after a ball.  The fact that the Cubs got him for nothing more than the useless Joey Gathright made it a no-brainer.  And to watch Freel run the bases in his first game as a Cub, it looks like it’s just what they got.

The only huge deficiency on the team right now looks like the Cubs bullpen.  It’s a mess.  They walk too many guys, they seem to always allow the leadoff man to reach base and while it looks like Carlos Marmol has put it all back together, Kevin Gregg decides to give up a four run ninth-inning lead without so much as recording a single out.

Let’s go around the horn and see who’s doing what.

Derrek Lee, first base – Lee went four for five with a homer and nearly a second one on Sunday, and his average went all the way up to a whopping .226.  He’s battled a neck injury most of the season, and he’s also battling a career decline that was masked at first by his 2006 wrist injury but really picked up steam last season.  He’s still a great defensive player, albeit at a position where the difference between good and great probably means the least (other than playing defense in left field, most likely).  I’m not completely ready for the Cubs to go all-Hoffpauir all the time, but I will say that I’m far less inclined to mock those who are, than I was a month ago.

Mike Fontenot, second base/third base – You know how every team has a player who thrives in a limited role, but you just know would flounder if he played every day?  I fear Mike Fontenot is one of those guys.  He seemed perfectly suited the role he played last year.  He pinch hit, he started a couple of days a week and he was almost completely hidden from lefty pitchers.  This year he’s playing nearly every day, and now is at a position completely foreign to him, and that can’t be helping his offense.  Right now it’s just a bad six weeks, but if it doesn’t turn around soon, it isn’t going to turn around.

Ryan Theriot, shortstop – What’s the best part of Theriot’s season so far?

a) He hit homers in three straight games
b) He’s actually playing defense at shortstop like a competent shortstop would
c) He’s been productive hitting second in the order, the perfect spot for him

It’s actually an offshoot of a.  His homer binge gave Rick Telander a chance to remind the world what a talentless hack he’s turned into over these years at the Sun Times.  Where Telander once was one of the main reasons to have a Sports Illustrated subscription, his talent has regressed so much over the last several years that he’s laughable.  So when he tried to use Theriot as an absurdist example of how any little power surge by any unlikely player would make some think that player was on steroids, he did so, so unartfully that it came out as an out and out accusation.  The best part?  Nobody seemed to care, or even notice that he’d done it.  Proof beyond all doubt that while few people are still reading the Sun Times that even fewer are bothering to read his column.

E-ramis Ramirez, third base – Over the years, E-ramis has become the Cubs most dependable player.  We know that he will hit for a good average, with power, not strike out a lot, play solid defense and get hurt.  He exhibits those traits every season.  This year he’s done them all better than ever before.  That’s good for four of those things, not for the fifth.

At the time he crumpled into the fetal position near third base in Miller Park, E-ramis was the Cubs’ best hitter, which was saying something given the starts that Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome are off to.  His injury appeared so catastrophic that when the 6-8 week time frame was given it almost felt like good news.  What we know is that it’s unlikely to be less than eight weeks, and that he’ll have an unstable shoulder until he has surgery on it after he homers to win game seven of the World Series in early November.  (Yes, November.)

In the meantime, the Cubs are going to try to have to get by with Bobby Scales, Fontenot and Freel at third base.  Lord help us all.

Aaron Miles, second base/shortstop/third base – He’s 32 years old, he’s as wide as he is tall, he’s hitting .217 and he’s signed through next season.  Yay?  The Cardinals replaced him by moving a leftfielder to second.  The Cubs could replace him by putting a hat on a rock and calling it Aaron.

Ryan Freel, second base/third base – Freel became available when he hit .133 for the Orioles and they didn’t seem to have a spot for him to play.  I mean really, how could you when you’ve got luminaries like Felix Pie and Cesar Izturis getting at bats?  He responded to his trade to the Cubs by being excited about coming to the team and by injuring his hamstring while warming up for what was supposed to be his first start.  Honestly, you look at some of the offensive numbers on this Cubs’ team and you wonder how the hell they aren’t the Pirates.

Bobby Scales, second base, third base, left field, shortstop, beer vendor, bat boy, vice president of overdue awesomeness – I don’t know how this Bobby Scales story is going to end (I have a hunch that we all know, but we’ll try not to think about it) but the start of it is fucking awesome.  Here’s a guy who spent 10 full seasons in the minor leagues without so much as a sniff of the big leagues, a guy who watched tubby Casey McGehee get a September call up last year while he got to drive home and go back to substitute teaching, a guy who should have packed it in a long time ago, and he’s in the big leagues, and contributing to a team with realistic World Series aspirations.  He got a hit off the reigning Cy Young Award winner in his first game.  He homered and set a land speed record rounding the bases in his fifth game and got at least one hit in each of his first six games.  The first time he didn’t?  He drew a leadoff ninth inning walk and came around to score the game winning run.

There is no more beloved player on the Cubs than Bobby.  His teammates love him.  What’s not to love?  He shows up early every day, he works his ass off, he’s happy to be there, but he’s not just happy to be there.  And to look at his minor league stats, there is no good reason that it took him this long to get to the majors.

He hit at every level, with only one year that could be classified as a “bad year.”  In 2004 he only hit .242 between AA Mobile and AAA Portland.  The rest of the time he hit between .270 and .300 with on base averages over .360 and stole 20 to 30 bases a year.  Somebody better alert Telander that he hit never hit as many as six homers in a season until he hit FOURTEEN in Portland in 2005.

Anyway, he’s a Cub now, and might just stick the rest of the year.  No matter what happens from here on out though, the ten years riding buses and eating bad food have all been worth it.  Somewhere I’m sure there was a prophecy about an aged warrior appearing out of nowhere to lead the baby bears to greatness.  Or maybe I just misread a fortune cookie at Panda Express.

Micah Hoffpauir, first base, outfield – Bruce Miles insists that the only requirements for a young player to play for Lou Piniella are to keep their mouths shut and to get off to a good start.  Lou believes in production above all else, and if you aren’t going to get a lot of opportunities, you’re going to have to cash in on a few of them early.  Hoffpauir did just that last year and even this season and it helped him shake the stench of that afternoon against the Cardinals when he played every ball hit remotely close to him in right field into a triple.  Hoffpauir is a little like Bobby Scales in that he spent a very long time in the minors, but he always played well.  That he can hit at the big league level is not a fluke.  Then again, right now he’s in the role Mike Fontenot held the past couple of years where he plays consistently but still sparingly, and he’s thriving at it.  Maybe that’s the secret?

Geovany Soto, catcher – Bob Brenly seems to blame everything on the World Baseball Classic, but he might be on to something with Soto.  He caught for Team Puerto Rico, though they clearly had enough catching.  He split time with Pudge Rodriguez and Yadier Molina and none of the three got to play consistently.  Then again, Molina’s playing fine for the Cardinals and Pudge turned the WBC into a contract with Houston.  Anyway, what we know is that Soto hurt his arm early in the season and his April just plain sucked.  He hit .109 in April.  So far in May he’s been much better (.298/.382/.404) making contact, but for not much power.  His season last year didn’t seem like a fluke and good players tend to get their numbers, so that should mean a pretty good year from here on.  Right?

Koyie Dolan Hill, catcher – On the other hand, nothing in Koyie Hill’s big league career indicates he could hit water if he fell out of a boat.  So while the .306/.405/.444 he posted to date was helpful in getting through Geo’s injury, it’s all downhill from here.

But Koyie’s not expected to hit.  He’s supposed to catch the ball, call a good game and scare the shit out of batters with his Frankenhand.

Alfonso Soriano, leftfield – The fact that the Cubs opened the season in domes in Houston and Milwaukee seemed to bode well for a good start to the season for Soriano, who has struggled in the cold early in his previous Cubs’ seasons.  He didn’t disappoint, homering in his first at bat and not really slowing down.  His game winning RBI on Saturday against Houston was the fifth of the season for him.  With E-ramis being hurt for long stretches so far and Lee and Soto and Bradley all sucking (and being hurt when they weren’t sucking), Soriano’s carried the Cubs in the early going.

So what does he get for his troubles?  Heckled at a WWE event.

[Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDtWe5zsJCU&feature=player_embedded]
Thanks to Kevin Kaduk at Big League Stew

Kosuke Fukudome, centerfield – Going into the season Kosuke was one of the biggest question marks.  He sucked from June on last year, especially late in the season.  He wasn’t so hot in the World Baseball Classic and he didn’t set the world on fire in spring training.  But when the lights came on for the real season, he started hitting and hasn’t stopped.  He hit .338 in April and is hitting .326 in May, his slugging is down in May, but he’s walked more than he’s struck out and he’s taken over the third spot in the order since Derrek Lee forgot how to hit and E-ramis was busy trying to drive his collarbone through his neck.

He’s also played a good center.  While he’s not the fastest guy on the team (but he is fast) he doesn’t circle around flyballs like some of the other guys (Alfonso) or try to make every catch look supercool (Milton), or try to run through the bricks at full speed (Reed).  And, he’s got a good arm and a real idea of where to throw the ball.  That’s a nice change of pace.

He’s got a new translator and his old Japanese League hitting coach hanging with him, too.  So, if nothing else, he’s got a better chance of finding good sushi on road trips.  Except to Cincinnati.  Ain’t no good sushi in Cincinnati.  I know.  I’ve looked.

Milton Bradley, rightfield – It’s been real, it’s been fun, but it ain’t been real fun so far with the Milton Bradley Experience.  He got hurt on opening night, he got hurt worse a few days later.  He got kicked out of his Wrigley debut.  He was race baited by a talentless twit from the Sun Times.  He referred to himself in the third person the day he found out his two game suspension was still going to be at least one game.  And, he hit .118 in April.  He’s up to a middling .256 in May, but he’s looking better, and the homer he hit off of Jake Peavy last Tuesday night is still traveling.  Of all the guys who haven’t hit yet that will, he’s the best bet to do it first and keep it up.

Reed Johnson, centerfield – Reed’s been a victim of Kosuke’s hot start and the fact that nobody in the NL has lefty starting pitching.  He hardly played the first couple of weeks.  Until he put on his Superman act and robbed Prince Fielder of a grand slam on a Sunday night in Milwaukee we forgot he was on the team.  (Not really.)  Truth is, he’s a good guy to have around, especially with the looming chance of an injury to the Cubs current corner outfielders.  Plus, the man can grow facial hair.  It’s impressive.

Carlos Zambrano, starting pitcher-pinch hitter – Carlos was off to a good, but not great start when he hurt his leg beating out a bunt a couple of weeks ago.  Lou had warmed to the idea of using Zambrano as a pinch hitter given that Jim Hendry kept refusing to put any of the injured position players on the DL, leaving Lou with a short bench just about every night.  To hear the hue and cry from a couple of prominent media dopes when Zambrano got hurt in a game he was pitching in, imagine the absurd panic if it had happened when he was pinch hitting?  In the past, Zambrano has needed a couple of weeks off here and there to get through a full season, so this injury, provided it’s fully healed when he comes back isn’t the end of the world.  Starting pitching has been the Cubs strength so far this season, to the point that Zambrano’s replacement in the rotation didn’t allow a run in either of his starts.

Rich Harden, starting pitcher-pinch runner – When Zambrano was injured, Harden ran for him.  Now this was a case of Lou tempting the fates.  In typical Cubs fashion, Harden would have been murdered between first and second.  But he wasn’t.  He even scored a run.  The frail righty has made all of his starts so far and claims to have never felt better.  That may be true, but he certainly has pitched better.  Here’s how good he is.  When he allowed four runs in an inning yesterday it was the first time he’d done so since 2006.  With his 92-96 MPH heater (which he can tune up to 98 at times) and ridiculous change up, you wonder how anybody ever hits this guy.  So far this year he’s shifted between terrific and ordinary.  More terrific, please.  We like watching that.

Ryan Dempster, starting pitcher – Dempster’s been fine so far this season.  Not as good as last year, but good enough to win most nights.  That’s the thing about the starting pitching.  It’s been good so far, but none of the guys is pitching as well as he can.  If things ever click for all five of them at the same time, there’s no team in the NL who can match them.

As for Dempster, watching Ryan Braun’s assclown tantrum on the Saturday night game in last week’s Brewers series just reminds us this.  It’s time for Ryan Braun to catch a fastball with his neck.

Ted Lilly, starting pitcher – Lilly’s been the Cubs best pitcher so far.  He’s 5-2, with a 3.27 ERA and dating back to the end of last season he’s been their best pitcher for a while now.  He has shown every sign of being one of those lefties who has his best years in his 30s.  For all of the crap that Jim Hendry has deservedly taken for that Jason Marquis signing, the Lilly one has been fantastic from the very start.  He’s got one more year on his deal after this one, and figures to be around after that, as well.

Sean Marshall, starting pitcher – Sean Marshall likes being a starting pitcher.  Who doesn’t?  You get four days off for every one you work, you pretty much just try not to fall asleep in the dugout on the days you aren’t pitching.  But because Neal Cotts sucks, Marshall is about to lose his starting job.  It has nothing to do with his ability.  He’s turning into a very good starting pitcher.  But when Zambrano comes back from the DL, the Cubs will have one more starter than spots for them, and the bullpen is crying for a lefty.  That lefty will end up being Marshall.  Good for the team, bad for Sean, and he doesn’t seem to mind.  That’s refreshing, actually.

Randy Wells, starting pitcher – The Outlaw has pitched 11 big league innings so far this year and has yet to give up a run.  Is that good?  It sounds like it is.  They gave him Kevin Tapani’s old number and apparently his repertoire, and so far it’s working for him.  He’s always been considered a solid prospect, but not much more than that.  He’s had two minor league seasons that stand out.  In 2005 he was 10-2 in the Florida State league and last year he was 10-4 at Iowa, but with a 4.02 ERA.  Lou says he’s up in the big leagues to stay, and he could probably stick for a while if he starts to throw more strikes.  He could only go five innings in his debut because he threw approximately 900 pitches in those five innings and he’s walked five guys in 11 innings.  So before you get too excited, remember that Jeff Pico threw a complete game one hitter in his debut and we remember what a great career he went on to.

Kevin Gregg, closer – For most of the season Gregg has been Lou’s most consistent reliever.  He put a man sized dent in that on Saturday when he came in to throw batting practice to the Astros with a 4-0 lead and left with a 4-4 tie.  That aside, he’s been solid, but unspectacular.  For the most part he throws strikes.  He’s got dwarf arms for a big guy and the ball seems to get on hitters before they know what to do with it.  He’s not the best reliever in the bullpen, and there will be times (like Saturday) when Carlos Marmol will humiliate a team in the eighth and Gregg will humiliate himself in the ninth.  But over the long haul, you can see the advantages of having Marmol as a set up man, as long as Gregg is closing out games in the ninth.

Carlos Marmol, set up man – It’s been a weird year so far for the Marmot.  At times he’s been dominating and completely unhittable, and at other times he couldn’t find home plate with a GPS.  But it’s been a good May for him.  He’s pitched in nine games, with the Cubs ahead in all of them and they’ve still been ahead when he left.  In May he’s only allowed two runs in nine innings and he’s struck out 15 guys in those nine innings (with eight walks, though).

Neal Cotts, lefty walk specialist – Sucks.

Aaron Heilman, set up man? – As a whole, the Cubs bullpen walks too damn many people.  Heilman is one of the worst offenders.  His walk to strikeout ratio is 12:14.  That’s miserable.  He also has an uncanny knack for allowing the first batter he faces to reach.  His stuff is good, he’s basically a poor man’s Rich Harden, but the results often don’t match.  Mets’ fans celebrated when he was traded.  We now know why.

Angel Guzman, middle reliever – The Guz has improved steadily as the season has gone on.  He’s throwing more strikes and letting his filthy stuff take over more.  He made the team basically because he was out of options, but he’s earned his spot now.  He’s the only pitcher who’s been with the team for most of the season with a WHIP (walks plus hits/innings pitched) under one.  He’s got 19 K’s in 19 innings and only nine walks.  Will his arm hold up?  It never has before.

David Patton, Rule V novelty act – He deserves to be on this team about as much as you do.  Whatever the Cubs thought they saw in him during the spring was an illusion.  His ERA is over eight, he’s walked nine guys in 12 innings and needs to go pitch in the minors.  Somebody’s minors.  Anybody’s.

Jose Ascanio, headhunter – OK, he’s not really a headhunter, but here’s what he did in yesterday’s loss to the Astros.  He came in with the Cubs down 4-3 and hit the first batter on the first pitch.  Then, he hit the second batter on the second pitch he threw.  He allowed them both to score, including the second one on a wild pitch.  Great?  He’s got good stuff and was dominating at Iowa, but holy shit was that bad.

Jeff Samardzija, Iowan – The Cubs don’t know what to do with him.  He’s got nothing left to prove in the bullpen at Iowa so he’s starting down there, but honestly, the Cubs don’t need him to train to be a starter.  They need him to come up and give them a four man end of the bullpen of him, Guzman, Gregg and Marmol.  The only thing holding him back is an inability to throw strikes consistently.  If he ever does it, he’ll make for a top notch bullpen arm.  Then again, the washed up losers club is full of guys who could say the same thing.

Chad Fox, suicide watch – He’s pitched for the Cubs in parts of three seasons and all three times he’s walked off the field holding his right arm after suffering a “career ending” injury.  The first two didn’t take.  I wouldn’t give odds that this one will, either.

So where are the Cubs right now?  They’re a team with solid starting pitching, a spotty bullpen and an underachieving offense.  And they’re right on their pace from last year, and just passed the Cardinals in the standings.  This is a team that should play a lot better from here on out, and one that has managed to win more than their share of games to this point.

Nobody said it would be easy.  But nobody said they shouldn’t be able to do it.

You’d like your chances a lot better with a healthy E-ramis, but the biggest advantage they have in the division is that they can pitch and the Cardinals have some holes in their staff and the Brewers staff is a big hole.

If they don’t win it’ll be their own damn fault.