Speed & Defense!

There are two things in baseball that never take a day off, they are speed and defense.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, speed and defense are two of the their more glaring weaknesses. However there are two positions in the lineup, one in the infield and one in the outfield, that the Cubs can address to help with both of these deficiencies.

Felix Pie and The Riot can bring the speed and defense necessary to overcome whatever if any, offensive shortcomings they may have. Defense, can and should be considered an offensive category as it helps prevent the opposition from scoring runs. Speed, more recognizably helps the offense as runners can create more disruption of an opponents pitchers and defenses, therefore helping the Cubs manufacture more runs without the big extra base hit.

The Riot playing 2B, could hopefully come close to duplicating last year's performance, at least in steals and plate discipline. This could eventually allow Pinella to move Soriano out of the lead off spot and down to a more run producing spot in the lineup.

Felix Pie playing CF or RF, could transform a suspect outfield defense into a superior one. Pie's inexperience at the plate would be offset by the superior speed and defense he'd bring to the team.

Remember Lou, speed and defense never go into a slump and with a respectable bench to provide some added pop if needed late in the game, The Riot and Pie help balance the team where they are weakest.