The home runs, 10 in one month, are significant. But Sammy Sosa was named National League Player of the Month Monday in large part because he hit .358 in July.
“When you figure they only give that award six times a season, it means something when you’ve been the best player in the league for one-sixth of the season,” manager Jim Riggleman said.
Sosa, never before honored as Player of the Month, was 38 for 106 in July with six doubles and 29 runs batted in. He also stole three bases, scored 22 times and had a slugging percentage of .698 and an on-base percentage of .414.
Big mistakes: Catcher Scott Servais can tell you when Cubs starters are in the groove.
“There are two basics,” he said. “First, they will be locating their fastball well and, secondly, they will pitch ahead in the count most of the time. That allows them to pitch out of jams.”
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They have had plenty of practice there. Servais noted Colorado didn’t deluge the Cubs with a lot of hits in winning three straight over the weekend.
“But when we made mistakes they hit homers and doubles, not singles,” he said. “We need more mistakes to go for singles.”
Rookie Amaury Telemaco will have to quit reacting to bad situations if he is to mature, Servais said.
“He has to work on his presence on the mound,” he said. “When a play isn’t made behind him or he gives up a home run, he has to learn to move on to the next batter, not let the negatives affect him. And he has to concentrate, know when to adjust more quickly.”
In the mix: Scott Bullett got an infrequent start Monday against the Mets and had a pair of doubles, driving in one run. The Cubs must decide in the two months remaining in the season whether the outfielder fits into their plans for next season.
“This winter we’ll decide to fish or cut bait with some players,” Riggleman said. “Pittsburgh had Bullett and thought he was a talented young player, but they ran out of options with him and let him go.”
The Cubs are out of options with Bullett too, and can’t return him to the minors. Riggleman insisted he doesn’t belong there anyway.
“Not at his age,” he said of the 27-year-old. “He needs to be in the big leagues and playing more often than I have been able to use him. But when you have Brian McRae and Sammy Sosa playing every day it’s not easy to find room for him in the lineup.”
Hand ball: Shortstop Rey Sanchez has aggravated the left hand on which he had surgery earlier this year and had to take himself out of Monday’s game in the sixth inning. “It’s something different than the operation, but around the same spot,” Riggleman said. “He’s just not going to be 100 percent the rest of this season. It’s going to be sore.”
Let it go: Left-fielder Luis Gonzalez has stopped kicking himself for dropping that easy flyball Saturday, an error that was highlighted by the next Rockie hitting a home run.
“The homer was adding insult to injury,” he said. “I just took a glance at the runner and it cost me. I take pride in being an aggressive outfielder and you just have to let it go when something like happens. Can’t carry it with you.”