The other day, I wrote a piece covering the things that have affected the Cubs in the first third of the season, dooming them to being a .500 ballclub after winning a NL best 97 games last season.  Certainly, there have been some major issues that have cost the team numerous ballgames, which takes a club that could be nine or ten games better than their current mark.  Of course, all teams suffer through injuries and slumps, and good teams come out of them and regain their stride, while subpar teams sink like the Titanic.

However, that doesn't mean that everything has been doom and gloom for the Cubs, even after losing two of three to the Houston Astros to cap a 4-4 road trip.  Realistically, the club could have won all eight, but once again, the bullpen reared its ugly head.  After an impressive 7-1 thumping of Houston Tuesday night, when the Cubs were 6 for 19 with runners in scoring position, they scored just two runs in the final two games, each on solo homers, in a pair of 2-1 losses.  Last night's loss came in the bottom of the ninth, while today's was a thirteen inning affair, with Houston's Geoff Blum driving in the winning run in both contests for Houston.

That said, let's take a look at what has been a positive so far for the club a bit more in depth:

THE STARTING ROTATION:  The Cubs have the best rotation ERA in the majors right now at 3.65, a number that probably dropped slightly with Ryan Dempster's outing in a no decision today.  On the road trip, which began last Tuesday in Atlanta, Cubs starters gave up the following for runs:  1, 2, 1, 3 (none of those earned), 2, 0, 1, and 1.  The record of the starters in those 8 games would be pretty impressive you would think right? 

The actual record?  2-0.  That's right, there were SIX no decisions in that span.  Chalk some of it up to inept hitting, which would cover the last two games, shoddy relief work, as leads were blown in two games and tie scores were squandered in three others that would end up in losses.  Still, we've talked a lot about Randy Wells, who is 0-2 despite his 1.86 ERA, but look at the rest of the rotation.  Ted Lilly is 7-4 with an ERA of 3.00, while fanning 63 batters in 78 innings of work.  Carlos Zambrano is 4-2 with a 3.39 ERA and his strikeout rate is up again, as he has whiffed 56 men in 63.2 innings after a subpar season strikeout wise last season, when he was hampered down the stretch. 

Ryan Dempster is 4-3 with a 3.87 ERA, and has been victimized of little run support in his recent outings, including today, where he allowed one run in seven frames but was on the hook for the loss until Derrek Lee's one out solo homer in the ninth.  Rich Harden is due back off the DL to start Saturday against the Minnesota Twins, and he'll look to lower his ERA from 4.74, though he does have a 4-2 record with 53 K's in 43.2 innings of work.  With a little help offensively and in the pen, the Cubs could steamroll through the second half.

KOSUKE FUKUDOME:  Barring a recent slip, Fukudome has been pretty solid offensively, in a time when the Cubs bats have been in hibernation.  He still is hitting .294 with five homers and 22 RBI, while walking more than he was striking out.  He also has a .425 on base percentage for the year, which is a solid number, especially with the subpar numbers the rest of the roster has put together.    He's done a better job of watching the strike zone and isn't chasing as many pitches. 

He's been hitting in the three hole for the time being with Ramirez out, and with Soriano not being moved from the leadoff slot, it means that Kosuke needs to step up to help the team carry the offensive slack until Ramirez returns, while Soto, Bradley and company find their groove.

RYAN THERIOT:  The Riot, as Bob Brenly and Len Kasper call him, has suddenly developed a bit of a power stroke this season, popping six homers after hitting just one last season, and no more than three in any other season in the bigs.  He's still hitting .288 on the year with 23 runs batted in, and his on base percentage is .353, which is close to his career mark of .361 over the past four seasons.  However, he isn't walking as much as he has the last couple seasons, and that has impacted his walk to strikeout ratio. 

After walking 73 times and fanning just 58 times last season in 661 plate appearances, he has walked just 18 times and fanned 31 in 241 plate appearances so far this season.  Moreso, he has forsaken some of the inside out, hitting the ball to the opposite field swing that benefitted him immensely last season, and that is something he needs to get back to.  Ideally, Theriot is a slap hitter who utilizes his speed to set the table and force the issue on the defense.  Let's hope for a return to form going forward.

ANGEL GUZMAN:  Guzman has been the lone solid, consistent reliever in the pen so far, even with last night's failure to hold Houston in the ninth with a chance to send the game to extra innings.  He's 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 26 games, allowing 19 hits in 28 innings while fanning 25.  He's gotten his first career big league win (April 18th against St. Louis) and first career big league save (June 7th against Cincinnati) this year, and Lou Piniella has used him in important situations.

Normally he would be the middle inning bridge guy to Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg, but with both of those men struggling (though they both did log a pair of scoreless frames in today's game), Piniella is not afraid to throw him in clutch spots to try and get outs.  He's gotten a lot of confidence with his pitches, and his fastball has been clocked in the mid to high 90s, exploding through the zone.  Even more dangerous, his slider is hitting near 90 miles an hour, with a wicked break to it, diving out of the strike zone after looking enticing to a hitter.  If he can keep it up, he will be a valuable asset in the second half of the season.

So there are some of the high points for the Cubs so far, as they gear up for interleague play starting tomorrow at Wrigley Field against the Minnesota Twins.  Randy Wells tries again for career win number one, as he'll match up against Kevin Slowey.  Slowey is 8-2, but he has a 4.21 ERA and has given up a slew of hits (95 in 72.2 innings pitched, contributing to a WHIP of 1.431 on the season.)  He's also homer prone (averaging 1.5 homers allowed per nine innings pitched), and the only thing saving him from having extremely ugly numbers is the fact that he doesn't walk many (nine walks allowed on the year.)  The league is also hitting .317 against him, with a .507 slugging percentage.  If the wind is blowing out, it could be a rough day for him. 

Next, we'll look at what the Cubs can expect the rest of the season.  Stay tuned.