The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs seem a bit tied together these days. The teams concurrently went through massive rebuilding projects, took noticeable steps forward last season and have broken through this season.
With that in mind, I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the slop they were throwing out there during the rebuild. These might not necessarily be the worst lineups, but they look hilariously bad. One thing I was shooting for: Avoiding Jose Altuve and Anthony Rizzo. Those seem like the cornerstones to the turnaround and even if they were struggling at the time, seeing the name in there always made things look a lot less dire.
The Astros went 56-106 in 2011 and things would actually get worse in each of the next two seasons, culminating with a wretched 51-111 year in 2013. Last season they were 70-92, though, and this season are 62-53 and in first place.
Did it get much worse than this lineup on Aug. 12, 2013?
1. Robbie Grossman, LF
2. Marc Krauss, RF
3. Brett Wallace, 1B
4. Chris Carter, DH
5. Matt Dominguez, 3B
6. Carlos Corporan, C
7. Brandon Barnes, CF
8. Jake Elmore, 2B
9. Jonathan Villar, SS
Not surprisingly, Yu Darvish struck out 15 in eight innings of work, allowing just one run.
Meantime, the Cubs were 61-101 in 2012, 66-96 in in 2013 and pushed their win total to 73 last year. They are now 66-48 after collecting their eighth-straight win on Friday.
How about the Cubs' lineup on April 15, 2012 (suggested by Twitter follower @Cubsmurf):
1. Reed Johnson, RF
2. Blake DeWitt, 2B
3. Starlin Castro, SS
4. Jeff Baker, 1B
5. Ian Stewart, 3B
6. Joe Mather, LF
7. Geovany Soto, C
8. Marlon Byrd, CF
Remember, Byrd hit .070/.149/.070 before the Cubs traded him that season.
Yikes.
Perhaps lineups like these are why die-hard fans despise bandwagon fans. If we had to sit through this crap, you shouldn't get to enjoy the good times with us. Something like that.
Also keep in mind that lineups like these for several seasons are why these teams are now succeeding with guys like Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers and Kyle Schwarber contributing.
Anyway, just a fun little look back. Happy Friday.
