Last season SS Ryan Theriot and RF Kosuke Fukudome split time at the leadoff spot after it became undeniably obvious that Alfonso Soriano was a disaster. This season the two head into the 2010 season as the two candidates to lead off once again.

Popular opinion seems to be on Theriot’s side and ESPN’s Tyler Colvin story’s comment thread proved this much. It seems people stopped short of death threats while condemning Fukudome and his excessive contract, but that might only be because the section is probably monitored.

The numbers seem to be on Fukudome’s side. According to the situation stats, Fukudome hit .316 leading off the inning and posted a .401 OBP. In contrast, Theriot hit .257 and sported a meager .317 OBP. Fukudome simply seems to guarantee a better start to each game than Theriot. The Catch-22 is that in any other situation he is unlikely to actually hit a player in. His paltry .256 batting average with runners in scoring position is evidence of that and his even more dreadful .132 average with runners in scoring position and two outs is just bitter, spoiled icing on top.

Meanwhile, Theriot hits .284 with runners in scoring position, though he is less likely to draw a walk and give the next guy a chance. Theriot also seems to thrive hitting with two outs and runners in scoring position. He hit .314 and even posted a decent .351 when the pressure was on.

After looking at these numbers I would argue that the best way to hide Fukudome and keep Theriot in the fans good graces is to actually have Fukudome as the lead off hitter as insanely silly as that sounds. His walk numbers would make him a good number two hitter, but Theriot’s own troubles leading off the inning make me wonder if he is even a good lead off prospect. I imagine that much of the love for Theriot is because of memories of fans with Chicago Cubs tickets watching as he drove in the winning run, which is exactly not the position he is in as the leadoff hitter.

Ryan Theriot has been just obliterating the ball since May 1.  He has 3 home runs in the last 4 games, tying his career-high for home runs in a season in a 4 day stretch.  I’m not sure if this will keep up, it’s not like The Riot was one of those guys that seemed to have the power but just couldn’t put it together.  Maybe I’m wrong though.  After all the shit we give Theriot around here for his TOOTBLANs, it’s time he got a little love.  Take a look at this game log from the last 3 days:

It’s not like he had a bad April either, going .317/.374/.378.  While that slugging percentage is a bit low, his job is to get on base and he is doing fantastic in that department.  On top of that, his TOOTBLANs are way down, seeing as that he has stolen 6 bases in only 8 attempts.

Now the speculation that Theriot has done steroids this offseason is obviously out there.  It is unfortunate that we live in a world where someone cannot just play well for a stretch without coming under suspicion, but that is just the way the game is now.

Bob Brenly, however, would like to posit a different theory.  As I was watching the Cubs broadcast last night, Brenly related a ridiculous tale speculating on Theriot’s recent surge.  It went something like this:

I remember way back when Sandberg was with the Cubs.  Jim Frey told Ryno “you should try to hit for more power, you’re not just a singles hitter.”  And Ryno said ok.  And do you know what happened?  He started hitting all those home runs.  This power surge by Theriot reminds me of that.  Someone must have told Ryan to start hitting the ball harder, and it looks like he listened.

Now that’s not an exact transcript of Brenly’s comments, but its close.  I choose to believe Bob’s folksy wisdom.  Better that then having to deal with the dark cloud of steroids everytime anyone does anything good on the diamond.

h/t for the picture: Bleacher Nation via Cubs Brickyard

• Bulls lost in Game 7 if you haven’t heard.  As much as it’s dampening my mood, it was a great series and there’s a lot of promise for next season.  P.S.-Vinny sucks. [Blogabull]
• Cubs won 6-4, but Z went down with some kind of leg injury.  Dammnit. [Bleacher Nation]
• Uh-oh, the IOC is impressed by Rio’s bid for the 2016 Olympics.  Doesn’t bode well for Chicago. [Chicagoist]
• What would happen to Wrigley Field if everyone on the planet disappeared all of a sudden?  Yeah it sounds weird, but it’s on the History Channel, so check it out. [Big League Stew] h/t: Ethan
• Should Hester still be returning punts?  The Bears seem to think so. [Tribune]
• The NFL might have the Super Bowl in London by 2014.  Why? [Telegraph]
• Theriot has been hammering the ball lately, is this what he looks like under his jersey? [Bleacher Nation]
• Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux both had their numbers retired yesterday.  Both were great Cubs legends. [Wrigleyville23]
• Pacquiao put Hatton on his ass in just 2 rounds.  No surprises there. [Tribune]

Wrigleyville23 invented a statistic last year called the “TOOTBLAN”.  For those of you not familiar with this stat, it was created to honor Ryan Theriot, one of the worst baserunners in the entire league.  TOOTBLAN stands for “Thrown Out On The Basepaths Like A Nincompoop”.  This includes any kind of out made on the basepaths, be it caught stealing, getting doubled up, or caught trying to stretch a single into a double.  While Theriot was the most egregious offender of the TOOTBLAN last season, the entire Cubs roster has been getting in on the fun this year.  Here is the rundown from WV23:

Total TOOTBLANs: 15

TOOTBLAN Leaders: Kosuke Fukudome (5), Alfonso Soriano (3), Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot (2)

TOOTBLANs While Tied: 8

TOOTBLANs While Leading: 2

TOOTBLANs While Trailing: 5

TOOTBLANs At First: 0

TOOTBLANs At Second: 11

TOOTBLANs At Third: 3

TOOTBLANs At Home: 1

Record In Games With TOOTBLANs: 4-7

Multiple TOOTBLAN Games: 4

Kinds of TOOTBLANs: caught stealing (9), taking extra base on hit (3), doubled off on line drive (1), picked off (1), thrown out at home on infield grounder (1)

Of all people one would think that Kosuke would not be TOOTBLANed that often. He is usually a very smart ballplayer. While I love Sweet Lou, the fault for this lies with him.  When “being aggressive” on the bases leads to giving away massive amounts of outs, you are costing your team runs and thus wins.  This is only a minor problem for the Cubs compared to the power outage at the plate and the awful bullpen, but the Cubs can use all the help they can get.  Think about toning it down a bit, Lou.  Thanks.

• Theriot got his first TOOTBLAN of the year last night.  Oh and Ramirez threw one in for good measure. [Wrigleyville23]
• The Bulls won a big one down the stretch.  Back to 7th with 4 games to play. [Bulls Blog]
• Cubbies blew it in the 10th.  The bullpen has looked really good though. (UPDATE: I’m not sure if that’s sarcasm or not; Heilman and Guzman looked good, Cotts was left in too long and Gregg choked) [Tribune]
• Michael Jordan is pissed he’s in the Hall of Fame, because he thinks he can still play.  I’m not going to be the one to tell him he can’t, but umm… [Deadspin]
• A yellow card was given in a soccer match to a player for farting.  No joke. [BBC]
• It looks like this will be Lou Piniella’s last year managing the Cubs, at least according to some Yankee guy. [Bleacher Nation]
• NQTC favorite Curtis Granderson is going to be blogging over at Big League Stew.  He’s such a classy guy. [Big League Stew]
• More details on the sale of Wrigley Field.  It sounds like a lucrative deal. [Chicagoist]

• I know what you’re thinking, “I need a sweet, borderline inappropriate, yet hilarious t-shirt.”  Well you’re in luck.  Scroll down about an 1/8 of the page over at the Dong and look on the right. [Luol's Dong]
• The trade deadline is an interesting phenomenon, here’s a look at the history behind it. [Hardwood Paroxysm]
• What’s the difference between the Cover 2 and the Tampa 2?  What is the Cover 2 anyways?  Here’s an explanation. [Windy City Gridiron]
• So now Soriano is going to bat leadoff again?  I thought we went over this. [Sun-Times]
• It looks like Paxson isn’t going anywhere, at least according to him. [Tribune]
• What’s the story with all the construction at Wrigley Field?  Whatever it is, I hope concrete doesn’t fall on anyone this year.  Just saying. [Bleed Cubbie Blue]
• It was a busy trading season for the Bulls, and as Sam Smith points out, they now lead the league in Thomases. [Bulls Blog]
• Charles Barkley is back calling games for TNT.  Barkley: “I thought I did well on the sobriety test. But clearly not good enough.”  [TrueHoop]
• Don’t know what a Tootblan is?  Ryan Theriot will show you soon enough, but don’t forget to buy your t-shirt. [Wrigleyville23]
• The Blackhawks are opening the season in Finland next year.  I’m not going to lie, I didn’t read this article so I have no idea why or when this would even happen.  Maybe you’ll care. [Sun-Times]