The Cubs...Overachieving?

[cprice12]

I've seen a lot of talk from Cub fans about how the Cardinals will fail because too many players are overachieving and how the Cardinals just aren't as good as their record.

So what about the Cubs? Do they have players who are overachieving?
Let's look and see...

PITCHERS

RP Neal Cotts -- Who? Career ERA of 4.44 ...only pitched in 16 games last year, which was his 2nd year in the league. He currently has a 0.0 ERA in only 5 innings pitched.

RP Ryan Dempster -- Career ERA of 4.70 with a hefty 1.51 WHIP....he currently sports a 2.90 ERA which is the lowest his ERA has ever been in his 10 year career.

RP Scott Eyre -- Career ERA of 4.32 over an 11 year career. He currently has a 0.00 ERA in only 7 innings pitched.

RP Sean Gallagher -- Career ERA of 5.61 (last year it was 8.59). This season's ERA: 4.42.

RP/SP Jon Lieber -- Career ERA of 4.26. This season's ERA: 3.31. He has never had an ERA that low to finish a season in his long career.

RP Carlos Mármol -- Career ERA of 3.53. This season's ERA: 2.25...but to be fair, this is only his 3rd season.

RP Kerry Wood -- Career ERA of 3.64. This season's ERA: 2.62.

RP Michael Wuertz -- Career ERA of 3.48. This season's ERA: 2.89

SP Carlos Zambrano -- Career ERA of 3.38. This season's ERA: 3.01

POSITION PLAYERS
C Geovany Soto -- 1st year as a starter. 10 home runs, 39 RBI. Can he keep that pace up?

C Henry Blanco -- Career .225 hitter. His average this season: .310

2B/SS Ronny Cedeño -- Career .253 hitter over 3 seasons. His average this season: .295

2B/3B Mark DeRosa -- Career .280 hitter. His average this season: .303

SS/2B Ryan Theriot -- Career .288 hitter. His average this season: .323


The Cubs have a LOT of players who are playing over their heads, or at least slightly better than expected.
Funny how this never gets brought up when people talk about the Cardinals having players playing over their heads. The Cubs have more.

[stlmark]

Tough one. I want to say yes, but they have a potent lineup, so they are playing to their abilities for the most part. God it hurts to say that. I hate them bas-tards!

[cprice12]

Tough one. I want to say yes, but they have a potent lineup, so they are playing to their abilities for the most part. God it hurts to say that. I hate them bas-tards!

The Cubs have quite a few players playing better than their career averages.
If the Cardinals can have that said about them, then the Cubs should also be mentioned as having a lot of guys playing better than they usually do.