First the Cubs leave 15 guys on base on Tuesday and barely escape with a victory courtesy of Jon Lieber, then Fassero blows another game, and now Farnsworth is out for four to six weeks.

Fassero betrays no clue of how good he was the first half of last year. Perhaps what we all thought was end-of-season exhaustion from overwork by the clueless Baylor was actually the end of the line for the veteran lefty. And with Farnsworth out, that means Chiasson and Zambrano will really have to step up in the bullpen. And perhaps they’ll be able to do it for a month or two, but this is without a doubt a major blow.

Add to that the Alou question mark and the still invisible offense, and we have the recipe for a long couple of months. If the Cubs’ bats don’t get moving to help out the bullpen, the Cubs will be out of the race by mid-May. It makes me start to think that I won’t miss being away for the summer so much. On the other hand, if the Cubs stink it up, tickets might be easier to come by (not likely).