Cubs are healthy, patient

Team's free-swinging days are over, and win over Mets is good example

This is ridiculous. Who are these guys?

With only a couple of additions to the lineup this April, the free-swinging, oft-missing Cubs, well, aren't anymore.

A team that struck out 1,000 or more times 10 of the last 12 seasons -- leading the National League three times in that span -- has morphed into a Sabermetrician's fantasy.

With Kosuke Fukudome seeing more pitches per at-bat than anybody in baseball and late-spring acquisition Reed Johnson earning his way into the lineup and producing a .417 on-base percentage, the Cubs are among the top teams in the major leagues in on-base percentage, scoring and hitting.

In fact, they entered the night with a .366 on-base percentage, second only to Boston in the majors. Granted, almost 90 percent of the season remains, but the last time the Cubs led the league in on-base percentage, they went to the World Series (.349 in 1945). That was also the last time they reached .340.

No wonder they've won 12 of their last 15 games and are off to their best 19-game start (13-6) since 1985 after beating the New York Mets 7-1 in Monday's opener of a two-game series at Wrigley Field.

And more than what it has done for the Cubs in April, the things they're doing well offensively could make them a factor in October if they can get to the postseason again -- and if they can keep a similar dynamic in the lineup going.

''How we're playing right now, that's how we're supposed to play,'' said injured left fielder Alfonso Soriano, who came up with the New York Yankees at the tail end of their run of dominance in the late 1990s and early 2000s. ''And if we make the playoffs, we have to play like we did [Monday] night.

''Offensively, defensively and pitching -- that's the kind of team that wins the World Series. This team reminds me of when I used to play for the Yankees. And I'm not even in the lineup.''

On display Monday was the power and experience of ace Carlos Zambrano (3-1) and another errorless defensive game that included four double plays.

But the most impressive thing about this team is the way it's reaching base, which leads to the abundance of runs.

''The additions of [Fukudome and Johnson] have been tremendous,'' said hitting coach Gerald Perry, who said even two guys going deep into counts can have the kind of domino effect that eats up another team's pitch counts and does for a lineup exactly what the Cubs couldn't do last October. ''You like to put together quality at-bats, and guys definitely feed off of each other.''

Fukudome, for instance, fouled off five two-strike pitches in the eighth before driving a single through the hole on the left side of the infield to load the bases with none out, setting the stage for the Cubs' five-run inning.

Two outs later, Ronny Cedeno -- in the game as an emergency replacement for scratched Ryan Theriot -- fouled off several two-strike pitches before singling up the middle for two runs.

What happens when Soriano returns next week, taking his free-swinging approach to the leadoff spot, is an issue that might have to be addressed down the road.

But manager Lou Piniella isn't going to call that a problem and sees improvement in the pitch selection and on-base capabilities, with Soriano in there, too.

''We've got two experienced players, Johnson and Fukudome, and the club is playing with more confidence,'' Piniella said. ''It doesn't hurt that we're leading the league in hitting, that we're second in the league in runs scored and that we're improving defensively as we speak. But it's a long season. Let's not get all crazy about this thing.''

CUBS 7, METS 1