Something’s not right. I mean really not right. Last night, while watching the Cubs shut out the Reds, I started thinking about ways the Cubs should look to get Ronny Cedeno into the lineup more.

Yeah, Ronny Cedeno. THAT Ronny Cedeno. A player so dumb that he stands out as dumb even on the Cubs. And I want more of him?

Well, when a guy starts the season hitting .373 with a 1.007 OPS and an astounding 18 RBI in 51 at bats, he kind of gets your attention.

But it’s more than just a hot streak with a bunch of RBI. It’s the way Ronny’s been approaching his at bats.

I shudder to think, but it’s almost like Ronny is giving actual thought to these at bats. I know, it’s crazy, right?

Remember how last year we laughed at how somebody must have installed lunar gravity in Sec Taylor Stadium in Des Moines because Ronny and Geovany Soto both hit aroud .350 most of the season last year? It was hilarious. Ridiculous, even.

Now? Uh…you know, maybe these guys are actually good? I mean, not .350 good, but even if they’re .290 good, I mean, that’s something.

Of course, Felix hit .362 in Iowa last year and even with his shorter swing he still looks like he couldn’t find his ass with both hands at the plate.

Ronny and Geovany are both just 25 (Felix is only 23), and contrary to what tHom Brennaman thinks, sometimes young players just get better.

What’s strange is that Soto plays the far more difficult position and nobody’s worried that he’s not going to be good any more. I guess striking out in eight straight at bats and then following it with an eight game hitting streak will shut people up.

With Ronny, we don’t doubt the ability is there, but I thik we’re all just waiting for him to start sucking again anyway. When you make an out going from first to second on a walk, people will doubt you.

If Ronny were just hacking his way to a .373 start I’d pay no attention to his numbers with the bases loaded (5-6, .833, 14 RBI–14!) or with runners in scoring position (.353, 16 RBI). But when he has at bats like the one against the Mets where he fouled off pitch after pitch in a very un-Ronny like manner before getting one he could smoke, you start to think. Or even last night when Soto struck out with two on and Ronny bailed him out by driving one to right field (on purpose!) to score both runners.

These aren’t unique baseball characteristics. But we’ve never seen them in Ronny. Right now I actually want him to be up with runners on. I find myself actually expecting him to get a hit.

I’m sure it won’t last. Even Neifi had a hot month (April 2005, right after Nomar’s groin explosion when Neifi hit .368, posted a .403 on base average, hit three homers, drove in 12 runs, and hit .379 with runners in scoring position). Wait, now I’ve started to depress myself. I’m going to stop.

Ugh. I just looked at one set of numbers too many.

Now there’s nothing left to do but sit back and wait for Ronny to start blowing again.

And here I was ready to advocate Lou swap him and Theriot so they could both play their best positions.

Never mind, there’s a GameCast at 11:30, I’m going to go lay down.