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Game Thirty: Cubs 7 Diamondbacks 4
Updated - 5:16pm C.S.T. and 9:04pm C.S.T. with a Photo Gallery from Cashman Field
Update - 5:16pm C.S.T. - The Cubs announced that Sean Marshall will start the Sunday night, ESPN game against the Cardinals on April 9th....not the April 8th game as previously reported.
The Cubs finished the Arizona part of the 2006 Spring Training schedule the same way they started it....with a win. Remember back on March 2nd when Opening Day seemed so far away and now it's just right around the corner. The Cubs got the offense going on Thursday, they pounded out 16 hits including a three run home run by Aramis Ramirez and Jacque Jones first home run as a Cub....a solo shot in the first inning. Derrek Lee had 3 hits and Matt Murton and Jerry Hairston had a pair of hits a piece.
Jerome Williams had his best outing of the spring, but unfortunately it was to little to late. Williams line looks good, but it is the 4 walks that is still alarming. Williams pitched 5 innings and gave up 1 run (a home run) on 3 hits, walked 4 and struck out 3.
Rich Hill had another rough outing and you wonder now if the Cubs should have dealt him in the off-season. Hill pitched 2 innings and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and struck out 3. Like Jerome Williams, Hill also walked 4. Cubs pitching allowed 5 free passes on Thursday. Scott Eyre continued his scoreless spring by retiring the only batter he faced. Bobby Howry gave up a run on a hit, walked one and struck out one in an inning of work.
Thursday was the Cubs last game of the spring in Arizona and they now head for Las Vegas and the Big League Weekend with the Padres. The Cubs had a very good spring all in all. How may of you knew who Angel Pagan and Sean Marshall were a month ago....just remember the CCO knew about Sean Marshall...."It's SHOW-time!!"
Here is the box score from Cubs.com and the last photos from Arizona courtesy of Yahoo Sports....the CCO will have more photos from Spring Training....coming soon
(note - this was the last game of the year the Cubs will not be on the radio or TV...)
Viva Las Vegas Cubbies!!!
Friday - The Big League Weekend - Game One, The San Diego Padres, 9:05pm C.S.T. - XM Channel 188, WGN TV
Sean Marshall vs. Woody Williams
Sean Marshall is the biggest surprise of the year for the Cubs (so far) and he will make his final start of the spring on Friday night against the Padres. Cashman Field is a very nice park and I attended one of the games the Cubs played there last year. Let's all hope Sean Marshall is ready for 'The Bright Lights and The Big City'....his warm-up is in Vegas and his debut is on national TV (ESPN) against the Cubs' biggest rival....The St. Louis Cardinals.
Here is a little Photo Gallery from the 2005 Big League Weekend - Cubs vs. Mariners
Trips to the Northside
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William's has good stuff, he shouldn't have been demoted. Maybe I'll be surprised Saturday night after Marshall throws against the Card's lineup. Anybody know a good excuse to get out of work Monday? Just kidding, kinda sad but my VCR is already programmed ready to go. Take care everyone
Hey Jeff - It's not "sad"...I call it "being prepared"
Jeff:
Williams shouldn't have been demoted? Come on!!!
The guy is brutal!!! Baker is starting to show some urgency to win with his decision to put Williams in the bullpen. I'm not saying that Marshall is the answer even though he has looked impressive this spring, I just think that Williams might give you 1 good start out of every 5. I also hope that I am wrong, any cub who can prove me wrong on his deficencies will get my apology.
Now maybe I'm wrong but did Williams get demoted to AAA or to the Pen. If just the Pen, then that's fine, he'll be a solid long reliever. If AAA, that's why I wouldnt be to happy about the decision. I'll give you that Marshall has looked good and is throwing alot of strikes. With our defense this year let them put it in play instead walking 7 or 8 batters a game. I've said for weeks, we should trade for a starting pitcher, not defense or utilyman.
Jeff, Williams got demoted to the bullpen and not to Iowa...for now.
Personal opinion: Put Rusch back in the bullpen and leave Williams in the lineup. He's young and will greatly improve with enough starts in the big leagues. This guy didn't exactly light it up last year but the year before with SanFran I remember him being fairly decent. I'm just NOT a fan of Rusch starting.
Anybody else happy that our schedule the first 2 weeks is great for our staff. Granted we have STL at home for 3, but after that we have PIT & CINC. Hopefully Wood,Prior and maybe Miller when we head to LA & STL. Trevor--right on about Rusch, I'd rather see Williams start then Glendon. Can't hide Rusch's explosive bat though. (Laughs out loud).
For those of you who actually saw Marshall pitch in person... howz his stuff? Is it electric enough for Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN??? Personally, I'm disappointed that Marshall is getting the nod on April 9th and not Zambrano. It's a nationally televised game and I don't know how Marshall will handle the pressure. The one thing that irritates me the most about pitchers (especially young ones) is that after they give up 5 runs in 5 innings in their major league debut, they say in the postgame newsconference, "Yeah, I gave up 5 runs. But I felt great today and I feel my stuff was good and I threw the ball the way I wanted to." No you didn't. You pitched terribly! I am concerned over Marshall starting April 9th. Perhaps a game with less pressure would be better for Marshall. PLUS, I purchased tickets to fly out from California to Chicago so I can sit in the front row, section 25, and cheer for... who? Marshall? It just doesn't make sense to me how Marshall is pitching in the FIFTH game of the season, when the Cubs are going with a FOUR-MAN rotation?!?! If Zambrano is opening the season against the Reds, shouldn't he also be pitching in the fifth game of the season vs the Cards?
Everyone:
We have Zambrano and 3 others who are either on the downside of his career (Maddux), or average
(rusch), not very good (Williams) and the unknown
(Marshall)then in mid April we will endure more of the unknown (Guzman, Ryu, Hill) Also, If Rusch was a righthander, would he even be in baseball? Our season will be decided on the health and production
from the brittle twins. I haven't forgot about Wade Miller either, but the guy was so-so with Boston last year. Too many questions in regards to the Starters.
Man o man, listen to you guy and maybe girls. The season has yet to begin and we have already lost. Elliot I dont think you will be dissapointed with Marshall on the mound. I did see him in Mesa and he was great to watch. He is 6'7" and a presence on the mound. Sitting that close to the field I am pretty sure you will hear the pop of the mit as I did @ Hohokam. I am so excited about this kid. I hope I am right, becasue he could be a great addition to an confused rotation. All of those pitchers that were named in the previous posts would be starters or long relivers working their way to the rotation with most teams in the league. The season has yet to begin and some of you sound like we are out of the Wild Card Race already. Please feel free to say see I told you so....but give em a couple of weeks or at least a series. Jim you may live on the southside, but you dont have to sound like one :) Have a good one
Elliot, Shaun is right about Marshall I saw him in Mesa and he has great mechanics and Rothschild was working less with him than with Rich Hill. Just remember guys someone has to have the Rookie of the Year, why not the Cubs? And no I have not been drinking the Kool-Aid....What I saw live was that good.
Just opened up the new SI, the baseball preview. They have the Cubs finishing 4th in the Central, with the Brewers finishing 2nd. They also have the Wrongsiders repeating, beating the Cards in the WS. Man I love being the underdog. GO GEORGE MASON.
PS. Remember when they had Kerry Wood on the cover. And predicted us to win the WS? We didnt make the playoffs, lets hope they keep that horrible predicting going.
Opening day line-up?
Pierre CF
Hairston 2b
Lee 1b
Ramirez 3B
Jones RF
Murton LF
Barrett C
Cedeno SS
Zambrano P
Does this work?
Neil,
I don't know if you meant it to sound this way, but your comment about Rothschild working a lot with Hill, but not that much with Marshall, just further proves my point that Rothschild doesn't bring any value to the table.
All the pitchers he has been entrusted with have; recurring injuries (Prior/Wood), they get worse (Farnsworth, Wellmeyer, Juan Cruz, Mitre, etc..), they end 17 year streaks (Maddux), and they go from being the strikeout king of the minors to being a dud in the majors (Hill).
Under this theory, Marshall will win his first two starts, and then Larry will start whispering sweet nothings in his ear and he will lose 4 in a row and then blow out his elbow and both knees!
Seriously...don't you wonder what the Cubs rotation would be like if they were managed by the Braves' pitching coach? We would probably have 5 20-game winners.
I am going to just hope that everyone zones out Dusty and Rothschild, and just starts playing as a team and focusing on what they know works.
I wish that Dusty would put Rusch back in the pen, and let Marshall take his spot, while Williams stays in the rotation. Then you simply stick with whichever pitcher has the best outings when/if Wood/Prior/Miller become healthy.
What are the positives?
Zambrano - solid and dependable...he could win 18+ games
Maddux - has had a good Spring...pencil him in for 11-14 wins
Aramis - .300 avg, 35 hrs, 110 rbis
Lee - .290 avg, 35 hrs, 100 rbis
Pierre - .285 avg, 50 steals
Cedeno, Jones, Murton, and Pierre all bring more speed.
Barrett - seems to understand his defense needs work, and is determined to get better
Dusty - is in a contract year...will play to win, and not just play favorites
Marshall - Cubs were due for a positive surprise...hopefully he will give Wade Miller a fight for the fifth spot, because that will mean the Cubs rotation is healthy and stacked!
Howry and Eyre - so far they are not this year's Remlinger and Hawkins, and they may actually be the answer to a solid bullpen
Marquis Grissom was not good enough to make this team...our bench is definitely stronger, with Mabry (not Hollandsworth), Hairston/Walker (not Macias), and Pagan looks good.
Basically we seem to have a deeper team, as the bullpen and bench are shored up. The defense is stronger, and if/when the starters are all healthy, it could be the best rotation in Cubs history:
Prior - has won 18 games already, and has great stuff
Zambrano - an Ace in the making
Wood - no one questions his talent and stuff on the mound
Maddux - 300 victories+, and 200 innings a year...a luxury at the 4th or 5th starter spot
Miller - a solid pitcher with the Astros, who could be this year's Dempster.
Reserve starters:
Williams - a servicable 5th starter (better than Shawn Estes!)
Rusch - possibly better than Shawn Estes..may be too close to call
Hill - the greatest minor league pitcher to suck royally in the majors
Marshall - could he be the best lefty since Steve Trout?!
Guzman - could be ready to step in later in the year if the injury bug bites again
Ryu - think "Mitre" but hopefully better
Except for Rusch...none of those guys could be placed in the "crappy" category. It is not like the 2006 Cubs are trotting out Steve Trachsel, Dick Ruthven, Shawn Estes, Julian Tavarez, Jason Bere, or practically any of the starters from the 1990s. This actually seems like a very talented group of players.
I don't think Lee will repeat the year he had last year, but he is still a very good player, and so is Aramis. Those two will be the keys to the lineup. The RedSox had Manny and Ortiz...the Cubs have Lee and Aramis.
I think the division is ours to win...I just don't want Rusch to get more than 5 starts all year...and please don't ever start (Neifi)!
Jason I did not mean that the way it sounded. Rothschild was working with Marshall and seemed very pleased with what he was seeing. When I saw him with Rich Hill there was a lot more involvement...meaning he did not like what he was seeing.
Marshall was hitting his spots in the bullpen and looked like he was doing everything his pitching coach wanted him to do. Rich Hill was not hitting his spots and in fact was missing badly on everything except for the curve ball.
Rothschild was working with Marshall, but it seemed to me, at least on that day, Marshall got what Rothschild was teaching...where Rich Hill did not.
Hey...the predictions are coming tomorrow...slow down...
Comparing Rusch to Shawn Estes...how scary is that and I think you are right. Steve Trout and Sean Marshall...hold on...no I am awake, I thought I was dreaming...wouldn't that be nice!!!
Jason I agree with you on Neifi and I hope he is not at short on Monday....