Talkin' Cubs Live - Cubs vs. Angels - 03/25/07

By Neil on March 25, 2007 15 Vote 0 Votes

Spring Training Game Twenty-Six: Cubs (13-11-1) vs. Angels (14-11)
Game Time - 3:05pm C.T. - WGN TV, WGN Radio, XM Radio 187
Location - HoHoKam Park, Mesa

Ted Lilly (1-1, 3.95) vs. Ervin Santana (0-2, 4.42)

The last Sunday in Mesa and after today only four games left in the desert. Ted Lilly is coming off his worst start of the spring, last Tuesday against the Rockies. He walked two, uncorked a wild pitch, had trouble with his location and loaded the bases on two different occasions in 5 innings of work.

Lilly was reportedly very unhappy with his performance and with today's start scheduled to be his longest of the spring, he should be on top of his game....similar to the way Wade Miller was on Saturday.

Cliff Floyd is scheduled to be the DH for the Cubs today. The 25-man roster is all but set and after Piniella's slip of the tongue on Saturday, that he quickly corrected, all that appears to be left is for the Cubs to leave spring training healthy. Piniella referred to Miller as being the Cubs 5th starter but retracted statement and said the roster would be finalized by Thursday....the last game of the spring in Mesa against the Diamondbacks.

The Angels received a big blow to their plans for 2007 when Chone Figgins broke two of his fingers, this past week, and will be out 4-6 weeks. The Angels have been picked by many to win their division and represent the American League in the World Series.

It will be interesting to see how much playing time Ronny Cedeno, Angel Pagan and Tomas Perez receive in the coming days as they appear to be the front-runners for the 25th spot on the roster.

Let's Talk Cubs Baseball....

Neil

Chad, well said.

Chad

Larry,

The starters have looked good so far. I think our starters are going to be the best in the NL Central. Especially with our depth of starters with Guzman and maybe Marshall and Prior. Although I read that Marshall looked bad in a minor league game yesterday.

Zambrano~~one of the best in the NL.

Lilly~~will love pitching outside of the AL East. I think he will be good. The wind blows in as often as it blows out at Wriley. Plus he has gotten a lot of groundballs in ST.

Marquis~~Could be decent; could be awful. Hopefully we catch a decent year from him. He has looked good except for his last start.

Hill~~Our real #2. The Cubs are just trying to reduce the pressure on him by calling him the #4. He has been DOMINANT in the minors, was one of the best starters in the NL in August and September last year, and has looked good in ST. I am hoping, and expecting, a very good year out of him.

Miller~~was so-so until yesterday where he looked outstanding. He could be decent.

Neil

That was a great play by DeRosa.

Here comes Kerry

Larry

I live in the west, so I don't get a lot of oportunities to watch or listen to the Cubs during spring training, but from what I have seen and read, I am pretty impressed with the pitching staff's overall performances over the last week and a half or so. Maybe I am just being overly optismistic, and as a Cubs fan you have to be, but they have looked better than they did last year.

l

DeRosa is looking very good defensively at 3rd. I would rather see him as the utility guy, giving more playing time to Theriot, but regardless DeRosa sure has looked good today.

Lilly continues to look impressive. Granted a few balls have been hit hard, but against a lineup like the Angles, he is looking very good.

Chad

Floyd clobbered that ball. But he sure looked hurt as he rounded the bases. Did anyone see his interview from the dugout on a telecast the other day? He seemed like a great guy. I hope he gets healthy because he can help us.

Neil

Wood and Dempster are supposed to throw today and the ground balls have been good to see. Also all of the first pitch strikes. When Lilly has been hit it has been hard, but he has limited the damage.

Larry, I have not seen Jones' arm put to the test this spring.

WOW!!! Did Floyd just tag that one or what!!!! That was a monster.

Larry

Lilly has been looking very good today. I like the fact that he is getting as many groundballs as he has. If he can keep it up, than he should have no problem at least matching the 15 wins he recorded last year for the Jays.

Has anyone heard anything about how Jacque has been throwing the ball? Has there been any improvement over what he could do last year?

Chad

As of now, I think we are a pretty good team. In this day of more parity there are no great teams. But I think we are pretty good. Right now the outfield defense and Dempster are the biggest question marks.

Neil

Chad, I wonder that about Cedeno as well. It is good to see him at 2B today. DeRosa made a good play on the grounder to end the inning as well.

Lilly has looked sharp....first pitch strikes to 10 of the first 11 he has faced.

Chad

Wow. That was a great play by JJ.

Chad

Would playing Cedeno everyday in Iowa be better for him and the Cubs longterm or having him backup in the majors? I don't think he'll get a lot of time with the Cubs. He'd probably only backup Izzy.

Neil

Today's lineup with Cedeno at 2B and DeRosa at 3B:

Soriano - CF

Cedeno - 2B

Jones - RF

Floyd - DH

Ward - 1B

Barrett - C

Murton - LF

DeRosa - 3B

Izturis - SS

Lilly - P

Jim and Austin, I agree with both of your points. I think Pagan is very good defensively and I think he speed could help the Cubs off the bench. On Perez he has played better than I expected but for him to make the team they will either have to put someone on the 60-day DL or release someone from the 40-man roster.

Austin

Tomas Perez has really surprised me. He has played great defense, got some timely hits, and layed down some nice bunts. I take back that he is "Neifi with less defense" I actually think he could help us, but I would still put him behind Cedeno if it comes down to those two.

Jim (Tinley Park)

I heard that about Figgins, I would have like to see the Cubs get him in a trade with the Angels.

But, with him being on the shelf its not going to happen any time soon. As for the 25th spot I was hoping that it would go to Pagan. He just might be our best defender in the outfield.