Lou Piniella is not happy with the performance of his bullpen after the first nine games. The mainstream media is pointing to Piniella's decision to have Larry Rothschild change relievers as additional proof of his disgust with his pen...and many do not believe the 'trying to change the karma' line he threw out in Milwaukee.
While it is only nine games into the season, anyone that has followed Piniella over the years knows he has little to no patience with relievers that do not throw strikes and walk a lot of batters. Changes could be coming if the seven arms currently in his pen do not start performing.
The Minor League system began their season last Thursday (April 9) and while Jake Fox is tearing up the PCL (.516/.579/1.097/1.676 with four doubles, a triple and four home runs in eight games, 16-for-31), there are several pitchers that have performed quite well over the first week...and the Cubs have five open spots on their 40-man roster.
The Cubs have seven pitchers currently on their 40-man roster in Iowa. Mitch Atkins has struggled in his two starts...but Jeff Samardzija, Randy Wells and Chad Fox have done their jobs. Then there is Kevin Hart...
(Note: * on 40-man roster)
Ryne Sandberg has several promising pitchers on his roster but none on the Cubs' 40-man roster. Hung-Wen Chen has been impressive while Jay Jackson was not in his only start on the season. As for one of the younger Papelbon brothers, Jeremy has struck out seven and walked only two in 5 1/3 innings.
If the Cubs decide to make changes it could mean losing a couple of players from the organization. Neal Cotts and Angel Guzman are out of options...and David Patton must remain on the Cubs' active roster for the entire season.
The CCO will have more from the minor league teams on Monday.
The Cubs do have the arms to get a starter in the deadline, then we could move Marshall to the bullpen and trade Cotts for a PTBNL.
Going in to the season, I thought the bullpen might be our achilles heal...I really think...if given the opportunity,
Angel Guzman will turn around....Neil Cotts...I like the guy but not his pitching...he should have gone the way
of David Aardsma...@ the time the WS moved him...and I kept waiting for the Cubs to move Vizcaino (and package) for a good lefty...but that shoe never dropped...so where are we?
Neil...given the current situation...do you see any viable moves for a decent lefty...and who might be available?
Suzy, I think it is too early in the season to know who is available.
I read that the ump is filing a grievance against Milton claiming physical contact..Are we looking at a suspension??
I think that we should get rid of Neal Cotts and bring up Jason Waddell.I think that Marshall should of started in the bullpen because we have too much uncertainties in that area, which will mean that possibly Aaron Heilman or Angel Guzman would then have to be in the starting rotation.
A suspension would be imposed if the League Office finds grounds.
I am uneasy about the pen as well, but I think that the guys should have more time to turn it around. Based on stats/performance in the very young season, Vizcaino is our second best reliever and we all know that that is not the case. Some of the guys who are not perfoming well will turn it around, i.e. Cotts, Gregg. In the mean time, let's get the bats going.
I had hoped for a better outing by Hoffpauir. He swung early and often yesterday, and that won't buy him any playing time.
3 trends that I have found encouraging thus far:
1. Soriano's patience
2. Harden missing bats
3. The Riot and Fuk driving the ball
Theriot hitting the gaps more will elevate his game from the singles hitter he was last year.
3 trends that need to cease:
1. Issuing walks (Obviously)
2. whoever bats in fron of DLee running into outs because Lou is fearful of the DP ball. We all are fearful of that, but Dlee needs to adjust to the low strikes he's getting and get the ball off the ground. I've been thinking he may need to adjust his stance, adopt a more of a squat stance. As they say for some hitters, you gotta sit to hit.
3. Awful at bats by Miles. We're gonna need him at some point, so I hope he turns it around.