Chicago Cubs Online - A Site For The Cubs Faithful

Despite an early burst of good performance and despite the calls of some teammates to bring him north at the end of spring training, phenom shortstop Starlin Castro appears destined to start the season at Class AAA Iowa.

Through March 12, Castro was off to a .471 start (8-for-17 with a homer), and he was playing solid defense.

The Cubs reiterated their stance that the best course of action is to have Castro begin the season at Class AAA so he can play every day. As of now, Ryan Theriot is still the starter at shortstop for the Cubs. With backup Andres Blanco on the shelf due to a sprained knee, questions arose as to whether Castro could be kept as a backup.

The team has been reluctant to go that route because of the playing-time issue.

[ Read More ]

03/16/2010

Silva pitches 4 shutout innings, Cubs beat Rangers (AP)

Carlos Silva is telling everyone -- including his mother -- that he is back to being an effective major league pitcher. "I talk to my mother before and after (every) game, and the message I sent to her said: 'The way that I feel today, I don't feel for a long, long time. Today, I feel like it was me,"' said Silva, whose four shutout innings Tuesday led the Chicago Cubs to a...

[ Read More ]

03/16/2010

Spring Snapshot: Cubs deal with slimmer expectations in 2010 (Yahoo! Sports)

Every day in spring training until we're finished with the entire league, Big League Stew takes a brief...

[ Read More ]

03/15/2010

Cubs' bus breaks down, Chicago loses to Rockies (AP)

The Chicago Cubs figured it was going to be a long day when their bus broke down on the side of the highway heading to Hi Corbett Field. Turns out, the rest of the afternoon was rather short. Chicago's adventurous 3 1/2 -hour bus ride down from Mesa took way longer than the actual exhibition game.

[ Read More ]

03/15/2010

Cubs' team bus breaks down on highway to game (AP)

The Chicago Cubs showed up for their exhibition game against Colorado about an hour later than expected after their bus broke down on the highway because of engine trouble. The Cubs chose to skip batting practice when they got to Hi Corbett Field in Tucson on Monday. They decided to just stretch instead.

[ Read More ]

03/14/2010

Millar homers, doubles; Cubs beat Angels 8-7 (AP)

Kevin Millar hit a home run and double and drove in three runs, making his case for a spot on the Cubs roster in their 8-7 win over the Angels on Sunday. The 38-year-old Millar signed a minor-league contract with Chicago over the offseason. "I can play the outfield," he said. "I've got 500 games in the outfield (actually 355).

[ Read More ]

03/13/2010

Cubs edge White Sox 8-7 (AP)

Ryan Dempster and the Chicago Cubs handled a stiff breeze to slip past their rivals from the Windy City. Dempster, who is expected to grab a spot as one of the Cubs' top three starting pitchers, allowed one hit in three innings. He struck out two, walked none and allowed no earned runs and the Cubs earned an 8-7 win over the White Sox on Saturday.

[ Read More ]

03/13/2010

Cubs not worried after Ramirez leaves game (AP)

Cubs manager Lou Piniella says he's far more concerned about what his pitching staff will look like in three weeks than about Chicago third baseman Aramis Ramirez having to leave a spring game with right triceps soreness. "There's nothing wrong," Piniella said of Ramirez, who missed nearly two months last season with a separated left shoulder.

[ Read More ]

03/13/2010

Derrek Lee still out with bruised foot (AP)

The Chicago Cubs' Derrek Lee will miss a few more spring training games with a left foot injury that the first baseman says isn't serious. Manager Lou Piniella on Saturday called the injury "just a bone bruise." Lee was injured Wednesday when he fouled a ball off the top of his foot.

[ Read More ]

03/13/2010

Cubs' Gorzelanny has strong outing (AP)

Tom Gorzelanny proved he could pitch out of a jam, even though it was one of his own creation. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound left-hander held the Chicago White Sox to no hits over the first three innings of the Cubs' 6-5 victory Friday night. Gorzelanny, who joined the team last season, left after three innings with the Cubs leading 3-1.

[ Read More ]

03/12/2010

Cubs have big plans under Ricketts (AP)

The Chicago Cubs will listen to manager Lou Piniella if he wants to return when his contract runs out after this season. "If he feels well and wants to keep going, we'll have an interesting conversation," team president Crane Kenney said this week at spring training. "He has done a great job.

[ Read More ]

03/12/2010

Edmonds impressive in Brewers' win over Cubs (AP)

Jim Edmonds hit a two-run homer to strengthen his case for making Milwaukee's opening-day roster and the Brewers beat a Chicago Cubs split-squad 12-3 on Friday. Edmonds, who finished with two hits and scored twice, agreed to a minor league deal with the Brewers on Jan. 28. The 39-year-old outfielder with eight Gold Gloves is a career .284 hitter with 382 homers and 1,176 RBIs in 16 seasons, but...

[ Read More ]