Saturday morning follies
MESA, Ariz. _ Even though a lot of Cubs players have been down here working out for some time, this is the first "official" day of workouts for pitchers and catchers. The locker rooms here at Fitch Park were packed with both players and media members.
The most sought-after guy was Rich Harden, he of the tear-non-tear-strained-issues-oriented right shoulder.
Harden has been loath to say exactly what's been up with the shoulder, but he did say he's felt better than ever after a full winter of workouts down here.
"I would say that," he said. "It's probably the strongest my shoulder's felt. I'm excited for the start of the season here."
After that, I asked him about the "terminology" for what he's got.
"Everybody's got their opinions," he said. "It's funny. People are telling me that they're reading this and that. Whatever. There's nothing, nothing that bad."
Even a strained shoulder means that there are micro-tears, so if you want to use the word "tear," nobody around here is denying that, even if they aren't confirming it, either.
That said, it doesn't mean Harden hasn't strengthened the shoulder sufficiently and that he can't dial it up and pitch well this year. Kerry Wood did a pretty good job of it last year.
More to come later today and in the paper and on the Daily Herald Web site. If Harden gets up on one of the mounds today, I'll try to gauge the POP in his fastball.
Other than that, had a chance to meet Jeff Stevens, one of the pitchers traded from the Indians for Mark DeRosa. Stevens, 25, is pretty outgoing and friendly. He seems to be dealing well with having been traded for THE MOST POPULAR PLAYER IN CUBS HISTORY.
The other topic du jour was Chad Gaudin's goatee, which looks like it could house a nestful of robins. Gaudin said he had a full beard going over the winter.
for anyone to say Harden will start the season on the DL or to even suggest he does in order to preserve him for October.
I too agree that the Cubs front office could be more up front with the health issues of their players but that is not the way the do it so us fans have to go by performance and that alone. Let's face it, we are not talking about just so many nickels and dimes here but over a hundred millions of dollars in revenue.
As far as the lineup goes, if Miles starts I'll be as shocked as this stimulus bill accomplishing anymore than a paying back President Obama's constituents that got him elected. Let me know the next time you can write a check when you don't have anything in the bank.
I'll stop there because I it's not the right forum and I come to talk about the Cubs to get away from the travesty that is being perpetrated on all of us in the name of helping us.
You don't have to worry about Miles (Aaron or Bruce) being the everyday starter. With good health, Fontenot will be the starter at second base, and Theriot will start at shortstop. Miles will fill in for both and also for Ramirez at third.
My thoughts on the lineup are this:
Fontentot
Theriot
Bradley
Ramirez
Soriano
Lee
Soto
Fukodome
Miles should be a bench player. He's a switch hitter and plays short or second-more ideal than Fontentot coming off the bench...
I predict the Cub will start the season with Harden on the dl. That way they can 'develop" another starter from the mix of Heilman, Samardzija, Marshall, Gaudin...
I see the season starting with a rotation of:
1. Z
2. Dempster
3. Lilly
4. Samardzija
5. Marshall or Heilman
Mid season they bring Harden in fresh so he's like a mid season pickup.
This issue regarding his shoulder is beginning to sound too much like Prior all over again.. Hopefully not, though.
That was my first reaction, having lived through the Prior/prior nightmares. This is a little more nuanced. Kerry Wood made no bones about having a tear in his shoulder and telling us. A Cubs guy said Rich likes to handle it his own way. I'll give him that, respecting his privacy. I've always felt that if a team and/or player just comes out and says what the deal is, we deal with it and move on instead of operating under all this mystery. It's fair to say he's got some sort of tear in there.
As I said, the proof will be in how he throws the ball and how long he lasts.
Fantastic job, Bruce. Nothing helps understand the severity of an issue then going right to the source (Harden). This guy is extremely talented and if missing a couple of starts throughout the season helps keep this guy fresh in October and pitching like he did against San Fran and Arizona last year, Peavy won't matter.
Does Zambrano view this Cubs team as his? I know he's the longest tenured player after Wood left, and with the lack of emotion by D-Lee, I would hope big Z would mature and become that leader the Cubs need.
Enjoy the sun and heat as I head out to shovel my driveway...........
Zambrano may view the team as "his," but my educated guess is that his teammates don't. This is more Ryan Dempster's and Derrek Lee's and perhaps even Geo Soto's team. It's a good question and one I hadn't thought of in those terms. Among position players, there aren't that many what you'd call "vocal" leaders. Lou counted on Lee in '07 to call the meeting that helped right the ship in late May, when things were a mess.
And I think this is the reason the Cubs have had some problems in the postseason. They need some sort of vocal leader to right this ship. DeRosa tried last year, but the whole "must win game" in game 2, didn't sit well with Piniella.
I'm hopefully that Bradley will give the Cubs that added edge and keep the intensity up.
As far as Harden goes, i hear you. Nothing was worse then the "prior watch" as it started with an achillies to an elbow to a shoulder. I have never, or since, heard of a bone scan. I would hope somebody in Cubs management would alert him that this is a team finally recovered from that debacle and nobody needs to go through it again, and I can only imagine Piniella will detonate at some point if those questions about his health continue.
Fantastic job, Bruce. Nothing helps understand the severity of an issue then going right to the source (Harden). This guy is extremely talented and if missing a couple of starts throughout the season helps keep this guy fresh in October and pitching like he did against San Fran and Arizona last year, Peavy won't matter.
Does Zambrano view this Cubs team as his? I know he's the longest tenured player after Wood left, and with the lack of emotion by D-Lee, I would hope big Z would mature and become that leader the Cubs need.
Enjoy the sun and heat as I head out to shovel my driveway...........