Reed Johnson breaks foot, out a month
The Cubs were hoping it was just a bruise, but they got the bad news on center fielder Reed Johnson after today's 12-0 shutout of the Astros. Johnson suffered a fracture at the top of his left foot after he fouled a ball off the foot during the first of his 2 at-bats in the first inning.
Johnson came out of the game after the third inning and was replaced by Kosuke Fukudome. The Cubs estimate Johnson will be out a month.
They will make a roster move before tomorrow afternoon's game. Sam Fuld may get the call-up from Class AAA Iowa. Johnson has been the right-handed part of the center-field and leadoff platoon with Fukudome. Fuld bats left-handed, so the Cubs may juggle the leadoff spot among Fukudome, Fuld and Ryan Theriot. Alfonso Soriano is having success in the sixth spot, so I don't expect him to move back up.
The 12-run victory today was the largest winning margin for the Cubs since they beat the Brewers 19-5 on April 30, 2008 here at Wrigley.
Andres Blanco hit his first major-league homer today, and Micah Hoffpauir had his first big-league triple.
Bruce, rumor has it the Cubs are looking for a LH RF'er??? Teahen and Hermida's name popped up. Does this mean the love affair with Micah Hoffpauir is over?
Rumors are just that. Rumors. We'll see what pans out. Their top priority is still a reliever.
Pretty good fit, Cubs starting catcher is hurt, and has not performed especially well when healthy. Martinez is a switch-hitter and has been particularly good hitting left handed. I know Soto is supposedly on the way back, but these things tend to linger and Martinez is almost certainly an upgrade.
I know everyone loves Sam Fuld but is So Taguchi seeing any time in CF in Iowa? It looks like the last time he played CF in the majors was 2007 but he is a right handed bat.
is there anything to the rumor started by the trib's write Vaughn McClure on comcast today about the Cubs trade talk involving Jake Fox?..............
He covers football. Maybe I can start a Bears rumor.
yeah they were talking cubs when he mentioned it....then it was over (rumor).....
Bruce, what do you think will happen with CF now that Johnson is hitting the DL? Will Fukudome play everyday or will the Cubs find another RH hitter who can play CF and share time with him? Fukudome in RF and Fuld in CF against RHP, and Bradley in RF with Fukudome in CF against LHP? Fukudome and Hoffpauir against RHP, with Fox in RF and Bradley in CF against LHP? That would be one really scary outfield defensively. I'm thinking they don't have any RH options for CF in the minor league system.
Reed is very valuable against lefties: .300/.382/.450 going into today's game. Quick question Bruce: Has there been any talk about bringing in Marco Scutaro from the Blue Jays to play 2B? The Jays seem to be shopping him according to rumors, and with him being a free agent at the end of the year (he is a Type A though), the Cubs could acquire him without selling the farm. Although he is right handed, his splits are about equal and he's got a solid .294/.388/.436 line. He also has a great BB/K ratio, and he doesn'’t swing at a lot of pitches out of the zone – 12% – while someone like Freddy Sanchez swings at a whopping 30% of pitches out of the zone. When it comes to defense, he shakes down to be about league average at both 2B and SS.
I am not advocating giving up on Fontenot long term – I just think this player would make the team better for the rest of 2009.
I asked about him the other day. I was told they weren't really after him, that they were looking to fill other needs (bullpen) first. Not a bad name, but I don't know if the Cubs feel there's a fit with the Jays there.