Lilly still a go for Monday
After today's game was rained out, Lou said the Cubs will stay in rotation, with Ted Lilly going tonight in San Diego. He'll be followed Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, by Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells.
Rich Harden warmed up today but he missed his start. Harden sounded like he wanted to pitch sooner rather than later, but Lou said Harden will go sometime in the series at L.A., which starts Thursday. Of course, plans could change on the Cubs' charter flight out to San Diego tonight.
Lefty Tom Gorzelanny figures to go in L.A., too. Lou says Gorzelanny gives the Cubs the option of a sixth starter, but he also said the Cubs will not go to a six-man rotation. The Cubs have off-days remaining only on Aug. 24, Sept. 10 and Sept. 28. The Sept. 3 off-day is now a makeup game with the White Sox at Wrigley.
Today's game likely will be made up as part of a doubleheader during the Cubs-Pirates series Sept. 29-Oct. 1. A day-night doubleheader on one of those days is not out of the question.
The Cubs say fans are encouraged to retain their tickets from today's game until further information becomes available regarding ticket policies for the makeup game, whenever that will be.
I plan on heading to Peoria Thursday to watch Big Z as well as to catch up with some of the kids, such as Michael Brenly, Brett Jackson, DJ LeMahieu and Chris Huseby. Can't wait.
Pretty good defense? You sure about that? Outside of D-Lee, most of the guys are below-average fielders. Soriano is a butcher out in left, Bradley is a liability in right, Theriot is decent but makes too many throwing errors at short and Soto hasn't been that good defensively when he's been in there at catcher. I don't like this team as they lack the ability to play fundamental baseball. Hendry did NOT spend money wisely on the makeup of this roster. Why give guys like Soriano and Bradley all that money when there were no other buyers trying to outbid them? Most teams know that the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to these players. Hendry does not have good baseball sense like Kenny Williams does. Imagine if we had Kenny as our GM ---- I'd like to think that he would not have offered those crazy deals to underperformers like Bradley and Soriano.
Yes, Cubs defense is pretty good. No Soriano is not great or even good, but he gets to a lot of balls due to his speed and throws well. Bradley is NOT a liability in Right. Actually quite the opposite, he has proven to be a very solid defensive OF. Theriot is league average or better. Ramirez when in there is better than average. Lee is in the upper echelon of defenders. Fukudome and our 2nd baseman are right around league average. Soto is average defensively. Actually, the only spot on the field where we are below average is Soriano.
No offense intended, but how many Cub games do you watch? I ask because I don't see Soriano getting to balls with his speed. I see him time and time again loping after balls, almost as if he doesn't care about catching them. I see him loping around the bases too. If he has any speed left in his legs, he's not using it.
Will the Cubs give any thought to signing Smoltz? He's been great against righties and could provide another power arm out of the pen. I know he's not the same as he was a few years ago, but it might be worth a shot.
Every name from Billy Wagner to Bill Hall to John Smoltz has come up lately, and I haven't heard the Cubs considering any of them. I haven't had a chance to ask yet on Smoltz.
told the BoSox he wouldn't pitch out of the pen...don't think he'd change that to come here...
I was wondering what the plans will be for the rotation once Zambrano returns (assuming the rest of the rotation plus Gorzellany are all healthy at that point). So Lou says that they won't go with a six-man rotation (though what he's said and what he's done have often been completely different in the past), do you think he would consider a bit of a variation rather than a straight six-man?
Wells has been outstanding but has never thrown this many innings before. Harden has been healthy and appears to have found his groove now, but he's also been prone to injuries in the past. Lilly might benefit from going on a longer rest given his recent bout with the DL. Dempster should be well rested now and Big Z should be raring to go if his back is no longer a concern. Gorzelanny hasn't given the Cubs any reason yet to bump him to the bullpen, though he could take Caridad's place and give Lou three lefties.
Bruce, do you think he would consider keeping Z and Dempster starting every fifth day and giving the others an extra day or two of rest, or will he bump Gorzellany to the pen? They only have three off days the rest of the way, possibly less with makeup games to be played. So keeping six SP's might be a good idea, and help keep everyone as fresh as possible for the post season if the Cubs make it.
I think it's possible they'd go with some variation on a six-man, especially if they feel Wells or Harden needs an extra day. Off-days are few and far between.
With Lilly and Z coming back, I'm sure Caridad will go back to Iowa. It's possible Gorzelanny could go to Iowa, too, and then come back once rosters expand.
Bruce, with all that has gone on this season, do you really see Lou returning for a fourth season? I think at this point, he has to see the horse has left the barn for this team's chances of winning any more than a division title. They clearly aren't NL championship material.
He's given no indication he wants to leave. He's got another year left on his contract. I know Lou has looked tired and disengaged at times this year, but a lot of this talk of him quitting gets generated from external outlets rather than internally.
You add a healthy Aramis Ramirez to this team, add one more very good bullpen arm, and this team is a contender. A consistent Bradley and a healthy, motivated Soto would also help.
I like this team when healthy. Very good and deep rotation, power up and down the lineup, guys who get on base, and pretty good defense.
You're right. This is basically the same lineup as last year's 97 win team with only a couple of exceptions. This group has just not played any number of continous games together, or gotten any kind of rhythm. I agree with Lou that keeping this team on the field will give the best indication of whether the Cubs will be there in the end or not. I believe the bullpen is far superior to last years with the emgergence or both Guzman and Marshall, plus the addition of Grabow (Gregg has similar numbers to Wood from last year). The starting staff is identical, with only Wells for Marquis changed, and I like Randy Wells considerably more than big dollar Marquis. Gonna be in SD tomorrow for the game hangin with Cubs at the Marriott at the Marina, looking forward to it.
Hate to burst your cubbie-bubble but we're FIVE games back of St. Louis and it's not looking good. The Cards made the necessary moves during the season to make their club better than ours. Had Hendry waited in the offseason and re-evaluated his team like the Cards did, we would probably be in first place right now. There was no need to get Milton Bradley for that price .... no other team was interested and Hendry didn't need to make that move. I feel more comfortable with DeRosa playing right field than him. Remember, Bradley was mostly used as a DH last year. Kevin Gregg is just plain awful ---- how many more gopher balls does he need to serve up for you to realize that? And the Aarons (Heilman & Miles) are two other stiffs we don't need taking up valuable roster spots. How is this team better than last years?