He Can Still Change His Mind

From the Trib

Alfonso Soriano will bat second starting Friday, flip-flopping with Ryan Theriot.

And Kosuke Fukudome will bat fifth.

I hope this is just a faze Lou is going through. I felt like we were so close to Dance Fever dropping to 7th, but now, lead-off? The Ghost of Neifi.

RotoWorld hasn't caught on to Carmen Pignatiello yet, but they do make a point about his most recent outings

Cotts gave up five runs back on March 2, but he's allowed two hits in 4 1/3 scoreless innings his other four times out, keeping him in the running for a spot on the Cubs.... Cotts is the best option in camp with Will Ohman gone.

I'm glad Cotts is throwing better lately, depth is nice, but I think, in the end, it is a bad thing. It's a mirage. But relievers are tough to figure, so who knows.

If you haven't heard already, the Cubs lost today. Again. They don't count, but I'm with Lou, I always prefer a Win to a Loss. This was a B team, for the most part, in their defense.

Micah Hoffpauir homered, and has played every non-split game this Spring. Ted Lilly got knocked around, and Bob Howry didn't complete an inning in his first back-to-back appearance. Real slow starter, that Howry. Sidney Ponson got the win after facing the minimum in the 6th and 7th innings.

Here's the latest on what's left of the roster battles

Second Lefty

Pitcher     INN  SO  BB  ER  HR 
Cotts       5.0   1   5   5   0
Pignatiello 4.1   1   0   0   0

I just want to point out something - Cotts is yielding a walk per inning so far. Sure, that's meaningless in terms of sample, but I'm just pointing it out as we drive the tour bus past his stats.

Another Righty

Pitcher     INN  SO  BB  ER  HR
Hart        5.2   4   0   2   0
Lahey       5.0   2   3   1   0

Hart threw a good inning (on paper) today.

Utility

Batter       AB   H  BB  SO  SB XBH
Cedeno       23   4   1   6   1   1  
Cintron      33  10   1   4   0   4   
Fontenot     30   8   4   6   0   3   
Patterson    22   6   2   4   0   2   

Cedeno continues to not hit - 3 hits were in 1 game, along with a caught stealing and a pick-off. So, even his best game was a bad game. He got thrown out again, today. Alex Cintron played shortstop in Surprise this afternoon, which reminds me that he might be, surprisingly, our best bet for the utility job. He hit well early, but not so much lately, but he's not hard to figure out.