The Cubs lost again. Hasn't been a very smooth Spring so far. Today, Fukudome got tangled up with an infielder to kill a potential 2-out rally in the 8th, and the pitching was mixed.
Geovany Soto is starting to look vulnerable (starting?). Bourgeois stole three bases. Geo did catch Paul Konerko, but, well, so could I.
Rich Hill didn't get through the fourth inning, so plenty of the relievers got work. The starting pitchers need to stretch out some more, and that will require not getting into trouble early, which has been the recent trend.
Micah Hoffpauir continued to rake, with three hits. But there doesn't appear to be a spot for him on this team.
The following guys still have a shot.
Second Lefty
Pitcher INN SO BB ER HR
Cotts 6.0 2 5 8 1
Pignatiello 4.1 1 0 0 0
Neal got knocked around again, including a homer to Jim Thome. Not exactly LOOGY-esque.
Another Righty
Pitcher INN SO BB ER HR
Hart 6.2 5 0 2 0
Lahey 7.1 3 4 1 0
Lahey got in early to bail out Hill, and went on to pitch the 5th. Hart got to work the 8th today, and he pitched a perfect frame, ending it with a strike 3 slider. Hart stands to make the club if Lou either forgoes the 2nd lefty or none of the "extra" righty starters end up in the pen.
Utility
Batter AB H BB SO SB XBH
Cedeno 23 4 1 6 1 1
Cintron 36 11 1 4 0 4
Fontenot 33 8 4 6 0 3
Patterson 26 8 3 4 1 2
Ronny and Alex stayed home. Fontenot and Patterson did not play.
9 comments:
I just pointed this out over on ACB, but Lou pretty much said Hart has made the team, which he kind of said last fall as well, but now he just kind of made it official saying he's going to use Hart in the late innings along with Howry.
I know, but I still have doubts - as I mentioned, the starters have to make the rotation or go elsewhere, or he goes with Eyre as the only lefty. Otherwise, there's no spot.
Harry, it's also possible that one of the starters gets traded. That opens a spot for Hart - and if Lou is talking about Hart like maddog says, then that's probably a signal that they mean to trade someone.
Yep, that will do the trick, too. A lot of ifs in any case, so, we'll see in a week, and, again, in another week. What the 25 man looks like on Thursday in Lou's mind is likely to change - a trade is coming, I can't imagine CF being left the way it is.
I think it's a sign that either the Cubs are trading someone or they only take one lefty with them. As bad as it may be, I think Cotts was the only LOOGY who had a chance to make the roster out of camp, but he's probably blown that.
I just don't think Lou talks about using Hart as a late inning pitcher because of how good he's been if he isn't going to break camp with the team.
I think, barring trade, the bullpen is set.
You really don't think Piggy has a shot?
Not really. He's not been given much action lately. Once starters went up to about 4 innings, his playing time has dwindles while Cott's has stayed the same. I think Lou was wanting to give Cotts all the chances he could, but he's failed, I would assume.
I like Pignatiello and would have no problem whatsoever with him being the 2nd lefty. I think he'd be pretty good and he'll get a chance in 2008 at some point, but I just don't see it happening to begin the season.
I've been wrong many times before though.
He may be playing Cotts to give him as many chances as possible.
Carmen's cheaper, and, arguably, better. So I think he's got better than a 50% shot right now.
But, I've been wrong before, too, and that's just counting today
Time will tell, Harry, but as of right now there isn't room for the 2nd lefty unless they trade someone. As much as I think the Cubs might want to trade Marquis, Dempster's last start had to at least make the Cubs think about holding onto him. Not only that, but in order to trade him you have to find a taker and that won't be easy considering his salary. The Cubs may be willing to pay some, most or all of it, which would seem really dumb to me, but I think the Cubs would want something useful in return. I doubt they can get that.
In the end, I think trading Marquis for what Hendry sees as a reasonable trade will prove very hard, if not impossible. I think he could be added in, with some cash and another prospect, to get Brian Roberts (Jay Payton would then come back with the Cubs as well). That probably remains the best possibility and well, who knows with that trade?
Dempster may begin the year in the rotation, but my guess is that he's back in the bullpen before April is finished. That last start by Dempster had to, at the very least, make the Cubs aware of that very real possibility. And we know Lou doesn't want 3 lefties in the rotation.
Who knows? I'm only making guesses here. We'll know in a few weeks, but a trade will have to happen for Pignatiello to come along, and even then, I wouldn't be surprised if it's Cotts who breaks camp with the team. Lou likes his arm and hasn't really said much at all about Pignatiello.
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