Big Z to the 'pen?

I'm going to defer to Lou on this one. Honestly, Z or Dempster has the best pure stuff in our rotation. Dempster has been the 'go-to guy' for the last few years, along with Lilly. I don't think that Gorzellany, Wells, or Silva can throw 98 to put away a batter. For that reason, I think this is a good move. However, as is always the case with Z, this could prove to be a psychological problem. Z has said that he's on a mission to be more focused this year, and for my money, he's proven that so far. He has had a chance to melt down in a couple of different situations, yet the water coolers are still safe. For that reason, I'm buying his "new and improved Big Z" talk. I think he can remove all doubt with a good spell in the bullpen. I think (and forgive my eternal Cubs optimism here) that he will do well there, but I worry about a couple of things.

1). Everybody in the NL has seen his stuff. Sure, he's probably going to be throwing four-seamers at 96 - 98 rather than his trademark sinker. But you have to think about how many NL batters are familiar with his splitter and his slider.

2). Will his mind hold up? I think he's out to prove he's not a hothead this year. This move to the 'pen can prove it. Can he put up and shut up, like Demp did? Or will this be a distraction? Again, like I said above, Z has sounded and pitched differently this year. You add a guy of his calibre to the bullpen and I think it can't hurt. I don't think it's permanent, I think that Gorzellany will be there at some point to replace him. But I applaud his professionalism, and I hope he proves to be the salve in the wound so that we can win some damn games!

Still, I'm shocked at this move. Z would be the last one I would have expected to be moved. I hope this doesn't indicate some ideas of a trade, because I think Z is one of the best pitchers in the NL. He needs to figure out a way to pitch, and a way to succeed, and I believe the bullpen may be a good place to do that.

Bullpen Woes

Man, it seems that 'woes' has entered into my blog-cabulary much too often this early in the year. After the umpires' terrible showing - of which Jeff Stevens had another one in Game 1 against the Mets - the Cubs' bullpen has continued to be atrocious. However, I think there is a much simpler, time-tested solution in the wings, if Piniella is willing to go against the traditional grain of MLB thinking.

1). The Cubs' starting 5 has been wonderful. They're among the league leaders in quality starts. I can't think of a start offhand except for Opening Day against the Braves where a Cub starter hasn't given the team a chance to win or even left the game with a lead. Silva looks like he has resurrected his career; Gorzellany has been relatively solid; and the only one who has had 'trouble' is Big Z, and most of that was really one start. In his other starts, he has done everything necessary to give him team a chance to win. That's all that you ask of your starting pitchers.

2). Our bullpen has been awful. Samardzija has reverted, the only reliable middle reliever we have is Marshall, and even Marmol blew up the other day. We all knew there would be bullpen issues going into the season (pretty much everyone else in the BP is a rookie or very close to it), but I think the bullpen has blown more games than it has won. That's not going to work.

3). There aren't any good relievers to be had via trade. It's very early - so temper your traditional pessimistic rants, Chicago Tribune - but I do agree that if the Cubs can't figure out a 7th-8th-9th inning bullpen rotation, then the team will be in trouble. But, as I said before, there are other solutions:

A) LEAVE THE STARTERS IN, FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! These guys make $8 - 18 million bucks a year (ballpark). They have the best medical staff that money can buy. They have access to ice, heat, whirlpools, cortizone shots, masseurs, and anything and everything else. They're not paid to pitch 5 innings. Let them pitch until the prove they've run out of gas. Zambrano is listed at 260 pounds. He can throw 160 pitches a game if need be. If Sam Fuld was pitching, I understand not having him throw 160 pitches in a start. But all the Cub pitchers are strong guys. With the bullpen the way it is, let the starters pitch until you absolutely HAVE to take them out. There are obvious signs when a pitcher is tiring, but let them try to work through some of them.

*Also, remember it is APRIL. I'm not suggesting we implement this program right now; let's wait until needed. It's a long season. Nobody should freak out about a 5-9 start. Especially with 148 left to go.

Thanks for reading, and Go Cubs Go!

Umpiring woes

The Cubs lost again to the Houstons today, 3-2. Yet for the second game in the series, the HP umpire was absolutely abysmal. In the second game of the series, Angel Campos was behind the plate and he brought to mind memories of the 1997 NLDS when HP umpire Gregg called pitches in the middle of opposite batters box strikes for Livan Hernandez. Chris Guccione did it again today. The strike zone had been reasonable all day long - he gave the pitchers a couple of inches off the outside corner, which is fine. However, in the 10th inning he called a FB from Lindstrom that was 6 inches off the ground a strike. On Ryan Theriot. And it changed the entire complexion of the game. If Theriot walks then there is a runner on first with 1 out with Byrd and Lee due up. I'm not saying the Cubs would have won. But the batters on both teams had spent the last 3 hours seeing things done one way and then, when the game is on the line, everything changes. Honestly, I don't give a damn what the strike zone is as long as it is consistent. If you're a MLB umpire, your entire job depends on consistency. And while I don't routinely face the challenge of determining whether or not 97 mph fastballs were strikes, these guys have trained years upon years to do so. Yet they still can't do it consistently. I used to be 100% against the idea of the K-Zone or whatever the computerized strike zone that checked the umpires' strike zone was called, but now I'm reconsidering. I used to think that human error was a compelling part of the game that distinguished baseball from the lesser sports. Umpires have a tough job, and many of them do their job very well. Yet there are still guys out there calling games and drawing MLB salaries and pensions who are embarrassments to the game. Campos and Guccione, from what I saw in the last two days, are foremost on that latter list. I'm an educator. If I do a shitty job - which I define by not being prepared and being inconsistent - I get fired. In any given term, I have around 60 college students who function academically on the (very fair) assumption that I will grade their work based on a consistent set of standards. If I don't do that - if I show favoritism, if I get lazy at the end of the papers or exams and change my grading structure, whatever it may be - then I cheat students who, in the most part, have put forth a good effort. Furthermore, I don't have the luxury of ejecting them if they argue. I have to answer their questions and answer to the professor I'm working for, the head of the graduate program, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and ultimately the dean. If this is the kind of oversight that functions in my job, then I hope to Christ in works the same way for people who make 500x the salary that I do. So, MLB: get your stuff in order. If these guys can't do the job, find people - or computers - who will.

No-hitters, 20-inning games, and losing to the Houstons

First off, congratulations to Ubaldo Jimenez on his no-hitter last night. I only caught the bottom of the 8th and the 9th innings, but his last pitch was as 97 mph. Wow. And no-hitting that Braves lineup might temper some of the expectations of Braves fans - I think they're a good team, but I still think they'll be battling the Marlins for second place in that division. Halladay makes the Phillies just too good. Still, it was Jiminez' night - congratulations again.

Secondly, the Cards and the Mets played a 20-inning game last night and I'm SHOCKED that LaRussa didn't run out of pitchers by the 6th inning. This is a guy who uses the lefty/lefty and righty/righty bullpen matchups so wantonly I really can't believe he only had to use two position players as pitchers.

And the Cubs lost to the hapless Astros yesterday, but there were encouraging signs. For the second straight day, the Cubs made a late inning comeback and nearly pulled it off in the ninth. The Cubs didn't do much with Oswalt, but most of the time nobody does much with Oswalt. When he's on, he's filthy, and he was on yesterday. I don't really mind losing to Oswalt, but we really need to pull out a series win today. The bullpen pitched better and Marshall was fantastic once again. It was also good to see them on TV out the night before at the Blackhawks hockey game - from everything I've read this is a chemistry event that never would have happened last year. I'm glad to hear that Gorzellany escaped relatively unharmed from what could have really been a nasty moment in the 3rd inning, when a liner came right back up the box and nailed him. Apparently he just has a bruise, but that doesn't really help his chances to stay in the rotation - I think he'll have to be pushed back a couple of days, just to be safe, and by then Lilly will be back. Combine that with the way Silva has pitched and I think TG is bullpen bound to take what was Marshall's spot. It now looks like Marshall will be the 8th inning guy for the forseeable future.

I'm also getting tired of the reception Soriano is getting at home. We knew when we got him that his defense was a problem, so don't expect Torii Hunter in left with him. His hitting has been respectable, and he will still have streaks where he carries the team for weeks at a time. I think the reaction he's gotten has goaded him into pressing, into trying too hard. Byrd will patrol most of center and left, and he has taken control over the outfield - Friday's gaffe with The Fuke nonwithstanding. Soriano will be fine - the guy has too much of a track record to cast off, as SI has been suggesting the Cubs want to do. Just understand what he brings to the table and what he lacks, and accept that. The guy is a proven commodity when healthy, and one of these days Jaramillo will teach him to identify a slider. Go Cubs Go!

Game 3 of Mil series and Game 1 of the Houstons

Things have been going relatively well on the Cubs front the last few games. Encouraging signs have been the starting pitching, which has kept us in every game since Opening Day in Atlanta. Big Z battled yesterday and threw 120+ pitches (which he should do more often, by the way - I hate 260 lb. pitchers being on pitch counts). Once again, our bullpen let us down in the 8th. Samardzija needs to throw strikes. Grabow needs to learn how to throw good strikes instead of leaving everything over the middle of the plate. But those are things that can be remedied - it's April, after all. I think they'll both figure it out and if they don't, I think Hendry will find someone who will. The Cubs have led in every game this year - I really think that all the experts have underestimated a Cubs team that won 97 games two years ago and were decimated by injuries last year. Marmol has been outstanding. If the Cubs can find an 8th inning shut-down guy, which we lost in Spring Training with the injury to Guzman, I think that the Cubs become a very difficult team in the NL. I don't buy the Cardinals - way too thin in the SP and I don't think that Franklin is going to be as lucky this year. The Brewers don't have any SP to speak of. The Cubs may be the deepest team in the NL in starting pitching. Look at it this way - Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Silva (the way he's been pitching), and Wells - those are 5 potential 15-game winners there, barring injury (knock on wood). Zambrano has been the only one who needs to step up and pitch like he's capable. I'll take my 5 against your 5 any day of the week in the NL.

The offense is also impressive. The Cubs have traditionally lived and died by the HR, but lately they've been playing small ball and capitalizing on power when necessary. Last year we didn't hit - this year Lee's been hot, Rami is hitting for power, and Byrd is looking very good in center (not to mention an all-around great guy, which solves the chemistry problem created by Hendry's asinine Bradley signing last year). It's only April, but this Cubs team is playing the way it needs to play - and if we can find some middle relief, than this is a very, very dangerous team in the NL.

Milwaukee series

The Cubs try to polish off the Brewers and move above .500 for the first (and hopefully, only) time this season. The Cubs got an offensive explosion in Game 1, and while Dempster wasn't sharp, he did what he had to do to win. With a big lead, you want to throw strikes and make the other guys put the ball in play. When you do that, chances are you're going to get outs. Braun hit a 3-run HR, but you can't keep both him and Fielder down indefinitely. He can hit all the 3-run HRs he wants as long as we have a 7-run lead. In Game 2, the Cubs made a fantastic comeback against former Cub LaTroy Hawkins. With none on and two outs in the 8th, the Cubs scored 4 runs to take a 7-6 lead and win the game. Marmol was fantastic again in the ninth, striking out the side for the 3rd straight outing. Here's to today's game, and let's get out brooms out!

Thoughts on Braves series

I managed to scrounge up tickets to all three games of the Braves series in Atlanta. Weather was perfect for all three games in Atlanta - a rarity - although the pollen was fun to deal with. According to weather.com, an "extremely high" pollen count is when over 120 particles of pollen congregate in a cubic meter of air. For the Wednesday game in Atlanta, the pollen count was 5,733. That's 5,733. Once more, 5,733. Needless to say, my nice black car collected a interesting yellow tint by the time we were through there. As for the baseball, about everything that could go wrong in Atlanta did. Game 1 was a disaster - Carlos pitched like he usually does in Opening Day games (poorly), and despite a promising start, we got shellacked. The umpires didn't help much, either - Ramirez got doubled off on an absolutely atrocious call in center. Incidentally, had the call been made correctly, the Cubs would have had the tying run at the plate. These things tend to even themselves out over the course of 162 games, but that's a tough call to stomach and the guy wouldn't even ask for help. Pathetic. The bullpen was also atrocious. After Marshall's masterful performance***, the bullpen couldn't get anybody out. Samardzija walked anyone who came into the stadium. Grabow was bad. Ugh. Terrible. Game 1 is a big blue flag, 16-5.

Game 2 started out much better. Dempster pitched extremely well. We managed to lead for most of the game until the bullpen decides to implode again, giving up a GW HR to Jones. Waste of a great performance by Demp.

For Game 3, I think Wells had seen enough, and he turned in a great outing of 6 shutout innings. The bullpen held together, and Marmol made Heyward look very, very, VERY bad on a three-pitch K in the 9th. I was really ready for that. The Braves fans seemed to think that Heyward was going to hit about .576 with 312 HRs and 9,873 RBIs this year, which may have been a record or something. It was about damn time we did something to that guy - he had gotten belt-high sinkers all series long before Marmol. About damn time somebody brought him down a peg.

One thing I really like about Turner Field is that there really isn't a bad seat anywhere. I'd been there a couple of times before - for 2 games in the 2003 NLDS and once for a 4th of July series with a buddy of mine from Emory University. For Opening Day we splurged and had great seats, in the 7th row behind the tarp on the 1st base side. The next two games we had upper deck seats, but they were right behind home plate. Great, fun weekend all around - sponsored (of course) by our good friends at Pabst Blue Ribbon. I think we helped their flagging stock prices significantly this weekend!

***Marshall is the unsung hero of the Cubs pitching staff. What I like about the guy is that he's been shuttled back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen, but he's never complained or moped about it. All he does is go out there and do his job, and he's been very successful in both roles. He's really a class act and a great guy to have on a pitching staff - I wish we had a few more Marshalls on the team.





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Great article on realignment

Here's a link to a great article on the faulty logic behind realignment, written by Tim Marchman:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tim_marchman/04/02/realignment.ideas/index.html?eref=sihp

9th inning

The Final Four starts today. I must say, I really don't understand all the Duke-hating. Kids from a great academic school, breaking all the stereotypes in a power conference? For me, Coach K is proof that you can be successful while emphasizing the 'student' part of the 'student-athlete' equation. This isn't like Memphis or USC, where kids are one-and-done. I'm sure Coach K has had kids who have done that, but, seriously. Why is a school being vociferously attacked for producing good students and good athletes? Duke basketball is the model that every school in every sport should seek to emulate. If you're a scholarship player for a major school, you have a responsibility to your coach, your school, and - most importantly, yourself - to achieve as much as possible both in the classroom and out. To me, Duke epitomizes what is good about collegiate sports. This isn't one of the Bob Huggins teams where he graduates 0 players in a four year span. Duke's players seem to realize that they have responsibilities beyond those on the court. I applaud that, and I challenge anyone who thinks differently.

Castro smacks a double. This kid may be coming up sooner rather than later.

Castro on second, 1 down. Tracy flies out to right, Castro advances to third.

Baker now up. Shame about Coco Crisp, who just broke his finger sliding into second the last game before spring training. Crisp had surgery on both shoulders and his hammie in the offseason. Poor guy. You've got to feel for him.

K. On to the bottom of the 9th.

Caridad on for the 9th. Hopefully he will mix in some breaking pitches this time.

96 mph from Caridad results in a groundout, 5-3. Wow. Gas.

78 mph changeup from Caridad. Yow. Where was this in Mesa?

Back with 95. I like Brenly's calls here.

"Give it to a kid!" One of BB's great pieces of advice. If you catch a foul ball, and you're over 22, you give it to a kid. Period.

Base hit up the middle past a sliding Castro. One on, one out. Castro proved he can cover a hell of a lot of ground.

Another basehit through Caridad's legs. Ugh.

Runner one first and second, one out. Hawber up. Tailor-made double-play - 6-4-3. Cubs win!

8th inning

Apologies. Got distracted by a phone call and the pressing need to replace vanity bulbs. This game, after all, is of crucial importance.

Adduci up again. Len, as he is prone to do, is waxing rhapsodic about the D'backs new pitcher's mustache. The D'backs pitcher, naturally, walks Adduci on 4 pitches.

Great play by the Dbacks first baseman. Double play.

Bob Brenly's son Michael now up. Mikey B takes a four-pitch walk.

Ryan Flaherty batting now, (aka Johnny McRando). Gotta love spring training (ed: exhibition games). Promptly Ks.

Dbacks 8th:

I'm excited that Lowell from Wings is making a real-life comeback as a voiceover guy for commercials. Just like in Sideways. Art imitating life, or vice-versa?

Good pick at Tracy at first - looks like he's the 2010 DeRo. One down. By the way, why in the hell did we trade DeRo?

Pop up to Castro for the second out.

Samardzija works a 1-2-3. Great job.

5th Inning

Cubs 5th:

Nady Ks.

Castro takes one to deep right-center and ends up with a triple.

Fukudome pops out to short.

Tracy now up. Clean single over shortstop. Good RBI there, and Castro scores.

Another single up the middle. 1st and second, two down.

Enright out of the game. Sidearmer Ellis now in.

Guyer up for the Cubs. Guyer walks, now Adduci up. Bases loaded, two down. Guyer singles, 2 runs in. 6-0 Cubs.

Fly out to right, Cubs out in the 5th.

D'backs 6th:

Cubs retired the side in the sixth.

4th inning

Cubs 4th:

Sori now up. Probably his last at bat for the day. He flies out to shallow right. One down.

Fontenot at bat. Flied out.

1-2-3.

D'backs 4th:

Liner out to left. One down.

Young now up. Grounds out to SS. Two down.

Base hit just to the SS. Tough play. Runner on 1st, two down.

Wells gets a third out.

3rd Inning

Cubs 3rd:

I really hope the Cubs bring Lou back for 2011, and I think they will. Taking the Cubs to the playoffs three times in four years normally would get you in line for sainthood on the Northside, but going 0-6 in two NLDS's doesn't really work in today's Chicago, especially when the Cardinals and White Sox have won the World Series this decade. All signs say that Hendry will re-sign Lou, and I'd be surprised if Sandberg - my favorite Cub of all time, incidentally - wasn't up as a major league coach in come capacity next year - they seem to be grooming him for the future.

Fontenot now up. We really need him to play well this year. MF responds by dropping one over first for a single.

WGN runs a promo which reminds me precisely why I hate the Black-Eyed Peas.

Robinson, a AAA catcher, now up. Robinson pokes one over in the exact same place Fontenot did - good hit. Runner at the corners for Wells. Well-executed hit and run there by Robinson.

Wells up, likely to bunt to eliminate the double-play. Bunt needs to go towards first base. Wells changes his mind and fouls one off. 1-1. This is why I like the NL - there so much more strategy involved in the NL than in the AL. The role of manager involves much more than simply writing out a lineup and making pitching changes. Wells gets down a good bunt. Well done.

The Riot now up looking for some RBIs. This guy has done nothing but win his entire career - college, minors, majors, you name it. He and Fontenot are both LSU products. 1-2 to Theriot after a good slider. Enright is locating really well. Nothing he throws is spectacular, but he knows how to pitch. Theriot goes right up the middle for a base hit, Fontenot scores, Robinson to third. Good at-bat by Theriot.

Kosuke at bat. The Riot may try to swipe second here. Enright seems more concerned with Theriot than Fukudome. Good sign for the Cubs. Fukudome flies out deep to left, RBI. Great to see the Cubs playing some small ball and getting the runners in when they have the chances - they're not trying to hit HRs everytime they have someone on base. Another good sign. Theriot swipes second on the deep fly to left.

Lee now up, runner on second and two down. Lee still having problems recognizing Enrights' slider. I love the way Lee plays - he never seems too worked up about anything, very graceful in the field and at bat. Definite leader of the Cubs.

Len informs us that there are a lot of games at big-league parks this coming week. I consider updating my resume for WGN yet again.

Lee walks, Theriot advances to 3rd on a wild pitch.

Rami now up. This is the situation where Rami needs to produce - he's usually an RBI machine, but he hasn't performed well in spring. But as we all know, spring matters not. Monday is when it matters.

WGN always has one camera dedicated to the 'cute girl cam.' The cute girls are apparently in abundance in Phoenix. I approve wholeheartedly. I consider applying for jobs at the University of Arizona. Then I remember it never rains there and temperatures are 105 in the summer. No thanks.

I'll give Rami this - he never gets cheated on a swing. 2-2. Very interesting power hitter - doesn't strike out much, willing to take a walk, and an RBI machine. Along with Lee, our best clutch hitter. Upton loses the ball in the sun and Rami gets credited for a cheap RBI. 3-0 Cubs.

Byrd rips a grounder to second for the final out.

D'Backs 3rd:

Ramirez, Lee, Byrd, Theriot all done for the day. Starlin Castro, top Cubs prospect, in at short.

Groundout to second - one down.

Wells goes inside and hits Jackson on the wrist - you hate to see that. Hope he's OK. No intent by Wells; two-seamer just got away from him. Jackson will leave the game, but that's to be expected in an exhibition game.

Stephen Drew up. Wells walks him.

Upton now up, looking to make up for his gaffe in the field last inning. Upton is 22 years old - that's scary. The sky's the ceiling for him. Runs well, hits for average, hits for power. Wells has lost his command here. 3-2 to Upton. Upton floats one up to center, Parra is gunned down at the plate by 30 feet. Terrible send by the D'backs third base coach with only one out.

Now two down, runners on first and second, LaRoche up. Grounds out to second. Wells works out of trouble.

2nd inning

Cubs 2nd:

Good catch in left retires Rami.

Byrd up, he pops out to first.

Soriano now up, coming off a good game against the Rockies. Naturally, after I speak highly of him, he strikes out.

D'Backs 2nd:

Wells is one of those rare young pitchers who understands exactly how to pitch. He knows he doesn't have the 97 mph fastball to blow people away, so he pitches to contact, keeps the ball down, and gets people out. He doesn't over-think things, he just locates and changes speed very, very well for a young pitcher. I was very impressed with him last year and I hope this year is more of the same.

Wells gets a groundout to first, and then gives up a loopy double over Ramirez at third. Young now up, and he flies out to Byrd in center. Two down.

Johnson, former Brave, now up. I really think if the Cubs wanted to get Big Z to calm down, they just start slipping him some Xanax in his morning coffee. I must admit, though, I like the mean Z - if he would channel his mean streak towards the batters instead of the umpires, I think things would get better for him. Not to be a headhunter, but just to be mean and effective - think Randy Johnson or Clemens, minus the bird-killings or the steroids. Johnson walks.

First and second, two down. Great changeup by Wells, Snyder down on strikes.

Cubs v. D'Backs - blogging yet again!

This isn't an official spring training game (rather, it's an 'exhibition game') but I figured I'd blog it anyway. Mostly because I don't feel like reading about genocide today.

Looks like most of the starters are in today for the Cubs. Robinson's in for Soto, and Randy Wells is the starter. Enright is pitching for the D'Backs.

Cubs 1st:

I'm excited about going to the Cubs' Opening Day for the first time ever on Monday. Getting the tickets, however, has been an absolute fiasco. If you ever get the change, buy tickets from any other company except for Vivid Tickets. Their 100% guarantee of on-time tickets is absolute bollocks. They promise to deliver the tickets to me by 4:30 on Monday. Too bad the game starts at 4:05. Bastards.

During my rant, Theriot strikes out.

Kosuke homered last night - good sign for him. I really think too much has been expected of him. He can hit better than he has, but he's not going to be a Hideki Matsui sort of player - his game is getting on base and making things happen. Fukudome grounds out to second.

Derrek now up. Derrek still not recognizing sliders. 0-2. Derrek lays off two subsequent sliders - 2-2. I think Derrek's one of the most underrated players in the NL - look at his stats over the past 5 years or so. If it wasn't for the fact that he plays in a division with a once-in-a-generation talent at his same position, I think he'd get a lot more attention. I don't think he minds it much, though. Lee swings through a FB, 1-2-3.

D'Backs 1st:

Some of friends and I went to the Florida Gators' baseball game last night against Vandy. It was an amusing evening. First, the UF women's gymnastics team gets recognized for advancing to the regionals in the quest for a national championship. As luck would have it, four of them sit in the row directly in front of my friends and I. The conversation starts out innocently enough - I had one of the baseball players in one of my classes once, and I noted that his grades were less than stellar. He was, however, a nice kid and came to class every day. The conversation turned to one of my friends who had also taught one of the players, and he had, let's say, less than stellar things to say about the athlete. One thing led to another, and sure enough, my moronic friends got the women's gymnastics team at UF to get up and move away from us. This led to those of us who were completely innocent berating the ones of us who weren't for running off a group of attractive and purportedly flexible young women.

Soon thereafter, we are forced to pay for our transgressions. A youngish mother and her 8 or 10 year old come and sit behind us, and apparently the mother figured that her idea of a good Friday night was getting her child hopped up on sugar, not giving him his medication, and bringing him to sit right behind us. This child was reminiscent of a siren with Tourette's. He would yell "ICE CREAM" in what I can only describe as a demonic growl, and I half expected to turn around to see his head spinning around 360 degrees a la Linda Blair and him vomiting split pea soup all over Roger or Jim. In short, his antics wore Roger and I thin and we left in the 7th inning. As we left, who should we see but that devil child fighting other children for more candy tossed out by an Easter Bunny in the concourse. On the way home, I consider driving to Orlando for an immediate vasectomy.

Soriano makes a good catch in deep left for the first out. Tricky play.

Rami makes a good play in foul territory for the second out.

1-2-3 for Wells. Well done.

9th

Rockies 9th:

Caridad on for the Cubs in the 9th. 0.00 ERA and 1 walk in 12 innings this spring. He'll be the primary set-up guy for Marmol this year. First batter flies out to Colvin in moderately deep center. One down.

Eric Young Jr. now up. Caridad has a good FB with some movement on it - he's been in the high 80s/low 90s so far. EYJ dumps one over the SS for a single. Caridad featuring exclusively FBs right now - a good changeup or a slider could get us a game ending DP.

Caridad hangs a changeup and it's dumped over the third baseman for a single. First and 2nd with one out and Melvin Mora up. Mora jumps on the first pitch and bounces into a 5-4-3 double play. Cubs win, 2-0.

8th

Rockies 8th:

Jeff Gray now in to pitch. Fireballer we got in the Fox/Gallagher trade. He's been out most of the spring with a groin problem. Throws strikes. It's weird seeing another Cub wear #34. That may take some getting used to.

Fowler walks after I complimented Gray's control. Fitting. Spillbourghs now up, he's 2-3 today. Fowler is a speed demon, so he may be going here, although the meat of the lineup is due.

Len is talking about Spillbourghs' facial hair. I search frantically for a pencil to jam in my ear.

Spillbourghs bounces an infield hit to third; 1st and 2nd with nobody out and Helton up.

Helton way late on a FB. 0-1. Helton flies out and runners hold. One out.

Gomez up for Tulo. Gomez drops a hit between 2nd and RF but Kosuke forces Spillbourghs at 2nd - not much Spillbourghs could have done there. Strange play.

Two down, runner on 1st and 3rd. Jay Payton up. Quickly down 0-2. Payton grounds out to 2nd - Gray does a nice job of working out of trouble.

Cubs 8th:

Speier in to pitch, and Kosuke bounces out to short. One down.

Jackson up. Good prospect, first round pick last year. Jackson hits one high and deep but Spillbourghs catches it at the wall. Misses a HR by about 2 feet. Two outs.

Tracy now up and knocks a base hit to right; Spillbourghs misplays it and Tracy ends up on second. Good heads-up baserunning.

LaHair at bat, and he's a big dude. But he pops out to the catcher and we're off to the 9th inning.

7th:

Rockies 7th:

Samardzija in for Marmol. Colvin in for Byrd, LaHair in for Lee, Jackson in for Soriano.

Samardzija gets a line-out. I think Samardzija's biggest problem is that when he's ahead in the count he often gets too much of the plate. There he was up 1-2 and he grooved a fastball. Lucky that he got an out on that one.

Olivo pokes a single into left. One on, one out, Stewart coming up. Samardzija now out of the game and the Cubs' LH specialist (Grabow) is in to face Stewart. Grabow's a strange lefty - he does much better against righties than lefties. I think he's one of the biggest parts of the Cubs bullpen - if he can consistently get lefties out, then the Cubs are in good shape in bridging the gap to Marmol.

Grabow immediately falls behind Stewart 2-0 with two sliders off the outside corner. Grabow promptly walks Stewart. Poor job. Grabow needs to throw a double-play here to get out of the inning. Two on, one out.

Herrera takes 2 strikes - good changeup for strike 2. Filthy, filthy changeup and Herrera strikes out.

Jason Giambi in to pinch-hit. Grabow grooves an 87 mph fastball and luckily Giambi misses it. That one was belt-high. LaHair makes a nice play to knock down a rope from Giambi and Grabow beats him to the bag. Decent play all around, even though Grabow let an 0-2 pitch get way too much of the plate and LaHair didn't field the ball cleanly - Giambi drilled that ball.

Cubs 7th:

Hill leads off the 7th, super-rookie Colvin on deck. Rockies have a LHP in to pitch now, Joe Beibel. Hill flies out to RF.

Colvin hasn't walked at all this spring. That's amazing. However, he's batting .459 and has 17 RBIs. This kid has mashed all spring long. If I was hitting .459 I don't think I'd look for a walk either. Colvin looks awful on a good curveball and strikes out.

None on, two out. Young SS Hak-Ju Lee up for the first time. Lee pops out to third, 1-2-3 inning.

6th

Rockies 6th:

2-3-4 hitters here. Silva hasn't thrown many pitches and has looked good against a potent Rockies lineup. May get another inning after the sixth, depending on who the Cubs want to work out of the 'pen. Hak-Ju Lee in at SS for The Riot. Cubs are really stacked at SS with Theriot, Lee, and wunderkind Castro. Lee may end up as trade bait later on down the line if Castro is everything scouts have said he is.

Len announces he's gone to erasable ink this year for his scorecards. I restrain my desire to yell at the television and to question WGN's hiring practices. This moron has one of the best jobs in sports - WGN, just letting you know that I'm available. Silva is done and Marmol is coming in with a runner on first and nobody out.

Marmol has walked 6 in 10 innings in spring. He needs to improve that.

Spillbourghs tries to steal second and Hill makes a perfect throw. Spillbourghs out at second, with Helton up. Helton doesn't look pleased.

Len informs us that if the catcher drops a foul on the third strike, it's not a strikeout. Thanks again, Kasper.

Marmol freezes Helton - 2 down.

Tulo up, nobody on, two down. This guy is a beast when he's healthy. Fastball gets away from Marmol and goes right where Tulo's head was. Not Marmol's best fastball - only 91 mph - but this may have been a bit of retribution for Francis drilling Ramirez earlier. Safe to say Tulo won't be digging in. Marmol then drops a slider right on the outside corner. That's just not fair after a FB up around the shoulders. Tulo nowhere near another slider and he strikes out.

Good outing by Marmol. When he throws strikes, he's just filthy. I think this is the year where he puts it all together. He has the nastiest stuff the baseball, in my opinion.

Cubs 6th:

Tulo out and Daley in for Francis.

Lee, Tracy, Byrd due up. Lee crushes one to center and Fowler gets turned around - leadoff double for Lee. Those are the toughest balls to field, the ones that are right at you. It's so hard to see how hard the ball is coming and how to judge it. Jackson in to run for Lee.

Tracy needs to pull the ball and get Jackson over to third here. Tracy decides he'd rather take two strikes first, both of which were inside and eminently pull-able pitches. Tracy strikes out on a pitch way out of the zone. Horrible, horrible at-bat. At the very least you have to move the runner over there. That's inexcusable for a major leaguer.

Byrd up, 1 out. He strikes out as well. This is the kind of situation where the Cubs failed so much last year - runner in scoring position and the Cubs can't move him over and get him in. If Tracy moves Jackson over to 3rd that makes Byrd's at-bat much easier - all he has to do is really make good contact to get the run in.

Soriano up, 2 down. Soriano comes through for us by blasting a 2-run HR over the left field wall. He's 3-3. Good sign. If you put a pitch middle-in to Soriano, he doesn't miss those very much. The HR was on a breaking pitch as well - great job by 'Fonzi. 2-0 Cubs.

Baker grounds out, inning over. Cubs lead, 2-0.

5th

Rockies 5th:

Ball gets past Lee and Rockies have a runner at 2nd. Silva gets a pop out. Francis grounds out and shatters his bat. Runner on third, two down.

Fowler up, takes a strike. Fowler bounces to second, Silva escapes again.

Cubs 5th:

Hendry was in the booth for the Rockies 5th, and Kasper made sure he was asking the hard-hitting questions: "You like this team going out of Spring Training, don't you?" What GM with a $100-million-plus payroll doesn't like their team coming out of ST? Jesus, Len.

Silva wants to make sure the Cubs make their flight, I guess - swings at the first pitch and grounds out to Helton.

The Riot now up. He looks like he's really closed his stance this spring - that may help him take the ball to RF more often. Good adjustment by him. Theriot walks - should be running with 1 out in a scoreless game, although I know nothing about Olivo's arm behind the plate.

Kosuke at bat. 1-2 to Fukudome. Francis hangs a breaking ball but KF taps it to Helton. Double play.

4th

Len Kasper is such a twit. I wish the Cubs would find a good announcer to pair with Brenly.

Also, does Harold Reynolds have to stay 50 feet away from Hazel Mae at all times?

Rockies 4th:

Spillbourghs flies out on the first pitch. Soto already out of the game.

Helton flies out to Sori. Two down.

Silva's been ahead of almost every batter today - good stuff there. Tulo pokes a single through to left.

Smith up. Quickly down 0-2. Len Kasper is now worried about what the L and W stand for on Tulo's eyeblack. Be still, my heart. Silva throws a good cutback sinker, but somehow doesn't get the call. Great pitch there, froze Smith. Silva hangs a slider and Smith singles again. He's 2-2. Tough break for Silva on that 1-2 pitch.

First and 3rd, 2 down. Olivo up. Good curve from Silva, 0-2. Olivo way ahead of that one. Good changeup from Silva, pop-up to Baker. Good pitch.

Cubs 4th:

Rami gets plunked and is replaced by Tracy as a precaution. Byrd promptly grounds into a double play.

Sori smacks one into left-center for a single. One on, two down.

Baker up. Baker gets a good pitch to hit on 2-0 but fouls it off. Baker walks. Koyie Hill, who replaced Geo, is now up.

Hill is a solid backup. He hit really well at first when Soto went down, but tailed off as the year progressed. I'm not sure he calls as good a game as Henry Blanco did, but he's a good backup and gives you good at-bats. Hill down 0-2 after a really questionable strike call - seemed really low. Hill grounds out.

3rd

Rockies 3rd:

Silva does have great movement on that sinker. If he can keep it down he can be very effective. Herrera bounces out to Baker. 1 out.

Francis Ks, 2 down.

Fowler hits Silva, but Silva throws him out at first. Silva showing some good fielding skills on the mound, especially for a big guy.

Cubs 3rd:

Theriot bounces out. Hands down my favorite player on the Cubs.

Kosuke shows bunt - good idea. Gives defenses something else to think about. He's fast enough to beat some of those out. Kosuke blasts one to the warning track - good pop on that one, but caught.

Derrek takes a horrible swing for strike 1. Good rip but Derrek grounds out for the second time.

2nd

Rockies 2nd:

Silva still featuring sinker/changeup. Finally flips a slider into the dirt. Leaves another one middle-in, Smith drills it to right but Kosuke's throw is perfect and Smith is dead-to-rights at second. Kosuke is really underrated as a defensive outfielder - very accurate arm and makes all the plays he should. One out.

Silva leaves a changeup up in the zone but gets a grounder to Theriot. 2 down.

Silva really needs to find a pitch to fool lefthanders. He throws a good comeback sinker, like Maddux used to do, but he needs to bury a slider in to the lefthanders. Stewart pops up to end the inning.

Cubs 2nd:

Rami gets caught looking on an inside fastball/cutter. Not a good at-bat.

Byrd is built like a Mack truck. Dude is deezed. Bounces a single through the right side for the first Cubs hit.

Soriano takes a good hack and fouls it off. Then way ahead of a changeup. Is he ever going to learn how to hit off-speed and breaking pitches? I hope Jaramillo can get him back to where he needs to be - I think if he can give us 25/85 we'll be in great shape. Sori rips one to left for a single.

Baker up against his former team. 2-1 to Baker - should get a good pitch to hit here. Way inside, 3-1. Borderline pitch for 3-2. OK to take that one, couldn't have done much with it anyway. Geo on deck. Baker takes strike 3 but Byrd and Soriano pull off a double steal. Much closer at third than it should have been.

Geo up, ducks on the pond, 2 down. Geo looks like he's standing too far away from the plate - I don't know if he can cover the outside corner. 3-1 to Geo, Silva on deck. Geo may not get anything to hit here. IBB to Geo.

Bases loaded, Silva up, 2 outs. Silva up hacking and fouls one off. I think I would have made him throw me a strike first - Francis has been behind almost every hitter this inning. Silva takes a good hack at a waist-high fastball. Topper to 3rd goes foul. Fouls another one off - CS battling here. Impressive for a career AL pitcher. Poor hack on the outside corner, Silva Ks. Francis escapes.

1st inning

Rockies 1st:

Silva has good movement on his sinker, but leaves the ball in the middle of the plate to Fowler. Fowler flies out. He needs to get that ball down and on the corners.

Spillbourghs Texas-Leagues one to right for a single.

Silva's getting ahead of the hitters - that's a good sign. Needs to mix in some breaking pitchers - everything has been a sinker or a changeup to the first 3 batters.

Good changeup; Helton out in front and pops up to center.

Silva makes a great play on a screamer up the middle. Silva doesn't throw a breaking ball in the first inning.

Cubs 1st:

Theriot gets a good pitch to hit and grounds out to 2nd. Francis has been tattooed all spring - ERA over 7.

Kosuke jumps on the first pitch, makes good contact, but Fowler runs it down in the gap.

Derrek swings at a terrible 2-0 pitch off the outside corner and grounds out to Francis. He needs to be patient and get a pitch he can do something with or at least take that pitch to right field. 1-2-3 for Francis.

Last Spring Training Game, 2010 - Cubs v. Rockies

Four days until Opening Day! Silva starting for the Cubs, Francis for the Rockies. Rockies are starting most of their opening day lineup, as are the Cubs with the possible exception of Baker over Fontenot at second.