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!