Cubs assess pitching options
Heading into April, Cubs manager Lou Piniella has to figure out how he is going to use his outfielders, his bench and who the fifth starter will be.
Following a winter where the Cubs spent nearly $300 million on free agents, they did not do enough to shape up the pitching, namely the rotation. With Bobby Howry, Scott Eyre, Ryan Dempster, Will Ohman and Michael Wuertz, and moving whoever loses the 5th starter derby to the pen, the pen is set.
After years of relying on Kerry Wood and Mark Prior to be healthy in the rotation, the Cubs finally decided not to wait for them anymore and planned as if they would be injured. They signed Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis in free agency to take their places. Good idea, bad execution. Of the second tier starters on the market, Lilly was a good signing.
Lilly has been a decent 3-4 starter his entire career. Marquis, on the other hand has been ineffective. He has pitched for two of the best coaches in the game, Leo Mazzone and Dave Duncan, and he couldn’t figure it out. His ERA was 6.02 last year and he was left off the Cardinals post-season roster, despite all the health issues with their pitching. While having him to eat innings is certainly an improvement over the makeshift staff the Cubs had last year, this is a case for concern. However, despite questions about Marquis, the biggest question mark right now for the Cubs pitching is Prior.
It seems as if Prior has been eliminated from the fifth starter derby. It’s turned into a race between Wood, Wade Miller, Angel Guzman and Neal Cotts. Regardless of who wins, the Cubs have of plenty of fallback options should someone get injured or falter.
At this point, Prior is the concern. He seems to be healthy, but now there are concerns over his control and effectiveness.
While the rotation question marks are more negative than positive, the questions on offense are problems the Cubs want to have.
They are dealing with a problem of too many players. The biggest concern, however, is whether or not shortstop Cesar Izturis will be effective at the plate. The Cubs say he’s here because of his defense, but apparently, they have not read “Moneyball,” by Michael Lewis. In case they don’t know, Sabermetrics have proven that defense is not as big a part of the game as people make it out to be. Izturis is a wild swinger with no power. His career on-base percentage is .295.
Overall, while this team has some concerns, this is a better team than last year. Signing Alfonso Soriano gives the Cubs a bona fide leadoff hitter not seen since Kenny Lofton. A healthy Derrek Lee along with resigning Aramis Ramirez gives the Cubs a 3-4 combo rivaling the Boston duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.
With the NL Central as weak as it is, the Cubs should be a contender, and have a good shot to win it, given all the problems the Cardinals have right now.
