It was a big weekend for the Cubs as they swept the Brewers in Milwaukee. It was the Cubs first series sweep of the year and helped to improve their season record to 9-11, good for second place in the NL Central. They currently trail the Cardinals by 2.5 games.
The Cubs outscored the Brewers 25-4 during the three game set. In the Cubs 12-2 victory on Sunday, Ryan Theriot led the hit parade by going 5-6 with a double and three RBI. The outburst raised his batting average to .329. Tyler Colvin got the start in center field and went 3-4 with a double, home run, and three RBI.
In Sunday’s tilt, Randy Wells earned the victory. He went 7.0 innings giving up seven hits and two earned runs. He struck out six and allowed zero walks (that’s a nice ratio). Ryan Dempster earned the win in the first game of the series on Friday, and on Saturday, Ted Lilly made his season debut by coming off the DL for the win. Carlos Zambrano made his first appearance of the season out of the bullpen, going 1.1 innings and allowing two hits and one earned run.
Earlier in the week, the Cubs offense looked like it might be waking up, and it left no doubt over the weekend in Milwaukee by pounding out 41 hits. The Cubs started the week with only two players (Mike Fontenot and Koyie Hill) hitting over .300. By week’s end, eight different Cubs (Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukudome, Tyler Colvin, Marlon Byrd, Koyie Hill, Geovany Soto) are hitting over .300. Unfortunately, both Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez are struggling at the plate.
The Washington Nationals come into Chicago for a three game set at Wrigley this next week. After the Nationals, the Cubs will host the D-Backs in a four game series beginning on Thursday.
**********
What are the Cubs going to do about finding a bullpen arm to handle the 8th inning? Zambrano can fill in just fine for a while, but keeping him in the bullpen long term is probably not in the cards.
The Royals placed reliever Juan Cruz on waivers and rumor has it that the Cubs will be interested in bringing Cruz back to Chicago. However, there has been some talk that Cruz did not leave the Cubs under the best of circumstances during his previous stint with the club. The rumor is that he was a distration in the clubhouse, although the rumors are rather short on details. Even if the Cubs are interested in signing Cruz, there’s a good chance that they will not be the only team interested in claiming him off waivers.
Another possibility is making a trade for a bullpen arm. One candidate the Cubs likely have their eye on is Heath Bell. The San Diego closer has been a hot name on the trade market since the beginnig of the season. It’s likely that the Padres would want a king’s ransom for the right hander. Would the Cubs be willing to part with two or three players/prospects for Bell? And if they traded for him, would he handle the 8th inning for Carlos Marmol or vice versa?
Another possible trade with San Diego that hasn’t been talked about quite as much involves the Padres Mike Adams. Adams is 31-years old and has closer-quality stuff. He currently serves as the Pads set-up man. I don’t think the Cubs would have to give up as much for Adams as they would for Bell, and Adams might be an even better fit.
If the Cubs don’t sign a reliever off waivers or trade for one, then they’ll have to look at bringing up one of their young arms. The most likely candidate (at least in my mind) is Andrew Cashner. Cashner is a former highly regarded college closer from TCU that the Cubs are in the process of turning into a starter. I’d like to see him given a chance to serve as a set-up man in the big leagues. Cashner is currently 1-1 pitching for AA Tennessee. In 24.1 innings he has a 3.33 ERA and has struck out 29 while walking seven.
**********
Following Saturday’s win in Milwaukee, Lou Piniella said that he would not be using Carlos Zambrano in back-to-back games, at least not for a while. At first I disagreed with this decision, but the more I think about it, the more I think it makes sense.
Zambrano is used to have at least five days rest between starts. He’s not used to the bullpen, nor is he used to pitching without substantial rest between his appearances. Of course, he will be throwing many fewer pitches in relief than he did as a starter, but I think it makes sense to allow him to settle in. I don’t think it will take long for Zambrano to get used to his new role though. In 10 days to two weeks he should be ready to start going on back-to-back games.
