The Cubs got down early in yesterday’s game thanks to three errors in the fourth inning. They came back to tied the game 5-5 in the 7th inning, only to have Carlos Marmol allow two runs in the 9th to hand the game to the Reds.
If Marmol is the heir-apparent to the closers role in 2010, he’d better show a little more than he did yesterday. Two walks, two hits, and two runs against an offensively challenged team like Cincinnati isn’t going to get the job done.
On a brighter note, Geovany Soto and Aramis Ramirez both had multi-hit games. Soto had two doubles and drove in three of the Cubs five runs.
Ted Lilly (11-8) will go for the Cubs today in the series finale against Cincinnati’s Homer Bailey (5-4).
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The Cubs have one of the top rotations in the NL. Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and Randy Wells are all under contract for 2010. Rich Harden is the only Cubs starter who will be a free agent at the end of the 2009 season. Should the Cubs resign him?
Jason Stark from ESPN.com looked at the upcoming class of free agent pitchers and concluded that the class is mighty weak. Here’s what he has to say about Rich Harden:
“If we were making out this list based on stuff alone, Harden might rank No. 1. He has a better strikeout rate (10.88 per 9 IP) than Tim Lincecum, Justin Verlander, or any other starter in baseball with 130 innings or more this year. It’s just tough to know what to make of him. If he makes six more starts, it would be only the second time in his career (and first since 2004) that he’s gone to the post 30 times. He’s visited his friendly neighborhood disabled list five years in a row. And he’s never won more than 11 games in any season. “I’d be scared to death to commit years to this guy,” one AL execs said. “He’s been used kind of like Pedro [Martinez] was used in the past, where they’re always trying to build in an extra day’s rest. And he’s just a five-inning guy, in the National League. He might strike out 10, but he’ll only go five innings, so he still kills your ‘pen. He’ll get some money. I just don’t see anybody giving him more than a year.’”
There’s no doubt that Harden has good stuff. as Stark points out, it might be the best stuff in the game. But there’s more to pitching than just having “good stuff.” Harden has a difficult time staying off the DL. The fact that the most wins he’s ever had in his career is 11 tells you that he doesn’t make nearly enough starts in a season.
I’d like to see the Cubs offer Harden arbitration. He’s a reasonable risk on a one-year contract, but I wouldn’t risk a multi-year deal on him. If he wants to turn down arbitration and go after that multi-year deal, more power to him. Since he’s a type A free agent, the Cubs will receive two draft picks from whichever team signs him.
If the Cubs wanted to sign a free agent pitcher to replace Harden, my vote would go to Randy Wolf. Here’s what Stark says about Wolf:
“Wolf’s stock has risen faster this year than IBM’s. He’d be 18-6 if the Dodgers’ bullpen hadn’t blown eight saves for him. He’s ripped off 14 straight starts of six innings or more. And only four pitchers in the whole sport can beat his 19 starts of no more than two earned runs allowed. So one season after the Astros pulled a three-year, $28.5 million offer off his table before he could say yes, it appears that Wolf’s turn has finally arrived to get a multiyear free-agent deal — although, since he’s 33, it almost certainly wouldn’t be longer than three years. He’s “durable, dependable and left-handed,” one GM said. And he’s also “two 190-plus-inning seasons removed from any health issues.” Oh, and he’s also driven in more runs this year (11) than Dewayne Wise or Cameron Maybin. So look for this man to stay in the National League — just so he can keep swinging the old Louisville Slugger.”
If the Cubs are going to hand out a multi-year contract to a starting pitcher, they can do worse than Randy Wolf.
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With 22 games left in the season, let’s take a look at how the teams in the NL Wildcard race did yesterday:
- Colorado lost to San Diego 3-2
- San Francisco lost to the Dodgers 9-1
- Florida beat Washington 11-3
- Atlanta beat St. Louis 7-6
The Cubs remain 8.5 games behind the Rockies, but are now all alone in fifth place in the NL wildcard race.
