Archive - Aug 5, 2008

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Apparently the new trend for the Cubs is to get shut out the first game of a series. I can't say I approve. The amazing Rich Harden goes for the Cubs who saw his strikeout rate go down after striking out nine in seven innings in his last outing. He'll oppose Wandy Rodriguez, the Astros ace, who seems to have figured out how to pitch on the road this season - a 4.03 road ERA vs 3.31 home ERA. This compared to his 2007 split of a 6.37 road ERA vs a 2.94 home ERA.

The weather looks a little nicer today and I do hope all of our Chicago readers are safe and sound after yesterday's storm. Sure, the clear skies means there will be baseball, but it also means we won't see a repeat of Elvis sliding on the tarp. Suspiciously, the Astros' "Fat Elvis" - Lance Berkman - is out of the lineup today.

One of our reliable readers listening to Bruce Levine of ESPN1000 out of Chicago, is hearing that Kerry Wood will be activated before the game and Scott Eyre will be designated for assignment. The Cubs will have 10 days to release or trade Eyre and will likely get nothing more than a low-minors prospect.

We'll see if Wood jumps right back into the closer role or is eased into it after a few appearances. I think after such a long layoff and pretty good odds that his control won't be there, that it might be best for Lou to give him a few low-pressure situations and let resurgent Carlos Marmol keep closing.

 Speaking of Marmol, whatever was ailing from about the middle of June to before the All-Star Break seems to have cured itself. There certainly wasn't a shortage of theories on why he struggled, ranging from overuse to the struggles of a young player, it seemed the most obvious answer was just a "dead arm" period. Marmol's slider still had its snap, most of the time, but he started hanging it every once in awhile while getting away from locating his fastball that didn't seem to get above 92 mph. There were never any whispers of an arm injury and Lou certainly didn't let up on the gas during any of it, choosing to go the "just pitch through it" route. But since the All-Star break, he's thrown up a goose egg; 9 IP, 15 K's and 0 ER, although a bit wild with 7 BB's. He was hitting the mid 90's in the last two appearances that I've witnessed.

So welcome back Zeus and Kerry, you were both missed. And goodbye Scott Eyre, I shall never forgive you for contributing to Derrek Lee's broken wrist in 2006.