Z will be in, Cashner will be up, plus Cardinals vs. Cubs

Submitted by Cubnut on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 10:05am

The long-awaited :

Carlos Zambrano will make his return to the starting rotation on Wednesday in Pittsburgh and Tom Gorzelanny be moved from the rotation to the bullpen, where he will joined by a new teammate...

Andrew Casher, who will be summoned from Iowa on Monday,  Cashner has given up four hits and a run in two innings pitched since the I-Cubs moved him into the pen. Overall, his numbers at Triple-A this year have been stunning. 0.86 ERA and 17/2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 17 IP.

No word on what this means for the immediate future of James Russell or John Grabow. Gorzelanny, we know, was unequivocal about how much he did not want to be moved out of the rotation.

Here are the lineups for Sunday, the capper on a six-game homestand. Despite a couple of clunkers in this stretch, including Friday, a victory today would leave the Cubs with a 4-2 record and just three back of St. Louis.

Cardinals vs. Dempster (3-4, 3.31; 5-5, 4.19 all-time vs. StL)
Schumaker 4, Ludwick 9, Pujols 3, Holliday 7, Freese 5, Rasmus 8, Molina 2, Ryan 6, Wainwright 1

Cubs vs. Wainwright (6-3, 2.38; 4-3, 4.38 all-time vs. Cubs)
Fukudome 9, Theriot 4, Lee 3, Ramirez 5, Byrd 8, Soriano 7, Soto 2, Castro 6, Dempster 1 

Tags: 
Carlos Zambrano
John Grabow
Tom Gorzelanny
James Russell
Cubs Game Preview
Andrew Cashner

Comments

Submitted by Charlie  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 1:05pm  
The Cubs have to be looking to trade a starter. I'm just not sure what specifically they'd be looking to pick up in return. It's not like they can go looking for an Aramis Ramirez, which is what they need the most right now. The bullpen seems to have improved a lot lately. Can we DL Grabow? Please? Russell has done nothing to deserve a demotion.

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 1:20pm  
Z and his contract are Z and his contract... wells and gorz are cheap/young with multiple years of club control... silva is silva and anyone taking on him would have to deal with satan hanging around the lockerroom reminding silva that his soul belongs to satan...that makes for a bad lockerroom in some areas. lilly could easily go, imo...even if the cubs have to pick up some loot or save loot by doing a hendry special and picking up some A-ball fringe guys without putting up loot. who knows where this could go...

Submitted by navigator  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 1:08pm  
Lou's (what the hell is he thinking?) top of the order. Lines for the last 28 days Fukeme .254 .351 .365 .716 theRot .207 .223 .217 .441 GDPLee .264 .356 .407 .762 MisRam .177 .257 .274 .531 Is it any wonder the Cubs are 10th/16 in runs scored... Theriot has gone 21 games without an extra base hit. In case you're wondering I'm told that's only been done by a starting player 7 times since 1920.

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 1:21pm  
...and it's gorz to the pen according to lou...and gorz was not happy. more pen lefties...woo. wells to pitch tomorrow.

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 1:29pm  
Watching the Baltimore at Toranto game, whenever Patterson comes up to bat, he's greeted by loud sarcastic chants of "Coooooooooo-rey, Cooooooooo-rey". The Korey love is far-reaching.

Submitted by Charlie  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 1:30pm  
Does Colvin get this playing time that Lou says he's earned by performing so well in such limited playing time in September or in Iowa? Maybe Lou meant that Colvin had earned himself extra batting practice, or extra time on the team Wii, or extra time to play with himself on the bench. Surely I misunderstood.

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 1:39pm  
4 starts this month...one was a partial game because byrd took over for him. 25ab and less than 30pa. he may be MLB-ready, but if the log jam is this extreme at what point is it better to just let the guy play in AAA getting regular hacks? he's shown he can be useful off the bench...makes it all hard to settle out.

Submitted by Charlie  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 2:14pm  
I'm not interested in seeing Colvin develop as a bench player, so I'd much rather see him get to start at least 4 times a week in either Chicago or Iowa. Chad Tracy is still raking in Iowa, and despite his slow start, I'd rather have him as a bench player if it means getting Colvin regular playing time. I'd be looking to deal a starting pitcher and an outfielder if I were Hendry right now. I think the outfielders would be much harder to trade, of course. I keep thinking the Cubs are farther out of it than they are, though. Is "When Lee and Ramirez start hitting..." going to become the new "When Wood and Prior get are both healthy..."? I just don't see this team going anywhere without Ramirez hitting like himself.

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 4:04pm  
holy f'n grabes...

Submitted by The E-Man  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 5:07pm  
Big Lowitzki: What were you saying about how the Cardinals were only scoring "4.2 runs a game" and weren't doing that well? Do you still feel that way? I noticed you were eerily silent when I asked if you wanted to bet that I believed the Cards would be top 5 in the NL in offense by the end of the year.

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 5:19pm  
Yeah, well leave it to the Cubs to wake up Sir Albert.

Submitted by big_lowitzki  on Mon, 05/31/2010 - 10:40am  
Yup... I still feel that way. I don't think that the Cardinals have a very good offense. And one game (or series) doesn't make me feel any different. And I never said that they weren't doing that well. I simply said that they had a mediocre offense. And no... I am not going to make a stupid bet. EDIT: By the way, the Cardinals were 7th in runs last year, 4th the previous year, and 11th the previous year. Maybe I should take the bet. Look... Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball. But he doesn't make that team have a great offense by himself.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 11:43pm  
http://muskat.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/05/53... Cashner will be up this week, but not Monday Russell or Stevens going down?

Submitted by Charlie  on Mon, 05/31/2010 - 12:38am  
GRABOW. Okay, there's nothing to do about it, but he continues to suck.

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The first 600 characters of the last 16 comments, click "View" to see rest of comment.
  • Cubster 2 days 15 hours ago (view)

    Lefty Matz to Cardinals. 4/44. 

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 1 hour ago (view)

    With the CBA expiring on December 1st, MLB owners and the MLBPA have jointly agreed to move the contract tender date up from Thursday December 2nd to Tuesday November 30th (that's a week from today). 

    Then (presumably) the lock-out will start the next day (Wednesday). 

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 3 hours ago (view)

    Not that TJS is ever necessarily a good thing, but taking a year off from catching could give Miguel Amaya a chance to work on his hitting.

    His glove & arm were probably a year ahead of his bat coming into 2021, so once he gets going again hopefully he will be able to spend a significant part of his rehab working in the cages. 

    Also, although he won't be able to throw for a while, he should be able to work on his receiving during the summer, once he is cleared to resume non-throwing baseball activities.  

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 3 hours ago (view)

    CUBSTER: Unless you consider Erick Castillo and Tyler Payne as legit contenders to be the Cubs back-up catcher in 2022, the Cubs have no catcher who is projected to eventually play in MLB anywhere near MLB ready.

     
  • Cubster 3 days 3 hours ago (view)

    With Amaya's 2022 year as a catcher essentially an non-factor and Robinson Chirinos and Austin Romaine again free agents, It looks like any rumors of moving Willson Contreras will go quiet. At least Chirinos could hit (for a backup catcher). 

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 3 hours ago (view)

    The Cubs have released LHP Chris Allen, 1B Shendrik Apostel, INF Matt Burch, INF Widimer Joaquin, RHP Garrett Kelly, RHP Marco Prieto,  RHP Jorge Remon, RHP Dawel Rodriguez, and OF Vance Vizcaino, so the off-season Cubs Minor League Domestic Reserve List is now at 169 (21 slots are open).  

    Six of the nine players who were released (Allen, Apostel, Joaquin, Kelly, Remon, and Vizcaino) were Rule 5 Draft-eligible, and all six had been left off the Iowa Reserve List when rosters were filed last Friday. 

     
  • Cubster 3 days 4 hours ago (view)

    sorry, posted in other thread.

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 4 hours ago (view)

    Also, Justin Steele gets a 4th minor league option in 2022 (must be used in 2022). 

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 5 hours ago (view)

    W-RAT: Of all the TJS rehab types, a catcher TJS rehab is probably most similar to a pitcher's because of the laser pinpoint rifle throws a catcher needs to make to 2nd base.

    So I would expect Amaya will be able to DH by mid-season (hitting shouldn't be a problem by then), and then (hopefully) be able to throw normally in games (as a catcher) at post-season Instructs and then maybe in the AFL, with 2023 Spring Training being when he should be 100%. 

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 6 hours ago (view)

    TIM: Yes, except a position player only gets a maximum of 20 days on a minor league injury rehab assignment, so the 30 extra days allowed for a position player rehabbing from TJS would mean a maximum of 50 days, whereas it would be a maximum of 60 days for a pitcher (the original 30 days that pitchers get plus the additional 30 days in the form of three 10-day increments). And this also only applies to players on an MLB IL. 

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 6 hours ago (view)

    DSJ: Exactly. Even though he was just acquired in a trade, the Cubs still might opt to non-tender Ramirez on 12/2, that is, as long as he goes along with the plan. I doubt that the Cubs would non-tender him if he declines (in advance) to sign a 2022 minor league contract.  

     
  • crunch 3 days 8 hours ago (view)

    well...that's one hell of a forearm strain.

     
  • tim815 3 days 9 hours ago (view)

    Arizona Phil. Would Amaya, as a catcher, be eligible for the TJS exemption?

     
  • crunch 3 days 10 hours ago (view)

    w.franco (rays) extend 11y/185m

    not bad for a guy with 1/10th of a season service time.

     
  • Wrigley Rat 3 days 10 hours ago (view)

    Miguel Amaya to have Tommy John surgery. Will likely miss most of next season. (I speculate that he could maybe DH a bit in the second half and throw towards August.)

     
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 3 days 15 hours ago (view)

    When you add in the arb-eligibility, that's gotta make Ramirez a real contender for Hermosillo's "non-tender poster boy" title

     
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