Eric Patterson

When They Pull a Knife, You Pull a Gun

UPDATE 4:56 CST: One of our readers tipped us to this fantastic piece on Rich Harden's mechanics (with video) by Carlos Gomez at The Hardball Times. Can't recommend it enough....


I've had a little time to digest the trade since my initial reaction and a little time to actually write about it now. I don't think there's too many warm-blooded Cubs fan out there who aren't happy about the deal...other than maybe a Chicken Little or two that are never happy with anything the Cubs do.

We all know the risks. Rich Harden has all the durability of a roll of toilet paper caught in a rainstorm. He was called up half way through the 2003 season, proceeded to make 31 starts in 2004 and has battled injuries ever since. The list is too long and complicated for me to dive into, so we'll wait for the good Dr. Hecht to chime in on that side of the trade. Harden's 13 starts this year are his highest total since 2005 and he spent almost a month of this year already on the disabled list. But in those 13 starts, he's gone 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA, 10.75 K/9, 2.97 K:BB and 0.58 HR/9.

He once had a fastball that could hit 100, although he seems to have dialed it back a bit this year. He compliments that fastball with a fantastic change-up and that's pretty much it. He'll occasionally throw a slider in there, but seems to have scrapped it for the most part this season. A quick and dirty comparison with some of the best in the game using career numbers:

Game 14 Thread / Reds @ Cubs (2 of 3)

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR Preview

SP Josh Fogg
SP
Carlos Zambrano
  1-1, 7.00, 6 K, 3 BB
1-1, 3.20, 18 K, 2 BB
       
CF *Corey Patterson 2B
*Mike Fontenot
SS
Jeff Keppinger SS
Ryan Theriot
RF
*Ken Griffey
1B
Derrek Lee
2B
Brandon Phillips 3B
Aramis Ramirez
LF
*Adam Dunn RF
*Kosuke Fukudome
3B
Edwin Encarnacion LF
Mark DeRosa
1B
*Joey Votto C
Geovany Soto
C #Javier Valentin CF
Reed Johnson
P
Josh Fogg P #Carlos Zambrano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As reported by the Trib's Paul Sullivan, the Soriano-less Cubs will have Mike Fontenot leading off, Mark DeRosa will be manning left field, and Eric Patterson will be in the wings. (This will be the first time in Fontenot's Major League career he has been penciled into the leadoff spot.)

As for E-Pat, he was hitting just .222 at Triple-A, with 1 HR, 3 RBI and 12 K/3 BB in 36 at-bats for the I-Cubs. He stole one base.

Tonight's head-scratchers and eye-openers:

Cubs MLB Roster

Cubs Organizational Depth Chart
40-Man Roster Info


40 players are on the MLB RESERVE LIST (roster is full), plus two players are on 60-DAY IL   

31 players
are on the MLB ACTIVE LIST (26-man limit in effect on MLB Opening Day)

8 players signed to minor league contracts are Spring Training NON-ROSTER INVITEES (NRI) 

CUBS MLB SPRING TRAINING ACTIVE LIST
: 39 

Last updated 3-23-2023
 
* bats or throws left
# bats both

PITCHERS: 16
Adbert Alzolay
Javier Assad 
Brad Boxberger
Michael Fulmer
Kyle Hendricks
* Brandon Hughes
Julian Merryweather
Michael Rucker
Adrian Sampson
* Drew Smyly
* Justin Steele 
Marcus Stroman
Jameson Taillon 
Keegan Thompson
Hayden Wesneski
Rowan Wick

NRI PITCHERS: 6 
* Ryan Borucki  
Tyler Duffey 
* Roenis Elias  
* Anthony Kay  
Mark Leiter Jr 
Vinny Nittoli 

CATCHERS: 2 
* Tucker Barnhart 
Yan Gomes

NRI CATCHERS: 1  
Luis Torrens 

INFIELDERS: 9
Nico Hoerner
* Eric Hosmer
Nick Madrigal
* Miles Mastrobuoni
* Zach McKinstry
Christopher Morel
* Edwin Rios
Dansby Swanson
Patrick Wisdom

NRI INFIELDERS
NONE   

OUTFIELDERS: 4 
* Cody Bellinger 
# Ian Happ
Trey Mancini 
Seiya Suzuki 

NRI OUTFIELDERS: 1
* Mike Tauchman   

OPTIONED: 9
Keven Alcantara, OF 
Miguel Amaya, C 
Ben Brown, P 
Alexander Canario, OF 
Brennen Davis, OF 
Jeremiah Estrada, P 
Ryan Jensen, P 
Caleb Kilian, P
Nelson Velazquez, OF 

60-DAY IL: 2 
Codi Heuer, P 
Ethan Roberts, P
  



Minor League Rosters
Rule 5 Draft 
Minor League Free-Agents