Well, another day has led to another report of a Cubs player with a nagging injury.
Ok...let's see,
Andres Blanco, spained knee.
Jeff Gray is still not playing.
Derrek Lee hurt his foot and has been slow to get back in the lineup.
And now, Aramis Ramirez is out with sore triceps.
Nothing is real serious at this point...unless you count Angel Guzman's shoulder problems.
On the positive side, according to Carrie Muskat, Ted Lilly is now ahead of schedule in his recovery from shoulder surgery.
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With minor league camp opening up at Fitch Park, the Cubs started making cuts today sending 9 players down. Notables in those 9 include 2007 first round draft pick, Josh Vitters, 2009 first round draft pick, Brett Jackson, reliever Mitch Atkins, and last year's roster spot waste, David Patton.
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The Cubs stellar pitching has become much less stellar over the last few days. Randy Wells got lit up in the second inning today. Samardzija, Zambrano and now Wells. It's a good thing it is spring training.
By the mid point of this week, we should start seeing the regulars getting more at-bats. The starting pitcher will probably start increasing their loads to 4 to 5 innings as well.
I would imagine that the 5 starter (and 4th starter if the Cubs choose to replace Lilly to start the season) will start to sort itself out soon.
On the field, Marshall and Gorzelanny are probably the front runners for those starting slots. Samardzija has had one bad start...but has only pitched twice. Gorzelanny had a bad appearance as well. Marshall has been fairly solid.
Finacially, Spellcheck probably has a the advantage. Would they really want to put him back in the bullpen for as much as they've invested in him? Is sending him back to Iowa? (Very interesting questions.)
For Sloth and Spellcheck, their next 2 starts will probably determine if, first, the Cubs will even try to temporarily replace Lilly, and second, which of those two will get that opportunity.
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Sorry this was so fragmented tonight. I'm running on fumes right now. Goodnight, all!
