Taking Some Deep Breathes

Ok, I have to admit, I was a little angry after hearing that Jon Lieber was moved into the bullpen and Marquis and Dempster got the starting jobs.  Again, when someone tells me there is going to be competition for a spot, I take their word for it. 

"Dempster has worked hard, and he's thrown the ball well here," manager Lou Piniella said. "We told him we'd give him every opportunity to start this spring, and we did just that.

"He came to camp with the mindset to get a spot in the rotation, and he worked really, really hard and threw the ball well all spring. He had one bad inning, actually. And Marquis has pitched well also. ... So we've got ourselves a really nice pitching staff here, bullpen-wise and starting pitching-wise. What can I say? These guys have all competed well, and they all deserve it."

UUUUhhhhh, didn't Jon Lieber pitch the best out of all three of them?  But then I remembered, baseball is not just a game, it is a business.  The Cubs are trying to trade Jason Marquis.  He still has a huge contract that only a desperate team will touch.  Marquis always pitches great in the first half, then completely loses steam.  Get a couple of good starts out of him, then trade him when his value is high.  Nobody will want to trade for Marquis if he wasn't even good enough to earn a spot on his team's rotation.  Plus, Kerry Wood is always getting hurt.  After having back spasms or falling out of the shower, or just his arm falling off, Lou will have to move Dempster back in the bullpen, either situation, Lieber will be back in the starting rotation in no time.  Lou will not put up with Dempster's strikeout to walk ratio during the regular season.  Dempster has struck out 18, but walked 11 batters.  If he keeps that up, he will never get out of the fourth inning.  He was given a 4-1 lead today, but couldn't hold on to it because of all the walks.  I will trust Lou will do the right thing, like he did last season.  Piniella said he told Lieber

"When things are all said and done, we're going to need more than five starters, believe me. That's always been the case with every club. No team is lucky enough to get away from that."

The other thing that has me worried is the fate of two young Cubbies who have impressed me the most this spring, Carmen Pignatiello and Eric Patterson.  As you all know Carmen Pignatiello is competing with Sean Marshall and Les ******) Walrond for the job opening created when Scott Eyre's fat @$$ got injured.  Now, I know that Pignatiello is a longshot, considering he has given up zero runs while pitching more innings than Eyre, who has given up 8 runs, and Walrond, who has given up six runs.  This has been the biggest headscratcher for me this spring and I promise all of you that it will be brought up at next year's Cubs Convention.  Eric Patterson has really impressed me.  I was down on the kid since he was a Patterson, and the fact that he was showing up late during the NL Central race last season.  He has won me over with his incredible speed and timely hitting.  This kid looks like a game, like a legitimite lead off hitter.  He hit the clutch RBI single today with two outs to win the ball game in the bottom of the ninth.  The Cubs will take Daryle Ward, Henry Blanco, and probably Matt Murton, for the bench. You need a backup catcher.  Alex Cintron, Mike Fontenot and Ronny Cedeno are all on the bubble, and the Cubs are expected to sign another outfielder, probably Reed Johnson, to back up Pie. Cedeno has been mentioned as trade bait, and has recently been a man on a mission.  Cedeno was 1-3 today with an RBI.  And all this talk about getting a back up centerfielder, has anyone noticed Pie heating up.  In 53 bats this spring, he's hitting .340 with a slugging percentage of .566.  Let him hit, let him learn to bat against lefties. That's the only way he'll learn. 

Rich Hill pitches tomorrow against the Giants at 3:05 for his next to last start before the season opens.  Let's see if he can finally get under control

Go Cubs!