IF there is a demise in 2008, it will be the pen

[Schwarber Fan]

Call it an overreaction, as most of you will but the bullpen will be the reason the Cubs fail to win it all in 2008, if such a failure takes place.

 

Lets evaluate:

 

Kevin Hart: He hasn't looked all that bad, but he's young and doesn't respond well to pressure.

 

Bob Howry: All he throws is fastballs. Easy to predict. He'll look good against some bad teams, and get clobbered by most good ones.

 

Jon Lieber: Primary the long relief guy, I don't worry too much about him.

 

Carlos Marmol: I fear our best reliever is going to be overused.

 

Sean Marshall: We've seen him have problems with control in the past. He's basically the LOOGY, so he won't face many batters anyway.

 

Kerry Wood: Not worried a whole lot about him, but one injury and....

 

Michael Wuertz: Just plain bad

 

Hopefully we get enough offense this season to keep the bullpen out of close games, but that's basically impossible. I'll gladly eat crow if I'm wrong.

[spineguy]

take a look an exhibit A Bob Howry...

I didn't think this is little league where everyone plays..

 

once he came in, the game was over...we all knew that.

 

BUT...the offense AGAIN did not make the most of runners in scoring position, certainly with a guy on 3rd with less than 2 outs..

 

if they score, one more run Wood is in the 9th..

 

This team will beat up on the weaker teams and weaker pitching (most of the time) but come post season, better manufacture some more runs...or 101 years

[CubColtPacer]

The Cubs bullpen has been a little above average so far this year in the NL. Our starters have had so many short outings and the team has had so many extra innings games that I think it's easy to forget how many innings this bullpen has had to throw. They're going to give up some runs, but mostly they haven't been bad.

 

There's nothing in Howry's splits from previous years to indicate that he's any worse against good teams than a normal reliever. When he's locating his fastball well, he's good against any team. When he's not, even teams like the Nationals light him up. He's been pretty effective as a 1 pitch pitcher for a long time now, and he'll likely come around and figure out how to locate it once again this year.

 

Same goes for Wuertz. He's incredibly streaky. Later on in the season he'll go through his period where hitters aren't even come close to touching him, and he'll also go through stretches where he can't find the plate. That doesn't mean he's not a good reliever.

 

As for the others, Marmol and Wood have shown so far that they were no flukes. Hart and Lieber are fine as long men/back end of the bullpen types. Marshall is fine as a LOOGY. Eyre will probably be used for full innings when he probably comes back in a week or so, and he'll do his usual get the bases loaded every inning and usually get out of it trick.

 

The two pitchers who are the streakiest in the bullpen (Howry and Wuertz) are both down right now, and the bullpen is still a little better than league average. This bullpen will be just fine.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Theres always Neil Cotts.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

When it's all said and done, I think the bullpen will be fine.

[rawaction]

Howry hasn't been too predictable in recent years, as he's put up 4 straight really good seasons each with a WHIP in the 1.1 range.

 

Wuertz has been been nearly as good for the previous 2 years.

 

Relievers are very fickle, but the fact that the 2 worst guys out there right now have been the 2 best relievers over the long term. Marmol, Hart, and Wood haven't had success nearly as long as Wuertz and Howry. Lieber and Marshall are starters forced into a pen role. The Cubs pen will be fine.

[mul21]

Disagree, it will be Lou overmanaging and overusing Marmol. That will kill the bullpen by August because there won't be anybody with an arm left. I fail to understand how he's so protective of Wood and lets Marmol, who has just as violent a delivery go out there nearly every damn day.

[Wilson A2000]

Lou himself has said that early in the season he doesn't like to stretch out his pitchers. Once he does, the load will be lighter for the pen which will probably have a positive effect on everyone. I wouldn't worry about Howry. He doesn't start throwing 95 until the summer.

[Sammy Sofa]

Wuertz and Howry always come around, and there's little reason to think they won't.

 

This bullpen doesn't really worry me at all.

[mdwilla]

Marmols workload is a concern.

[Sammy Sofa]

Did I miss the note where Marmol was actually revealed to be made of fine china?

 

He came up as a starter. He can handle the work.

[Wilson A2000]

15 innings through 23 games is too much. Lou knows this, but he also wants to win. Once Howry begins to get his arm back, Marmol will get some time off because Lou will be able to trust him in tight games.

[C.C.]

The pen was terrible last year and came around. It'll be fine.

[Cubfanintheknow]

No real statistics to back this up, but I think the vast majority of teams who come close but don't make the playoffs do so because of weak bullpens. All players run through hot and cold streaks. It's just more obvious with relievers.

[weis21]

Ehhh...this is just the Cubs fan in us all trying to rationalize two losses. The bullpen will come around about as much as dempster will get worse. I feel very good about this club's chances this year. Edited April 26, 2008 by weis21

[Derwood]

i'd be far more concerned about improving the rotation come July than the bullpen

[cbbryan]

i'd be far more concerned about improving the rotation come July than the bullpen

 

This would be my concern as well.

[Sammy Sofa]

i'd be far more concerned about improving the rotation come July than the bullpen

 

This would be my concern as well.

 

Same here.

[BigbadB]

The pen was terrible last year and came around. It'll be fine.

 

Exactly. End of discussion.

[snoodmonger]

Did I miss the note where Marmol was actually revealed to be made of fine china?

 

He came up as a starter. He can handle the work.

 

No one said that. It think it's a valid concern considering his workload last year. However, I agree in that I'm more worried about the starting pitching.

[javy knows my name]

 

Kevin Hart: He hasn't looked all that bad, but he's young and doesn't respond well to pressure.

 

Really?

I seem to remember the first pitch he ever threw in the big leagues coming in a bases-loaded situation in a tight game in the 6th or 7th. After a lead-off walk, he got out of the inning with no further damage. This kid will be fine.

[rocket]

Did I miss the note where Marmol was actually revealed to be made of fine china?

 

He came up as a starter. He can handle the work.

 

it's ok guys mark prior has perfect mechanics he can handle the work load dusty gives him.

[Sammy Sofa]

Did I miss the note where Marmol was actually revealed to be made of fine china?

 

He came up as a starter. He can handle the work.

 

it's ok guys mark prior has perfect mechanics he can handle the work load dusty gives him.

 

It's less than a month into the season. If he's crosses into the serious pitcher abuse rankings like Prior, then it might be comparable. Until then, people seem to forget that a good number of Marmol's innings he only tosses relatively few pitches. It's not like he's going out there every time and throwing 20+ pitches per inning.

[Schwarber Fan]

Still think the pen will be fine?

[C.C.]

Still think the pen will be fine?

 

 

Yes, I do. It doesn't help when your starter spots the opposing team 5 runs and our offense still hasn't scored.