Bruce Miles: Five Key Issues Facing Cubs

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Link.

 

We're used to these kind of stories as we approach ST every year, and Bruce does a good job breaking it all down.

 

Bruce lists the first of his key stories as the fifth spot followed by Bradley, Fukudome, the middle infield, and the closer spot.

 

While I agree with these, I think the health of Zambrano and Harden may be a bigger issue than any of these. While there may be a question of who fills the fifth starter role, I think one of them will do adequately behind the top four. On the other hand, if Harden or Zambrano miss significant time, the Cubs could be in a bit of a pickle.

 

I'm also not concerned with who is the closer. I think either Gregg or Marmol can handle that role. While it may be a question of who does what in the pen, I don't think it really matters which one gets the role.

 

A question that I think looms larger than who is the closer is the make-up of the bench. With Gathright, Bako, Miles, and Johnson making up the key components of the bench, it's just weak.

[Yeti]

thanks for the link vance.

 

interesting read,, although i gotta agree with vance on the subject of the health of Big Z and Harden being big concerns. those 2 and Bradley are my big worries at this point.

[Bruce Miles]

Thanks for the link. Hendry has told me twice he feels Harden will be stronger than last year. We shall see.

[Yeti]

Thanks for the link. Hendry has told me twice he feels Harden will be stronger than last year. We shall see.

did he give you any concrete reasons behind his "feeling" or did he leave it at that?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Thanks for the link. Hendry has told me twice he feels Harden will be stronger than last year. We shall see.

 

I wish I could share Hendry's confidence, but after reading about that tear he had/has, I'm going to be anxious.

[Roast]

Thanks for the link. Hendry has told me twice he feels Harden will be stronger than last year. We shall see.

did he give you any concrete reasons behind his "feeling" or did he leave it at that?

Not to step over bruce, but from what Hendry was saying at the convention, I believe he started working out earlier and I think I remember hendry saying he has made great strides in strength training.

[Mephistopheles]

Thanks for the link. Hendry has told me twice he feels Harden will be stronger than last year. We shall see.

 

if only he felt this way about kosuke.

[PrimeTime]

You know when he's healthy when hes consistently throwing in the mid to high nineties..I always figured something was wrong there when late in the season he was throwing 88-92

[17 Seconds]

Thanks for the link. Hendry has told me twice he feels Harden will be stronger than last year. We shall see.

 

Do you have anything conrete on this supposed shoulder tear? It's weird that after the article came out, we've heard basically nothing about it. I read some article a couple weeks ago that suggested he might not be ready for opening day, but I remember the source being questionable. So what's the deal? Is he going to be ready for opening day, barring a different injury?

[B]

Rich Harden does not play for the Cubs.

[Illini Iceman]

I am excited about seeing a healthy Angel Guzman in spring training and think his success could be a real key for the season. I hope he can finally put it all together because if he can then I would feel much better about having Marmol as the closer and losing him for those key 7th and 8th inning situations. Pitching in relief could allow Guzman to really let loose with his nasty stuff and still not put as much stress on his arm since he would be pitching less innings. Very similar situation IMO to when they moved Wood to the bullpen.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Having Guzman as an additional fireman(assuming he's effective) would be tremendous. It would keep Samardzija in Iowa as an additional rotation option, and give another option besides Marmol if Gregg were to piss off Lou. I'd worry about his workload though, so hopefully he can earn his way to a consistent role without a Marmol-esque usage pattern from the beginning of the season.

[17 Seconds]

Rich Harden does not play for the Cubs.

 

I don't get it

[wvcbxl]

Solid job by Bruce summing up what to look out for in ST. Thanks.

[soapy]

Bruce hit most of my keys, with some slightly different angles:

 

Rotation: I'm not worried about the fifth spot so much as injuries in the rotation. I'm fairly confident that one of the guys battling for that fifth spot will be effective as a fifth starter. I'm more concerned about the 6th-7th guys because of my severe worry about the health of Zambrano and Harden. If one or both go down (which I think is somewhat likely) then I'm worried.

 

Bradley and Fukudome are no-brainers. Bradley for health and Fukudome for production.

 

Bullpen: Not worried about closer so much as I am about having an effective set-up or stopper (for lack of a better term). Basically someone to fill the role that Marmol did last year. I think Marmol is the early front runner to be named closer and I'm worried about games getting blown by the bullpen before they ever get to the ninth. I'm very anxious to see what Gregg and Guzman do.

 

Bench: Right now the bench has been severly downgraded from last year. It was a strength in 2008.

[biittner77]

I share a lot of the concerns mentioned above and would add these:

 

I'm worried that Soto will be driven into the ground because Piniella doesn't want to play Bako ever. If Piniella rides him too hard during the season what will he have left for the playoffs?

 

I'm also wondering if Dempster can follow up his performance last year or return to mediocrity.

 

No one seems to talk about Soriano's health. It would be nice if he didn't miss 1/3 of the season.

 

I'm not as concerned about Fukudome because I believe he'll be better and worse case scenario he gets dropped to the 8th spot and having a good hitting catcher makes up for less production from CF.

 

I'm optimistic about Old Style making the rotation and being an upgrade over Marquis.

[Bull]

Things that could go wrong:

 

Zambrano injured

Lilly's 204 and 207 innings over the last two years catch up to him

Harden never pitches in 2009

Dempsters 2008 was a fluke

No one steps up and takes the 5th spot

Bullpen sucks hard

wear and tear of winterball too much for Marmol

Aramis in and out of line-up all year

Lee continues his downward slide

Soriano is gimpy all year

Bradley misses half the season

Miles has a great spring -- and a rotten summer

Fukudome doesn't figure it out

Soto has a sophomore slump (we thought it wouldn't happen to Hill)

Middle infield realizes they're no good

Bench performs up to expectations.

 

This has the potential to be very, very bad.

But with a few break and good health, it could be very good.

[brinoch]

I'm worried about the health of Big Z and Harden, as well as Marmol. I think we downgraded the pitching staff a bit, but I still think we're a step up from the rest of the division in that respect. I do like Heilman; I think he could be a real asset.

 

I think we'll miss DeRosa a lot more than perhaps Hendry estimated. I'm worried about Fontenot/Miles.

 

Everyone should worry about the health of Bradley, but when he's in the lineup I think he'll keep us happy.

 

I can't wait to see Geo mangle some baseballs in ST. Or perhaps read about it since I won't be able to make it to AZ.

[cubbinalltheway]

nsbb and bcb are both now regularly posting bruce's columns/blogs. it's like children fighting for their father's attention!

 

not saying anything is wrong with posting his words, by the way. just humorous to me.

[The Other 15]

Things that could go wrong:

 

Zambrano injured

Lilly's 204 and 207 innings over the last two years catch up to him

Harden never pitches in 2009

Dempsters 2008 was a fluke

No one steps up and takes the 5th spot

Bullpen sucks hard

wear and tear of winterball too much for Marmol

Aramis in and out of line-up all year

Lee continues his downward slide

Soriano is gimpy all year

Bradley misses half the season

Miles has a great spring -- and a rotten summer

Fukudome doesn't figure it out

Soto has a sophomore slump (we thought it wouldn't happen to Hill)

Middle infield realizes they're no good

Bench performs up to expectations.

 

This has the potential to be very, very bad.

But with a few break and good health, it could be very good.

Oh, good. Just that to worry about? I thought there would be a long list.

[Bote McBoteface]

Things that could go wrong:

 

Zambrano injured

Lilly's 204 and 207 innings over the last two years catch up to him

Harden never pitches in 2009

Dempsters 2008 was a fluke

No one steps up and takes the 5th spot

Bullpen sucks hard

wear and tear of winterball too much for Marmol

Aramis in and out of line-up all year

Lee continues his downward slide

Soriano is gimpy all year

Bradley misses half the season

Miles has a great spring -- and a rotten summer

Fukudome doesn't figure it out

Soto has a sophomore slump (we thought it wouldn't happen to Hill)

Middle infield realizes they're no good

Bench performs up to expectations.

 

This has the potential to be very, very bad.

But with a few break and good health, it could be very good.

 

Is this a joke post? You could do this for any team.

[Brett]

Rich Harden does not play for the Cubs.

 

I'd say that's the second most realistic, and perhaps scariest, concern facing the Cubs.

 

The first is Milton Bradley having the same problem.

[dew1679666265]

I mostly agree with Bruce on the key issues for the Cubs this year.

 

For as much complaining as I've done this offseason (mainly about Aaron Miles), I still think this team is clearly better than anybody else in the division. And overall, the offseason hasn't made us that much worse. The only places where I think we downgraded more than a little bit are second and the bench.

 

I think the rotation will be fine. As long as Harden can be healthy, our top 4 will be very good and I think the fifth starter will get worked out between Heilman and Marshall. Little dropoff there, in my opinion, from Marquis - if any. The depth behind them is a tad bit scary, but how realistic is it to have good options for your 7th and 8th starters?

 

I really hope Bradley can stay healthy this year, though I strongly doubt he will. If he can stay healthy, his production should be well worth the $10 million we're paying him. If he can't, I'm worried about what we'll have. I'm hoping for 100 games.

 

I think Kosuke will improve. He's had a year to get used to MLB and being in America and hopefully that will help him adjust this year. I don't know if he'll reach what he was projected to do last year, but I think he'll be a pretty decent amount better than last year.

 

The only spot I disagree with Bruce on is closer. I don't think it's in much doubt with Gregg and Marmol back there. I hope Gregg ends up as the closer, as I think his penchant to walk people will be less damaging if he enters most games with no one on base. That leaves Marmol to be a fireman again, which is a good thing. The rest of the pen shouldn't be much, if any, worse than last year - especially if Angel can stay healthy and pitch well.

 

The bench will likely be terrible, but that's the only severe downgrade I see. I think we'll miss DeRo's ability to play RF (especially when Bradley's out) and I see no power on the bench right now (save for Hoff if he remains).

 

My thoughts on second base are probably pretty clear at this point. :D It's worse, but the degree to which it is will be determined by how well Fontenot does. Miles was an awful signing.

 

Overall, we're the best team in the Central by leaps and bounds and still one of the top 2-3 teams in the NL. We're worse than the team we fielded in the playoffs last year, though (partially that was to be expected, but I think we're a bit worse than normal regression).

[bhogg]

I think this year's team has fewer question marks than last year's. We just have the advantage of knowing how things turned out last year.

 

There are legit concerns with the team, but I feel like every team in the central (and most in the entire NL) would gladly trade places with us for the upcoming season.

[B]

Rich Harden does not play for the Cubs.

 

I don't get it

I don't expect you to.