Cubs 4th and 5th Starter

[inari]

Who has an agenda and against whom? Most fans don't fault Samardzija for signing his big deal for the Cubs and would have done the same thing.

 

Also, beside the one ridiculous post about Samarzija's looks, most of the criticism leveled has been deserved.

As you said, "most" fans & "most" criticism...The ignorant hate spewed about Shark's potential & success is so contrary to fact it reeks of the aforementioned agenda. The subsequent rage against me for pointing this out is telling as well, lol.

 

I didn't mean to get anyone upset, it's tough times out there. If hatin' on millionaire professional athletes helps them with their problems, so be it.

 

If people actually are interested in Shark's situation, just read up on what he's been doing since the end of last season. What did he work on with Rothschild?!? What 4 pitches is he working on with 1 of them being unhittable in his last start for the Cubs & in Mexico?!? What were players saying about that have seen him in the majors & in the MWL?!?

 

Couple all this with his extraordinary potential, newusername & all Cub fans certainly have legitimate hope that Shark can be a quality major league pitcher

 

If Jeff Samardzija has "extraordinary" potential, what the hell did Kerry Wood or Mark Prior have?

[CUBZ99]

Another piece regarding Shark, this time from Muskat:

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100225&content_id=8139354&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc:

 

Jeff Samardzija had an early pitching session Thursday, getting his work done before the rest of the team had gone onto the field to stretch. The former Notre Dame wide receiver has impressed this spring.

 

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild told Piniella that the first couple years, Samardzija looked like a football player who was pitching. Rothschild said this year, the right-hander looks like a baseball player who played football.

 

"That's a big transformation, and that's a really profound statement as far as I'm concerned," Piniella said. "It says he's making the adjustments and really stepping forward and looking like a Major League pitcher."

 

Samardzija is one of the candidates for a spot in the Cubs' rotation.

 

"He's throwing the ball smoother, with less effort, and his mechanics have improved," Piniella said. "He looks like a Major League pitcher on the mound. He's got natural talent. It's just a question of refining it. We're going to let this guy pitch and around the 20th of March, we'll see exactly where he's at."

 

I'm not holding my breath, but if he was able to have a breakout year, things would be looking a lot better for the season.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's nice that Larry likes him, but that is so far from a profound statement. It's meaningless.

[soapy]

But he looks like a baseball player now. More specifically, a baseball player that used to play football (must be the hair).

[Guest]

If we're suddenly at a place where Marshall is getting 20+ starts, that wouldn't be good

 

Why? He did just fine in 07 getting 19 starts. Marshall pitched well the first month and half as the first 5th starter last year. But basically lost his rotation spot because he was lefthanded. Since they need a LH pitcher out of the pen, and Wells was pitching so well. Sure of course he is going to be a better reliever then starter, most pitchers would be. But he probably has more value as a starter. My one concern is him wearing down after 3 and half to 4 months. Since he's never really pitched many innings in his career(even back in the minors). He's basically the reason why I feel ok about the rotation.

 

 

Since I think Gorzelanny is the darkhorse guy and guy with the most upside to perform well in the rotation this season. But at the sametime he's been horribly inconsistent the last two years. So he's not someone I want to pencil in the rotation full-time yet. But as long as we have Marshall as a full-time option behind Gorzelanny I feel ok with the rotation. Since I think Gorzelanny as is, can fill in just fine in spot starts. With Marshall being the number 5, and if Marshall starts to wear down we can always find a veteran serviceable number 5 cheap at the deadline or in August. Samardzija is a guy I'm not expecting much from this year. With what the Cubs invested in him, I'm sure he's the guy they would like to see as the number 5. But I guess I need to see it to believe it. As for Silva well again he needs to prove himself, and if he can't be a serviceable Jason Marquis like 5th starter, well then he should be released. But right now I have my fingers crossed that Gorzelanny can have a simliar season as he did in 07. Hopefully working with Rothschild and having veterans like Dempster, Lilly(who simliar up and down years as young pitchers) and even Maddux around during spring training. Will help him get back on track. Which is possible, since he didn't have those type of people around him with the Pirates.

Diamond has the most upside for that last spot. He's also got the biggest hurdles to overcome.

[indycub]

I just looked at the rotation and threw up in my mouth a little bit. We need 20+ from Big Z or we are gonna be in some serious trouble this season.

[Guest]

I just looked at the rotation and threw up in my mouth a little bit. We need 20+ from Big Z or we are gonna be in some serious trouble this season.

The Cubs lack a clear ace at the top, but have strong depth. Even at the #5 spot in the rotation, there are good arms competing there. If nobody else, Marshall has already shown himself to be a capable MLB starter. Gorz is fine for a fifth guy. You've get upside guys with Shark & Diamond. There are three young guys that could step up by the end of the year in Cashner, Jackson and Carpenter.

 

The real key is Lilly being healthy relatively fast.

[jersey cubs fan]

I just looked at the rotation and threw up in my mouth a little bit. We need 20+ from Big Z or we are gonna be in some serious trouble this season.

The Cubs lack a clear ace at the top, but have strong depth. Even at the #5 spot in the rotation, there are good arms competing there. If nobody else, Marshall has already shown himself to be a capable MLB starter. Gorz is fine for a fifth guy. You've get upside guys with Shark & Diamond. There are three young guys that could step up by the end of the year in Cashner, Jackson and Carpenter.

 

The real key is Lilly being healthy relatively fast.

 

I think you need Lilly to be healthy ASAP plus somebody to surprise on the upside. There are numbers, but there's not much quality in that quantity. Needing three of Wells, Marshall, Gorzo, Samardzija and Silva to contribute positively is scary. And there's very little point in bringing up the other names.

[Guest]

I just looked at the rotation and threw up in my mouth a little bit. We need 20+ from Big Z or we are gonna be in some serious trouble this season.

The Cubs lack a clear ace at the top, but have strong depth. Even at the #5 spot in the rotation, there are good arms competing there. If nobody else, Marshall has already shown himself to be a capable MLB starter. Gorz is fine for a fifth guy. You've get upside guys with Shark & Diamond. There are three young guys that could step up by the end of the year in Cashner, Jackson and Carpenter.

 

The real key is Lilly being healthy relatively fast.

 

I think you need Lilly to be healthy ASAP plus somebody to surprise on the upside. There are numbers, but there's not much quality in that quantity. Needing three of Wells, Marshall, Gorzo, Samardzija and Silva to contribute positively is scary. And there's very little point in bringing up the other names.

If Lilly is healthy, you just need two of those guys to do respectably well. None of them have to be an ace.

 

If Lilly is down for longer / ineffective upon return...we're hosed regardless.

[Rob]

People need to concentrate on the fact that we're planning to skip the 5th starter when we can in April (which should be relatively often). You'll feel better when you realize most trips through the rotation will only feature one start by a guy not named Zambrano, Dempster, or Wells.

 

Again, we find ourselves hoping that Lilly comes back quickly... but there are worse times to be coming back from injury than April.

[weis21]

People need to concentrate on the fact that we're planning to skip the 5th starter when we can in April (which should be relatively often). You'll feel better when you realize most trips through the rotation will only feature one start by a guy not named Zambrano, Dempster, or Wells.

 

Again, we find ourselves hoping that Lilly comes back quickly... but there are worse times to be coming back from injury than April.

 

I thought so too myself initially, but after perusing the schedule it appears that they'll need the fifth starter three times in April and once again May 1st. The Cubs play 20 games in a row from April 14-May 2. Not your typical April schedule. Good for me, bad for the team.

[jersey cubs fan]

Lou on Silva:

 

"One thing about Silva, he's nice and healthy," Piniella said. "It's just getting him to the point where he feels comfortable and gets people out with the consistency he should."

 

Oh, well since that's the easy part no problem.

[Soul]

Lou on Silva:

 

"One thing about Silva, he's nice and healthy," Piniella said. "It's just getting him to the point where he feels comfortable and gets people out with the consistency he should."

 

Oh, well since that's the easy part no problem.

 

This made me laugh.

 

Yes Lou. Silva's healthy, so it's just a simple little matter of transforming him from a terrible pitcher to a good one.

 

Good luck.

[abuck1220]

the good news is, he doesn't have AIDS or a missing limb. now we just have to work on the not being terrible at pitching part.

[JeffH]

the good news is, he doesn't have AIDS or a missing limb. now we just have to work on the not being terrible at pitching part.

 

Are you sure that's good news?

[Tim M]

The Lilly injury thing is overblown. It's unrealistic to expect all 5 starters to stay healthy the whole season. If he comes back 100 percent our rotation should be fine.

[jersey cubs fan]

The Lilly injury thing is overblown. It's unrealistic to expect all 5 starters to stay healthy the whole season. If he comes back 100 percent our rotation should be fine.

 

That could be true, if Lilly comes back 100% the rotation should be fine, except for the 2 other questionable spots.