Week of 3/4-3/10 Spring Training Game Thread

[Hairyducked Idiot]

It's too early to make an accurate prediction about what the back end is going to look like. ST performance is going to sort a lot of this out. There's a lot of smoke with Shark, but it's still early.

 

I really hope Spring Training performance has virtually nothing to do with their decisions.

 

Well that's a faint hope. Ideally you'd like that, but with this many arms competing for 1-2 spots, I'm not sure how you could expect ST performance wouldn't have some bearing.

 

Maybe not the numbers, but how they're throwing for sure.

 

My hope would be that they already have their five in mind, and the other couple of guys are only there in case someone gets hurt or comes out throwing completely different stuff than they have in the past (gained/lost velocity or something).

[MWV]

Pitching prognostications aside, Rizzo gets the start today:

 

David DeJesus, RF

Jeff Baker, 2B

Starlin Castro, SS

Blake DeWitt, 3B

Marlon Byrd, CF

Reed Johnson, LF

Welington Castillo, C

Anthony Rizzo, 1B

Matt Garza, P

[XZero771679666304]

It's too early to make an accurate prediction about what the back end is going to look like. ST performance is going to sort a lot of this out. There's a lot of smoke with Shark, but it's still early.

 

I really hope Spring Training performance has virtually nothing to do with their decisions.

 

Well that's a faint hope. Ideally you'd like that, but with this many arms competing for 1-2 spots, I'm not sure how you could expect ST performance wouldn't have some bearing.

 

Maybe not the numbers, but how they're throwing for sure.

 

My hope would be that they already have their five in mind, and the other couple of guys are only there in case someone gets hurt or comes out throwing completely different stuff than they have in the past (gained/lost velocity or something).

 

I'm not sure how easy it would be to make 1-2 clear cut picks out of Shark/Volstad/Wells/Wood at this point, though I'm sure they have their preferences. Guys like Sonnanstine and Lopez are obvious injury depth, but how ST plays out for the previously mentioned four has to be weighed to some degree, imo.

[Guest]

I could swear they just showed Hoyer walking around with a Bulls polo on.

[SouthSideRyan]

Wood and Volstad both have minor league options (I think, correct me if I'm wrong), so one of them is likely to be left out of the rotation, at least initially. If I had to guess, I would say that the Cubs go with Garza, Dempster, Maholm, Volstad and Samardzija to start the season. Wells to the 'pen. Wood to Iowa.

All of this is pure conjecture, of course.

 

Last year Casey Coleman and James Russell were our backup starters.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I hope the tv gun is slow, because it had Garza working 85 to 89.

[Guest]

I could swear they just showed Hoyer walking around with a Bulls polo on.

 

In case anyone cares, he was...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery/68741868/Sports/Cubs-GM-Jed-Hoyer-on-the-signing-of-Cuban-left-hander-Gerardo-Concepcion

[ctcf]

Great day for Beliveau. 2 IP and 5 K with no hits or walks

[Guest]

Great day for Beliveau. 2 IP and 5 K with no hits or walks

 

Yea, he looked awesome.

[Guest]

I guess we probably should have started a new game thread today...