CUBZ99

Great news. Any idea of where Sean gets sent to? (fingers crossed for Iowa)

Rothschild supposedly found some glitch in Marquis's mechanics and has him throwing an effective sinker this spring. Whether he can maintain his effective sinker throughout the season is the question.

Why do we care if they are unhappy? The more talented players should play. Which means for the moment Pie should sit. Do you mean he should play? He has shown more talent this spring than Jacque and obviously Floyd. We are only a little over a week into spring training games, so it is not really significant who has showed more talent this spring. If the roster was determined based upon Spring Training so far Buck Coats would be a shoo in to start in the OF. Lou has been very straightforward in regard to the roster spots this year (something I don't remember in the past). Instead of stringing Pie along, he told him that barring an injury he would start the year in the minors. Pie will have plenty of time to work on his offense and be prepared for his chance. I can't wait to see him with the Cubs to stay.

He has quietly been having a terrific spring. Lets hope that he can hold it together once the season starts and perform like he is capable of performing.

Len said Prior is only going 2, with Guzman going possibly 3.

Did Cotts make it two whole innnings? I am hoping that Lou doesn't have his heart set on Cotts making the team. He has looked horrible this spring.

He was crafty--getting into and out of trouble. crafty huh? any report on his velocity? It was probably too low to register on the gun.

Good find! Verrrry interesting. GREAT find! Straight from Lou's mouth, with no pretense. That means if Angel pitches well he has a good chance of making the team. I can't listen to the audio link yet, but if all he is that he prefers a young 5th starter, how do you know that he is not talking about Neil Cotts? Aren't Cotts and Guzman similar ages?

Who's due up for the Cubs? I think it's Coats, Hoffpauir and EPatt. EPatt-Bomb? Hope so for his sake. Maybe it will make Lou forget about the misplay.

Suprised to see Colvin getting a start in Spring Training. He must be impressing the coaching staff.

Laura, IIRC, Sullivan did mention that he thought Prior was holding back. If he's been throwing faster than that in practice then I'm not worried. I thought -- though I'm certainly not sure -- that I had heard Prior was popping the gun for 92-ish in practice. If that is the case, why in the world would he go all out in practice then hold back in a game? Doesn't make much sense.

So Sullivan thinks it was likely a case of nerves?

I dont' see how his is going to get his velocity back all of the sudden. Wonder how he lost 10-12 mph off his fast ball over the offseason. I thought he spent the offseason strengthening his shoulder.

I thought he said that Prior will be followed by Wood who will be working out of the bullpen this year.

Your talking Bobby Brownlie territory there.

I see Bruce!!!! Bruce, sticking your tongue out at Lou? That's no way to start a good professional relationship. By the way, that angle has you dwarfing Paul Sullivan. Is the woman with the red shirt Carrie Muskat?

I was wondering the same thing. These guys know the Cubs prospects pretty good.

they loved gallagher, didn't say much about gooz. Did Gallagher pick up any velocity on his Fastball? The announcers were very impressed with it

Nice Job by Gallagher for getting out of that jam. I thought I heard the announcers say that they were impressed with his fastball. :D

Was Murton running hard? Just heard the announcers say something about Lou expecting everyone to go full speed or something to that effect.

I agree. :D

Any word on who will be pitching in relief after Zambrano? Will there be a Gallagher or Shark sighting?

Interesting. If Lou is dead set on a lefty in the 2 slot here I'd rather see what Pagan could do there than Izturis. Pagan's not an option for the two spot on a regular basis though-it's Murton, Jones, DeRosa, or Izturis-Piniella said he is looking for patience there and the ability to hit fastballs and hit the ball to all fields. I don't mind Izturis there for now-if he shows those abilities, then that's great. If he doesn't, let's find it out in ST and not during the regular season. I agree but I would rather see him get some AB's to show what he has or doesn't have. Ahh-yeah, I'd definitely put him in front of Blanco-it's not like Blanco's AB's are really going to be important in spring. I do think Lou cares more about finding the proper lineup order though then evaluating the different possible 25th man candidates-it's an interesting question of which is more important right now. Well let's hope that Lou's son tells him how bad of a hitter Izturis really is! Well, as I think you know, while there's a decent chance Izturis will be really bad I also think there's a decent chance from a close analysis of his numbers that he'd be all right-I'm hoping this spring indicates that he's returned to be the latter than the former. Care to give me the details of your close analysis? I see at best a guy who could possibly hit .300 given an incredible amount of luck, and due to a lack of plate discipline and power would still be pretty worthless offensively. Defensively of course he should be pretty good, so I can live with him if he is the 8th hitter and everyone else in the lineup hits well. I actually dont' mind Lou batting Izturis in the 2nd spot in Spring Training. If you've read his quotes he has stated that he wants to use spring training to tinker with some things and once the seaon starts he wants to have a pretty much set lineup. I'm sure Lou is giving Izturis every shot to succeed and build his confidence.

Who is Howard and why is he throwing BP today?

Pretty sure that Moore is at 3B