Starting Pitching
I think we have the best rotation in the National League, quite possibly in baseball. Just from start to finish, 4 out of our 5 could be a 20 game winner next year. If they Cubs end up with Peavy, I don't think anyone can touch our starting rotation. Otherwise, it's probably Marshal, who is fine for a number 5. Last season we had 7 legitimate guys in spring training for the 5 spots. This year we don't. So, if we get some injuries, we could be in trouble.
Zambrano-There's not much to say about Zambrano that hasn't already been said. Great stuff. All the talent in the world. If he'll just keep his emotions in check. Blah, blah, blah. He'll go through a month of barely winning a game and somehow still end up with 18 wins.
Dempster-I'm very glad we resigned Dempster. I don't know that he leads the team in wins again this year (oh yeah, it was Dempster. 17 wins), but I think he's good for this team. He's a great clubhouse guy and he's been willing to do whatever the Cubs ask. And, if you're ever at a Cubs gathering, he's great to listen to. It's just real tough not to like this guy.
Harden-I've got my fingers crossed for health here. So many players say he's got the best stuff in the league if he stays healthy. If he does get hurt, I hope it's early on, so we can have him at the end of the season. Not that that helped in the playoffs last season.
Lilly-He's a tough one to figure out. It seemed to me like he had a bad year, but you look at his stats (especially wins) and it's nothing to complain about. No matter where he's at this year, if he's number 4, that's a real good number 4.
Marshal- It'd be nice to be saying "Peavy," instead of Marshal. Heck, I'd even prefer saying "Marquis." Marshal is solid or weak as a starter. If he's a starter all season, I predict he's going to finish 8-9. He's that kind of a guy. But, that's really fine with me--it's the number 5 starter, come on. What bothers me is that Marshal seems much more suited as a long man in the bullpen. His best work last season, in my opinion was taking over for a poor start and keeping the boys in it. That saved us several times, and I'm not sure where that's going to come from this season.
Relief
We've turned over a lot this season. Outside of Kerry Wood, I'm not super sad about the ones we've lost. Wuertz was only good enough to keep your hopes up, Howry had a terrible season (I felt like the Cardinals must feel when Izzy came in, every time he entered), etc etc. We are very right heavy. Neil Cotts is our only left hander (Marshall is left handed, if he were still there). We were very concerned about making our line-up more left-handed this season. I wonder why we aren't concerned at all about having no left handed relief. Again, though, I'm sorry to see Woody go. He stays healthy for most of a season, and that's the season we decide to let him go. I'm not talking about all the relievers, just so you know.
Vizcaino-This is the guy we got from Colorado for Jason Marquis. I had him on a fantasy team about 3 years back (when he was with the Diamondbacks), and he was a great holds guy. He was traded to the Yankees the next season and then ended up with the Rockies. His ERA skyrocketed last season (5.28 in 43 games), but remember he was pitching in Coors Field. I think he'll be fine for a 6 or 7th inning guy.
Heilman-This is the guy we grom from Seattle for Ronny Cedeno. He gets a lot of Ks and doesn't give up many homeruns. Seattle didn't seem to be a good fit for him. His ERA was going down each year with the Mets, but it went up to 5.21 (from 3.01) last season. He also walked about 25 more in about 10 less appearances. Hopefully last year was a fluke.
Samardzja-Some day I'll be able to spell his last name from memory. I did not expect him to grab a place on the team so quickly with so much success. But, judging from his first season, there's a lot of promise. Most of the scouts are putting this guy in the rotation sometime down the road.
Marmol-They say that the closer job will be decided in spring training, but I don't know how he doesn't get it. I really hope he establishes himself as one of the league's elite closers over the next few years.
Gregg-He came to us from the Marlins, where he racked up 32 saves last season. He's the other guy in the mix for closer, of course. His ERA is about a point higher than Marmol, he struck out about half of what Marmol struck out while walking about the same. He's either closer or set up man in all likelyhood
Cotts-I think the only reason he's here is that we're all righties without him. Looking at his stats, they don't seem too terrible. But, according to my memory, he was underwelming just about everytime he went out there. In my memory, only Howry had a rougher time last summer in relief appearances. He was coming off an injury, so maybe things will look up this season.
Gaudin- This guy came to us midseason with Rich Harden. He should be a real solid reliever. A lot of people say he's as important a part of the deal as Rich Harden. He also started in 2007, so that's a possibility. His ERA is a little higher than I would like, but I guess everyone isn't going to be in the 2s.
That's what I'm doing for now. More after I've seen them playing. Position Players coming soon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment