The Cubs’ bullpen has always been an issue of concern, and they have been going from closer to closer pretty much every season.

Most recently, Kerry Wood and Kevin Gregg held down the closer position, but neither of them were closer for more than one season. So what will the bullpen look like this season?

Closer: Carlos Marmol
Rest of bullpen: Complete Mess

I know that doesn’t offer up too much when it comes to telling you who will pitch what innings this season, but at this point, you’re guess is as good as mine.

The Cubs lost Kevin Gregg and Aaron Heilman during the off-season, and with Angel Guzman missing a lot of time at best, the Cubs are in desperate need of somebody to get the ball into Marmol’s hands.

Jeff Samardzija had a great season two years ago, but had an above-7.00 ERA last season in about 35 season. He is still young and raw and he could return to 2008 form.

John Grabow is the most experienced option and the fact that he is a lefty helps out too. However, he has never been exactly overwhelming, and with a career ERA of 4.03 he isn’t a prime option.

Esmailin Caridad is a possible option, he had a low ERA, struck out a good amount of batters, and had two holds in 19.1 innings last season. But for him to come out of nowhere and be consistent all season is a stretch.

The best chance that the Cubs have to fix their bullpen this season would be by some sort of trade, but Spring Training deals are rare.

Of course the Cubbie faithful could take up a different strategy in trying to fix the bullpen. Pray…a lot. Pray for Guzman’s injury to just go away, pray for Samardzija and Caridad to have magical seasons, and I can’t stress this enough, pray a lot.

Either option is viable, and with Jim Hendry’s past, I feel the second option is more likely to work than the first.

I’m Joe W.

Part one is going to be break down the Chicago Cubs’ pitching, after this article I will be taking on the infield, outfield and bullpen.

The Cubs have been known for having solid starting pitching, and this season should be no different. Here is the expected rotation:

1. Carlos Zambrano
2. Ted Lilly
3. Ryan Dempster
4. Randy Wells
5. Tom Gorzelanny
Others who could start games: Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Silva.

Who Needs to Step Up: Carlos Zambrano

Who Could be the Biggest Surprise: Randy Wells

Looking at what each of these pitchers did last season, the Cubs are seemingly set at the top of their rotation. None of the top four pitchers had an ERA above 4.

However, the Cubs supposed ace of the staff, Carlos Zambrano, was, if anything, the fourth best starting pitcher for the Cubs last season.

His ERA was fourth highest among the five expected starters, and he was just one strikeout away from being third in strikeouts, instead he was second with 152. He also finished fourth in WHIP.

But although the Cubs don’t have a legit ace, they also don’t give opposing teams a break, as none of their pitchers are exactly bad either.

After facing Carlos Zambrano, they face Ted Lilly, who had a 3.10 ERA last season, struck out 152 batters, and had a WHIP of just 1.06.

However, Lilly will likely won’t be back until some time in early May. He is trying to be able to be back in April, but the Cubs aren’t going to risk anything, and if he has to miss an extra two starts to make sure he doesn’t miss serious time, nobody will complain.

This opens up an opportunity for a few Cubs pitchers to try to jump in and take his place. Chances are that Carlos Silva, Jeff Samardzija or Sean Marshall will be the fifth starter for the first month or so.

The Cubs don’t have an especially difficult schedule at the beginning of the season, so although Lilly coming back should be a priority, his health should be a bigger one.

Until Lilly comes back, Dempster will be directly following Carlos Zambrano in the rotation.

Last season, Demster’s stats dropped from his magical 2008, but he was still very impressive holding an ERA of 3.65 and a 1.31 WHIP while striking out 172 batters, leading all Cubs and finishing 15th in the NL.

Randy Wells was a big surprise last season, as he came out of nowhere to tie for the most wins on the Cubs with 12. He also lead all starters with an ERA of 3.05.

If Wells is even close to as good as he was last season, the Cubs will be greatly benefited during the absence of Lilly. However, last season was just his first full season pitching in the majors, but in about 10 major league innings before last season he didn’t allow a single hit.

The favorite for the fifth Cubs position when the rotation is healthy will likely be won by Tom Gorzelanny, who came to Chicago from the Pirates last season.

Despite his ERA being 5.55, he was able to find ways to win, going 7-3. If you look at Gorzelanny’s season last year, you will see amazing inconsistency.

However, when he was able to establish himself, he was outstanding. In every game that he was able to pitch more than five innings, he never allowed more than two runs and went 4-0.

If he can channel what he did in those starts where he pitched a high amount of innings, then the Cubs will be very pleased in the former Pirate.

When looking at the other players who could start games for the Cubs, there isn’t much talent to chose from. There is amazingly over-paid Carlos Silva who is consistently beyond horrible.

Silva belongs in Double-A at best, but his highly inflated contract could keep him floating between Triple-A and the majors.

Jeff Samardzija is another option, and the Notre Dame product has shown some good pitching chops, and although I prefer to see him in the bullpen, he could give some short-term relief as the fifth starter.

Sean Marshall has been good in flashes as a starter through a few seasons, but he has never really gone met his potential despite never really being bad. He hasn’t had an ERA over 4.50 in the last three seasons, and like Samardzija, could be a good short-term option.

Overall, the Cubs don’t have anybody that really stands out in their starting rotation, but they also have very few people who fall into the background.

Although they aren’t anything special, the starting rotation shouldn’t lose the Cubs too many games.

I’m Joe W.

Today is “Earth Hour”, where people are encouraged to shut off their lights for one hour in a symbolic act to conserve energy. But in Arizona, there is nothing symbolic about the decisions Lou Piniella, Larry Rothschild and the gang have to make.

In the bullpen, only four spots are set. The closer will either be Carlos Marmol or Kevin Gregg, with the slight edge going to Marmol at this point. However, Gregg has pitched very well this spring. Either way, one will pitch in the eighth and one in the ninth.

So, with two spots belonging to Marmol and Gregg, that leaves Aaron Heilman as the sixth and seventh inning man. Next, there is the lone lefty in the pen, Neal Cotts. That makes a total of four.

If they go with 11 pitchers, that leaves two remaining spots. Although it hasn’t been officially announced, Bruce Levine of ESPN.com said this morning that the Cubs have decided to send Jeff Samardzija to Iowa, where he can be stretched out in case another starter is needed.

Samardzija has an excellent fastball and a splitter that he doesn’t always command well. He needs to work on his command and another pitch if he wants to be a starter. He would be better in the bullpen, where two pitches are all you need.

I would have groomed him to be a closer from the start. He has the heater and the makeup, as a former Notre Dame football player, to do that job. Alas, no one from the Cubs asked me for my opinion.

Among other bullpen candidates, a couple are out of options and one, David Patton, is a rule 5 draft pick so he would have to be offered back to Colorado for $25,000 if he doesn’t make the 25-man roster.

And Patton has looked good this spring. Rothschild is impressed by his poise and has said he has the best curve ball he has seen all year. Since he has never pitched above Class A, however, it would be quite a story if he did go north with the team.

The two veterans who are out of options, Luis Vizcaino and Chad Gaudin, would likely be lost if they fail to make the team. Both have guaranteed major league contracts, too.

Vizcaino is set to make $3.5 million and Gaudin was signed for $2 million. You can expect Jim Hendry to be trying to trade one or both of these pitchers. Gaudin has looked better since struggling mightily early on, while Vizcaino’s control has improved somewhat.

Other candidates include Angel Guzman, who has the fastball pumping in at 95 MPH, but continues to struggle with his command.

41-year-old lefty Mike Stanton is in camp, but he’s certainly a dark horse candidate to make the team. Another old veteran, Chad Fox, is back in camp once again, and has pitched well. But with his history of injuries, it’s likely they could sneak him through waivers if they wanted to hang on to him.

Guys like Jeff Stevens and Kevin Hart haven’t pitched well this spring, but they still have minor league options remaining. I haven’t heard much regarding the chances of Jose Ascanio, though he also has options remaining.

On the position battle front, in an ideal world, center field would be split between Reed Johnson and the speedy Joey Gathright. But economics dictate that Kosuke Fukudome will likely get the lion’s share of the at-bats early on, since he will start against right-handed pitchers.

The backup catcher will likely be Paul Bako, though Koyie Hill has looked good, making a remarkable recovery from a gruesome injury. Former White Sox catcher Mark Johnson is also in camp.

April 6 can’t happen soon enough, come to think of it.

-Bob Warja

The spring training home for the Chicago Cubs

But for now, we have only the first two Spring Training games to talk about, so lets take a look at what we have.

The Cubs were able to take the first Spring Training game against the Dodgers (wonder how that got scheduled) by the final of 5-3, however, pitcher Jeff Samardzija gave up two runs, both in his second and final inning of work.

“Actually, I felt a little better in the second inning,” Samardzija said. “It’s funny how that works. You make some decent pitches and get out of an inning one, two, three, and then you make some good pitches and give up a couple runs.”

Also in the game, Micah Hoffpauir hit a grand slam and Cubbie hopeful Mitch Atkins gave up one run and three hits over two innings.

In the Cubs second Spring Training game, they took down the Brew Crew 7-3 in Sean Marshall’s first shot to prove that he can handle the fifth starting spot this season.

Marshall gave up one run on four hits in two innings, nothing stellar but not horrible either.

We also had our first Carlos Mamol showing, he pitched one inning, allowing one run and one hit.

Jake Fox, another Cubbie hopeful, started at first base and hit a three-run home run.

Ted Lilly makes his lone Spring Training today against the Rangers, as the Cubs look to continue their perfect Spring Training (maybe not a good thing after the Detroit Lions).

Although Spring Training is a nice warm-up for the regular season, I look forward to, in 38-days, watching the Cubs take on the Astros as the regular season starts.

-Joe Willett

In fairness to Jim Hendry and his management team, however, part of the reason is that, under Lou Piniella, the team has been more willing to call up young players and have them help at the major league level.

In fact, they had the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year in Geovany Soto, as we know.

And, they have traded away prospects in order to bring in other players that can help the team. Though none of them made this list, in the past, Marlins pitchers Renyel Pinto and Ricky Nolasco have made this list, as well as Felix Pie and Corey Patterson. Additionally, Lou Montanez is a fringe player on the Orioles roster, who did well in a brief late season stint as an outfielder (he was drafted as a shortstop).

Oft-injured fan favorite Kerry Wood left to join the Indians, and Jon Garland has had a nice career.

There have been many draft failures, however, too. Mark Pawelek, Ryan Harvey, Bobby Brownlie, and Ben Christiansen were all first-round picks by the Cubs in the last decade. And 2006 first-rounder Tyler Colvin is being projected as no more than a fourth outfielder.

And we all know what happened to Mark Prior, who is throwing towels with the Padres now.

But let’s get back to the list. To qualify, BA follows standard prospect guidelines, which means any player who has not exceeded the rookie limits of 130 at-bats or 50 innings in the major leagues (without regard to service time) is eligible for the list.

For the Cubs, 19 year-old third base prospect Josh Vitters comes in at No. 51, while Jeff Samardzija is at No. 79.

BA mentions that Vitters had the third highest hit total in the Midwest League last season.

As for “The Shark,” BA focuses on the dichotomy between his minor league ERA (4.26) versus his major league ERA with the Cubs (2.28). They don’t elaborate, but the implication is clear. They are questioning if his brief showing in 2008 with the Cubs is truly indicative of his future projections.

I like Jeff; he has a plus fastball, an improving splitter, and he continues to work on adding other pitches to his arsenal. And I really like the former Notre Dame football player’s makeup.

The question with him is whether he will be a starter this year or in the bullpen.

In my opinion, he will continue to be groomed as a starter. If he doesn’t make the team as the fifth starter, I believe he will go down to Iowa to continue being stretched out. He likely would be called up whenever Rich Harden can’t go, or if another injury befalls a starting pitcher.

Hopefully, it won’t be about Carlos Zambrano’s shoulder.

BA estimates Vitters’ ETA as 2010, though I personally think that’s a bit optimistic. Maybe a cup of coffee in September, but at his age, and with Aramis Ramirez firmly established at third base, there is no sense in rushing the young man.

Of course, there is always the possibility that the Cubs could move Vitters to another position. At third, his footwork is improving, and his arm is plenty strong, but he isn’t projected to ever be a plus defender.

His value clearly is his bat. He has a sweet swing, makes hard contact, and he will generate more power once he fills out.

One question I have is, where is Mitch Atkins on this list? Isn’t he a young pitcher who is being projected as a dark horse candidate for the fifth starter role?

In any event, while it has always been true, in this economy, it is especially important to develop your own players. You don’t necessarily have to keep them—they can be used as trading chips—but you need a strong farm system so you can avoid always having to rely on overpriced free agents.

There are other good prospect lists to review, including Keith Law of ESPN.com’s Top 100 prospects.

Law has Vitters ranked much higher, at No. 14. Law also has another Cub on his list, with righty pitcher Jay Jackson coming in at No. 98.

Come to think of it, it’s fun to come to think of Cubs prospects.

-Bob Warja

I apologize for being MIA over the past few days, I’ve been having internet troubles which could hinder the posting to this site over the next few days, but once I get everything straitened out, we should be ready for regular posting.

Now, on to what this article is truly about, baseball and the Chicago Cubs.

Pitchers and catchers reported on Friday to start getting ready for the season. I figured that this would be the perfect time to break down how our pitching staff is going to play this year.

Last season, the Cubs had one of the best pitching staffs in the majors, and late in the season the the trio of Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood shut down opposing offenses after the seventh, and Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden rarely let teams get the lead before that.

But that was a year ago, how are the Cubs going to fare this season? Lets start with those that will pitch the most innings.

Starting Pitching

The Cubs are one of the best pitching teams in the majors from their first through fourth pitchers.

Carlos Zambrano is a fiery player who has a ton of passion, which leads to some games where he lets his stuff get away from him, but when he is on, he is one of the best in the Majors and deserves to be the ace of this staff.

Ryan Dempster came on last season and was a real surprise last season, and re-signing him was major for the Cubs this offseason because it allowed them to stay away from Jake Peavy and save the farm system. He was strong all year and if he keeps it up, he could help the Cubs go deep this year.

Rich Harden was the big acquisition during last season. When he came to the Cubs, he was lights out posting an ERA of just over two and going 10-2, an outstanding second half.

Ted Lilly is a great fourth starter, his ERA was about four last season and he got a lot of strikeouts. The best part about him, his 17-9 record is fantastic for a fourth pitcher in the rotation.

The fifth spot in the rotation this year is going to be decided in spring training, but the spot is likely to either go to Sean Marshall or Aaron Heilman.

Marshall has shown signs of brilliance and he has also faltered at times. However, he kept his ERA under four last year in about 65 innings.

Heilman is a new addition to the Cubs and would bring more experience and reliability to the Cubs if he were to start, but his above five ERA scares me a little bit.

Relief Pitching

The Cubs also had a lockdown bullpen last season, but they lost Wood and it has been said that Samardzija would start the season with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.

However, it looks like the Cubs have two viable options for the closer this year. Although it Marmol will likely take the job, Lou Piniella has publicly stated that newcomer Kevin Gregg will have an opportunity to be the closer as well, and it will be an open competition.

If Marmol does become the close and Samardzija stays on (he should after the way he played last year) the Cubs could still have a strong bullpen with Gregg, Samardzija and Marmol as the most used pitchers.

Either way, the Cubs should still have a solid bullpen this season.

Expect the pitching staff this season to be just as strong if not stronger than last year, I like Marmol as a closer and I think that he could be one of the best in the majors within the next few years.

Our starters are also among the best in the league, and I love the way our pitchers are set up.

Look for an outstanding pitching year from the Cubs.

And no, he insists, he is not taking anything for granted.

As he gets in his black Escalade and drives, listening to Led Zeppelin in his CD player, he drives slowly to enjoy the scenery. And not just the scantily clad female variety, either. Just enjoying the fact that he is playing baseball in such a great sports city for a first-place Cubs team and having his story told in the latest Sports Illustrated, courtesy of an article written by Luke Winn.

Some of this article was inspired by SI, come to think of it.

Samardzija knows he could be playing professional football. Heck, he was a finalist for the Biletnikoff award his junior season at Notre Dame, given to the college game’s top receiver. He caught 77 passes for 15 touchdowns that season.

The following June, the Cubs’ Jim Hendry took a flyer on him with a fifth-round draft selection when most everyone else thought Jeff’s ultimate destination was the NFL.

That summer, Samardzija divided his professional baseball time between the Rookie League and Class-A ball. In the winter, he caught 78 passes and 12 touchdowns for the Irish, who went to the Sugar Bowl to face LSU at the Superdome.

One of the attendees at the Superdome was Hendry, who met with Samardzija a few days later at Gibson’s Steakhouse in Rosemont, IL, to talk about his baseball future.

Samardzija still had options, as the Senior Bowl and the NFL combine were looming. Within days, however, he chose to take the Cubs’ offer, which included a $2.5 million signing bonus that would be forfeited if he returned to football.

After some early struggles as a starting pitcher in the Cubs’ system, Samardzija got off to a 4-1 start with a 3.13 ERA at Iowa this season, enough to earn him the promotion to Wrigley.

In his debut against the Florida Marlins, he hit 99 mph on the gun and has not looked back. Through 11 relief appearances—which, at week’s end, had included one-inning stints, two-inning stints, even a save—he had a 1.20 ERA with a 3.5-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

He had also received a full vote of confidence from manager Lou Piniella. “He’s not intimidated,” Piniella says. “I’m comfortable using him in just about any situation.”

“The Shark,” as the 23-year-old was called at Notre Dame, can never outrun his football past. Cubs organist Gary Pressy plays the “Notre Dame Victory March” when Samardzija takes the hill, although the pitcher says he’d prefer Jimi Hendrix.

As Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild notes, Samardzija has no fear. Whatever role Lou throws him in, the bigger the stakes, the grander the stage, the better the kid performs.

In fact, some think that one of the reasons he initially struggled was that he missed feeding off of the energy created by the much larger stage of college football, with the crowds in minor-league baseball being relatively sparse in comparison.

But with Wrigley Field rocking and rolling every game, no such concern here. And Jeff is now a part of something very special brewing at Clark & Addison this year. Come to think of it, he may be providing some of the energy that this team has been missing for, oh, say 100 years or so. But hey, who’s counting?

-Bob Warja

Henry Blanco stepped to the plate with bases loaded against an infield and outfield that were both brought in with the expectation of Blanco not being able to hammer one out of the park.

Derek Lee led off with a walk, followed by an Aramis Ramirez single and an intentional walk to Kosuke Fukudome before Blanco hit a line-drive past Cesar Izturis to drive in Lee and win the game.

Ted Lilly started the game and pitched spectacular, but got hit with Rich Hardin syndrome with the Cubs offense seemingly unable to score runs.

Alfonso Soriano, Fukudome and Mark DeRosa were all hitless, going a combined 0-13. All-in-all, however, the Cubs were able to muster 10 hits, but only were able to score through the air.

Jim Edmonds wins todays MVC award (Most Valuable Cub) with a pair of solo jacks. The first came off Cardinals starter Branden Looper in the second inning, and followed it up by tossing his bat to the Cardinals dugout, as if to say, “How do you like me now?”

He then knocked another one out of the park into left field, barely clearing the ivy. This home run tied the game in the seventh inning and allowed the Cubs to send the game into extras.

It wasn’t all great for Edmonds, though. He also had a throwing error and grounded into a double play.

Albert Pujols got a lead-off single in the top of the 10th inning, but was thrown out on an attempt to steal second, leading to a scoreless inning by both teams.

The win went to Bob Howry, who looked strong in his one inning of work, striking out two batters.

Jeff Samardzija pitched well again, as he continues to surprise the Cubs with his lights out pitching. He went two innings this time, allowing just one hit and one walk. Over the season, his ERA is a minuscule 1.56, which bodes well for the bullpen.

The Brewers play tonight against the Washington Nationals, and if they lose, the Cubs lead will be up to six games in the NL Central, and they now have a seven game lead over the Cards.

These two teams face off again tomorrow at 2:55 pm, Carlos Zambrano (12-4) faces Todd Wellemeyer (8-4) for the second game of this weekend series.

The Cubs scored first in the bottom of the 2nd inning as Mark DeRosa doubled in Jim Edmonds for his first of many RBI today.

Houston came back quickly though, plating four total, thanks to Carlos Lee’s 3-run home run. Once again, Jason Marquis cannot seem to avoid the “big inning.”

But the bats came alive for the Cubs in the bottom of the 3rd as they scored eight on Mark DeRosa’s grand slam and Alfonso Soriano’s 3-run shot. Fukudome, Soto, and Marquis also had an RBI each in the game. The scoring for both teams stopped after the 4th as the Cubs had the lead, 11-4.

Marquis settle down after the top of the 3rd, finishing the day with 6.1 IP and 3 strikeouts. Following Marquis, Sean Marshall and Jeff Samardzija each had clean innings of their own. Jason Marquis was able to get his first win since late June, bringing his record to 7-7.

It was a good day for the Cubs offensively. For the second straight day, they scored eleven runs and Soriano continues to stay hot with 6 RBI in the last two games.

Kerry Wood is also supposed to return to the closer roll for his next appearance. Things seem to be going smoothly for the Cubs right now. After today’s win, their record is 69-46 with a 5 game lead above Milwaukee.

With an off day tomorrow, the Cubs can re-gain their focus for what looks to be a tough series against the Cardinals starting Friday.

-Mike Yadgir