According to cubs.com, Sean Marshall has a week before he can start throwing off the mound. Last year Marshall toward the end of the year had stiffness in his shoulder and its still bothering him. Marshall pitched the whole year with the cubs and that's a drastic change considering he was in AA two years ago. He is expected to catch up and be ready to throw in Spring Training games when they start.
As for Mr. Wood, Wood showed intensity Friday which was good news for the cubs. He looks ready to play and he will pitch off the mound on Monday.
I cant believe I'm gonna say this but Prior is ready to go. Prior has said he is ready for Spring Training with no set backs and he is doing the same routine as Lilly, Marquis and the rest of the pitching staff. He said he feels great and is ready for opening day! This would be a huge improvement for the cubs, especially since Marshall is having problems and such. Not to mention if he is as dominate as 2003 you can slot him in the number 3 spot!
Some other tidbits-
1.Lou plans on breaking came with 12 pitchers and have one of them be in the long relief roll, possibly Cotts. If he is breaking with 12 pitchers I would say it would be Z, Lilly, Prior, Marquis, Miller, Cotts, Eyre, Howry, Ohman, Wood, Dempster, Weurtz, and Hill would be the top 13 but that means one of they would be sent down, traded, or released. Its hard to leave one of those pitchers out especially if there all heatlhy! You would have to send Weurtz, Hill, Ohman, or Cotts to AAA or trade or release one of them. Be a real interesting battle to see who battles for that 12th spot!
2. Looks like the number 2,5,6,7,8 hole are up for grabs in the spring. Derosa is a favorite to land that #2 hole because of what he did last year and how he works the counts and that would give Sori a chance to steal.
3. Cliff reported to camp early ready to get started and meet his new teammates. Floyd say this is the best he has felt in a long time. He was upset at the comments pitcher John Thompson made about his defense and fired back with this response-
"For me, defense has been my No. 1 thing for a long time," Floyd said. "I read that [comment by Thomson] and I thought to myself, 'I could've called a couple people and blasted him back.' At this point in my career, the only person he hurt was my mom and dad's feelings. From what I've seen, he's not one of the greatest pitchers in the game, so it didn't affect me in terms of my pride. I wish him the best of luck. Hopefully his luck will change in Toronto. It didn't change in the National League."
4. Other early arrival to camp are Matt Murton, Tyler Colvin, Eric Patterson and Angel Pagan.
2 comments:
"if he is as dominate as 2003 you can slot him in the number 3 spot!"
Why would you put Prior at #3 if he is as dominate as 2003? I'd put him at #2 and maybe even #1! I think Mark Prior was and still is our ace pitcher. If he wasn't, he might have been traded by now.
You could argue that he is a #2 behind Z but he cant be the number one pitcher on the staff. Z is the ace of this staff and until he is somewhere else he will remain the #1 pitcher. the reason he hasent been traded is he is affordable, his player stock is low since he only started 9 games last year, and he still has the chance to return to his 2003 self. As far as him as our #1 I just dont see that happening
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