2010 Starting Pitching Projections

Here is my 2010 Starting Pitching Projections for the Chicago Cubs.

1. Carlos Zambrano- After a very disappointing 2009, I fully expect to see a more mature yet still a fiery competitor in Carlos Zambrano. I feel this is the Season the Cubs will realize they made the right decision signing him to an extension. His strike outs will not break 200 but his ERA should go down because he now pitching to contact.

32 games started
211 innings pitched
85 walks
165 K's
18-7
3.51 ERA

2. Ryan Dempster- The guy can pitch well last Season but it did not show in his stats. I expect him to be between his 2008-2009 stats. He will be solid but not spectacular. His K's will stay the same but his ERA will definitely drop in my opinion.

30 games started
198 innings pitched
81 walks
178 K's
14-7
3.33 ERA

3. Randy Wells- I feel the league will catch up to Wells a bit this Season so his numbers will go down. Lets not forget the chance of a sophomore slump. His wins stay the same but his ERA, SO, games started, and innings pitched will go up. I expect Wells not to do as well as last year but not blow up by any means.

29 games started
182 innings pitched
60 walks
130 K's
12-8
4.01 ERA

4. Tom Gorzelanny- I do not expect much for him in fact I expect him to be replaced in the rotation sometime this season by Marshall, Lilly, or a minor leaguer. His projected numbers by me will show you why.

6 games started
36 innings pitched
15 walks
27 K's
1-3
5.95 ERA

5. Carlos Silva- I fully expect him to do better than last year but that is not saying much. He will post a high ERA and I do not think he will pitch in a ton of games before he gets replaced by someone.

12 games started
69 inning pitched
29 walks
35 K's
4-4
5.45 ERA

6. Ted Lilly- I expect Ted Lilly to be Ted Lilly plain and simple when he comes back.

27 games started
174 innings pitched
40 walks
160 K's
14-6
3.98 ERA

7. Sean Marshall- He will end up starting some games for the Cubs because of Silva and Gorzo not getting it done. I expect Marshall to do very well as a started. So he will start double digit games for the Cubs.

19 games started
111 innings pitched
42 walks
80 K's
9-6
4.12 ERA

All together the Cubs will have a good top three rotation until Lilly gets back and Marshall gets inserted into the rotation. It will then be a very solid rotation and will win a lot of games for the Cubs. Here is the combined stats for your 2010 Chicago Cubs rotation-

155 games started (7 games will come from spot starters, new players, or bullpen)
981 innings pitched (with that number our rotation will avg. 6 innings pitched a ball game)
368 BB
775 K's
72-39 (the bullpen will be the decision in a ton of games)
4.33 ERA (entire rotation avg.)

There are my projections for the 2010 rotation.

Up next-
- Outfield Projections
- Infield Projections
- Team Projection

I will not be doing a bullpen projection because it is just too inconsistent to project.

Until Next Time....