Bleacher Bums Forum

It's hard to make what you have in a guy who has an 18:18 K to BB ratio in 16 IP.

Sounds like you would have another Marmol, if you would add in a few WP and beanings....

The savior is on his way . . .

Doug Davis - S - Cubs    Doug Davis is expected to start Thursday for High-A Daytona.Assuming all goes well Thursday, he'll move up to Triple-A Iowa. Davis, 35, was signed to a minor league contract last month. The veteran left-hander would be a perfectly respectable insurance policy should either Andrew Cashner or Randy Wells suffer a setback.

From bleachernation.com:

The Chicago Cubs are now 1-7 in the games that would have been started by Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner. If they split those games instead, they’re 15-13, in a virtual tie atop the NL Central standings.

From bleachernation.com:

The Chicago Cubs are now 1-7 in the games that would have been started by Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner. If they split those games instead, they’re 15-13, in a virtual tie atop the NL Central standings.

That might be true, but there are still problems with this team that go beyond not having Wells and Cashner.  I still don't see this team contending as long as Dempster and Pena continue to play as horribly as they have, for example, and I'm not sure I see them getting turned around any time soon. 

Also, we've had a really easy schedule up to this point.  We might have had a chance for 15-13 had Wells and Cashner stayed healthy, but only being 2 games above .500 against the likes of the Pirates, Padres, Diamondbacks, Astros, etc. isn't that encouraging when we'll be playing tougher teams more regularly this year.  Right now the cumulative record of Cub opponents is 93-104 for a .472 winning percentage. 

Plus Cashner and Wells probably are still at least three weeks away from returning.  We still have a few starts from the likes of Casey Coleman, Doug Davis, etc. that we'll have to endure before we see those guys pitch again.

Szamardzjia has been jerked around by the Cubs throughout his career.  Up to the NL, back to Iowa.  Starter.  Reliever.  No wonder his development has slowed.  Now that he finally has a defined role and seems to have gotten it together, leave him as a middle reliever for at least the rest of the season.  The Cubs are going nowhere in 2011, and he could be a valuable piece, either in the pen or in the rotation, in the future.

I think that's a pretty reasonable argument. 
 
If not Samardzija, I think br's right that Ramon Ortiz or Jay Jackson should at least be given a try the next time we need a 5th starter.  Honestly I don't think I have a whole lot of optimism that Samardzija, Ortiz, or Jackson would be much better than what we've gotten from Russell, but at this point, you need to give it a try.  At the very least, try to find someone who can throw more than 70 pitches and give you a prayer of getting you to the 6th inning.
 
And really Samardzija possibly would be the best of that group (gasp), but like you said clark, it'd probably be for the best that we finally quit jerking him around.

I just looked over Ramon Ortiz' previous ML stats.

If he were called up, he might or might not pitch better than Russell, but surely there would be no one more grateful for getting another start in the majors.  He's been bad almost every year he's been in the league, with ERAs over 5 almost every year.

The Dodgers wore those earlier this season, Tuffy, and I could've swore the Royals from the early 80s were playing in Dodger Stadium when I saw them.

Did the Dodgers wear those robin's egg blue uniforms at home when they played in Brooklyn?