All latest indications show the Cubs with a dominant rotation and a questionable bullpen.  However, as we all know these things get shuffled around in the playoffs.  Take the example of Jason Marquis, who found his services as a league average starting pitcher were not as valuable as the last man in the bullpen when the postseason begins.  The Cubs seem to have delivered a gem with the callup of Randy Wells, and suddenly can field a rotation of 6 plus starting pitchers in Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden, Wells, and Marshall.  Playoff teams only slate four starters, and can get by with just three in the later rounds.  This brings me to the question at hand: What would the Cubs do with their bullpen in the playoffs?

My take as of June 8th:  Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly should form the rotation, going in that order.  Wells and Marshall have to play a significant role in the pen in some capacity.  Whether you groom them to go one inning or two, I would think the Cubs will be able to put more trust in these two than the likes of Heilman, Patton, or Cotts.  Recently Angel Guzman has held down the pen during all the strife, and suddenly Jose Asciano has emerged with impressive outings.  Are they for real?  Is Waddell here to stay?  Can Marmol and Gregg ever be trusted again to close out a tight game?

All in all I think the Cubs pitching staff is primed to be very dangerous in the playoffs, if the coaches can find everyone's proper niche.  And I think a major element of all this will be having Marshall and Wells ready to come in out of the bullpen in terms of both mindset and conditioning.  Will the Cubs pitching staff be ready for the changing roles if they should survive to see postseason play?

 

What happened to the Cubs offense?  I provide two options for the community to vote on.  Now, to fill the minimum word requirement I shall add a technical support question: Is there a way for me to make this poll without doing a fanshot?  Oh Jeez, still not enough words.  Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF Santo 4 HOF

Poll

The Cubs just scored 2 runs over an entire 3-game set in St. Louis. Do the Cubs have a slumping contagion? Or is Cardinal pitching simply the best they've seen?

79%

It's on the Cubs players and coaches.

19 votes

20%

Gotta tip your cap.

5 votes

24 votes | Poll has closed

OK so the latest news from the NBA ref scandal is that we now basically have proof that referee Scott Foster is crooked based on phone records showing a pattern of phone calls between he and Donaghy during the "gold rush" of 2006-2007 (134 calls lasting 1-2 mins before and after every game Donaghy was betting on). So we could all suspect that Commisioner David Stern was full of bullroar when he held his press conference to scapegoat Donaghy and assure the fans that the NBA has conducted a THOROUGH investigation along with the FBI and determined that Donaghy was acting alone as a "rogue, isolated criminal". For Stern to say that he was either stupid for not having inquired about phone records during his THOROUGH investigation, or simply lying to the fans. Obviously this was a CYA press conference and he chose to lie about the magnitude of the problem in an attempt to save the league. I hate that. It amounts to me the fan being treated like an imbecile by an arrogant millionaire. Just admit it was a farce for the last decade and scrap the whole system so you can start over. Someone needs to kick this guy out of his office. Anyway where we're at now is SCOTT FOSTER IS STILL EMPLOYED BY THE LEAGUE!!!!! How can this go on? The guy is already guilty in the court of public opinion. What idiot can seriously watch the NBA with their refusal to restore any credibility to the sport? I guess they want us to forget about the whole thing so they don't have to disgrace any more crooked refs? And Dick Bavetta, the company man, has just as much dirt on him and they won't can him either? That league ought to get sued over this for their misrepresentation every step of the way. I'm angry because I feel insulted by the whole current state of affairs. The fans would simply have to be stupid to believe that the referees are among the elite of there profession and that's how Bavetta and Foster continue to be represented.

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This guy used to be a pretty good hitter with Cleveland. I don't remember much else or have all the details or the link, so maybe somebody can help out with that. It's in the Muskat game preview. Sorry for the lack of specifics but I'm at a workstation with one arm tied behind my back. Ok, not literally, but you know how it goes with filters and actual work and all. I'm just surprised they haven't blocked BCB yet on my traffic alone!

I was listening to some AM sports talk radio from Chicago and the host started going into how inept Mike Quade is as a 3B coach. I was was actually thrilled to hear it as I thought I've been the only one to take issue with his performance in the past. He's probably great with the players and everything, but his judgement is sub-par when it comes to sending runners, usually erring on the side of caution.

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Ken Tremendous skewers an article proposing that the Cubs make locking down JJ contractually a priority in the offseason.  He even gets into Pie's projections by the ends.  Just find it at firejoemorgan.com.  You need to scroll down to October 13th or so.  As usual, I had to agree with basically everything he said in it.

Seriously.  The guy is not prepared to be a 3rd base coach.  He is so overly conservative in sending runners home that he costs us at least 1-2 runs per week.  Yes this post is recurring theme under my user name (do a search), but the 3rd base coaching still hasn't improved any.  Obviously the players know it's a problem and Zambrano now can't trust him to the point that he just went through the stop sign reflexively.  Quade might be great in the clubhouse, hitting instructor, works with the young guys, but he is seriously costing the team runs with his lousy instincts in the 3rd base coaching box.  I WISH more guys would run through his stop signs.  And yes I blame that problem entirely for Z's subsequent meltdown.  If he had a 3rd base coach he could trust he woulnd't have stuck his neck out and embarrassed himself by trying to score, thus ruining his day.

I know Wavin' Wendell was a worse problem, but Chris Speier was the best in recent memory until his banishment for ERUI (easy ridin' under the influence).  Does anyone know what happened to Speier?

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What other teams can say this?  
And when's the last time the Cubs did it into the second half?  
I know the team ERA is third in the NL at 3.89, but where do we stand in terms of the starting five?  
Also is there a way to calculate it just for the active pitchers (i.e. no Wade Miller anomaly)?
Is baseball-reference the best place to look this stuff up at?