As temperatures warm ever so slowly throughout the country, the time for pitchers and catchers to report to the warm climates of Arizona and Florida is almost upon us.
With that in mind, a look at the Cubs pitching staff, and a comparison to their NL Central foes, seems in order.
We always, especially in the offseason, feel good about the arms we have taking the mound—more so than those other teams that we look down upon year-round.
A closer look does show quite a bit of promise, although questions and worries do lurk.
We've known for a while now that the stuff of Carlos Zambrano's is second to none—but then so is his propensity for melting down in the midst of any given moment.
Ryan Dempster was a huge surprise, going 17-6 with a paltry ERA of 2.96 and a robust 206.2 innings pitched and 187 strike-outs.
Ted Lilly had as quiet of a 17-9 record as you'll come across, and Rich Harden was spot on in his starts, going 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA and 89 Ks in just 71 innings.
Gone is Jason Marquis. Though he was an innings eater, most fans will view his departure as an addition by subtraction. Getting a veteran bullpen arm like Luis Vizcaino out of the deal is potential icing on the cake.
Then again, potential is one of the most cursed words that can come back to bite you. Let's face it, potential is a descriptor that comes up a lot when analyzing the Cubs staff for this upcoming season—starting and bullpen alike.
Harden has the potential to be lights out, as we evidenced—but his health history is always a question.
Zambrano's stuff is obviously unquestioned—then again, so is his emotional make-up.
Dempster wasn't really as much a surprise, in that he was a solid starter before arm troubles pushed him to the bullpen. Getting his arm back to where it was, he took the next step. He should be solid, if not strong, again.
Lilly keeps piling up the respectable numbers for a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. But who rounds out the rotation?
A few offseason trades and signings have brought in an arm or two, likeAaron Heilman, that could vie for the slot. Some familiar faces who keep shuttling back and forth between Iowa and the North Side, such as Kevin Hart and Angel Guzman, will also compete for the fifth spot
The bet is that lefty Sean Marshall will secure the position, balancing out the rotation with another lefty.
In the bullpen, there are plenty of quality arms, but as many questions, with that word, "potential," popping up again.
Kerry Wood was let go, so the closer's spot will be most likely handed to Carol Marmol.
Like Zambrano, he has electric stuff, and, unlike Big Z, he seems to keep things under control.
But the step to the ninth inning is never a sure thing—what worked in the eighth might not carry over. The pressure gets amped up a ton from one inning to the next, will his level of concentration and intensity?
Names that may be thrown into the mix for closer will be Kevin Gregg, acquired from Florida, and Jeff Samardzija, who showed a nice, live arm in middle relief last season.
Odds are, the layout will be Samardzija in the seventh, Gregg in the eighth and Marmol in the ninth, with Vizcaino mixed in there somewhere.
Samardzija is likely being groomed as a future starter, but it doesn't seem this will be the year to debut him there.
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