Reprinted with permission from Cubbie Nation - Notes From the Front Office
Well, that didn't take long. It's official, Jeff "The Shark" Samardzija was recalled from AAA Iowa today, and inserted into the Cubs bullpen. Furthermore, he made his first major-league appearance, which is about the only good piece of news coming out of the 3-2 loss to the Marlins.
Sigh. Bullpen woes. I can't think of anything that turns a contender into a pretender quicker. Those dog days of summer role around in August, and you find out quickly whether or not you're for real. We'll see about this team, but right now, they look stretched thin, After barely escaping with a win last night due to shaky bullpen work, the saga continued today, with only worse results. Following a very so-so performance by Ryan Dempster in six innings of work - should have known his 6/6/6 statline was going to be trouble - Samardzija was inserted into the game to start the seventh, and found out what every rookie quickly does; your stuff doesn't scare people anymore. He got this lesson taught to him when he tried sneaking a belt-high fastball - 97 on the gun by the way - past Jorge Cantu, who had no problems sending it hard down the left field line for a game-tying double. I'm sure Jeff got tons on hitters out with it in AAA, no matter where he spotted it, but that's meat and potatoes to big-league hitters. He went two innings in all though, with that his only run. Let's hope that the lesson was learned, and he'll not be so laissez-faire with that fastball again.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Things really went wrong in the ninth though when Bob Howry gave up a pinch-hit home run to Jeremy Hermida to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead, and the win. Now, I could comment on Cubs hitters leaving 13 men on base, but you know what? Games like this happen, and it was just going to be that kind of low-scoring affair. You've got to win one-run games, and sometimes that means putting it on the bullpen to get the job done. It was a bad job today, and while I can't get on-board with some bloggers suggestions of DFA'ing Howry, I've two other thoughts. First, it's time to DL him for certain. Doing it Wednesday when Kerry Wood returns sounds like a good time to me. Second, I understand that the Cubs are looking at Damaso Marte, and Ron Mahay. I love it, and I think that this needs to happen like oh...tomorrow. The trading deadline is next weekend, so perhaps it can wait a few days. But there are micro-fractures developing there, that could turn into full-blown tears by the end of August. You got to fix that now.
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4 months ago
What's dfa stand for?
Did you watch the game, or just read about it? Cuz two pitches before the Hermida home run, Howry had that kid struck out. The pitch was perfect, painting the bottom corner of the strike zone. And as for a DL stint, there's been no word that Howry has any injury, he's just had some bad luck, and bad mistakes.
The bullpen has been pulled thin cuz Wood hasn't been available. Tomorrow, Marmol, Cotts, Eyre, Gaudin, and Marshall will all be fresh. Cotts has been awesome so far, while Marshall and Gaudin need to knock some rust off. Look for Eyre and Marmol to help solidify the 9th, while Howry falls into a 7th inning role.
from 4 months ago
As with many games, I was there. That pitch may have looked perfect from the replays, but it didn't look quite as good from the stands. And the point is, he didn't get Hermida out.
DFA is Designate For Assignment. It may be time to consider cutting ties with Howry. Age, inconsistency, and the fact that his contract is coming to an end may make it a consideration. It's more than bad luck, it's an ongoing issue for four months now. As for a DL stint, sometimes - whether injured or not - the idea is just to shut a pitcher down. With younger players, you might send them to the minors, and get some extra time there. With older players, who are often out of options, they get mysterious injuries, and subsequent DL trips. This is actually one of the oldest running jokes in baseball.
And Johnny, the bullpen being thin has little to do with Kerry Wood. Lou goes with hot players, and a select group of guys that he trust, right or wrong. He'd sooner use three or four guys until their arms start falling off, rather than trust guys that he's little faith in. It's why Lieber been little used, people have been screaming of Marmol overuse, and Scott Eyre hasn't even warmed up since his activation.
I hope that answers your questions.
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