ESPN has a good analysis of the current Cubs pitching woes. It does not augur well for the future. Last night rather proved the point. A two run deficit became an eight run landslide when Wood was pulled after four innings. Jackson, as usual, led the parade of awfulness.
I hate to start nitpicking some of Maddon's decisions, but a pattern is emerging here. Maybe because the bullpen was so good early on before the Grimm and Ramirez injuries, or maybe it is an issue of style, but Maddon continues to manage as if he had a strong and reliable bullpen, particularly in his use of middle relief, when, actually, he does not.
Last night Wood struggled through four innings, allowing six runs. To be honest, sloppy play did not help. Two Cubs errors led to two unearned runs and extended innings. Still, Wood had thrown only 84 pitches when he was pulled. Could it have been any worse in the fifth to let him in rather than turning the game over to Jackson and Coke, who allowed five runs and put the game out of reach. Actually, whenever the Cubs pull their starter before the end of the sixth, it is disaster. The same thing happened in St. Louis when Wood and Hendricks left early and those games seemed well in hand. Logically, there needs to be a change of approach or a change of personnel.
Anyway, Wood has always been hit and miss and really only a six inning guy at this best. Sooner of later, the Cubs are going to have to fix this #5 starter problem. There is not much on the farm that looks like immediate help. Wada would be the likeliest quick fix. Wada doesn't give you extended starts, but last year he was pretty decent in that role. He missed most of spring training so he is on an extended rehab at Iowa now.
Right now the bullpen is in big trouble. They are carrying eight relievers, but only three of them are reliable options, Rondon, Strop, and Rosscup. Strop has been used so often his arm is about to fall off. Russell and Grimm have been added recently, so the jury is still out on them.
Motte has been inconsistent. So has Coke. Actually, Coke always attracts GMs in a pinch because his peripherals look pretty good. In reality, he never lives up to them so he never sticks. Jackson, of course, is Jackson and he has got to go.
To my mind, once you dump Jackson, you have got to replace Coke and Motte and maybe eventually Russell with better alternatives. There's not much out there on the farm. Edwards, who was once the Cubs best pitching prospect, has been converted to a reliever. He's a possibility, but not near term.
Donn Roach is a younger pitcher who is 4-0 as a starter at Iowa. He was a reliever most of his career in the minors. Eric Jokisch is another starter project, but he probably needs more time to mature.
Ideally, the Cubs trade for a big-time starter like Cole Hamels. They have the prospects to land him if they want to take the chance and the Phillies are reasonable. Hamels is on the block with the Red Sox being the strongest suitor, but frankly, I cannot see Boston making that kind of deal after their painfully slow start. Boston is out of it this year and you don't make that trade when you have no chance.
The Mets seem to be the only other trading partner for pitching help, but any deal with them is likely to involve Castro. I doubt the Cubs would be willing to deal Castro unless it involved a proven ace, especially given the uncertainty surrounding Baez's development.
No comments:
Post a Comment