Friday, March 20, 2009

Piniella Marshals the rotation

Piniella unsurprisingly announced Thursday that Sean Marshall will be the Cubs' 5th starter. This gives the Cubs two lefties in the rotation, and signifies that Aaron Heilman will take over the 7th/8th inning role, setting up for Gregg and Marmol.

Marshall has a decent ceiling, and could probably be a 3rd or 4th starter on many teams. The rotation is in good shape.

As for the bullpen, Piniella said there's essentially a six-man race for two remaining spots. With Heilman, Neal Cotts, Gregg and Marmol locked in, and Luis Vizcaino in good shape, it's down to Jeff Samardzija (9.90 spring ERA), Chad Gaudin (11.17), Angel Guzman (14.40), Kevin Hart (6.14), David Patton (1.17) and lefty Jason Waddell (1.13) for the last two spots.

1 comment:

  1. I like the title. The Trib, as you probably noticed, had him "taking the fifth." I think I'd go with "Marshall Plan."

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