Cubs news and notes

Fifth starter battle all but over?
Sean Marshall is making a great case for himself as the fifth starter. He pitched into the fifth inning against the Mariners Friday, allowing three hits and one unearned run, lowering his ERA to .68. We all know this doesn't mean he'll lead the NL in ERA this season, but combine his spring success with the fact that Piniella has hinted at Marshall winning the starting job already, and Sean's gotta be feeling pretty good about his chances right about now. Aaron Heilman also threw just two innings in his start Saturday, another good sign if you're Sean Marshall.

From fifth starter to first
Piniella announced that Carlos Zambrano will make his fifth consecutive Opening Day start for the Cubs. This one's a catch-22: Big Z is an emotional guy, and he could have reacted adversely had he lost his #1 starter status; but on the other hand, Z's emotion often gets the best of him in these season-opening games, as he's 0-1 with a 5.57 ERA in such starts. Good news, though: Zambrano threw 6.2 scoreless innings on Opening Day against the Brewers last year, walking just one and striking out five.

Side note, courtesy of the Sun-Times: Zambrano will become just the third Cubs pitcher to make five consecutive Opening Day starts, joining Fergie Jenkins and Rick Sutcliffe.

Beyond Opening Day
Dempster will follow Zambrano in the rotation, followed by Lilly and Harden. Since the Cubs will skip the fifth starter the first time through, Lilly is slated to start the Cubs' home opener April 13 against Colorado.

Murphy's Law at work for Marmol
Carlos Marmol went back and forth about whether to play for the Dominican Republic in the WBC, and while he surely would have felt some regrets had he decided not to, he can't feel all that great about his performance in the event. Marmol blew a save as the DR was stunned by the Netherlands, getting bounced in the first round. Overall, Marmol allowed two runs (one earned), two hits, a walk and a hit batter in 1 2/3 innings. Marmol says he's still glad he went, and hopefully any negative emotions from the experience won't linger as he fights for the closer spot this spring. I would expect him to make an appearance with the Cubs very soon.

Kosuke to bat second
The 2008 pre-All Star Game Fukudome would fit great in the second spot in the order. The post-All Star Game Fukudome would be a black hole between Soriano and Lee. As I said earlier, it's very difficult to know what Fukudome is going to do this season. If he can provide a strong on-base percentage as he did early on last season, I absolutely love him in the two spot. The good news is, if he struggles, Piniella can turn to Reed Johnson, a reliable backup whom the Cubs can afford to start given the firepower in their lineup.

Fontenot wins 2B job
Yes! I have nothing against Aaron Miles--in fact, I think he'll be a nice little scrappy addition to the team--but Fontenot deserves to play. Piniella said Fontenot will be the everyday second baseman, at least against righties. Miles will no doubt fill in at times and will probably get some starts against lefties, as he is a switch-hitter. Expect Fontenot to bat sixth, providing the lefty-righty-lefty-righty situation that Piniella dreams about. I'll do a more in-depth post about the Cubs lineup at a later time.

Meaningless spring stats
Players having a strong spring thus far:
Ryan Theriot batting .444
Mike Fontenot batting .371
Micah Hoffpauir batting .302 with 2 HR and team-leading 9 RBI
Sean Marshall 13.1 IP, 9 H, .68 ERA
Aaron Heilman 8 IP, 4 H, 1.13 ERA

Players struggling to this point:
Derrek Lee batting .182 with one RBI
Alfonso Soriano batting .148
Jeff Samardzija 8 IP, 10 H, 6.75 ERA
Chad Gaudin 8.2 IP, 13 H, 10.38 ERA