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| Recent Blog Post: Winter Meetings Notes, Day 2 |
A quick wrap-up of manager sessions from Tuesday.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said that Kemp is on track to be ready for Opening Day following shoulder surgery. The plan for Kemp calls for him to begin hitting again in late December or early January, and he's expected to be ready for the start of spring training in some capacity. Once he begins hitting again, it should become easier to monitor his progress as the procedure was on his left (non-throwing) shoulder.
Mattingly confirmed that Brandon League will open the season as the Dodgers' closer, citing his dominance in the second half and acknowledging that Kenley Jansen was dominant for most of the year as well.
"We know Kenley is a beast back there, but we still kinda think he's better set up for that seventh and eighth innings, knowing that he's going to grow into that other part of it, and there's going to be a day where he's the guy."
If there was any confusion about League's role amidst recent reports that he could be a $7.5 million setup guy, this should effectively end that. Given the circumstances of the Dodgers being a team that is clearly all-in to win a championship in 2013, it's not difficult to envision a scenario where Jansen manages to overtake League if he struggles.
On the left side of the infield, the plan remains to use Luis Cruz at third base and Hanley Ramirez at short. Just your regular reminder that plenty can change between December 4th and Opening Day.
Chad Billingsley is progressing well in his rehab and according to Mattingly, the team appears to have "dodged a bullet." After the season ended, there were fears that he would require Tommy John surgery due to a partially torn UCL, but that no longer appears to be the case.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke attributed returning from injury to Rickie Weeks' disappointing season in 2012, and suggested that Weeks could potentially slide back into the leadoff spot with Norichika Aoki then moving to the two-hole.
For the Brewers, the questions are mostly centered around the pitching staff. The bullpen is still an ongoing rebuilding project, and it appears to be a four-man battle for the final three spots in rotation with Mike Fiers, Wily Peralta, Chris Narveson and Mark Rogers all in the picture.
Of that group, Fiers seems like the safest bet to open the year in the rotation. Peralta seems to have an inside track over Rogers, and can secure his place during spring training if he pitches well.
If Narveson is not healthy when the season begins, it's a moot point at least initially. Roenicke said that Narveson recently threw a pair of simulated innings in Arizona, and that command is going to be his biggest obstacle coming back from rotator cuff surgery.
Roenicke did not mention Tyler Thornburg when discussing the six pitchers in the mix for the rotation, and there was no indication of him being ticketed for the bullpen.
In order to create more opportunities for at-bats, Mat Gamel will spend some time working at other positions - including the outfield during spring training. With Carlos Gomez's leap forward last season, it appears that Corey Hart is staying at first base and Norichika Aoki is the everyday right fielder.
From our Twins beat writer Peter Schoenke:
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire mostly deflected talk about which pitchers the Twins were trying to acquire this offseason and said that he was content with Minnesota's decision not to talk about a contract extension until after the season.
Gardenhire said he was comfortable with the decisions of both Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau to play in the World Baseball Classic. "These guys are both healthy enough to do these things."
With the trade of Denard Span, Ben Revere will move to center field and Gardenhire appeared excited that Chris Parmelee could become the right fielder saying "we need to find him at bats."
Gardenhire also said Brian Dozier will be given a shot to win the second base job this spring.
And for his bullpen, he also added that Perkins will be his closer and jokingly added "and hope to get 50 to 60 saves."
Follow me on Twitter @DerekVanRiper.
Posted by Derek VanRiper at 12/5/2012 10:36:00 AM |
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Recent Chicago Cubs Player News
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| RotoWire Update |
Recommendation |
| Michael Bowden (P) CHI-N |
5/19/2013 |
| Bowden will be designated for assignment Sunday, the Daily Herald reports. |
The move was made to provide a spot on the 25-man roster for Matt Garza (arm). Bowden has actually outperformed many of his counterparts in the Cubs' bullpen, posting a 1-2 record, 3.78 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 7:5 K:BB ratio in 16.2 innings this season. With output like that, he shouldn't find himself without a gig for long. |
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| Alfonso Soriano (OF) CHI-N |
5/19/2013 |
| Soriano is sitting Sunday in favor of giving Ryan Sweeney a start in left field. |
Soriano has been getting a day off about once every 10 days or so this season. The Cubs have Monday off, and then Soriano should be back in the starting lineup Tuesday. |
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| Wesley Darvill (2B) CHI-N |
5/19/2013 |
| Darvill had three hits for High-A Daytona on Saturday. |
The hits were Darvill's first with Daytona since he was promoted from Low-A Kane County. He hasn't been much of a hitter during his five-year professional career, but he had an .898 OPS in 49 at-bats for Kane County before his recent promotion. Though he has just three home runs in over 1,000 at-bats in the minors, he does have a little speed. The 21-year-old infielder's ceiling right now looks like a utility man or pinch runner. |
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| Jonathan Mota (3B) CHI-N |
5/19/2013 |
| Mota went 1-for-5 with a double for Double-A Tennessee on Saturday. |
Mota is a 25-year-old infielder who has been kicking around the Cubs system for years. He's hitting just .233/.323/.337 in 86 at-bats for the Smokies this year, and should shuffle between Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa again in 2013. |
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| Edwin Maysonet (SS) CHI-N |
5/19/2013 |
| Maysonet (ankle) went 1-for-4 with a double in his return from the Triple-A DL on Friday. |
Maysonet, who is hitting .250/.321/.368 in 68 at-bats for Iowa, missed about a week of action. He is just organizational depth for the Cubs, but he could see some time in Chicago this summer if injuries strike the big-league middle infield. |
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| Scott Feldman (P) CHI-N |
5/19/2013 |
| Feldman continued his strong May with 6.2 scoreless innings against the Mets for his fifth quality start in a row. |
Feldman is 3-0 in May and has only given up three runs and 17 hits in four starts this month. The rest of the numbers are just as good. In 28.2 innings, he has a stellar 27:6 K:BB ratio and his WHIP is a miniscule 0.80. Keep riding him while he's hot. |
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| Matt Garza (P) CHI-N |
5/18/2013 |
| Garza (arm) will join the Cubs' rotation Tuesday against the Pirates, Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald reports. |
Carlos Villanueva has been sent to the bullpen to make room in the rotation for Garza. As it lines up, Garza will make two road starts in his first week back with a second outing coming Sunday at Cincinnati. |
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| Carlos Villanueva (P) CHI-N |
5/18/2013 |
| Villanueva will move to the bullpen as Matt Garza is joining the Cubs' rotation Tuesday, Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald reports. |
Despite a 3.93 ERA and 1.140 WHIP as a starter, Villanueva is the odd-man out for now in the Cubs' rotation with Travis Wood and Scott Feldman pitching well. Ultimately, if any of the team's starter get hurt in the coming weeks, Villanueva is the most likely candidate to change roles again and take the ball every fifth day. |
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| James Russell (P) CHI-N |
5/18/2013 |
| Russell, who earned six holds and didn't give up a run in April, has just one hold in May. |
There could be any number of reasons why he's not pitching in hold situations as much, but it's probably just a fluke. He's given up six hits and one run in seven May appearances and has a sparkling 0.56 ERA and 0.875 WHIP on the year. |
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| Edwin Jackson (P) CHI-N |
5/17/2013 |
| Jackson gave up three runs on seven hits over 6.2 innings in a losing effort against the Mets on Friday. |
He pitched reasonably well Friday, but Jackson gave up the go-ahead RBI to Matt Harvey in the seventh inning and the Cubs' offense simply couldn't pick him up in the final three frames. Jackson has trimmed a half-run from his ERA over his last four starts, but Friday's 6.2 innings marked his longest start of the season. A road start against the Pirates is likely on tap for Jackson next time out depending on how the team handles the expected return of Matt Garza. |
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| Matt Garza (P) CHI-N |
5/17/2013 |
| Garza (arm) is expected to make his season debut during next week's series against the Pirates, the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers reports. |
The Cubs play the Pirates from Tuesday to Thursday next week, so Garza, who is on the 15-day DL, is expected to return on one of those three days. Although manager Dale Sveum has not ruled out a six-man rotation, Carlos Villanueva is the likely candidate to lose his spot in the rotation once Garza returns. |
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Recent Chicago Cubs Team News
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| RotoWire Update |
| CHI-N |
9/15/2004 |
| The Single-A Peoria Chiefs announced Wednesday they were switching affiliations from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Cubs, the Associated Press reports. ``The St. Louis Cardinals are a first-class organization, and we thank them for their past support,'' Chiefs chairman David Bielfeldt said. ``However, like most organizations, change is always occurring and when our community was recently presented with this opportunity, we made a business decision to change back to the Cubs.'' The Cubs' current Single-A club in Lansing will become part of the Toronto farm system. |
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2/26/2004 |
| Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild is going to be more careful than ever in how much he works his starters in spring training this season, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. "I'm probably not going to push them as hard innings-wise as I would in a lot of situations, but they will be ready," Rothschild said Wednesday. "There may be extra days in between [starts] sometimes after a certain amount of pitches. You build that into the schedule for rain anyway, but it's to keep them strong going into the season." Rothschild said his antennae are up more than ever in the spring, seeking to detect minor physical problems that a pitcher might not reveal. "Things happen early in the spring that show up later in the summer injury-wise," he said. "Something that they may not feel they need to say anything about. But it keeps going and going, and before you know it, it does become a problem." This is good news for the Cubs' whose starters put up a lot of high pitch counts last season and pitched deep into October. |
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Roster
Majors
Baker, Scott P(60D DL)
Barney, Darwin 2B
Borbon, Julio OF
Camp, Shawn P
Castillo, Welington C
Castro, Starlin SS
Clevenger, Steve C(60D DL)
DeJesus, David OF
Feldman, Scott P
Fujikawa, Kyuji P
Garza, Matt P(15D DL)
Gregg, Kevin P
Hairston, Scott OF
Jackson, Edwin P
Marmol, Carlos P
Navarro, Dioner C
Ransom, Cody SS
Rizzo, Anthony 1B
Rondon, Hector P
Russell, James P
Samardzija, Jeff P
Schierholtz, Nate OF
Soriano, Alfonso OF
Sweeney, Ryan OF
Valbuena, Luis 3B
Villanueva, Carlos P
Vizcaino, Arodys P(60D DL)
Wood, Travis P
AAA
Bogusevic, Brian OF
Boscan, Jean C
Bowden, Michael P
Caridad, Esmailin P
Carpenter, Drew P
Chapman, Jaye P
Coleman, Casey P
Dolis, Rafael P
Jackson, Brett OF
Lake, Junior SS(Out)
Lillibridge, Brent OF
Loux, Barret P
Maysonet, Edwin SS
McDonald, Darnell OF
Moscoso, Guillermo P
Murphy, Donnie 3B
Nelson, Brad 1B
Parker, Blake P
Putnam, Zach P
Raley, Brooks P
Rusin, Chris P
Sappelt, Dave OF
Stewart, Ian 3B
Struck, Nicholas P
Takahashi, Hisanori P
Vitters, Josh 3B
Watkins, Logan 2B
AA
Alcantara, Arismendy SS
Bour, Justin 1B
Cabrera, Alberto P
Chavez, Johermyn OF
Fernandez, Jair C
Gutierrez, Carlos P(Out)
Ha, Jae-Hoon OF
Hendricks, Kyle P
Jokisch, Eric P
Loosen, Matt P
Mateo, Marcos P(Out)
McNutt, Trey P
Morris, A.J. P
Mota, Jonathan 3B
Rhee, Dae-Eun P
Schlitter, Brian P
Silva, Rubi OF
Szczur, Matt OF
Torreyes, Ronald 2B
Villanueva, Christian 3B
A+
Andreoli, John OF
Baez, Javier SS
Burke, Kyler P
Cates, Zach P
Darvill, Wesley 2B
Del Valle, Frank P
DeVoss, Zeke OF
Gibbs, Micah C
Kirk, Austin P
Peralta, Starling P
Reed, Austin P
Searle, Ryan P(7-Day DL)
Soler, Jorge OF
Wells, Ben P
A
Cabezas, Yaniel C
Candelario, Jeimer 3B
Castillo, Lendy P
Johnson, Pierce P
Shoulders, Roderick 1B
Suarez, Larry P
Vogelbach, Dan 1B
Rookie
Ackerman, Hunter P
Acosta, Enrique SS
Almora, Albert OF(Out)
Balaguer, Yasiel OF
Blackburn, Paul P
Carreno, Marcelo (Josue) P
Concepcion, Gerardo P
de la Rosa, Frandy SS
Dore, Jose OF
Golden, Reggie OF
Jensen, Michael P
Jung, Su-Min P
Kim, Dong-Yub OF
Maples, Dillon P
McNeil, Ryan P
Paniagua, Juan Carlos P
Rivero, Armando P
Underwood, Duane P
Wallach, Brett P
Lim, Chang-Yong P(Out)
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