Site Admin
Joined: Apr 18, 2005
Posts: 191
  
Status: Offline
|
|
Now, it's number-crunching time.
The Cubs have clinched the National League Central, and they will have home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs. In the final week of regular-season play, Lou Piniella will finalize the roster -- how many pitchers? how many extras? -- as well as prepare for either the New York Mets or Philadelphia Phillies.
They'll be able to do some first-hand scouting, starting Monday when Chicago opens a four-game series at Shea Stadium against the Mets.
"When we go to New York, we'll play a team that's in contention for the postseason, and we'll play as representative a lineup as we can," Piniella said. "At the same time, we still haven't clinched home-field advantage for the playoffs, and we have to do that, hopefully. And then we have to look at a few positions on our team to ensure that we give people ample opportunity to make this team. There are probably a couple spots that we can play around with."
That means guys like Micah Hoffpauir have seven games and few at-bats to audition for a spot on the playoff roster.
"I told [Derrek Lee], 'You guys have to hurry up and get this over with,'" Hoffpauir said about a plea he made for the Cubs to clinch on Saturday. "I want some [at-bats]."
Hoffpauir did start Sunday in the regular-season home finale, a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, and Piniella got a look at relievers Chad Gaudin, Jeff Samardzija, Randy Wells and Bob Howry.
"Gaudin, we need to get sharp," Piniella said of the right-hander, who had been sidelined with back problems. "I was really pleased with the way Jeff Samardzija threw the ball. That's what we saw when he first came up here. Wells, he throws strikes, he changes speeds. I like his style of pitching.
"But we've got to wait and see," Piniella said. "I don't want to call these any more than what they are, appearances right now. We've got ample time to decide."
This week will be the Cubs' first games against the Mets since a brief April 21-22 series, which Chicago swept. The Cubs will close the regular season next weekend at Milwaukee, which still has a shot at the Wild Card.
"We need [the Cubs] to help us out a little bit," Milwaukee's Bill Hall said.
Piniella would not name his Game 1 starter for the NL Division Series, because the Cubs first want to know who they're playing. If the season ended Sunday, Chicago would play host to the Mets, and Philadelphia would face the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"I'm not making any commitments as far as what our [postseason] rotation is until we find out who we play and see who's throwing the best," Piniella said. "A lot of things will go into this. There's no sense in making any commitments now."
The Cubs can choose from Carlos Zambrano (14-6, 3.77 ERA), Ted Lilly (16-9, 4.17 ERA), Ryan Dempster (17-6, 2.99 ERA) or Rich Harden, who is 5-1 with a 1.66 ERA in 11 starts with Chicago. Dempster started Sunday and went five innings against the Cardinals, giving up one run on six hits. Piniella said the starters will be shortened up in their final games and they also could insert lefty Sean Marshall into the mix and give him a start this week.
Dempster definitely has the edge at Wrigley Field. Fourteen of his wins have come at home, where the Cubs will likely open the NLDS. He has totaled 200-plus innings for the first time since 2001. The right-hander will have one more regular-season start Friday.
"It's been fun watching him pitch," Piniella said. "He's a horse."
Lilly went two innings in his last regular-season start in 2007 before the NLDS started, and he would prefer a little longer outing in his final tuneup.
"I didn't like that," the lefty said about last year. "That's what they asked me to do. That's what the situation called for. It was just kind of weird. I didn't feel like I was able to stretch it out. Even after that, I had rest in between. Obviously, I'll do whatever they ask me to do. Larry [Rothschild, pitching coach] and Lou have been through this much more than I have, and they know what's best for the club."
Reliever Neal Cotts, who won a World Series in 2005 with the Chicago White Sox, remembers they didn't have much time off before the postseason started.
"There's a week and a half to play with, and there's always the issue of not being ready or being too ready," Cotts said. "That's Lou's job."
Closer Kerry Wood, who picked up his 32nd save on Saturday, was ready to go Sunday if needed. Carlos Marmol wouldn't mind a mini-break but added, "The regular season isn't over yet."
"I can't let these guys all sit," Piniella said. "We have to use them to keep them as sharp as possible. We'll play our regular lineup in these games [against New York]. The worst thing that can happen is Major League Baseball calls us and tells us, 'Hey, you people have a responsibility,' and we're going to honor that.
"At the same time, if I need to rest a player here or a player there, that we can do," Piniella said. "I can't play a lineup like we're playing [Sunday] the rest of the week. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of the teams."
Lee was on the bench Sunday. He wouldn't mind giving Hoffpauir or Daryle Ward a couple at-bats but not all of them.
"Whatever [Piniella] tells me to do, I'll do," said Lee, who was batting .343 this month, but has just four homers and 32 RBIs since the All-Star break after hitting 15 home runs and driving in 56 in the first half. "We can't take half the games off. We need to get our at-bats, too, and get our edge."
The Cubs have been on a mission since this season began. They showed up in Spring Training still smarting from being swept in the NLDS last year by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"It made a lot of us hungry, especially going in there and getting beat the way we did," Lilly said. "I don't think we challenged them much. The first game was a game, and besides that, it wasn't very competitive as far as what we're capable of doing. We definitely have some hunger going back into this."
They're not just hungry. The franchise has gone 100 years since it last won a World Series.
"It was embarrassing," Dempster said about last year's NLDS. "You go to the postseason, and you're so excited to get there and you get swept. Not only did we get swept, but we lost the last game at home. It was a deflating feeling, and it really woke a lot of guys up and put that fire in their eyes in Spring Training. There's no guarantees -- everybody who gets to the playoffs will be hungry and everybody will want it, and hopefully, we want it a little more than everybody else."
There is one week to go. Lilly already has set a career high with 16 wins.
"That's nice," he said. "I'd like to get one more."
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/articl ... p;c_id=chc |
|
|
| |
|
FAQ
Search
Register
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Sub-Forum
