04-25-2009, 12:36 PM
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->ST. LOUIS- Aramis Ramirez won't play Saturday due to the calf strain he suffered Friday night, leaving the Cubs with no extra infielders for today's game against St. Louis.
Ramirez and Carlos Marmol are being examined this morning, and we should have some news before gametime. Ramirez's injury turns Milton Bradley's groin strain from a minor annoyance to a major problem, basically leaving manager Lou Piniella with a 23-man roster.
Bradley is not close to being able to play the outfield, but can still pinch-hit. But even if he reaches, as he did with a walk in the ninth inning on Friday night, Piniella still has to remove him for a pinch-runner, namely little-used outfielder Joey Gathright.
That means Bradley has become, at least temporarily, the new Daryle Ward- a one-dimensional player taking up a roster spot who can't play defense or run the bases. The Cubs seem reluctant to put Bradley on the disabled list, for whatever reason, so what will they do without Ramirez in the lineup and no spare infielders?
Unless they DL Ramirez or Bradley, or send Micah Hoffpauir down to Triple-A Iowa for infielder Andres Blanco (an unlikely scenario), they'll have to make due with what they have. That means Alfonso Soriano, who came up as a shortstop but switched to second in New York because of Derek Jeter's presence, will become the emergency back-up infielder, assuming Piniella has to double-switch at some point.
Koyie Hill has also played some third base in his minor league days, but as the back-up catcher, it's doubtful he'd be used except for an extreme emergency.
As for Marmol, the Cubs are hoping his knee strain is minor and will miss only 4-5 days. if that's the case, they should be able to get by with a six-man bullpen, though someone may have to nudge Piniella into using David "Rule 5" Patton, the rookie who has disappeared from view.
If Marmol goes on the DL, the Cubs can call up Jose Ascanio or Chad Fox, and Aaron Heilman will be the new set-up man for Kevin Gregg, with Angel Guzman replacing Heilman as the bridge pitcher to the eighth inning.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ramirez and Carlos Marmol are being examined this morning, and we should have some news before gametime. Ramirez's injury turns Milton Bradley's groin strain from a minor annoyance to a major problem, basically leaving manager Lou Piniella with a 23-man roster.
Bradley is not close to being able to play the outfield, but can still pinch-hit. But even if he reaches, as he did with a walk in the ninth inning on Friday night, Piniella still has to remove him for a pinch-runner, namely little-used outfielder Joey Gathright.
That means Bradley has become, at least temporarily, the new Daryle Ward- a one-dimensional player taking up a roster spot who can't play defense or run the bases. The Cubs seem reluctant to put Bradley on the disabled list, for whatever reason, so what will they do without Ramirez in the lineup and no spare infielders?
Unless they DL Ramirez or Bradley, or send Micah Hoffpauir down to Triple-A Iowa for infielder Andres Blanco (an unlikely scenario), they'll have to make due with what they have. That means Alfonso Soriano, who came up as a shortstop but switched to second in New York because of Derek Jeter's presence, will become the emergency back-up infielder, assuming Piniella has to double-switch at some point.
Koyie Hill has also played some third base in his minor league days, but as the back-up catcher, it's doubtful he'd be used except for an extreme emergency.
As for Marmol, the Cubs are hoping his knee strain is minor and will miss only 4-5 days. if that's the case, they should be able to get by with a six-man bullpen, though someone may have to nudge Piniella into using David "Rule 5" Patton, the rookie who has disappeared from view.
If Marmol goes on the DL, the Cubs can call up Jose Ascanio or Chad Fox, and Aaron Heilman will be the new set-up man for Kevin Gregg, with Angel Guzman replacing Heilman as the bridge pitcher to the eighth inning.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is not some silly theory that's unsupported and deserves being mocked by photos of Xena. ![[Image: ITgoyeg.png]](http://i.imgur.com/ITgoyeg.png)