Injury Log on the Big 3

[deputymayor]

From Wittenmeyer:

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->No rami but z and hill taking grounders at third.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Kid]

Zambrano at 3rd base? That can only end well.

[Tailgater]

Z at third? See what I'm saying. Things are falling apart!!!

Seriously, I've seen him do this many times during bp. I wouldn't look to much into it.

[Runnys]

<!--quoteo(post=33056:date=Apr 25 2009, 11:55 AM:name=Tailgater)-->QUOTE (Tailgater @ Apr 25 2009, 11:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Well now that we're out of backup infielders, can't we just bring up one of the guys we got in trade for DeRosa? I mean we did get something for him right? Some position player? Right?






Fuck!<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I thought we got 3 pitchers from the Tribe...I could be wrong though.

Fact of the matter is this....right now this team is playing like absolute dog shit. However, we have played exactly 15 games, not even 10% of the schedule. We are hurting badly right now, but again, better for it to be in April and May than September. Outside of Theriot, Fuk, and A-Ram, no one is hitting. Last year's ROY isn't even above the Mendoza line. Soriano hasn't had a hit with a runner in scoring position yet and Lee looks lost. This team will get it bats going again and the bullpen will get figured out. I think Patton is gone by mother's day, maybe even sooner and Ascancio or Fox will take his spot. Things will be okay.

[kbwsb]

Runnys, I think tailgater was being purposely sarcastic about the "return" we got from the DeRo trade.

[Kid]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->ST. LOUIS -- Cubs setup pitcher Carlos Marmol, sidelined with a sprained left knee, will throw a bullpen on Monday and could be available as early as Tuesday.

Marmol, who had an MRI on Saturday, threw off flat ground on Sunday.

"This kid's a trooper, he's a gamer," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said Sunday of the right-hander.

Meanwhile, third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who injured his left calf on Friday, also could return during the Cubs' upcoming series at Arizona, which begins Monday. Ramirez has not taken batting practice the last two days.

Piniella also talked to outfielder Milton Bradley, who has been bothered by a groin injury. Bradley, who has made one start since April 12, still wasn't ready to go.

"I will talk to him on a daily basis and we'll see if he's ready to play," Piniella said. "When he's ready, we'll get him in there."

The Cubs are playing shorthanded, and have no backup infielders. On Saturday, Ryan Theriot twisted his left knee but stayed in the game. What if Theriot had to come out?

"I could've put [Aaron] Miles at short, and then my options would've been second base with [Alfonso] Soriano or [Koyie] Hill at third base," Piniella said. "Move [Mike] Fontenot to second or Soriano to second. I don't think we'll have to be this way long. The fact that I had a short bench [Saturday] wasn't the fact that we lost the baseball game."

Hill saw Theriot wince, and grabbed his infielder's glove. He was ready. The Cubs' backup catcher has been taking grounders at third base just in case.

"I'm ready," Hill said. "I'm ready and more than willing."

Carlos Zambrano also was taking grounders on Saturday at shortstop and third. Hill would be a more likely option than the Cubs' Opening Day pitcher.

"It'd be fun," Hill said. "I played there all through college and played short growing up. It's not as unfamiliar as it would appear."

He played second in Spring Training in 2007 for an inning or two because the team ran out of players. He also played second for Team USA in 1999. It's not that far-fetched. Second base would be a little trickier for Hill after his hand injury because of the double play exchanges that need to be made.

Piniella is just hoping it doesn't come to that.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Link

[rok]

What the fuck is happening this year? We're fucking snakebitten or something.

[savant]

It's like 85 only the position players are going down instead of the pitchers.

[Ace]

Have you all already forgotten that this is the Cubs' thing in the modern era? Injuries a plenty.

[Clapp]

So we've lost Ramirez, Bradley, Lee, Marmol, and almost Soriano. 5 guys that were All-Stars in the last couple years. I hate being a Cubs fan.

[Kid]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->ST. LOUIS -- Derrek Lee was feeling pretty good when he hit a double in the first inning Sunday but as he ran to second, his neck started to spasm. That's the last thing the shorthanded Cubs need.

Lee had to come out of Sunday's game against the Cardinals after the first inning because of neck spasms, and his status is day-to-day. He has a bulging disc, and the spasms first popped up in May 2007. At that time, he was sidelined for one week, and returned with a flourish, delivering a pinch-hit grand slam against the White Sox on May 19, 2007. Last year, he missed a couple games because of the cramps, but this season, he was feeling good, except for his .197 average.

"I had a good at-bat [in the first] and then have to come out," Lee said. "Sometimes things aren't rolling your way. What can you do?"

Lee's hit drove in Ryan Theriot, and was the fourth straight hit by the Cubs in the inning off Todd Wellemeyer. Lee bent over at second base to try and loosen it up but stayed in the game to finish the inning. He was pulled for Micah Hoffpauir, who hit a leadoff homer in the seventh in the Cubs' 10-3 win over the Cardinals.

"It locked up on me again," Lee said. "I think I slept funny and I woke up stiff. Running to second, it started to spasm on me."

Losing Lee meant the Cubs had just Koyie Hill and Joey Gathright on the bench for Sunday's game. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez is nursing a sore left calf and Milton Bradley has a strained groin. Ramirez may take batting practice on Monday if he's feeling better.

Will Lee go on the disabled list?

"We didn't 'DL' anybody else," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "I don't think neck cramps will do it."

Piniella was laughing when he said that. The Cubs have opted not to place Ramirez, Bradley or Carlos Marmol (sprained knee) on the disabled list because the injuries don't need the 15 days to recover. That doesn't leave Piniella with many options.

"We'll play with Spring Training rules," Piniella quipped. "What do we have? I have a catcher and Gathright."

Lee wasn't sure how long he would be sidelined.

"They said it can [flare up] if you sleep funny or do something funny, it can aggravate it," Lee said. "I just have to let it calm down. It's nothing serious. It's one of those things where you can't move too well."

Piniella had tried to give Lee the day off on Sunday, but the first baseman didn't want it. He ended up getting treatment instead.

"When Derrek tells you he's hurt, he's hurt," Piniella said.

The Cubs almost had to scramble with a 20-man roster when Alfonso Soriano was hit in the head by a pitch from Wellemeyer with one out in the second. He stayed in the game. The Cubs are running out of players.

"We're at the point now [if Lee can't play] where we can't stay like this," Piniella said. "We have to figure out something."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Link

[kbwsb]

<!--quoteo(post=33344:date=Apr 26 2009, 05:29 PM:name=Ace)-->QUOTE (Ace @ Apr 26 2009, 05:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Have you all already forgotten that this is the Cubs' thing in the modern era? Injuries a plenty.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I supported the Bradley signing, and still do. But I do think that Jimbo has a fetish for fragile balsa-wood ballplayers (Prior, Wood, Bradley, Harden).
When healthy, they're beyond good, almost great.
When healthy.

[Baron]

<!--quoteo(post=33352:date=Apr 26 2009, 06:32 PM:name=KBwsb)-->QUOTE (KBwsb @ Apr 26 2009, 06:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=33344:date=Apr 26 2009, 05:29 PM:name=Ace)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ace @ Apr 26 2009, 05:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Have you all already forgotten that this is the Cubs' thing in the modern era? Injuries a plenty.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I supported the Bradley signing, and still do. But I do think that Jimbo has a fetish for fragile balsa-wood ballplayers (Prior, Wood, Bradley, Harden).
When healthy, they're beyond good, almost great.
When healthy.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Maybe I am wrong, but I am pretty sure Prior and Wood weren't balsa wood players when drafted. Once they were Cubs and proved they had talent, it only made sense to hold onto them despite being fragile.

[Kid]

<!--quoteo(post=33352:date=Apr 26 2009, 07:32 PM:name=KBwsb)-->QUOTE (KBwsb @ Apr 26 2009, 07:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=33344:date=Apr 26 2009, 05:29 PM:name=Ace)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ace @ Apr 26 2009, 05:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Have you all already forgotten that this is the Cubs' thing in the modern era? Injuries a plenty.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I supported the Bradley signing, and still do. But I do think that Jimbo has a fetish for fragile balsa-wood ballplayers (Prior, Wood, Bradley, Harden).
When healthy, they're beyond good, almost great.
When healthy.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Aren't you the one who has bitched to no end about him not re-signing Wood?

[kbwsb]

I should point out that I wasn't slamming Jim. Sorry. Harden is my favorite Cub pitcher, and I like Bradley a lot (well, I did in ST).

However, it did seem that we sacrificed a couple seasons there because we kept counting on Wood-Prior to be our 1-2 starters, despite pretty solid evidence that that might not happen. This winter, the other options, besides Bradley, for "left-handed outfielder" in the free agent pool were all <i>known</i> for their durability, yet we chose the one guy known for his frightening fragility.

It was just an observation. But I would guess that a GM should look at these things. (And I won't even bring up the D-word.)