Four in Two

The Cubs are playing four games in two days, with split-squad games today and tomorrow. They lost the first of those games this afternoon to the Brewers 12-3 in Phoenix, Jeff Samardzija started and was hit pretty hard. In his quest for one of the starting spots Samardzija allowed 4 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings, two of those hits allowed were Milwaukee HR's. Tom Gorzelanny, Samardzija's chief competitor for the open starting pitching slot toes the hill tonight in Vegas.

I would have loved to do the Vegas getaway and see the Cubs in Sin City but since we have a game at Hohokam tomorrow that was logistically impossible. As it stands, tomorrows game at Hohokam has a bit of historical significance...The first ever Cactus League meeting between the Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds. The Cactus League isn't alone with rain issues, 10 games in the Grapefruit League have been canceled the past two days.

Derrek Lee was scratched from the line-up today because of a bruised foot after fouling one off his foot against SF on Wednesday.

Some of you have written and asked a few questions about the Cubs, I will answer those now.

1) Is Castro the real deal, and could he make the team?

After seeing him in action now for roughly three weeks and in the Fall League I can tell you, he's the "real deal". What I mean by that is, he's not awed playing with proven MLB stars like D-Lee and A-Ram. The 19 year old acts like he belongs but isn't cocky, more business like in his training and willing to work. Much different than say Bobby Hill, a highly drafted and regarded prospect for the Cubs a few years back out of the University of Miami. Hill's attitude in his first spring camps in Mesa was as if he were already a MLB star, a certain smugness that he was the next big thing.

In the Majors you have to earn it on the field and Hill had not...Perhaps that's why Bobby Hill has been playing for Newark, an independent minor league team the past two years when he should be at the height of his MLB career. Of course Hill was the "player to be named later" in one of Jim Hendry's best deals sending a used up Jose Hernandez, minor league Matt Bruback, and Hill (the star that never was) to Pittsburgh for Kenny Lofton, Aramis Ramirez and cash. Sorry for the digression but Castro is the anti Bobby Hill.

Aside from Castro's work ethic he has very good speed, great range at shortstop and a cannon arm. He's still going to make mistakes like the throwing error in today's game but D-Lee covers a lot of those up with his vacuum glove. Castro can hit and was outstanding in the AZ Fall League batting .376 but he hasn't played above AA yet and the Cubs of late have been very cognizant of bringing players up to soon.

Could he make the roster out of AZ camp, the feeling I get right now is, no. The brass wants to give him everyday playing opportunities and if Ryan Theriot is the ss, that won't happen. I also get the feeling that Lou is going to give Castro a very long look this spring, just in case the kid is one of those rare players who rises to the highest level and never looks back. I've heard many a fan express how they would like to see Castro at short and Theriot at 2nd base. Probably not going to happen this season but it'll be fun watching kid Castro here in AZ.

2) Is Angel Guzman's injury career ending?

First off, I'm no doctor but at 28 years old it's not age that would keep Guzman from coming back after surgery if he elects to have it...It would be the condition of the shoulder and the damage that has occured. Guzman is one of those unlucky players who just can't stay healthy for any length of time, so that looms over his comeback chances. The other issue right now is his mind set. This injury is a big blow to his baseball career but after his brother was killed during the off season in Venezuela it's hard to tell what kind of passion he has towards baseball and a potential long rehab. Last year the Cubs were finally starting to see the realization of Guzman's potential with a career season high of innings pitched and a 2.95 ERA. I hope he's able to come back from this injury and continue his career, if he does though I'm not sure if it will be with the Cubs.

3) What about Samardzija, Gorzelanny, Marshall and the 4th and 5th starting spots in the rotation?

Well, Samardzija didn't help his cause today and Gorzy goes tonight so we'll see what that brings. Its really to early to get any real gauge on the pitchers and how they will fair in the regular season at this stage of spring camp. Marshall has been, well Marshall and looked good in his limited innings. The Cubs know what they have in him and he's a versatile pitcher, out of the pen or spot starter he's been consistent.

Gorzelanny had a very productive year in 2007 winning 14 games with the Pirates but since then his ERA has been hovering between 5.19 and 6.66. If he can get back to his 07 form he could be a real addition to the Cubs staff as a starter or out of the pen. We know how bad Samardzija wants to start and it's about time he shows the Cubs why they signed him to a $10 million contract out of Notre Dame. Piniella has mentioned not to forget about Carlos Silva being in the mix as well. Silva hasn't been a decent pitcher since he left the Twins, and that was three years ago. We'll see if he can put himself in position to compete for a starting spot as spring games progress.

Right now it's wait and see with all these pitchers as they build up their arms past more than a couple innings a game. It'll be interesting to revisit this question in 2 to 3 weeks.

Tough Third for Z

A cool but sunny AZ day brought 9,381 out to Hohokam to witness the San Francisco Giants beat the Cubs 5 - 1. The Cubs outhit the Giants 9 to 7 but couldn't put more than the 1 run on the board which came courtesy of a Derrek Lee walk followed by an Aramis Ramirez double in the 4th inning.

Ryan Theriot was 3 for 3 but was picked off first base in the 1st inning, he did come back with a stolen base in the 3rd. The shortstop position continued to hit when Starlin Castro came into the game replacing Theriot and singled in both his at bats. A-Ram went 2 for 3 and Xavier Nady seeing his first game action as a Chicago Cub was DH today and singled in his first at bat.

Carlos Zambrano got the start and looked good in the first two innings but had some issues in the 3rd, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits including a no doubt grand salami by his hometown buddy Pablo Sandoval. Zambrano was followed by a succession of Cubs pitchers: Grabow, Parisi, Cashner, Diamond, Gaub, and Berg who each tossed a scoreless inning, allowing the Giants only 1 single over the course of the final 6 innings.

Derrek Lee left the game after fouling a pitch off his leg or foot, I couldn't see which. Hopefully it's nothing serious. Aramis Ramirez had a throwing error today but also made a great pick up and throw on a Juan Uribe hot smash with a runner on 3rd. The Cubs who had their normal batting practice pre-game also took BP after today's game probably making up for lost time due to weather. Or perhaps it's just that Lou doesn't like the Cubs only scoring 1 run in a game.

Cubs President Crane Kenney was hanging on the back of the batting cage chatting with Lou Piniella during morning BP. I found out from Gene a Chicago friend of mine that Kenney had flown into AZ on the same plane with him - in coach no less.

Cubs are headed to Peoria AZ tomorrow to take on the San Diego Padres and then will have split squad games the following two days including Friday and Saturday contests against the White Sox in Las Vegas. Rumor has it that while in Vegas on top of his managerial duties Ozzie Guillen will be starring in his new Cirque Du Soleil show "Viva Ozzie", Sox fans will eagerly await his Tweets from backstage.

Xavier Nady on deck today, courtesy of photographer John Antonoff



Nady gets his first Cubs hit- Photo by John Antonoff

More rain but we played the game

Unsung stars of today's game - The grounds crew

The unusual Arizona weather continued today with a serious downpour causing the start of today's game to be delayed 48 minutes. Not only that, the temperature at game time was 43 degrees, and according to the Cubs media department it was 49 degrees in Chicago. In all the years I've been doing this I don't recall us being colder than the Windy City for a spring game. Throw in some gusty winds and we once again had a nice simulation for Wrigley in April.

The Brewers scored 2 runs in the 9th to break a 3-3 deadlock and earn a 5-3 win. Of the 8,475 in attendance at Hohokam I give a lot of credit to those 2000 or so fans who stuck around to the end on this blustery day.

Randy Wells got the start and continued to pitch well, tossing a seemingly effortless 3 innings facing the minimum 9 batters with 2 K's. Carlos Marmol came in for the 4th and allowed 2 runs only 1 earned. Cubs 2009 minor league pitcher of the year Casey Coleman did okay, surrendering 1 run in 2.1 innings but had two walks and hit a batter. Cubs Non-Roster Invitee James Russell struck out the side in the 8th and with the score 3 - 3, Blake Parker came in and surrendered 2 runs to the Brewers in the 9th.

Marlon Byrd and Alfonso Soriano hit back to back doubles, both scored, one on an RBI base hit by Mike Fontenot. Derrek Lee belted a HR in the 3rd inning to account for the final Cubs offense. Ryan Theriot went 2-for-3 and had a stolen base. Starlin Castro showed his speed and inexperience, after a base hit he had second base stolen cleanly only to slide past the bag and get tagged out.

Before batting practice Cubs third base coach Mike Quade did some base running coaching...Castro may need to go over it again.

Adding to the strange day our scoreboard was not working most of the game. I would have done a little play by play to keep the fans more informed however P.A. audio interference during play is not allowed.

I've received more Cubs questions which I'll answer tomorrow since today's game ran late.

A big thank you to Super Cubs fan Nathan Reuck for these sweet photos from today.


Randy Wells


Yes, it's a bit cold



Marlon Byrd hits a double


If you're cold try dancing close


Fontenot


Is it really 6:55?


D-Lee HR trot


Some people don't feel the cold


Castro an easy steal


Oops, a bit too far

Food Drive at Hohokam Today

The Cubs wives will host the 13th annual food drive to benefit Paz de Cristo today at HoHoKam Park. Starting at 10:30 am the first 500 fans making a donation of 10 non-perishable food items or $20 will receive a 5x7 photo autographed by a Cubs player (limit two per person). Please donate or bring non-perishable food items to the game even if you're not interested in a photo.

Strange weather we're having this spring, looking out from the KCUBS broadcasting tower here in Mesa we have a lot of dark grey cloud cover but an occasional spot of blue and it's going to be a bit cool today with a high temp of 54 degrees.

Some people have written me asking questions about the Cubs and certain players, tonight I'll answer those questions as well as post my game blog.

T

Monday on Sunday

Hohokam about 1:05 today

It wasn't raining upon my arrival at Hohokam this morning, I thought, we might get lucky and squeeze this game in...no such luck. It started to sprinkle early but the Cubs were able to get most of bp done until they were forced off the field by rain. Then the wait came, as it rained off and on for about the next two hours. The Sky lightened and the rain stopped around 12:30 but it soon started again before the Cubs called an official rainout at 12:48 pm AZ time. I never like to be the bearer of that bad news (luckily it rarely happens here), but it's part of the P.A. job.

Normally I use the stairs to reach the pressbox level at Hohokam, unless like today I arrive dragging equipment with me. Only two of us were on the elevator, I recognized the guy standing next to me as former Cub and Dodger Rick Monday. I introduced myself and Rick said it already was raining very hard on the West side of the valley. Weather conversations aside he mentioned he'd been coming to Mesa since the days of Rendezvous Park (Cubs original spring home in Mesa). That was back when Monday played with the Oakland A's, when the Cubs were training in Scottsdale.


Rick has longtime ties to the valley playing college ball at Arizona State University, helping the Sun Devils win a national title in 1965. Monday earned College Player of the Year honors and was a Sun Devil teammate of then freshman Reggie Jackson, who he also played with on the Oakland Athletics. Older fans may remember Rick Monday having his finest pro season in 1976 as a Chicago Cub scoring 107 runs, belting 32 HR's and batting .272 from the lead-off spot. He is perhaps best remembered for snatching the American flag from a couple would-be flag burners at Dodger Stadium in 1976. Rick's been a longtime broacaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers.



I also met and chatted briefly with Neil from Chicago Cubs Online, one of the very informative websites in the Cubs blogosphere.

There's always something interesting going on a the ballpark, even when raining.


Xavier Nady laughing today during bp before the rain

Waiting on Weather

I didn't blog yesterday because I had a dinner engagement after the game and also figured since it was on WGN most of you watched it or DVR'd it. I take notes during the game for this blog and I'll just share one of the things scratched on my note pad in large lettering from Saturday's game, "Silva - OUCH".

Yesterday's game didn't go the Cubs way but the weather was near perfect and I could see people having a fun time. That's one of the great things about spring training, the wins and losses don't mean anything and you can still have a blast in spite of the score.

WGN Cubs announcer Len Kasper was nice enough to take some time before the game and talk with me on camera about the team. Look for that interview and other Cubs goodies on the Boys of Spring video show this week.

Weather.com says we have a 70 percent chance of rain here in Mesa today but right now 5 hours before game time the sun is out, a darker gray mass looms in the western sky...cooler temps expected today with a high of 61, as for the rain...we shall see.

A look into the Cubs future?

The Cubs made it exciting for the 11,775 fans at Hohokam today with a come from behind 9-8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. A win capped by Brad Snyder's walk-off double that bounced off the center field batters eye, scoring Bobby Scales and pinch runner Sam Fuld.

Today the young Cubs made it happen as three former #1 draft picks started today's game, all contributed to the win. Tyler Colvin's (2006) started in left and stayed hot going 2-for-3 with 2 RBI's while hitting his third double of the young spring season. Josh Vitters (2007) getting the start at third base was 2-for-4 with a couple runs scored and Brett Jackson (2009) starting in CF reached base all four times he came to the plate. Jackson had a triple, two walks, and was hit by a pitch. Starlin Castro was 2-for-4 and Brad Snyder had 2 hits including the game winner.

Jackson got the Cubs scoring started with a blast that would have been out of most MLB parks, the ball hit 3/4 up the CF batters eye which is 410 feet. Jackson showed great speed on the play easily reaching third for a triple...The fans voiced displeasure at third base coach Mike Quade for holding Jackson at third. It was the right call with no outs and a good throw in from the DBacks outfielder.

Big Z got the start and made quick work of all six DBacks he faced in his 2 innings. Casey Coleman the Cubs 2009 Minor League Pitcher of the Year followed Z and looked strong allowing one hit in two scoreless innings. Jeff Stevens was the pitcher who got roughed up by the DBacks allowing 5 runs (4 earned) in his 1.2 innings of action including giving up a Justin Upton grand salami.

We heard rumors up in the press box that President Obama's Chicago based Senior Advisor David Axelrod was at today's game. Late in the game it was confirmed as we spotted him sitting in the stands behind the Cubs dugout...he stayed the whole game.

Cubs and White Sox tomorrow at Hohokam.


Starlin Castro shatters bat on this single in the 5th inning
Photo by John Antonoff

Cubs Baseball is Here

Just a short minute and a half video I made from today's

festivities at Hohokam. Not a highlight package but it may

be the only place you can see Starlin Castro's triple.

What a great day!

Cubs Awesome Opening Win

View from my seat during game

Today was just plain fun! Perfect Arizona weather, and a 9-3 hammering of the Oakland A's in the Cubs Cactus League Opener.

The hammering started early as Derrek Lee hit a line drive HR to the power alley in left center in the first inning. Marlon Byrd, Tyler Colvin, Brad Snyder, and Sam Fuld also hit home runs for the Cubs. Byrd was 2 for 2 and Tyler Colvin who started in left field in place of Soriano had a big day at the plate going 3 for 3 with two doubles and a HR. Colvin looks much stronger this year. He's an outstanding athlete, the future looks bright for him. Cubs hyped SS Starlin Castro got into the game replacing Theriot and showed his fine speed with a triple.

Randy Wells started the game and pitched smooth and easy in 2 scoreless innings, striking out 2. Sean Marshall tossed 2 hitless innings. JR Mathes allowed 2 of Oakland's 3 runs while Ismailin Caridad had a nice 1-2-3 ninth. A mid-week opener against a low drawing team like Oakland leaves us with the kind of attendance we had today 7,496....but those who were there had a good time.

Mike Fontenot had an awkward flip trying to avoid a tag at 3rd base, he was down for a while but appeared to be okay upon leaving the field. Derrek Lee picked an errant Ryan Theriot throw out of the dirt in the 4th. It's comforting to have Lee's gold glove saving potential errors. A's CF Gabe Gross played a Fukudome fly ball a little too casual and Fukudome ended up with a double but it should have been a fly out.

Clayton Mortenson came into pitch the 4th for the Athletics, and just as his girlfriend was taking his photo Marlon Byrd spoiled the Kodak moment by pounding a HR to center. Good to see Cubs fans tossing opponent's HR's back onto the Hohokam field, just like at Wrigley. This PA announcer had a brief freak-out moment when I thought I had messed up and completely missed the 7th inning stretch- I had accidentally written in the wrong inning column of my scorecard... that's why I use a pencil with a big eraser.

Tomorrow the Arizona DBacks come to Hohokam.


Just another day at the office...Me and the RT O'Sullivan's girls

Goodbye Fitch, Hello HoHo

Hohokam looking ready for baseball, I shot this last evening before a meeting

The first phase of the Cubs spring schedule came to a close yesterday as the team finished practice at Fitch Park and moved up the street to Hohokam. Mapquest puts the distance from Fitch to Hohokam at 0.56 of a mile and a total travel time of 1 minute, from my experience if you miss the light at Brown Rd. it's going to take 2 minutes...Those times go out the window on game days.

With the Cubs ready to open Cactus League play tomorrow against the A's in Mesa, Lou Piniella said "Now we get into the fun part". Fun indeed, and lots of it as the Cubs start the spring season at Hohokam with a four game home stand. In fact in the first ten days of Cactus League play the Cubs have eight home games...On three of those days the Cubs also play away split-squad games. It's an exciting weekend as the Cubs will take on the AZ DBacks (Fri), the White Sox twice (Sat & Sun) as well as the Dodgers (Sun). I can hardly wait, one day away from the sights and sounds of a Cubs baseball game, gotta love it!

The weather looks great for the opener with an expected high of 72 degrees and plenty of sunshine. The ten day forecast also looks great with the exception of Sunday where we have a 40 percent chance of showers. We'll keep the fingers crossed for Sunday as the Cubs have two games scheduled with a split-squad.

Bruce Miles wrote an very interesting article yesterday on the Cubs recent top draft choices, expanding on what I was excited about in my Gen Next blog from Monday. One of the things Bruce brings up is: "It's believed to be the first time the Cubs have had four consecutive No. 1 picks in big-league spring training at the same time".

If you're coming to the Phoenix area during the month of March to see the Cubs be sure to check out our BOS websites drop down menu under the Spring Training header as we have loads of great information...With pages on Tickets/Schedule, FAQ's, Hohokam Stadium, Helpful Tips, and Things to do in AZ (when you're not watching the Cubs).

Just a note in the Tips section "Al's Chicago Style" on Val Vista and Elliott Rd. has closed, and the other Al's on Power Rd and Brown has changed names to "CHICAGOland Hotdogs & More". If you want a Chicago Dog without the ballpark pricing CHICAGOland is the place, they have an extensive menu and very reasonable prices. With Chicago Style Vienna Beef they offer everything from Polish Sausage, Sliders, Italian Beef, Sausage, and Steak Sandwiches, and more. If your feeling hungry make sure you add one of my favorites the Chili-Cheese Fries...You'll thank me, then hate me for those.

Be sure to follow us here at BOS and on Twitter as we start the Cactus League season, we'll have plenty of photos, video, and my recap of the games and happenings at the ballpark.

T