Matt Garza said “you better f–king believe it, dude,” when asked if he was going to pitch on Tuesday.
We shouldn’t have f–king believed it.
The Cubs have sent Garza back to Chicago for further evaluation after he experienced “stiffness” in his arm yesterday following his second straight day of throwing on Saturday. He’s not expected to need another MRI, but obviously any arm issues are cause for concern.
“It was pretty stiff today, so nothing major,” manager Dale Sveum said of the arm issue. “But he’s not going to be able to go on Tuesday. We’re going to back him off and send him home to see the doctor and just be a little more cautionary.”
Garza has been out since July 21 after he experienced some cramping in his triceps. Because he’ll now have been out so long, the Cubs will put him on the 15-day disabled list (there’s no reason not to). His replacement on the roster might well be his temporary replacement in the rotation.
As for who’ll take the ball on Tuesday – who will be that replacement – the Cubs could be in a difficult spot. The obvious candidates – AAA starters Casey Coleman, Chris Rusin, and Brooks Raley all started this weekend, and likely wouldn’t be available on Tuesday. The Cubs could go for a bullpen day, or could bring up one of the fringier pitchers at AAA.
A bullpen day sounds like having 10 teeth pulled without drugs by a dentist in Mexico.
More like forgetting your condoms when visiting Tiajuana
Not Casey Coleman… give someone else a chance to show everyone why they aren’t in the bigs…
Brett- does it seem like he’ll be back next weekend or are they hinting to a longer rehab?
What about the guys we just traded for from Rangers?
Brett, was Carrie Muskats’ report correct on twitter, stating that Vitters will only play vs RHP? I assume she meant LHP.. but why wouldn’t he play everyday? This baffles me. I know you stated it confused you too, but I didn’t know if you’ve heard anything new that I’ve missed.
I’d be willing to bet she just made that assumption based on him not starting yesterday.
No, Carrie was quoting Dale Favre
Who’s that?
Whitepages.com says there are three people named “Dale Favre” in the US.
Also, Jon Favreau, who gave us Swingers, and deserves a Nobel Prize therefor.
It doesn’t make any sense to bring him up just to rot away most days. What a dumb decision. But, I’ve come to expect that. I can’t imagine that is really the plan…can it be? He needs ABs and plenty of time in the field so we can see what he can bring to this level.
Or interrupt his very good season in Iowa just to let him collect dust.
Didn’t Sveum himself say that if they’re called up they have to play every day?
LENDY CASTILLO TIME
Make it happen, Theo.
That I would actually like to see. Good thought.
Now we know why he has been streatched out!
Does the immortal Rodrigo Lopez make his return to the rotation on Tuesday?
I think Lopez is on the DL.
You’re right. Missed that.
Is Rich Hill available?
I miss that big overhand curve of his… the one that always got hit really hard
Maybe koyie hill can give the cubs a couple innings.
Awesome, Koyie and rich Hill combo. With our bullpen taxed someone should put in a call to flash Gordon and Randy myers to close a close game Out
I think i’ve got 6 or 7 innings in me….put me in coach, i’ll play for free.
Call up Jay Jackson
Shoot I meant Kevin Gregg not Randy myers. A marmol/Gregg 8th and 9th combo would be awesome. Randy myers is probably still better than both those guys
“Precautionary”
I do not think that word means what the Cubs think it does.
+1
“You keep using that word…I do not think it means what you think it means….”
Nice one Pat
Derek Lowe time… There’s one 40 man roster spot left.
Kenny powers is available.
If he was in Chicago, I’m pretty sure he would say F YOU CHICAGO!! IM OUT!
No, it’d probably be something about all the Polish people to go in line with his little montage at the beginning of the series..
I’ll jump on that-
How sink do you sink a Polish battleship?
Put it in the water.
Did you hear about the Polish Space Agency’s secret plan to be the first country to land a man on the sun?
Their secret? Land at night.
You know the only problem with the Polish national soccer stadium?
Everywhere you sit there’s a pole in the way.
Okay, I’ll stop now.
They could bring up Jacob Brigham from Tennesse. He’s on the 40 man roster and hasn’t pitched since last Thursday. He would be due that day. 1 time start and then back to Tennesse. New pitcher to the organization that the coaches get to see what they got for Soto.
Not sure we want to rush a kid into his debut to win a game that means absolutely nothing. I am not an expert on the farm system, but there has to be a career minor leaguer down there that could have his day in the sun.
To be fair, they’re playing the Padres, so it’s probably equivalent to facing a AA team, anyway.
Good Point.
He older than 6 players on the Cubs right now so in terms of age, on this team, he’s hardly a kid. I’d bet he’d jump at the chance.
calling him up would waste an option year as well, which very well could hurt the Cubs’ roster flexibility a few years from now
… Dick Tidrow would have started and then relieved for himself …
But do we want Dick relieving himself on the mound?
I’m pretty sure Dick’s currently a free agent, so …
The kid from Texas Brigham is probably better than any of our current starters. Bring him up Theo. It’s only a game. If the throws a no hitter then you can keep him and ship off one of the other dead weight pitchers we currently are sporting.
again, this would waste an option for Brigham. Not something the FO wants to do, as it could hurt roster flexibility in the future
Raley last pitched on the 2nd. That would give him the standard four days rest heading into Tuesday. I am hoping he gets the call because he looks the most interesting of the various fifth starter options currently available.
I would like to see him, and I know the front office thinks he has potential (perhaps yet unrealized … though, to be clear, his upside is pretty much as a back-end starter).
I called it in a post before the deadline that he would end up on the D.L. I hate to see this. Obviously we all do. I wanted to see him get some quality starts in the second half to increase his trade value for this winter. I know that could still happen but I have a bad feeling as to how this will all shake out.
Have someone go on 4 days and call up an extra bullpen arm. No off days for 10 days; an all bullpen day would be a disaster anyway.
Well _ _ _ _ me….
What happens if he has to have TJ???
If he does, Im afraid Ill go on a goat killing spree.
_ _ _ _ me!!!!!!
Give Brigham a shot, his day in rotation one spot start.
It starts with a minor setback and a routine evaluation. It ends by paging Dr. James Andrews.
OK, am i the only one that is extremely concerned about Garza? It seems more times than not pitchers have TJS when they are in a situation like Garza is experiencing. This could be horrific..
Garza is having triceps problems. That’s the main upper arm muscle. TJ is for elbow ligaments. You can have sore muscles and perfectly fine ligaments, and torn ligaments with perfectly fine muscles.
OK Doc, I am just paranoid with all these surgeries going around. It’s like the thing to do in the MLB for pitchers. What are the chances you put on Garza having a procedure done?
Of that, I have little clue: I’m a real Doc, not a body technician! (:-)) However, surgeries rarely are done for muscle problems: unlike ligaments, tendons, cartilage, etc., muscle heals itself. The issue is making sure that it heals properly, i.e., that you don’t get scar tissue hindering the strength or flexibility of the muscle.
To be fair, we don’t really know what the problem is. The fist report was triceps cramping, which is virtually unheard of. The second report was fluid in the triceps, except that fluids accumulate in joints and not muscles.
Yeah the whole cramping thing makes no sense. Isn’t cramping just muscle dehydration? Maybe Garza just called the pain in his arm cramping, because he didn’t know how else to describe it. And pitchers never want to admit their elbow hurts?
All the reports I’ve seen since yesterday said “elbow stiffness”. That feels like more than a triceps strain to me. I know we’re all probably paranoid given the Wood/Prior years. I guess we’ll know more later this week if he starts up with towel drills.
Oh, I didn’t see the “elbow stiffness” reports……
Here’s one place I saw “elbow stiffness”
http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-cubs/2012/8/5/3222334/matt-garza-injury-cubs-mlb-2012
The Tribune says arm stiffness in their report. I saw elbow referenced multiple times on twitter too. Who knows.
Knowing how the front office rolls we’ll wake up one morning and Garza will have had TJS without anyone knowing. Typical..