Obviously it was great to get a series win against the Astros, but after starting the season against the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Brewers, and Astros, none of us can say we would have been happy with the Cubs coming out of that stretch at just .500. Still, here we are.
I told you to be afraid of Jeff Samardzija in the rotation. Mike Quade: “[Samardzija’s] most likely to be effective out of the bullpen. .  .  . But for a week from now, it’s all hands on deck, and he’ll do whatever we need. Everything is on the table.”
Samardzija sounds downright giddy about the possibility: ‘‘That’d be great. I feel all my pitches are there. For me, it’s all about attacking the hitters and keeping the pitch count down. I thought I did that [Tuesday], thought I made some really good pitches.’’ Samardzija gave up two earned on three hits and a walk in three innings on Tuesday.
As for the guys for whom he’d be filling in, neither Randy Wells nor Andrew Cashner is expected to start throwing and rehabbing until next week. Grumble.
It sounds like we might see Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney at the top of the order for a little while yet.
A word on Tyler Colvin: yes, he’s struggling. Badly. But, setting aside Fukudome’s injury, talk about setting up a kid to fail – he plays almost exclusively against lefties, and now he bats 8th when he does? If he sees a fastball in the zone, I’ll eat my hat. And it’s one of those ten gallon hats. Fifteen, even.