Spring Training Battlewatch: March 8, 2009

The Cubs continued losing, this time to the Rangers. Meh. Pitching dominated the Spring Training battles this time around:

  • Sean Marshall held some really good Rangers hitters scoreless for four innings. I still have a feeling the Cubs would prefer if someone else won the fifth starter job because of Marshall’s dual value as a lefty and a swingman in the pen. But coupled with his dyno-mite start last time, he’s putting together a spring that will make it very hard to keep him out of the rotation.
  • Luis Vizcaino – a near lock to make the bullpen based on Lou Piniella’s comments that seem to assume Vizcaino isn’t battling for anything – had a horrible, control-less 2/3 of an inning. Couldn’t throw strikes, issued three walks and gave up a couple earned runs.
  • Kevin Hart was even worse against non-regulars, and any hope he had of stealing a bullpen spot is quickly evaporating.
  • Neil Cotts, on the other hand, further solidified his spot as potentially the sole lefty in the pen, after throwing a scoreless inning and striking out the side.
  • Aaron Miles had one of the only positional battle game of note: he didn’t do squat, and now stands at .208 on the Spring.
  • Koyie Hill went 2-2, and so far, is out-dualing The Bako for the backup catcher job.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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