The four men competing for the last two bullpen spots are running out of time to dazzle – and none are stepping up to the… er, rubber. Two pitched yesterday, two the day before, and all four disappointed.
Chad Gaudin continued to show that whatever he hurt at the end of last year is not healed. He went two innings, gave up three earned runs on six hits and a walk. Yikes. Still interested, Rockies?
David Patton – the Cinderella story of the Spring Training pen – had his first really poor outing: one inning, three hits, a walk, an earned run, and no Ks. I imagine the Cubs are desperate to find a way to keep this Rule V pick, but because of his youth, he falls into the “can’t afford any screw ups” category. He’ll pitch again this weekend against the Yankees as the Cubs help open up the new Yankee Stadium.
Angel Guzman and Jeff Samardzija – neither of whom has had a good Spring – gave up an unearned run each the day before. Meh.
So how will it play out? Ideally, the Cubs will place Gaudin on the disabled list rather than dump him for the literal nothing he’d return at this point. They’d then send Samardzija to AAA, and keep Guzman and Patton.