Mike Quade Defends His Use of Starters and Other Bullets

Today, the Cubs throw out Doug Davis, a guy whom the Cubs signed as a last-ditch option early in the year. The Phillies counter with Roy Oswalt, a stud for whom they traded last year. That’s after Cliff Lee, a stud for whom they once traded, and then signed this year. And that’s after Roy Halladay, a stud for whom they traded. Must be nice.

  • Matt Garza pitched well against a tough lineup yesterday in his second start back from the DL. “I feel a lot better,” Garza said. “I feel like my control is coming back. I was able to throw a great breaking ball today, good curveballs, which I’ve been throwing for a couple of starts. Another good step forward for me personally.”
  • Of course, Garza did throw over 110 pitches, which seems high for a guy just one start removed from an elbow injury. Finally, some folks with microphones actually asked Mike Quade about his penchant for leaving starters in too long. Quade’s response was predictably about saving the bullpen. “It’s just the way I look at things when we’re going to the bullpen a lot and I don’t have the luxury of having a bunch of [relievers] like I’ve had a few times this year. So more times than not, we’ll have to be in a good position late in the game to win a ballgame for me to exhaust more [relievers] that have already worked a lot. That’s the way I do things.” So, Quade is more worried about exhausting the bullpen than his starters. Got it.
  • DJ LeMahieu’s Major League benching is set to expire tomorrow when Jeff Baker returns to the Cubs. Of the experience, which took one of the Cubs’ best and hottest prospects and sat him down with almost no playing time for two weeks, Mike Quade is making no apologies. “He knew, we all knew how we were going to use him and what he was getting into. The value of the experience being here is important. Sure, you’d like to be playing him every day. But it’s good to get a taste and a feel. So your development continues, whether it’s down there or here — probably there down the road. And then you come back and you’re not in awe. He has handled himself great.” I’ve made no secret that I thought the Cubs’ decision to promote LeMahieu over a minor league vet like Bobby Scales was asinine. I still think it. But I can at least see the virtue in getting a kid a taste of the big league experience and coaching. I just would have preferred that the taste include a few more starts. Pending today’s game, LeMahieu will finish his first go-around with the Cubs with one hit and two strikeouts in just nine at bats.
  • I hope Tom Ricketts was paying attention to this: Yesterday, the Phillies recorded their 158th straight sellout with a crowd of 45,738.
  • Ryan Dempster does an excellent Harry Caray impression (well, more accurately, he does an excellent impression of Will Ferrell doing a Harry Caray impression) (h/t Matt Clapp):
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    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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