Spring Training Miscellany: Reds 6, Cubs 8 – March 12, 2012

Paul Maholm pitched a couple of fine innings today in his Spring debut as the Cubs beat the Reds 8-6. Most of the damage came early off of Fabio Arroyo – which nickname I use completely lovingly.

Among the notable bits:

  • Jeff Samardzija pitched three innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out three. A bad call cost him the chance to give up just one run, and it wasn’t a bad outing. The fact that he got another three innings today does nothing but strengthen a growing belief that he’s becoming a favorite to take one of the two open rotation spots.
  • Alfonso Soriano had two more hits, including a looooong bomb of a home run. I’ll be discussing his Spring very soon.
  • Yeah, yeah, Carlos Marmol wild, grumble, hits, rabble, blown save, rubble (Marmol gave up three earned runs in his inning of work on the strength of two hits, two walks and a HBP – eesh). No one wants to be pitching like this in Spring Training, but I’ll be worried when he’s doing this stuff in April. (Which, you know, he almost certainly will.)
  • So, Joe Mather really wants to make this team. I’ve said all along that the reserve outfield candidate has an uphill climb – he’d have to pass at least two of Reed Johnson, Tony Campana, and Dave Sappelt. But, that said, he’s doing nothing but hitting, stealing bases, and playing adequate defense. Three-run homer today gave the Cubs the lead back after Marmol’s Marmoliness.
  • Rule 5 pick Lendy Castillo – whom you’ve got to suspect Theo and Jed would very, very much like to keep – pitched another scoreless inning, striking out two. His situation (if the Cubs can keep him on the 25-man roster all year (well, technically, on the 25-man for 90 days, and then on the disabled list for the rest of the year), they get to keep him) gives him a leg up in his effort to make the pen. His performance isn’t really doing anything to disuade Dale Sveum from agreeing with Theo and Jed.
  • Marcos Mateo threw a scoreless frame, striking out one.
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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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