33-year old righty starting pitcher Ryan Dempster probably should have had a better won/loss record this year but the Cubs stunk. He has pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Cubbies this year and he is 15-11 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Dempster has whiffed a career high 201 batters so far this year in only 209 1/3 innings as he seems to be getting better with age. Dempster has now pitched in 323 games (103 starts) in his 7 years with the Cubs and he is 52-46 with 87 saves, a 3.66 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Dempster has proved to be an asset in any role for the Chicago Cubs in his time with the team.

27-year old righty closer Carlos Marmol has been outstanding this year for the Cubs. He has pitched in 71 games (0 starts) for the Cubbies this year and he is 2-3 with 33 saves, a 2.78 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He has only given up 39 hits while whiffing 124 batters in only 71 1/3 innings this year which shows what kind of nasty stuff he has. Marmol does have control issues though as he has walked 48 batters this year and that has gotten him into trouble at times. Still, it’s hard to get on a guy who averages a simply amazing 15.6 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.

The Cubs have designated 25-year old righty reliever Mitch Atkins for assignment. Atkins pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the Cubs this year and he was 0-0 with a 6.30 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. He also pitched in 28 games (15 starts) in AAA-ball for the Cubs this year and he was 8-3 with 1 save, a 3.63 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Atkins pitched in 7 games (0 starts) in parts of two years with the Cubbies and he was 0-0 with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He doesn’t appear to have much of an upside so the Cubs weren’t worried about letting him go.

27-year old righty swinging catcher Geovany Soto had surgery on his right shoulder earlier today ending his season. Soto played in 105 games for the Cubs this year and he was 90 of 322 (.280 avg, .890 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 17 homers and 53 RBIs in a nice bounce back season for him. 31-year old switch hitting Koyie Hill and 23-year old righty swinging Wellington Castillo will likely share time behind the plate for the Cubs the rest of the year. Hill has played in 66 games for the Cubs this year and he is 40 of 179 (.223 avg, .559 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 1 homer and 17 RBIs. The Cubs know what they have in Hill so they might give Castillo more P.T. the rest of the year. Castillo has played in 4 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 4 of 11 (.364 avg, 1.235 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs.

24-year old lefty swinging outfielder Tyler Colvin’s season is done. He was impaled by a broken bat while trying to score (he did) on a Welington Castillo hit. He was very lucky that the bat didn’t penetrate his chest much deeper or he might have literally gotten killed. Colvin played in 135 games for the Cubs this year and he was 91 of 358 (.254 avg, .816 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 20 homers, 56 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Colvin will likely be o.k. for spring training next year.