The Cubs appear to have a really deep bullpen for the 2008 season. 31-year old righty Kerry Wood will be the stopper for the Cubs this season and he should do a really good job in this role. He pitched in 22 games (0 starts) last season for the Cubs and he was 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He also whiffed 24 batters in 24.1 innings last season which shows his stuff if still pretty nasty. Wood has now pitched in 211 games (178 starts) in his major league career and he is 72-57 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He also has whiffed an amazing 1,323 batters in 1,153 career innings in the majors. Wood will do a good job as long as he can remain healthy which is always iffy.

25-year old righty Carlos Marmol will be the top set-up man this season and he has the best pure stuff on the pitching staff. Marmol pitched in 59 games (0 starts) last season for the Cubs and he was 5-1 with 1 save, a 1.43 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He only allowed 41 hits and whiffed an amazing 96 batters in only 69.1 innings which shows how helpless major league batters were against him last season. If Wood gets hurt again this season, Marmol will take over as the closer.

34-year old righty Bobby Howry will also be an important reliever late in games for the Cubs this season. He pitched in 78 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 6-7 with 8 saves, a 3.32 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Howry could also get some saves this season as he is a solid late reliever.

29-year old righty Mike Wuertz is also a fireballer. He pitched in 73 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 2-3 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He also whiffed 79 batters in 72.1 innings which shows that he can dominate any outing.

25-year old lefty Carmen Pignatiello will be the lone lefty in the bullpen for the Cubs when the season starts. He pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He also pitched in 50 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 2-0 with 4 saves, a 2.43 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Pignatiello will have to prove himself quickly before Scott Eyre returns from the D.L. if he wants to keep his job in the Cubs’ pen.

36-year old lefty Scott Eyre will start the season on the D.L. He pitched in 55 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last year and he was 2-1 with a 4.13 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. He walked an amazing 35 batters in only 52.1 innings last season and Lou Piniella won’t tolerate that again this season so Eyre better straighten up when he gets healthy.

28-year old lefty Neal Cotts will begin the season in the minors. He pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 0-1 with a 4.86 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He has good stuff but he needs to maintain his focus in outings.

23-year old righty Jose Ascaino will also start the season in the minors but the Cubs will likely call him up at some point in 2008. He pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Braves last season and he was 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He also pitched in 44 games (1 start) in AA ball last season and he was 2-2 with 10 saves, a 2.54 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: A

The Cubs have a deep and talented rotation and it all begins with 27-year old righty Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano started 34 games last season for the Cubs and he is 18-13 with a 3.95 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. He is exciting to watch pitch because he gets so wound up during games. Over the last two seasons, Zambrano has thrown 430.1 innings and he has allowed 349 hits, walked 216 batters and whiffed 387 batters. Look for Zambrano to have better numbers this season than he had last year.

32-year old lefty Ted Lilly really stepped up last season as he had the best year of his career. He started 34 games for the Cubs last season and he was 15-8 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Look for Lilly to have another good season for the Cubs in 2008.

28-year old lefty Rich Hill probably has the best stuff of any starter on the Cubs staff. He started 32 games for the Cubs last season and he was 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Look for Hill to win more games than he did last season as the Cubs appear to have a better team than they had last season.

31-year old righty Ryan Dempster will be moving into the Cubs’ rotation this season. He pitched in 66 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 2-7 with 28 saves, a 4.73 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. He has a career record of 59-75 with 87 saves, a 4.82 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Don’t look for him to hold onto a rotation spot all season long with Sean Marshall and Jon Lieber on the Cubs’ roster.

29-year old righty Jason Marquis will be the #5 starter for the Cubs this season. He pitched in 34 games (33 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 12-9 with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Marquis, like Dempster, will have to pitch well to hold onto his rotation spot all season.

38-year old righty Jon Lieber will be the long man in the bullpen at the start of the season but he will be the first pitcher moved into the starting rotation if the Cubs need someone. He pitched in 14 games (12 starts) last season for the Phillies and he is 3-6 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Lieber is a better pitcher than Ryan Dempster so look for them to switch roles at some point in 2008.

25-year old lefty Sean Marshall will start the season in AAA-ball but the Cubs won’t hesitate to call him up if they need a starting pitcher in 2008. He pitched in 21 games (19 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 7-8 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Marshall will also likely be good trade bait if the Cubs want/need something later in the year.

22-year old righty Sean Gallagher is one of the better prospects in the Cubs’ system. He pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 0-0 with a 8.59 ERA and a 2.11 WHIP. He also started 19 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 10-3 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

25-year old righty Kevin Hart also could get a look in the rotation at some point in 2008 for the Cubs. He pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 0-0 with a 0.82 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He pitched in 27 games (25 starts) in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 12-6 with a 3.99 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: A-

The over/under for the Chicago Cubs is 87.5 wins and I like the over on that. The Cubs have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball. If Kerry Wood can stay healthy as the closer the bullpen will be awesome with Carlos Marmol and Bobby Howry pitching in front of him. The National League Central is very weak and with the weighted schedule the Cubs should clean up quite a few wins in the division. Take the over with confidence.

The Cubs gave a lot of money to 31-year old lefty swinging Kosuke Fukudome in the off-season to start in RF. He played in 81 games in Japan last season and he was 79 for 269 (.294 avg, .963 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 13 homers and 48 RBIs. Over nine seasons in Japan’s major leagues, Fukudome has a .305 career average and he has averaged 79.2 runs scored, 21.3 homers and 71.9 RBIs per game. Power numbers don’t usually transfer well from Japan so don’t expect big production out of Fukudome. He could hit for a high average with a bundle of doubles however.

Matt Murton will be Fukudome’s backup in RF. He played in 41 games in RF last season for the Cubs and he made 4 errors while showing slightly above average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C

23-year old lefty swinging Felix Pie and 31-year old righty swinging Reed Johnson will likely share CF in 2008 for the Cubs. Pie has not lived up to his press clippings thus far in his major league career. He played in 87 games for the Cubs last season and he was 38 for 177 (.215 avg, .604 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 2 homers, 20 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He was incredible in AAA ball however. He played in 55 games there and he was 83 for 229 (.362 avg, .973 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 9 homers, 43 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Pie showed slightly below average range in CF last season but he didn’t make a error in 80 games there.

31-year old righty swinging Reed Johnson had his worst season of his major league career last year. He played in 79 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 65 for 275 (.236 avg, .635 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 2 homers and 14 RBIs. Johnson played in 70 games in LF for the Blue Jays and he didn’t make any errors while showing slightly above average range. Johnson has been a solid hitter over his major league career so the Cubs are hoping he bounces back with them. He played in 610 games for the Blue Jays in his major league career and he is 585 for 2,083 (.281 avg, .752 OPS) with 319 runs scored, 42 homers, 234 RBIs and 28 stolen bases.

25-year old lefty swinging Eric Patterson would likely get the call to the majors if either Pie or Johnson gets injured. Patterson played in 7 games for the Cubs last season and he was 2 for 8 (.250 avg, .625 OPS). He also played in 128 games in AAA last season for the Cubs and he was 153 for 516 (.297 avg, .817 OPS) with 94 runs scored, 14 homers, 65 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.

26-year old lefty swinging Sam Fuld is the #4 guy in line for playing time in CF for the Cubs. He played in 14 games for the Cubs last season and he was 0 for 6 (.000 avg, .333 OPS) with 3 runs scored. He also played in 104 games in AAA last season and he was 111 for 387 (.286 avg) with 69 runs scored, 3 homers, 29 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C-