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The Chicago Cubs place Lendy Castillo on the D.L.

chinmusic — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:59:45 +0000

The Cubs have placed 23-year old righty reliever Lendy Castillo on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 12th due to a left groin strain. Castillo has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Cubs so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 7.04 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. The Cubs have recalled 27-year old lefty reliever Scott Maine to replace Castillo in the pen. Maine has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Cubs so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. Maine whiffed an amazing 10 batters in only 5 2/3 innings in his first go around with the Cubs this year.

The Chicago Cubs acquire Hunter Cervenka from the Red Sox

chinmusic — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:20:50 +0000

The Cubs have acquired 22-year old lefty reliever Hunter Cervenka from the Red Sox to complete the Marlon Byrd deal. Cervenka has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) in A-ball for the Red Sox this year and he was 0-3 with a 8.04 ERA and a 1.72 WHIP. Cervenka has now pitched in 56 games (23 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 6-19 with 2 saves, a 5.97 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. He has whiffed 166 batters and he has only given up 157 hits in his first 173 1/3 innings in the minors, but he has walked 138 batters…which always seems to get him in a lot of trouble. The Cubs like Cervenka’s arm, but they are going to have to teach him how to tighten up his control before he’s going to get a shot to move up in the minors.

The Chicago Cubs sign Mike MacDougal

chinmusic — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:48:52 +0000

The Cubs have signed 35-year old righty reliever Mike MacDougal to a minor league deal. MacDougal pitched in 7 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Dodgers and he was 0-0 with a 7.94 ERA and a 2.65 WHIP. MacDougal has now pitched in 407 games (3 starts) in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 18-23 with 71 saves, a 4.00 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. MacDougal has good stuff, but he’s just as wild as Carlos Marmol.

The Chicago Cubs place Carlos Marmol on the D.L.

chinmusic — Sat, 12 May 2012 18:06:04 +0000

The Cubs have placed 29-year old righty reliever Carlos Marmol on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained right hamstring. Marmol has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Cubs so far this year and he is 0-1 with 2 saves, a 6.35 ERA and a 2.21 WHIP. The Cubs have called up 24-year old righty starter/reliever Casey Coleman to replace Marmol in the bullpen. Coleman has pitched in 7 games (6 starts) in AAA-ball for the Cubs so far this year and he was 2-3 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Coleman has pitched in 31 games (25 starts) in his first two years with the Cubs and he is 7-11 with a 5.48 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP.

Anthony Rizzo is ripping the ball in the minors for the Chicago Cubs

chinmusic — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:40:32 +0000

22-year old lefty swinging 1B Anthony Rizzo is ripping the ball in AAA for the Cubs so far this year. He has played in 30 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 41 for 115 (.357 avg, 1.056 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 9 homers, 31 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Cubs aren’t going to rush Rizzo to Chicago any time soon, as Bryan LaHair is playing well for them right now. Plus, the Cubs don’t want to promote Rizzo until they are confident that he’s ready to succeed. That’s because he played in 49 games for the Padres last year (his first major league experience) and he was 18 for 128 (.141 avg, .523 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs. He did walk 21 times, but he also whiffed 46 times last year for the Padres as he was overmatched badly by major league pitching last year.

Jeff Samardzija has looked outstanding this year for the Chicago Cubs

chinmusic — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:42:35 +0000

The Cubs decided in spring training to convert 27-year old righty Jeff Samardzija into a starting pitcher in 2012. This had it’s risks as Samardzija came into this season walking 5.3 batters per 9 innings pitched. That just wouldn’t get the job done as a starting pitcher due to high pitch counts. But, Samardzija is only allowing 2.8 walks per 9 innings so far this year and the results have been outstanding so far. Samardzija has started 6 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 4-1 with a 3.03 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He has only given up 34 hits in 38 2/3 innings while whiffing 39 batters and only walking 12. The Cubs hope that Samardzija keeps giving them good work when it’s his day to pitch.

The Chicago Cubs call up infiedler Adrian Cardenas

chinmusic — Tue, 08 May 2012 03:24:11 +0000

The Cubs have called up 24-year old lefty swinging infielder Adrian Cardenas for his first shot at the show. Cardenas played in 26 games in AAA-ball for the Cubs this year and he was 30 for 94 (.319 avg, .897 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers, 18 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has walked 11 times while only whiffing 5 times in the minors this year. Cardenas has played in 669 games in his first seven years in the minors and he is 779 of 2,569 (.303 avg, .785 OPS) with 385 runs scored, 31 homers, 341 RBIs and 78 stolen bases. The Cubs have sent down 25-year old lefty starting pitcher Travis Wood to AAA to make room for Cardenas on the roster. Wood started yesterday against the Dodgers and he worked 6 innings in which he gave up 3 hits, 3 runs (all earned), walked 3 batters and he whiffed 4…but he didn’t get a decision.

The Chicago Cubs release Dan Berlind

chinmusic — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:18:16 +0000

The Cubs have released 25-year old righty reliever Dan Berlind. Berlind pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball this year and he was 0-2 with a 17.28 ERA and a 3.36 WHIP. He gave up 18 hits and he walked 10 batters in only 8 1/3 innings in the minors this year. Berlind has pitched in 110 games (0 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he is 21-30 with 7 saves, a 5.09 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. This is no loss for the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs DFA Blake DeWitt

chinmusic — Sun, 06 May 2012 20:18:05 +0000

The Chicago Cubs have designated 26-year old lefty swinging 2B/3B Blake DeWitt for assignment. DeWitt played in 18 games for the Cubs this year and he was 4 for 29 (.138 avg, .306 OPS) with 1 run scored, 0 homers and 1 RBI. He played in 192 games in his first three years with the Cubs and he was 111 of 443 (.251 avg, .679 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 0 homers, 49 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Cubs need DeWitt’s roster spot for 25-year old lefty Travis Wood, who is starting today against the Dodgers. Wood pitched in 5 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Cubs this year and he was 1-3 with a 5.08 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has pitched in 39 games (35 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 11-10 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.

UPDATE: (5/17/2012) - Blake DeWitt has accepted an outright assignment to AAA after clearing waivers.

Brett Jackson is getting close to ready for the Chicago Cubs

chinmusic — Sat, 05 May 2012 17:41:10 +0000

23-year old lefty swinging CF Brett Jackson is close to ready for the Chicago Cubs. Jackson came into this season as the Cubs’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America. Jackson has played in 26 games in AAA-ball for the Cubs this year and he is 26 for 104 (.250 avg, .770 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 2 homers, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 322 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 357 for 1,237 (.289 avg, .874 OPS) with 253 runs scored, 42 homers, 171 RBIs and 68 stolen bases. CF is wide open for the Cubs now with Marlon Byrd being dealt to the Red Sox, so Brett Jackson’s time with the Cubs should come at some point in 2012.