I Need Some Relief ... pt 2

A day after an exciting win over the fish from Florida there are many exciting topics to discuss: most notably Soriano’s return,  Jeff Samardzija being called up for his first big league action, and the team’s offense being carried by the bottom of the order, again.

But I’m here to tackle a different topic folks.  One that is pretty popular on the fanposts right now ...    

As some of you might know, I recently wrote a fan post describing my love for Cubs left handed hurler Neal Cotts.  And well … I’m here to do it again … and while I’m at it, I might as well dig a little deeper into the Cubs bullpen.

After my last fanpost, one where most comments were of the joking manner, one reader asked an interesting question: what Cubs reliever has been better than Cotts? I’m here to say pretty much none.

Before I ramble on anymore, let’s take a look at the stats of the six most prominent relievers of the past several weeks.  I exclude Kerry Wood because he has been in the closer role exclusively and also hasn’t pitched in some time.  Jon Lieber and Michael Wuertz also don’t make the cut as they haven’t pitched since July 10th and Scott Eyre doesn’t make the list since he hasn’t taken the hill since June 26th. 

These stats only date back to July 10th as that’s the first day Chad Gaudin pitched for the Cubbies.

                                                      IP        ER        K          BB

The stats show (again sorry for my lackluster excel skills) that Kevin Hart is by far the lame duck of this crew which is why more time in the minors is needed.  Sean Marshall looked good in relief in Rich Harden’s first start, where he picked up the win, but he also gave up a long ball and 2 ER on July 22.  Marshall has stuff to pitch and pitch well; if Marquis is moved, Marshall should find a way back to the rotation.  Carlos Marmol … well … he got the save last night, but we all know how the month of July went for Marmol. 

It’s kind of like that one time where you met a girl at Sluggers after the game and about 23 Old Styles and 11 shots of SoCo later you wake up realizing that this girl just moved into your apartment and you still have no idea what just happened to the last three weeks of your life.  It’s a terrible nightmare you want to end.  Yeah it’s kind of been like that.

Howry’s month hasn’t been much better.  It’s becoming apparent the group’s resident elder (he turns 35 in less than two weeks) may not have his stuff of old. For the month of July, “Hot Bobby” as I love to call him, has given up 8 runs in 9.2 innings pitched and only delivered five strike outs.  However he only has one walk on the month and did help hold down the win in six straight appearances from July 2 – July 12. 

That leaves only Cotts and Gaudin, who has been quite impressive since the trade from Oakland. After the deal I immediately emailed a fellow baseball nut back home and said “Wow I can’t believe we also got Gaudin - he’s a huge part of this deal.”  So far I have not been let down, despite a home run in his first game and 1 ER last night, he has still been money.

Which leads us left with only Cotts … and well I can’t say much more than what I’ve already said: Cotts should stay exactly where he is and given the chance to put up numbers like he did in 2005.  And so far, he seems to be doing that. Since July 12 he has surrendered zero hits, zero runs, and zero walks - up to last night where he issued his first walk in weeks, which was on four pitches and was against the #4 hitter with men on 2nd and 3rd.  Cotts was immediately pulled and wasn't even given the chance to help diffuse the bases loaded  jam.         

Despite maybe Gaudin according to some, Cotts has been hands down the Cubs most reliable reliever in the month of July and his performance, along with the return of Scott Eyre should really help downspell any ideas that the club need to bring in another left handed reliever. Another lefty might be nice, but I say at this time, it's not a necessity.

Pulling in another pitcher would be nice, but the price for Huston Street or George Sherill will be to high and going for David Weathers or Damaso Marte would be a bad move. There are better options available, including some young righties, of course more on that soon ...      

A final note on Cotts numbers … a comment from the previous fanpost asked about Cotts numbers vs. lefties and righties. And not surprisingly, there’s not much difference.  He’s holding lefties to a .233 average and righties to a very nice .222 average.  And he’s also doing something many Cubs pitchers aren’t – doing well on the road.  Cotts is holding batters to a .209 average in 12.1 innings pitched away from Wrigley.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about these numbers, despite how good they are, is that three times this month Cubs skipper Sweet Lou has yanked Cotts after 1/3 of an inning.  Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to let him go a little longer and see if he can keep this hot streak going. Because I, for one, think he can.