He’ll miss a start or two, then come back and dominate at the right place at the right time!

Fingers crossed

….I think they should rest him longer….but then again I am not a Doctor, I only play one on BCB…

Good news. Good news. People need to realize that the suits aren’t misleading us, rather they are doing exactly what they said they were going to do with Harden when they acquired him- start from the end of the season, and work backwards- babying him as they go along. Now they are doing it with both Zambrano & Harden- not a bad thing. I want both of their arms rested and ready come post season.

This team hasn’t peaked yet. Which is a good thing. I have no doubt they will begin to peak in a couple of weeks & carry it into the postseason. Lou’s got a good handle on things. These last five wins don’t worry me, it just means that there is no where to go but up. Good news, good news…

Now I have a long walk down the stairs of the Sears Tower instead of a quick leap

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3569470

In the first paragraph, it is a blow to our chances for the WS. But two sentences later, they talk about he will probably be back in two weeks. Do they have interns write this stuff

I was on ESPN.com when I saw the little report and I pulled up the blurb and it said:

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano has right rotator cuff tendinitis and inflammation, an MRI confirmed, a blow to Chicago’s chances of winning the World Series for the first time in a century. Zambrano received a shot of anti-inflammatory medication and hopes to return to the rotation next week. General manager Jim Hendry said Zambrano is to start throwing again when the team begins a series in St. Louis on Sept. 10

Uhm…. so why exactly is this a “blow to Chicago’s chances of winning the World Series for the first time in a century”? Does anyone else get the feeling they wrote the story before knowing what was wrong with Z?

Carlos looked strong after a stint on the DL: in 6 starts (until the August problems), he was 4-1 with 40.1 IP and a 1.79 ERA, 11 BB, 30 K. More detailed info here

I’d take those numbers in the postseason and down the stretch this year.

Does his hitting affect this at all? If so, does the team take the stand point to shut him down from hitting (i.e. no batting practice, only allowed to bunt during the game). He is more important to us to pinch and I would perfectly okay with him resting the bat on his shoulder if it could potentially contribute to aggrivating the injury.

I wonder if his next start is pending where the Cubs actually are in the standings. Meaning if come the Houston series the Cubs are at least 4 games up on the Brewers or (more importantly) 8 or more games up in the wild card if this start would be pushed back again. The Cubs obviously cannot take a playoff spot for granted but if they remain in a position where they’ve got a comfortable lead I could see Piniella and Rothschild continuing to rest Zambrano (and Harden),

DmL

…everyone will be playing us HARD thinking we are beaten down and vulnerable. We absolutely need to play like we are fighting from behind in the wildcard race, even though Dan Bernstein just said “these games DONT MATTER”.

Here’s some interesting numbers. What are they? They’re Z’s first 5 starts after his last “layoff” or should I say DL. Not saying DL this time as much as some time off.

GS IP H R ER HR BB SO GB FB PIT BF DEC ERA
5 35.1 22 7 7 2 10 28 49 30 542 137 4-1 1.78

to talk to Z like he did before the all-star break?

I wonder if hammering Fontenot into the dugout floor before each game has caused this irritation.

Screaming and wildly gesticulating at Theriot.

Zambrano needs to be shut down, as long as we can keep the Brewers (Astros?) at bay. His health is vital to our success in the playoffs. It’s been proven time and time again that pitching wins championships.

Our goal isn’t to get 100 wins, set a club record for home wins, set a pitcher HR record, etc. I say that he works out regularly, maybe throws a simulated game in place of his projected Houston start, and then start ONE more game this season.

I remember hearing Philips on ESPN last night comparing Zambrano’s situation to that of Curt Schilling’s. The Red Sox shut Schilling down the final month or so of the season. Schilling ended up going 3-0 in the playoffs.

I dunno, I just think that we need to be EXTRA cautious with him AND Harden. With Zambrano and Harden on the top of their games, with Dempster, Lilly and co. following, there is absolutely no reason the Cubs can’t go deep in the playoffs.

So the Brewers can go out there and throw Sabathia for 9 innings and 432 pitches with no residual effect and Z can go out there for 5-6 innings a start in August and start off September with his shoulder falling off. Grr. Harden has obviously been fun to watch so far, but I hate the prospect of holding my break every time he’s announced for a start the rest of the year.

I hate not having an edit feature on here. I’m not sure how I came up with break instead of breath.

more likely…since he won’t be with the ‘crew next season….they don’t give a damn about his career at all. He’ll pitch till his arm falls off, and Yost won’t care.

If they win….well, great for them. If they don’t…..they may have wrecked a pitcher. If I was a GM, I’d sure think long and hard about signing him — and I wouldn’t give him over three years….

I guess possibly screwing around with a pitcher is OK in their eyes, because it’s probably this year — or nothing for the Brewers.

Or is he next in line for an MRI?

I haven’t heard and I don’t really feel like digging around on the web.

I hope this isn’t one of those seasons where a team tumbles into the playoffs.

OPTIMISM!

Again I need to wear my glasses.

first time I saw that I thought it said Z was going to something that rhymes with pitch again.

And yesterday I thought I read “Z to see doctor about aram” instead of arm.

Any guesses as to who will pitch in the Houston series?

That is all for now. :)

NL East…Mets or Phillies
NL Central…Cubs
NL West…D’Backs
Wildcard….Brewers

1st round….D’Backs vs. Cubs, Brewers vs. Mets or Phillies

Unfortunately, I would rather play the Mets or the Phillies in the first round as opposed to those damned D’Backs.