Meaningful Things

The Cubs lost to the Giants 8-6 this afternoon on another sunny, 75-degree day in Mesa.

So what? Wins and losses don't mean a thing in spring training. And this isn't a rationalization, it's the truth. Most major league managers would tell you that they don't even necessarily play to win each ST game -- because they are experimenting with lineups, taking regulars out early, and switching pitchers far more often than they would during a regular season game.

So what happened today that was meaningful for the Cubs?

• Carlos Zambrano threw two decent innings, though he ruined the first one with his own throwing error.
• Rich Hill also threw two uneventful innings, striking out three
• Kosuke Fukudome continued to play On-Base Machine, walking twice more and scoring two runs; in fact, the Cubs drew nine walks total today, a good sign, including two from Mike Fontenot, who also doubled and who will be given the chance to see if he can play 3B or SS, to improve his chances of sticking as a utility player
• One of our Closer Candidates, Carlos Marmol, appeared in a game for the first time, and Marmol put some random minor league Giants down 1-2-3.
• Why is Les Walrond even still issued a major league uniform? He's awful. He is 31 years old. He wasn't even any good when he was younger. There have to be better ways to fill out the Iowa rotation than with retreads like this.

There isn't that much more to say about this afternoon's game, which none of us saw nor heard, only followed on Gameday -- well, as best we could, because at times there were long pauses between Gameday updates. Tomorrow's game, being televised, will provide much more fodder for discussion. And, the Cubs will actually be playing someone other than the Giants! Finally -- if you're in Chicago or the surrounding area, I'm sure you were happy to see the sun and temperatures above 40 today; spring can't be far behind.