The biggest weakness in the early going of 2009 for the Cubs has been bullpen depth. Carlos Marmol and Aaron Heilman have been good, but they can't pitch every night. It appears the Cubs are going to halt the project of stretching Jeff Samardzija out so he can be a starter in favor of adding him to the bullpen. He would be part of the bridge to the eighth inning, giving Lou Piniella another option to Heilman. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, in order to make room for Samardzija, the Cubs will designate Luis Vizcaino for assignment, meaning they have 10 days to trade him, or else he'll be released.
Both pieces of news come as a bit of a surprise. The most glaring weakness for the bullpen is a quality left-hander, since Neal Cotts can't find the plate even when he has a five-run lead. He's allowed 11 baserunners in only three innings. The only reason his ERA isn't through the roof is that he's been rescued by Marmol and Heilman a few times. Since Samardzija has been stretched out to start in the minors, and was doing very well (1.80 ERA in two starts), it might have made sense to add him to the rotation and shift Sean Marshall to the bullpen. He could either compliment Cotts or the Cubs could have sent Cotts down to the minors.
Vizcaino has been Cotts' polar opposite. He's thrown 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Most importantly, he hasn't walked a single batter. So, yeah, it's a bit surprising to see him get the boot over Cotts, David Patton (5.79 ERA, 3 walks in 4 2/3 innings) or Angel Guzman (5.40 ERA, 4 walks in 6 2/3 innings). Obviously, the Cubs have waited on Guzman for years and are reluctant to lose him, but they could easily wash their hands of Patton, a Rule 5 draft pick who had never thrown above Single-A until this year.
Regardless, The Shark is headed back to the bigs, and I'm guessing this time it's for good.
