Cubs lose 8-4 to Pirates; The latest roster changes

The Cubs lost the rubber game 8-4 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field this afternoon, which I witnessed in person. 

Travis Wood started for the Cubs and allowed two runs on three hits while walking three batters and striking out six over 98 pitches in five innings.  This was Wood's fourth straight loss.

Travis Wood sports his new haircut while making the start against the Pirates on Wednesday (photo by Karen Burchell)

Wood said, "It was a battle early.  I was missing location, and just off and throwing balls. Unfortunately, we came up short.  I felt like I took a stride today, even though I didn’t go deep into the ball game and threw a lot of pitches, I still felt like I kept them off-balance and keep our team in the ball game.”

Very true, the game was close until the Pirates scored five runs off reliever Shawn Camp, who wasn't able to get anyone out.  This was a departure from the usually reliable Camp, who had give up on ly two runs in his last 20 outings.  Camp's ERA jumped from 2.70 to 3.54.

The Cubs rallied in the ninth and scored three runs, but it was too little, too late.

Starlin Castro is congratulated by his teammates in the dugout after his homer against the Pirates on Wednesday (photo from Chicago Tribune)

In other Cubs news, Chris Volstad was called up from Triple-A Iowa and is scheduled to start on Saturday.  Let's hope he can turn his season with the Cubs around and finally earn a win (his record is 0-7 with the Cubs this season).

Relief pitcher Alberto Cabrera was also called up from the Iowa Cubs and made his major league debut by striking out two batters in a scoreless inning in Wednesday's game.

Casey Coleman was optioned to Triple-A Iowa after starting for the Cubs on Tuesday and allowing a grand slam in the first inning.

Second baseman Darwin Barney,  who was hit in the helmet with a slider by pitcher A.J. Burnett during Tuesday night's game is predicted to be back in the lineup on Friday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.  Thankfully, tests showed that Barney is ok.

Second baseman Darwin Barney had to leave the game Tuesday night after being hit in the head by a pitch (photo from Chicago Tribune)

This has been a busy week for the Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein, as the team dealt top pitchers Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm, as well as utility player Reed Johnson and catcher Geovany Soto.  Dempster and Soto have landed with the Texas Rangers and Maholm and Johnson have ended up on the Atlanta Braves.

"They're great guys -- outstanding pitchers, outstanding teammates," Wood said of the ex-Cubs. "When you lose people like that, it's hard to replace them.  They're moving on and we have to, too."
"We lost a lot of good friends, good teammates and on top of that, good baseball players," Baker said. "We put ourselves in a situation where we got off to a slow start and didn't play well.  I still believe in the guys in the room and it's an opportunity for some guys to prove themselves so they can play and be part of the plans going forward.  We still have to play good baseball.  Everyone in here is a big league player, and now it's time to step up and run with it."

Dempster said, "I definitely don't close doors on possibly coming back to the Cubs.  It was just an unbelievable nine years of my career and of my life.  It's been more than just a baseball team to me. It's been a city and a way of life."  We'll miss you, Demp!

Starting pitcher Matt Garza, who has been out with a triceps injury since July 21st, will throw a bullpen session over the weekend and could start on Tuesday in San Diego, if things go well with the bullpen session.  Garza and his wife also welcomed a baby daughter, who they named Summer, on Tuesday.

The Cubs have an off-day tomorrow and will play a three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles starting Friday night at 9:10pm CT.  Jeff Samardzija will start on Friday and try to earn his eighth win of the season.

Chris Volstad is back to old ways as Cubs lose 10-3 to Braves

The Cubs lost 10-3 to the Atlanta Braves tonight.  I guess 5 wins in a row was being too hopeful.  Oh well, tomorrow's a new day!

Chris Volstad was called up from Triple-A Iowa to start for the Cubs and gave up six runs on seven hits with two walks over 4-1/3 innings.  In a corresponding move, Casey Coleman was optioned to Triple-A Iowa today, which also happens to be his birthday.

Chris Volstad couldn't lead the Cubs to a win Tuesday and now has a winless streak of 20 games (photo from cubs.com)

Volstad was back to his fifth inning troubles, when he gave up five runs.  He wasn't better than Randy Wells or Casey Coleman, who were both sent down to Iowa within the past week.  Volstad fell to 0-7 with the Cubs with a 7.94 ERA.

Ryan Dempster will have his second bullpen session in three days on Wednesday at Turner Field, and will be re-evaluated Thursday to determine the next step.  Most likely, the Cubs will still have to cover Dempster's spot in the rotation one more time on Sunday against the New York Mets.  We'll see who Dale Sveum decides to go with for the start.

On a side note, Wells made his first start tonight since going back to Iowa and allowed one run on three hits and struck out four and walked two batters over five innings pitched.  Wells earned the win tonight against the Nashville Sounds.

Randy Wells earned the win in his first start since going down to Triple-A Iowa (photo from Iowa Cubs)

On a side note, Anthony Rizzo recorded the game-winning RBI in three of his first five games and became the first Cubs player in franchise history to accomplish this since the RBI was made an official stat in 1920.  Of his five RBIs, four have given the Cubs the lead, and the other has tied the game. 

Tomorrow the Cubs and Braves will play game two of the four game series at 6:10pm CT.  Paul Maholm will start for the Cubs and try for his sixth win of the season.  In his last start, he was excellent as he gave up just four hits over 8-1/3 innings.

Jeff Samardzija, Casey Coleman and Cubs get whopped 17-1 by the Mets; Roster moves made today

The Cubs lost by a whopping score of 17-1 to the New York Mets at Wrigley Field this afternoon.  Jeff Samardzija started for the Cubs and allowed nine runs on six hits and issued four walks over 4-1/3 innings pitched.  Samardzija was charged with his seventh loss of the season and now has an ERA of 5.05.  In his last five starts, the "Shark" has been charged with 27 earned runs over 23-1/3 innings. 

Jeff Samardzija didn't fare well today and takes the loss against the Mets (photo from cubs.com)

"The walks aren't acceptable, especially with the conditions we had today,'' said Samardzija, who walked four.  "If you're going to give up home runs, they have to be solo home runs.  You can't give up runs for free.''

The Mets hit three home runs in a 10-batter stretch during a six-run fifth inning against Samardzija.   Casey Coleman came into the game in relief and didn't fare better, giving up another six runs in the sixth inning, including a grand slam to Scott Hairston.  Perhaps the Cubs shouldn't have shipped Randy Wells off so quickly after his start last night....seeing as Samardzija and Coleman both fared much worse than Wells did....

Yesterday's hero, newcomer first baseman Anthony Rizzo went 1-for-4 with a double in today's game.  Even he couldn't help save the Cubs today.

As I mentioned above, right handed pitcher Randy Wells was designated for assignment today.  Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Wells was DFA'ed instead of simply being optioned to Triple-A Iowa because the Cubs needed a roster spot for outfielder Jorge Soler.

Randy Wells was designated for assignment on Tuesday

The $30 million, nine-year Soler deal is expected to be official in the next few days.  If Wells is claimed on waivers by another team, that team would be responsible for the remaining $1.5 million on his $2.7 million salary.

However, if Wells clears waivers, he will be outrighted to Iowa.  But I think it's totally unfair since there are pitchers still on the roster that have worse numbers than Wells.  Such as, Samardzija, who has allowed 27 earned runs in his last 23 1/3 innings pitched.  That's an ERA of 11.64 in his last four starts.

This all goes back to my belief that Wells never got a fair look in spring training this year by the new Cubs' front office and Sveum.  He hardly got to pitch in ST and when he did, he pitched well.  But for some unknown reason, Wells was sent to Iowa to start out the season and Chris Volstad took a spot in the starting rotation.  And Volstad flopped and was eventually sent to Iowa.  Plus, many people are quick to forget that Wells pitched two complete games, with one being a complete game shutout last season.  Anyway.....

The Cubs also recalled relief pitcher Rafael Dolis from Iowa today.  We'll see how things go for him this time around.

The Cubs have an off-day tomorrow and will play a three-game series at Wrigley Field against the Houston Astros starting at 1:20pm on Friday, when Paul Maholm will start for the Cubs and try for his fifth win of the season.

Cubs can't pull off series sweep, but still win series against White Sox; Ian Stewart update; Is Anthony Rizzo on-deck?

The Cubs weren't able to pull off the series sweep against the White Sox tonight and lost 7-0.  However, the Cubs did already secure the series win against the South siders when they won the second game in a row against the Sox yesterday.  Randy Wells started for the Cubs tonight and allowed three runs on five hits and also walked four batters over 3 2/3 innings.

Randy Wells started in the final game against the White Sox on Wednesday (photo from Chicago Tribune)

Wells pitched two scoreless innings, but then walked Eduardo Escobar (who stole second) in the third inning and also walked Alejandro De Aza.  Both runners advanced on Gordon Beckham's sacrifice.  Then Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko both hit RBI singles to give the Sox a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Alexei Ramirez singled with one out.  Then De Aza reached on an infield single to Starlin Castro, who missed the flip to Darwin Barney for the forceout.  Then Beckham hit a single that got past a diving Barney that scored Ramirez.  He left the game in the fourth inning with the Sox leading 3-0.

The Cubs also wasted scoring opportunities they had tonight, such as when David DeJesus hit a leadoff double in the third inning, but was left stranded.  “Those are things we have to get better at,” manager Dale Sveum said.  “We gave one away that we could have taken the lead on early (in the third inning) if we could have got the guy over and we swing at the first pitch and roll over and don’t get anything out of that.  That was probably the key of the game right there.”

One tense moment in tonight's game was when relief pitcher Casey Coleman was hit on the right hand by the barrel of Eduzrdo Escobar's broken bat in the seventh inning, even though he tried to get out of the way.  "It's always scary when something like that happens, but I got lucky," Coleman said. "It was the barrel that hit me on the knuckles.  It's scary when you don't see it and all of a sudden it gets you." The x-rays on his hand were negative.

The White Sox win the Crosstown series 4-2 games over the Cubs this season. 

In other Cubs news, third baseman Ian Stewart had a cortisone shot in his left hand and said, “My options now are just to see if this cortisone works and give it four, five days when I’m on the [disabled list] to really let it sink in and work and then slowly get a program going off the tee.  If the shot works, then it’ll carry me through the season and maybe get another one in another six weeks or so.  If it doesn’t, then we may have to go the other route.  We’re just going to see how it feels.”  Hopefully the shot will work and Stewart won't need surgery on his wrist.  Stewart won't touch a baseball until this weekend, when he will hit off a tee.

Third baseman Ian Stewart is hoping the cortisone shot will help with his wrist injury (photo from ESPN)

The Cubs have an off-day tomorrow and will travel to start a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Their next game is Friday at 8:40pm CT.  Jeff Samardzija will start for the Cubs and try for his sixth win of the season.  There has also been lots of talk about the Cubs calling up top prospect Anthony Rizzo from Triple-A Iowa this weekend for the games against the Dbacks, so we'll see if Theo and Co. are ready to make the leap.

Cubs win 4-3 over Tigers; Rudy Jaramillo fired; Jorge Soler is a Cub

The Cubs win 4-3 over the Detroit Tigers at Wrigley Field tonight for their second straight win.  Paul Maholm started for the Cubs and pitched an excellent six shutout innings.  Maholm left the game with two on base and no outs.  He struck out seven batters and issued one walk tonight, but ended up with a no decision, unfortunately.

Casey Coleman came into the game in relief and gave up the lead and was pulled for James Russell when the game was tied at 3.

Russell got the job done and retired all three batters he faced.  Then Carlos Marmol came in and was successful in relief and earned his first win of the season while Shawn Camp earned the save.

Darwin Barney had 3 RBIs tonight and was 1-for-3.  Tony Campana stole three bases tonight.

In other Cubs news, the team signed corner outfielder Jorge Soler to a guaranteed nine-year, $30 million contract yesterday.  Soler is 20 years old, 6-foot-4 and 225-pounds and is considered by many to be the next big Cuban prospect on the scene.  Soler was declared a free agent last week and received interest from many other teams, including the Yankees, Blue Jays, White Sox, Marlins, Phillies, Orioles, and Red Sox. 

Rudy Jaramillo, the Cubs' hitting coach, was fired today.  This was his third season with the North siders and the team's on-base percentage has declined each of the seasons he's been the hitting coach. However, "Rudy's not to blame for the results," said Cubs President Theo Epstein earlier today.

"That's something we're all accountable for.  We put the roster together.  It's probably more on us than it is on him.  I'm sure a lot of players feel accountable, too.  It's not based on results.  It's more trying to get a new voice with a new message.  We have a certain hitting philosophy we believe in, and we have a lot of growth that awaits us as an organization."

James Rowson, the Cubs' Minor League hitting coordinator, will be the interim hitting coach. 

The Cubs and Rudy Jaramillo parted ways earlier today (photo from cubs.com)

Tomorrow the Cubs and Tigers will play game two of the three-game series at 7:05pm CT.  Matt Garza will start for the Cubs and try to earn his third win of the season.  I'll be at the game, so I'll be posting lots of photos!

Cubs lose 4-3 to Brewers in 10 innings; Minnesota is last stop on road trip

The Cubs lost 4-3 to the Milwaukee Brewers today in a game that went into an extra inning.  Matt Garza started for the Cubs and gave up three hits over six innings and struck out six.  He faced the minimum amount of batters through the first three innings and struck out four of the first nine batters.


Speaking of today's tough loss, Garza said, “You just keep going.  There is another one tomorrow we have got to get ready for, we have to stay ready, and we knew coming in (the 2012 season) was going to be tough.  I threw the ball well.  I would have liked to stay in longer and give up less runs, but I am just going to keep going out there and get ready for Detroit.”

Garza did hit his first career double in the third inning, which was a pleasant surprise. 

Another highlight of the game was when Bryan LaHair gave the Cubs the lead with a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the eighth inning.  But then Norichika Aoki singled off James Russell, who was then pulled for Manuel Corpas. Two outs later, Aoki scored when Corey Hart doubled to tie up the game.

Bryan LaHair came through for the Cubs when he hit a 2-run pinch-hit homer to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead over the Brewers in the 8th inning (photo from cubs.com)

Aoki homered twice for the Brewers, including the walk-off home run in the 10th inning off Cubs reliever Casey Coleman.

Casey Coleman sits in the dugout after serving up the walk-off homer to Norichika Aoki in the 10th inning (US Presswire photo)

The Cubs will travel to Minnesota to play a three-game series against the Twins, starting tomorrow night at 7:10 CT.  Travis Wood will start for the Cubs and try for his first win of the season.

Cubs offense finally comes alive in the ninth, but they fall short and lose 4-3 to the Giants

The Cubs offense was quiet until the ninth inning as they lost to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park tonight.  Paul Maholm started for the Cubs and allowed four runs on eight hits and walked two batters and struck out four over 5.1 innings.  Maholm put the Cubs in a 4-0 hole in the third inning and was pulled with one out in 6th after throwing 89 pitches.

Cubs starter Paul Maholm had a rough outing tonight in San Francisco (photo from cubs.com)

Right handed reliever Blake Parker came into the game next and lasted until the seventh inning with two out and a runner on first.

Casey Coleman came into the game next and got the third out.  Carlos Marmol entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and did a good job.

The Cubs made it interesting in the ninth when Starlin Castro led off with a base hit, followed by Joe Mather's base hit.  Alfonso Soriano batted third in the inning and hit a 3-run home run to make it 4-3 Giants.

Bryan LaHair came through next with a double with one out, but Darwin Barney and David DeJesus were unable to reach.

Even though the Cubs finally kicked in their offense in the ninth and finally made tonight's game fun to watch, they fell one run short of tying it up and lost 4-3 to the Giants.

Tomorrow, the Cubs and Giants will wear 1912 replica uniforms as they play game two of the four game series at 6:15pm CT.  The Cubs were 91-59 that year and finished third in the division.  Matt Garza will start for the Cubs and try to earn his third win of the season.

Darwin Barney's two-run walk-off homer gives Cubs third straight win

Darwin Barney's two-run, walk-off home run led the Cubs to a 8-6 win over the San Diego Padres this afternoon at Wrigley Field, which was the team's first three-game winning streak of the season.

"That was the first walk-off home run I've ever had at any level," Barney said.  "I didn't even see it go out.  I was running hard.  It's crazy.  It was already gone and passed and it happened so fast.  It's exciting.  It was good for our club."  This was Barney's second home run in three days and he also scored three runs and drove in three today.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum said the following about Barney, "He has been doing a nice job, building that slugging percentage for sure.  That ball was crushed through that wind."

Darwin Barney's reaction after winning today's game with his two-run walk-off homer (photo from cubs.com)

According to STATS, Inc., the Cubs are the first National League team to win at least three in a row following a streak of 12-or-more losses since August 2002, when the Mets also followed a 12-game losing streak with three straight victories. 

Tony Campana, who was pinch-running for Reed Johnson, stole two bases and scored the tying run in the eighth inning with his speed, which definitely helped the team tor earn its third win in a row.  Today also happens to be Campana's 26th birthday.

"He's a huge, monster asset to be able to use in those situations.  He's so fast," Sveum said.  "When you're losing by one run, you don't want to leave him on the bench.  When anybody gets on base, you have to get him in there, even if there are two outs." 

Ryan Dempster started for the Cubs today, but had his worst start of the season and ended up with a no-decision.  He allowed six runs over six hits, which included three home runs.  He struck out four and also walked four over 4-1/3 innings.

The Cubs used four relief pitchers, including Casey Coleman, Carlos Marmol, Randy Wells, and James Russell, who all combined to deliver 4-2/3 scoreless innings.  It's really great to see the bullpen being effective, finally!

"To bounce back from that by sweeping somebody, it feels really good," Dempster said.

Matt Garza catches Darwin Barney off-guard during his postgame interview (photo from ESPN Chicago)

The Cubs have an off-day tomorrow and will travel to San Francisco, where they will play a four-game series against the Giants starting Friday at 9:15pm CT.  Paul Maholm will start for the Cubs and try for his fifth win of the season.  This will be the start of a ten-game road trip for the Cubs.  Let's hope they can get their fourth win in a row!

Jeff Samardzija is worthy of his bobblehead as Cubs win second straight against Padres

The Cubs won their second straight game against the San Diego Padres today, 5-3.  Jeff Samardzija earned his fifth win of the season and said, "You don't want to pitch bad and then walk out the park and see your bobbleheads smashed everywhere."  No need to worry, Jeff!  You pitched an excellent game and also drove in the go-ahead run!

Fans at today's game received a Jeff Samardzija bobblehead doll (photo from Paul Sullivan)

Samardzija allowed three runs on eight hits and struck out eight and issued one walk over seven innings pitched.  He left the game in the eighth inning with a 4-3 lead.  Shawn Camp came in to pitch in relief in the eighth and retired all 3 batters he faced.  Camp retired the first batter in the ninth before Sveum called on James Russell to close out the game.  Russell gave up a double and then struck out Nick Hundley to earn the first save of his major league career.

Closer James Russell earned his first career save during today's game (AP photo)

Jeff Samardzija stands on first base after his RBI single that scored Darwin Barney with the go ahead run in the sixth inning (photo from Chicago Tribune)

Alfonso Soriano was excellent both defensively and offensively today as he made an impressive diving catch that saved a run in the sixth inning and turned into a double play to end the inning.  In the bottom of the sixth inning, he hit a home run to increase the Cubs lead to 3-1.

Starlin Castro high fives Darwin Barney after he scores on Jeff Samardzija's single in the sixth (photo from Chicago Tribune)

In other Cubs news, catcher Steve Clevenger was activated from the disabled list and Blake Lalli was optioned to Triple-A Iowa.  Cubs manager Dale Sveum said that Casey Coleman is also in the mix for being the team's closer, along with Shawn Camp and James Russell. 

Tomorrow the Cubs and Padres will play the final game of the series at 1:20pm CT at Wrigley Field.  Ryan Dempster will try for his first win of the season, even though he has been impressive in every start and has a 2.14 ERA.  Let's hope his teammates can give him the run support he deserves.

Cubs finding new ways to lose 11th consecutive game

The Cubs lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 tonight, which is their 11th loss in a row.

Paul Maholm made the start for the Cubs and allowed two runs on four hits and walked five and struck out two batters.  He lasted five innings and threw 94 pitches.

Casey Coleman and Shawn Camp pitched in relief of Maholm and threw a combined three scoreless innings.  However, Rafael Dolis came into a 2-2 tied game in the ninth and loaded the bases and then proceeded to hit Matt Hague with a pitch, which allowed the Pirates to score the winning run.  Are you kidding me?  What a letdown.  I'm pretty sure tonight's way of losing isn't what Theo Epstein was thinking when he was talking about the "Cubs Way."  Don't get me wrong, I love the Cubs, but tonight's loss was an especially hard one to take.

Former Pirates pitcher Paul Maholm returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since joining the Cubs during the offseason (photo from cubs.com)

The Cubs have now lost 11 games in a row.  "You're always surprised when you lose 10 games in a row," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said.  "That's hard to do, really, especially when you're getting pretty good starting pitching, for the most part.  You're losing one-run ballgames and you're getting shutout three, four five times in a 10-game span, that's almost fluky type numbers - what we're going through right now.  So you don't expect those kind of numbers on a consistent basis through 10 games."

Sveum said he hasn't held a team meeting since they could be negative meetings and he would rather have individualized meetings.  In general, Sveum said meetings are usually called due to lack of effort, but he feels that it's not the case with this team.

The Cubs eentered today's game against the Pirates 0-for-25 with runners in scoring position over the last three games, including 0-for-12 on Friday.

In Cubs' minor league news, Blake DeWitt, was placed on the disabled list with a sprained left wrist which he injured while diving for the ball in the outfield.  DeWitt has played in four games for Triple-A Iowa since he was designated for assignment by the Cubs.

Left-handed pitcher Jeff Beliveau, who has pitched in 16 games in relief for Iowa, was also placed on the disabled list with a strained shoulder.

The Cubs signed free agent infielder Diory Hernandez, 28, to Triple-A Iowa, who was hitting .159 for Triple-A Oklahoma City and released on May 23.


Tomorrow the Cubs and Pirates will play the final game of the series at 12:35pm CT.  Matt Garza will start for the Cubs and try for his third win of the season.  He currently is 2-2 with a 3.72 ERA.

Cubs lose 8-2 to Brewers; Carlos Marmol to DL; Casey Coleman called up

The Cubs put reliever Carlos Marmol on the 15-day disabled list after he left last night's game with a strained right hamstring.  In a corresponding move, pitcher Casey Coleman was called up from Triple-A Iowa (but technically he flew in today from Fresno, CA, where the Iowa Cubs were on the road).

Chris Volstad started for the Cubs and had his best start of the season so far when he held the Brewers to just four hits.  Volstad fell apart in the sixth inning when he allowed five runs.  The Cubs ended up losing 8-2 to the Brewers.

Cubs starter Chris Volstad had a strong outing until the sixth inning against the Brewers (photo from cubs.com)

Highlights from today included when David DeJesus doubled to lead off the game against Shaun Marcum and scored one batter later when Starlin Castro hit into a double play. Also, rookie Adrian Cardenas doubled to lead off the eighth inning for his first Major League hit.  He then scored one out later on Tony Campana's double.

I'm sure both teams were still tired from last night's crazy 13-inning game.  Cubs manager Dale Sveum said, "That was a crazy game, no doubt about it, for both teams.  It was a 13-inning game, but for both teams to completely use every (almost) every player....there's not too many games you see 50 guys used. Not all 50, but every bench and bullpen guy used."

Tomorrow the Cubs and Brewers will play the last game of this series at 1:10pm CT in Milwaukee.  Jeff Samardzija is scheduled to start for the Cubs.

Cubs Beat the Rockies; Dempster Named Opening Day Starter; Spring Roster At 40

The Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-8 in Scottsdale.  Jeff Samardzija gave up 10 hits and 7 runs during 4 innings pitched and gets the win, although his ERA went from 2.70 to 6.43.  Casey Coleman allowed no earned runs in three innings.  Geovany Soto was 3 for 3 and hit two home runs and 5 RBIs.  Bryan LaHair was also 3 for 3.  Marlon Byrd was 2 for 3.

Geovany Soto was 3-for-3 with two home runs and five RBIs in a 10-8 win vs. the Rockies today (AP photo)

The Cubs optioned Anthony Rizzo and Adrian Cardenas to Triple-A Iowa today.  They also sent Brett Jackson, Jay Jackson, Jim Adduci, and Michael Brenly to minor league camp today.  The spring roster now stands at 40 players.

Brett Jackson was sent to the Cubs' minor-league camp on Friday. (photo from US Presswire)

Cubs manager Dale Sveum announced that Ryan Dempster will be the Opening Day starter.  This will be Dempster's 2nd consecutive year as the Cubs' Opening Day starter and his 4th career Opening Day start.

Matt Garza will be the Cubs' #2 starter and Paul Maholm will be 5th starter.  Dale Sveum won't name starters #3 and #4 until Wednesday, March 28th.  The candidates for spots #3 and #4 are Randy Wells, Chris Volstad, Jeff Samardzija, and Rodrigo Lopez.

The new rooftop building owner of the former Lakeview Baseball Club building is debating whether or not to get rid of the Eamus Catuli and numbers signs and is looking to Cubs fans for their input.

Travis Wood will start tomorrow for the Cubs-Padres game, which will be televised on WGN-TV at 3:05pm CST.  Randy Wells, who has not walked a batter or given up a run over 5 2/3 innings in two Cactus League games, will follow Wood.  Meanwhile, Chris Volstad will pitch in a Minor League game at Fitch Park on Saturday.

Only 13 more days until Opening Day!

Cubs win one and lose one in chilly AZ and Vegas today

On an unusual weather day where it was 30 degrees warmer in Chicago than in Arizona, the Cubs lost 7-5 to the White Sox in their split-squad game today in Mesa.  Casey Coleman had a better outing than previously as he allowed two hits, zero runs, zero walks, and three strikeouts over three innings.

Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol during the fifth inning of today's game against the White Sox. (photo from Jake Roth/US Presswire)

The Cubs won their other split-squad game 3-2 against the Rangers in Las Vegas.  Chris Volstad, who is in the competition for a spot in the starting rotation, was impressive, allowing four hits, one earned run, no walks, and three strikeouts in four innings pitched.  The Cubs' spring record stands at 7-11.

It seems possible that Jeff Samardzija has locked in the fourth starting rotation spot with the impressive spring he's had so far, even though he's only started in five major league games in his career.  The first three spots in the Cubs' rotation seem to be locked in to veterans Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster, and Paul Maholm.  If Samardzija wins the fourth spot, that would mean that Randy Wells, Chris Volstad, and Travis Wood would all be competing for the fifth rotation spot.  It doesn't sound like the final decision regarding the fourth and fifth starting spots will be made until closer to the end of spring training. 

Tomorrow, Travis Wood will pitch against the Seattle Mariners, where he will have another chance to redeem himself, since he hasn't had a good spring so far.  The game will be broadcast live on a free  cubs.com audio webcast at 3:05pm CST.   Meanwhile, Randy Wells will start in a "B" game for the Cubs against the Cleveland Indians in Goodyear at 10am, where he also has a chance to continue building his case for a spot in the starting rotation. 

On the other side of the Cubs organization, here's a link to an article in the Chicago Tribune about Cubs' Senior VP of Scouting and Player Development, Jason McLeod's key role in the team's rebuilding process. 

Jason McLeod, left, is a key part of the Theo Trio (photo from Phil Velasquez/Tribune)

18 more days until Opening Day!