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Randy Wells Has Shown to Be Top Chicago Cubs Pitcher Lately

July 31, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

  When thinking about the Chicago Cubs pitching staff, names like Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, and Ryan Dempster come to mind. But lately, none of those have been doing what Cubs rookie Randy Wells has been accomplishing. Wells has been pretty much dominant lately. In his last eight starts, he's 7-1 with a 3.45 ERA, including getting a win in a 12-0 shootout of the Houston Astros Wednesday. He's lowered his ERA to 2.84 and is now 7-4 on the season. "I wonder where we'd be without him," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said to the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday. "We really needed that (Wells' pitching ...

Pittsburgh Pirates Trade John Grabow, Tom Gorzelanny To Chicago Cubs

July 31, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

With this move the Pirates have officially cleared their trading block. Thursday saw the departure from Pittsburgh of two left-handed pitchers: Major League reliever John Grabow and AAA starter Tom Gorzelanny. The Pirates received RHPs Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio and infielder Josh Harrison. Hart will report immediately to the Majors and is expected to take Virgil Vasquez's place in the pitching rotation, though he'll have to wait until the next time through as he pitched on Thursday. Ascaino will report to AAA and Harrision will report to high A. While the Pirates have other players on the team that teams are attracted to—namely ...

The Chicago Cubs Overpaid for Two Lefties Today

July 31, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

On Thursday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs made a necessary trade and added two pitchers in a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Both John Grabow and Chicago-born Tom Gorzelanny pitch left-handed. That's what made the deal necessary. Just as the Pirates did in trading infielder Freddy Sanchez to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, the Bucs again came away from the trading table with more value than they probably should have. In the Giants trade, Pittsburgh received one of the top pitching prospects in San Francisco's system in Tim Alderson. In Thursday's deal with the Cubs, Pittsburgh unloaded a couple of lefties that had little future ...

Chicago Cubs Add Left Handed Reliever John Grabow to Bullpen

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

The Chicago Cubs have traded pitcher Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, and third baseman Josh Harrison to the Pittsburgh Pirates for left handed reliever John Grabow and left handed AAA starter Tom Gorzelanny. By completing this deal with the Pirates the Cubs add a much needed left handed reliever to their bullpen that only features lefty Sean Marshall. Grabow has pitched well for the Pirates this season with an ERA of 3.42 and 41 strikeouts in 47.2 innings pitched. In Gorzelanny the Chicago Cubs recieve a depth starter for the minor leagues and has had success in the major leagues. In ...

Chicago Cubs Win Big Series, Improve Team via Trade

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

It's all good for Cubs fans, at least for now. The Cubs beat the Astros 12-3 on Thursday to close up a big four-game series, where the Cubs won three of the games. The Cubs' slamming of the Astros came after routing them 12-0 the day before. Everyone in the lineup is contributing, and you no longer hear anyone saying the word "slump." Kosuke Fukudome went 3-for-3, and was only a home run away from the cycle. Soriano went 2-for-3 with two walks, while both Jake Fox and Milton Bradley belted home runs. Pitcher Kevin Hart started off a little rough, but finished nicely ...

Bud Norris Makes Major League Debut, Pitches Well, But Astros Lose

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

Good news: Bud Norris, the man to whom I jokingly attributed a list of Chuck Norris jokes, made his major league debut last night against the Chicago Cubs. The Houston Astros reliever gave up one run in three innings and struck out four. His line: three innings, three hits, one earned run, one walk, four K's and a 3.00 ERA. The bad news: Norris was the only Astros pitcher who had a good night last night against the Cubs. Starter Mike Hampton was shelled for nine runs in four innings and Doug Brocail yielded two runs in an inning. I guess the best way ...

Breaking News: Chicago Cubs Set To Acquire Lefty Reliever John Grabow

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

ESPNChicago.com is reporting that the Cubs have reached an agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates that will send left-handed relief pitcher John Grabow to the Cubs. The Cubs have been searching for bullpen help, specifically of the lefty variety, with Sean Marshall as their lone lefty in the pen. Grabow has pitched well for the last-place Pirates this year, with a 3-0 record, a 3.42 ERA and 16 holds. The MLB trade deadline expires Friday afternoon.

Cubs 12, Astros 3: Cubs Win in a Rout, Lefty Help on the Way

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

Filed:July 30th, 2009 New Chicago Cub Tom Gorzelanny (Cubbie Nation/file)   It amazes me how quickly the Cubs can take me through an emotional range sometimes. First, they completely destroy Russ Ortiz and the Astros, 12-3 at Wrigley this afternoon, taking 3-of-4 in the series. However, that happiness turned to sadness at the news that they had acquired John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny from the Pirates in exchange for Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio. Not that I'll miss either. I've always felt that the league would get around to figuring Hart out, and his start this afternoon just confirmed that in my mind. Let's just politely ...

Chicago Cubs Looking for Left-Handed Right Fielder?

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

Looking for any signs of trade life in the Cubs, I had a look through the Chicago newspapers today, and saw this from the Chicago Sun Times that I thought was quite interesting. Gordon Wittenmyer said that the Cubs had explored the options of trading for either Mark Teahan from the Royals or Jeremy Hermida from the Marlins. I'm sorry, but as much as Bradley has struggled, we already invested $30 million in our left-handed hitting right fielder; I don't think we should trade prospects as well. It is no secret that Milton is struggling to hit left-handed pitching, he has a mere .209 ...

Cubs 12, Astros 0: Theater of the Weird

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

Filed:July 29th, 2009 Another rough day at Wrigley for the Houston Astros (Cubbie Nation/file) Ever seen Platoon? Great stuff. There's a scene, after a firefight in the brush, in which Tom Berenger's character muzzles a screaming G.I. shot in the conflict while urging him to "Take the pain. Take the pain". Poor Cecil Cooper must have been having a Platoon moment Wednesday as starter Mike Hampton was coming completely undone in the first, and given his bullpen issues, had no choice but to leave Hampton in to get pounded. The end result? A 12-0 beatdown that seems even odder than the previous night's game. ...

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