Results tagged ‘ James Russell ’
6/29 Rookie relief
The Cubs now have four rookies in the bullpen in James Russell, Andrew Cashner, Jeff Stevens and Brian Schlitter. They used seven rookie relievers in 2006: Rich Hill, Juan Mateo, Angel Guzman, Carlos Marmol, Les Walrond, Jae Kuk Ryu, and David Aardsma.
Entering this season, the last time four rookies pitched out of the ‘pen in a game for
the Cubs was Sept. 30, 2006 when Ryu, Aardsma, Guzman and Walrond all appeared in relief. Those four were among 10 Cubs pitchers in an 11-9 loss to the Rockies. Mateo started that game.
According to baseball historian Ed Hartig, the last time four rookies pitched out of the ‘pen in the same game for the Cubs in a non-September expanded roster period was June 7, 1971.
Ray Newman, Bill Bonham, Earl Stephenson and Ron Tompkins pitched in relief against the Pirates in an 11-6 loss at Wrigley Field.
– Carrie Muskat
6/29 Lineup & roster moves
James Russell and Jeff Stevens rejoined the Cubs on Tuesday while John Grabow was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a moderate sprain of his left knee and Carlos Zambrano was placed on the restricted list. Both Russell and Stevens arrived in time for Tuesday’s game vs. the Pirates. Marlon Byrd is getting a breather. Here’s the lineup:
RF Fukudome
2B Theriot
1B Lee
3B Ramirez
CF Colvin
LF Soriano
C Hill
SS Castro
P Lilly
– Carrie Muskat
6/29 Pregame notes & roster moves
The Cubs have been involved in 29 one-run games in their first 76 games this season. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Cubs had that many one-run games in the first 76 contests was 2000 when the team played 30 one-run games.
* Cubs starting pitchers have 48 quality starts, second in the NL and third in baseball. The starters have a 19-14 record and 2.20 ERA in those games with 15 no decisions. Carlos Silva and Ryan Dempster lead the team with 11 quality starts each.
* Brian Schlitter is the ninth rookie to play for the Cubs this year. The list includes Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin, Justin Berg, Esmailin Caridad, Andrew Cashner, Jeff Gray, James Russell, Jeff Stevens and Schlitter.
Speaking of Russell, the lefty appears to be the latest pitcher called up from Iowa. He will take John Grabow’s spot on the 25-man roster. Grabow is headed to the DL for the second time after re-injuring his left knee Monday night. Jeff Stevens also will be added to take Carlos Zambrano’s spot with Big Z going on the restricted list.
– Carrie Muskat
6/28 John Grabow update
John Grabow will go on the disabled list Tuesday after re-injuring his left knee and may be out for an extended period. The lefty entered Monday’s game against the Pirates in the seventh and retired the first batter, then gave up an infield single to Ronny Cedeno. Paul Maholm squared to bunt on a 1-1 pitch, and Grabow finished the pitch awkwardly. Athletic trainer Mark O’Neal went to the mound and Grabow immediately headed to the clubhouse.
“It’s pretty bad,” Grabow said. “It’s something I thought I could pitch through and it got worse. I’ll go get it checked out [Tuesday].”
Grabow has received a cortisone shot already this season in the knee and was on the disabled list from May 31-June 15 because of it. In his last outing June 24, he gave up one hit over two innings against the Mariners.
The Cubs’ bullpen has been busy after Carlos Zambrano’s abbreviated outing on Friday. Right-hander Jeff Stevens will be added on Tuesday as Zambrano is moved to the restrictted list. They will add another pitcher to fill Grabow’s spot on the 25-man roster as well.
If the Cubs opt for a left-hander, it could be James Russell, who began the season with the big league team. Russell has given up seven runs on 11 hits and four walks over 11 innings in five games with the Iowa Cubs, striking out 10. Left-hander John Gaub has a 4.33 ERA in 27 games with the Iowa Cubs, serving up 13 earned runs on 24 hits and 16 walks over 27 innings while striking out 37.
If the Cubs opt for another right-hander, Jeff Samardzija is an option. He has a 1.88 ERA in 20 games, including three starts at Iowa. He’s given up eight earned runs on 24 hits and 22 walks while striking out 33 in 38 1/3 innings. He has started in three of his last four outings but that change in assignment was because of injuries or roster moves. Right-handers were batting .173 against Samardzija while lefties were hitting .189.
– Carrie Muskat
6/12 Atkins up; Russell to Iowa
Mitch Atkins has arrived at Wrigley Field and will be in the Cubs bullpen Saturday. James Russell was optioned to Triple-A Iowa to make room for the right-hander. Atkins was 4-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 14 appearances (six starts) at Iowa.
– Carrie Muskat
6/9 The kids can play
5/31 Left-hander notes
The Cubs now have four left-handers in the bullpen in Sean Marshall, John Grabow, James Russell and Tom Gorzelanny. According to Cubs historian Ed Hartig: The last time the Cubs used four lefties out of the pen:
Sept. 9, 2007: The Cubs used eight pitchers, including four lefties, in a 10-5 loss in
Pittsburgh. The lefties were Carmen Pignatiello, Sean Marshall, Scott Eyre and Will Ohman.
But that was in September when rosters expand. The last time the Cubs used four lefties out of the pen (and before rosters expanded) was April 26, 2005, in an 11-9 loss to the Reds. The Cubs used seven pitchers, including southpaws Glendon Rusch, Mike Remlinger, Will Ohman and Cliff Bartosh.
* Only once in the last 60 years did the Cubs use five lefties in the same game. On May 11, 2000, the Cubs lost to the Mets 14-8 at Wrigley going through six pitchers (Scott Downs, Daniel Garibay, Brian Williams, Andrew Lorraine, Mark Guthrie and Felix Heredia). Brian Williams was the right-handed pitcher for the Cubs in the game.
– Carrie Muskat
5/30 Cashner update
Andrew Cashner will join the Cubs this week but not Monday in Pittsburgh. Lou Piniella was correct in saying Cashner will get called up this week but no date has been set. The Cubs’ 2008 No. 1 Draft pick has made two relief appearances for Triple-A Iowa and Piniella wants another right-hander to balance out the ‘pen makeup. With Tom Gorzelanny shifting from the rotation to the ‘pen, the Cubs will have four lefties in Gorzelanny, John Grabow, Sean Marshall and James Russell.
– Carrie Muskat
5/30 Pre-game news & notes
The Cubs did not list their rotation for the upcoming series against the Pirates in Sunday’s game day notes. We should find out pregame from Lou Piniella. Tom Gorzelanny or Randy Wells could start Monday, followed by Ted Lilly, then Carlos Zambrano. Lou indicated post-game Saturday that Zambrano will likely go at the “tail end” of the Pirates series.
Some other tidbits:
* Aramis Ramirez was going see how his left thumb felt Sunday before deciding if he can play. He has added a donut and some padding to the handle of his bat in hopes of alleviating the discomfort.
* Carlos Silva is now 7-0 in 10 starts for the Cubs after a win over the Cardinals on Saturday. According to Elias Sports Bureau, he’s the first pitcher in Cubs history to go 7-0 (or better) in his first 10 starts for the team. The last Major League pitcher to do that for any team was CC Sabathia for the Brewers in 2008 (8-0).
* Tyler Colvin has four game-winning RBI this season, second-most among all rookies behind Atlanta’s Jason Heyward (six). Colvin and Starlin Castro have combined to bat .307 with seven homers and 25 RBIs in 64 games.
* Rookie reliever James Russell has a 2.33 ERA in 17 relief appearances and his ERA is fifth lowest among big league rookie relievers with at least 19 innings of work.
– Carrie Muskat
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