More Injuries and Another Rookie

When the Cubs dealt Greg Maddux at the trading deadline and soon thereafter shelved Mark Prior, they found themselves relying on a rotation of four rookies—Rich Hill, Carlos Marmol, Juan Mateo, and Angel Guzman, each of them likely this season to exceed the number of innings they had ever thrown as a professional.

Unfortunately, we learned that Marmol has developed pain in his biceps, requring the Cubs to place him on the disabled list Monday, most likely solidifying and extending Ryan O’Malley’s cup of coffee in the big leagues.  (Ed.  Perhaps not as long as anticipated, as O’Malley exited Tuesday night’s game with a strained elbow.  Presumably, this will lead either to the recall of either Wade Miller, who is nearly ready from his rehab, or Jae Kuk “The Osprey Killer” Ryu, who was hammered badly by the Braves in his only earlier MLB start.)

Today, we have more injuries.  Cesar Izturis, whose injury problems with the Dodgers last year began with a strained right hamstring . . . is returning to the DL with a strained right hamstring.  In his place, the Cubs have selected Buck Coats from their AAA team, adding him to the 40-man roster.  (After the weekend’s glorious trade of Neifi Perez, they had a roster spot free.) The Cubs aren’t expecting a lengthy absence for Izturis, but then again, the Dodgers weren’t expecting a lengthy absence in June 2005 either.  In the meantime, Ronny Cedeno is moving back to shortstop, depriving him of additional innings of development as a new second baseman.

There are several forms of silver lining in all this.  First, it gives the Cubs a much better look at Ryan Theriot, who has been impressive in his stint with the team and may possibly earn a shot as a reserve (or better) next year, though Freddie Bynum will also get a look at second base as well.  It also gives the Cubs a look at both sides of the Izturis coin—the flashy gloveman at shortstop as well as the injury risk as well.  Let’s hope that Jim Hendry recognizes this in the offseason and into 2007.

As for Coats, the lefty hitting 24 year old was rated by Baseball America as the Cubs #25 prospect in the preseason (just after Ryan Theriot), but seems to be cut more from the “Ryan O’Malley” mold than the “Felix Pie” one.  He hit .277/.336/.366 in Iowa this season, good for an MLE of .237/.283/.303, numbers comparable to Ronny Cedeno.  The comparison is appropriate in another meaningful way—although Coats spent the majority of his time in RF this season (61 games) with another 22 games in CF, he’s a converted shortstop who this year has also played 17 games at second base, 10 games at shortstop, and 4 games at third base.  In that sense, he’s similar to Freddie Bynum, another utility player who has spent most of his time in the outfield.

So even after trading Jerry Hairston, Jr., Todd Walker, and Neifi Perez, the team has Ronny Cedeno, Freddie Bynum, and Ryan Theriot—all second base candidates for next season, plus Mike Fontenot down in Iowa (and off the 40 man roster).  Meanwhile, presuming John Mabry won’t return, the corner outfield candidates are Jacque Jones, Matt Murton, Angel Pagan, Bynum, and Coats.

How offensive!