Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers Preview, Wednesday 3/2, 2:05 CT: Carlos Silva's Spring Debut: "There's much debate about whether Carlos Silva will show enough -- or be healthy enough -- during spring training to
stay in the Cubs' rotation. This isn't really much different than things were a year ago, when most people here were out with torches and pitchforks regarding Silva. In 2010, Silva had one really bad spring outing but the rest were decent enough to get him that rotation spot. If he does the same thing this March, he'll probably go north as the fifth starter and Andrew Cashner will head to Iowa to head their rotation.
Today's lineup:
RF Fukudome SS Castro CF Byrd 3B Ramirez 1B Pena LF Soriano 2B DeWitt C Hill P Silva
Brewers lineup:
2B Counsell SS Cruz LF Braun 1B Fielder 3B McGehee C Kottaras CF Dickerson RF Boggs DH Almonte P Gallardo
The Brewers are using the DH, the Cubs aren't; I assume this is so the starting pitchers for the Cubs can get some at-bats, which they'll have to take during the regular season.
Meanwhile, Tyler Colvin will make his first spring start at 1B on Friday, and also, according to that link, Angel Guzman will throw BP to live hitters today. It would be a real boost to the bullpen if Guzman was healthy and could come back this season. This is only a first step, though.
Regarding the Cubs' early season defensive troubles -- nine errors in three games -- Mike Quade says he's concerned, but not overly so. This article is a bit over the top about it -- it's the first three spring training games, for heaven's sakes. That's kind of what these games are for, to work out problems like this. FWIW, eight other teams have made five or more errors already (although some of those teams have played more games than the Cubs have). It's just not that big a deal.
Here's all the media information for today.
MLB.com Gameday for today's game
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today. Today's game is on mlb.com only with Len Kasper and Mick Gillispie (who does the Tennessee Smokies games) on the call.
Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. The usual caution should be taken.
There will be an overflow thread posting at 3:30 p.m. CST. Yesterday, it wasn't really needed, but I'll put one up each day during the spring training season. As usual, the overflow thread will NOT post on the front page but will be in the 'Recent Stories In Game Threads' box on the right sidebar. If you need an extra overflow thread beyond that one, post it in the FanShot section.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
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HERO