Cashner and Wells headed to Disabled List

Two Cubs players have been recently been assigned to the DL (Disabled list).  For those who don’t know what the DL is, it is a non-roster players are assigned to for injuries.  There are two types of DL: there is a 15 day disabled list, where the injury is day to day, but the player could be back relatively fast.   The 15 day DL injuries could include a sprained ankle, shoulder soreness and concussions depending on how bad the concussion is diagnosed.  The 60 day disabled list, is for more serious injuries where the player will be out for more than two months.  The two players that recently went to the DL are starters Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells.  Andrew Cashner strained his rotator cuff during his first game on April 5^th against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  The rotator cuff is the network of four muscles and several tendons that form a covering around the top of the upper arm bone (humerus). These muscles form a cover around the head of the humerus. The rotator cuff holds the humerus in place in the shoulder joint and enables the arm to rotate.  Randy Wells strained his forearm during the April 4^th game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  A strained forearm is an injury to the muscles or tendons connected to the bones in the lower arm. Forearm strain is common because of the many tendons that glide together in the same or separate sheaths. Muscles, tendons and bones comprise units. These units stabilize the elbow and wrist joints and allow their motion. A strain occurs at the weakest part of a unit.

 Cubs manager Mike Quade said he is not counting on either pitcher for three to four weeks.

"The way I'm looking at it now is over the next three weeks we need a line of three Tuesdays, where we need pitching," Quade said. "Whether that's [reliever James Russell] coming out of the chute or whether someone takes the bull by the horn in the minor leagues and establishes themselves, we need somebody three times in three weeks."

The Cubs plan is to recall Casey Coleman from Triple-A Iowa and he will become the fourth starter.  He will pitch Sunday against Milwaukee at Miller Park.  The Cubs are also trying to decide on a starter for Tuesday in Houston, and James Russell is being mentioned as a possibility.  General Manager Jim Hendry will consider other minor leaguers such as Thomas Diamond, who was a starter and reliever late last season.  Cashner and Wells won’t go on the disabled list until Wednesday and the Cubs will make a move or two on Friday. 

Until the next post, Go Cubs Go.

Opening Day, Cubs vs. DiamondBack result

This past Friday I attended Opening Day at Wrigley Field on April 1.  The Chicago Cubs played the Pittsburgh Pirates.   It was a good game with the Cubs leading 2-0 heading into the fifth inning until one pitch cost that bit the Cubs the rest of the game happened.  This one pitch was a grand slam hit by Neil Walker of the Pirates found the street on Sheffield Avenue.  Then again in the seventh inning another Pirate hit a two-run homer into the left field bleachers. 

The debate of who the Opening Day starter for second base went to Darwin Barney.  Both Barney and Starlin Castro combined for five hits.  Castro made two impressive defensive plays.  On the first play of the game, Castro went up the middle and made a great play to rob Pirates player Jose Tabata of a hit.  When Carlos Pena saw the play that Castro made he said he didn’t know of many shortstops that could make that play. 

Opening day for me was a day that I will remember for a long time.  It was a chilly, windy and rainy day.  It was a sellout and many true Cubs fans were out in full force.  Even though the game didn’t turn out the way I wanted it was still a day to remember.  In one of my other blogs I predicted the Cubs would win their Opening day game but I predicted wrong.  That now makes the Cubs 1-8 in the last nine years for Opening Day. 

On Tuesday the Cubs played the Arizona Diamondbacks and won the game 6-5.  Since Carlos Pena had a sprained thumb, Tyler Colvin started at first base.  This was Colvin’s first Major league game as a Major league first baseman.  Colvin had a two-run homer in the third inning, his first homerun of the 2011 season.  Colvin handled the eleven chances in the field flawlessly.  This was Colvin’s first homer since September 15^th of last year.  Last season, he was hit in the chest by a broken bat that collapsed his lung on September 19^th against the Florida Marlins Andrew Cashner also had his first big league start and left the game early due to shoulder stiffness. 

After a 3-2 start the Cubs continue to get better and look better than they did last year at the beginning of the 2010 season.  As long as the injury bug doesn’t continue to haunt the Cubs they could possibly be looking at playing in October now that the team is younger and don’t have as much pressure