Cubs Bring Up Andrew Cashner

[bestkeptsecret13]

PITTSBURGH -- Chicago Cubs left-handed reliever John Grabow was put on the 15-day disabled list on Monday with a left MCL sprain, and in a corresponding move, the team has selected the contract of top pitching prospect Andrew Cashner from their Triple-A Iowa roster.

Cashner, a 23-year-old first round pick (19th overall) of the 2008 draft had been a starter at Triple-A until last Thursday. Since then he has thrown two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, one last Thursday and one on Saturday.

"He's got a good young arm," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He went down to Double-A and started at Triple-A and pitched well at both classifications. So he's here, and we're going to use him in the middle to get him started just to get his feet wet. Hopefully he will develop into a nice later-inning pitcher for us."

At Tennessee, Cashner was 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA in six starts. In seven Triple-A appearances, he was 3-0 with an 0.86 ERA.

Asked if he would hesitate to move Cashner to that much-needed right-handed setup role, Piniella said: "No, not at all. Not at all. Basically, we're hoping he will take [Carlos] Zambrano's spot and use him the way we were using Zambrano."

Zambrano returns to the starting rotation on Wednesday against the Pirates.

Cashner was a closer at Texas Christian. Cashner is projected as a closer eventually or possibly a top-of-the-rotation starter.

Grabow missed time earlier this month with the same knee problem. The veteran pitcher, who signed a two-year contract with the Cubs in the offseason, has been ineffective most of the 2010 season. Grabow's role was to be the primary setup man for closer Carlos Marmol. That role has been taken over by Sean Marshall.

Cashner joined the Cubs on Monday in Pittsburgh. Iowa played in Nashville on Sunday.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5235631

Finally Grabow is out of the bullpen, the guy has been horrible this year. Cashner is the Cubs #1 pitching prospect and is projected long term as a potential #2 guy in the rotation, but hopefully for now he can provide the team with a legit setup guy to get the ball to Marmol. I'm glad the Cubs are giving the young guys a chance to prove themselves on the big league stage, hopefully Jay Jackson (the #2 pitching prospect) get his shot sooner rather than later. He was moved to the bullpen in Iowa a few weeks ago and there was speculation that he might come up, but I guess they decided to go with Cashner instead.

 

[bestkeptsecret13]

Since you guys aren't impressed...

Andrew Cashner - 6-1 2.05 ERA 57.0 IP 59 SO .193 AVG (11 Games)
Stephen Strasburg - 6-2 1.43 ERA 50.1 IP 60 SO .157 AVG (10 Games)

Pretty similar numbers from these guys. Not saying Cashner > Strasburg, but Cashner is no slouch.

 

[Mexi]

Cubs are are so inconsistent.
whatever helps

isnt hitting the main problem though?

 

[bestkeptsecret13]

Cubs are are so inconsistent.
whatever helps

isnt hitting the main problem though?

You can't really win when your #3 and #4 hitters suck. The rest of the lineup has been good and the pitching has been decent, it's just impossible to win when your "big hitters' aren't hitting.

At this point, I would probably fire Piniella, just to change things up.

 

[The Guid]

I never understood that ideology, and it even irks me a bit, why fire Pinella just to "change things up"? It's the big hitters that need a talking to. If all the other parts, the rest of the lineup and the pitching, are doing what they need to do then why does the coach have to shoulder the blame?

 

[bestkeptsecret13]

Because Piniella is old and just doesn't know what he's doing anymore... He continues to hit Aramis 4th in the lineup, even though Soriano, Byrd, Fukudome, etc. have been hitting the ball great this year. Tyler Colvin has been playing great every time he's been given a chance, yet he can't get a start to save his life. With Byrd struggling, Colvin should be seeing a decent amount of time in the OF, but he's just rotting on the bench. Either play him or send him to AAA. Theriot needs to be put in a platoon with Fontenot, he's been horrible as of late. The one thing I am proud of is that they actually had the balls to "DL" Grabow instead of sending down James Russell who has been good all year round. Obviously Piniella isn't getting through to Ramirez, so why not get a different voice in there? It's the last year of his contract anyway (I believe), and were not going anywhere this year, so why not experiment with some things.