NEW YORK -- Tom Gorzelanny threw on the side on Monday, the first time he's tested his arm after being hit by a line drive on Saturday, and is scheduled to start on Thursday. After that the rotation is still to be determined. Gorzelanny said that his arm felt good in its first test.
Ryan Dempster will open the series against the Brewers on Friday, but who will go on Saturday is unknown. Ted Lilly made a Minor League rehab start on Monday night in Peoria for the Class A team. If all goes well, the lefty could be activated from the disabled list and start on Saturday in Milwaukee.
If that's the case, someone in the rotation will be bumped. But who?
"These last starts that these guys are getting are not a competition for who's going to stay in the rotation," manager Lou Piniella said Monday. "We feel good about all our starters. We're fortunate in that regard. Unfortunately, somebody is going to have to go into the bullpen. We'll have some news for you later on this week."
The assumption has been that either Gorzelanny or Carlos Silva will be bumped. Could it be any of the other starters?
"All I said is that somebody has to leave the rotation to go into the bullpen," Piniella said. "We have not made definite decisions. We'll see how Lilly is, and once we find out how Lilly is, then we can put our thoughts to the other issue. If Lilly's not ready, there's no sense addressing something like that."
Lilly threw 51 pitches in his last Minor League start, and the Cubs would like to see him go deeper. He's coming off arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder and has been slowed because of back problems.
Piniella puts up tweaked lineup against Mets
NEW YORK -- Marlon Byrd led off, Jeff Baker played second base and Xavier Nady manned right field on Monday for the second consecutive game for the first time this season as manager Lou Piniella did some tweaking in hopes of finding something that works against lefties.
"We decided to change things around a little bit and see if we can get a little more consistent offense," Piniella said. "We'll try it and see how it goes."
The Cubs struggled to score against Houston's Wandy Rodriguez on Sunday, and on Monday faced Mets lefty Jonathan Niese. They also have to deal with New York southpaws Oliver Perez on Wednesday and Johan Santana on Thursday.
This was Byrd's first game as the leadoff man. He replaced Ryan Theriot, who was dropped to eighth. Byrd is 6-for-9 against lefties, whereas Theriot is 1-for-10.
Nady, who is strengthening his arm following Tommy John surgery last year, hit fourth, followed by Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto, Theriot and pitcher Randy Wells.
It wasn't just Rodriguez who was tough to deal with on Sunday but the elements at Wrigley Field.
"I recognize the fact, too, that with the wind blowing in, it's not the easiest thing, but we need to score more than two or three runs to win games," Piniella said. "We're going to try this with a left-handed lineup. Byrd's been hitting left-handers good.
"I need to split up Nady and Soriano because when we take both of them out for defense, I get caught with two left-handers back to back. so that fixes that. Truthfully, it's much easier to bunt Theriot to second by a pitcher than Soto. We'll see how it works."
Nady has been working on his throwing mechanics with pitching coach Larry Rothschild. The outfielder didn't have to make any throws during the six innings he played on Sunday, so he was feeling good on Monday.
"I think a lot of [the playing time] will be determined by how it goes the day before and slowly, gradually, I'll be able to play back to back and then three in a row," Nady said. "Who knows? I could play one day and make five throws and not be able to throw the next day."
He called Sunday a "medium day of throwing."
"It feels good," he said. "Obviously, I haven't had to make any throws where I've had to air it out."
The Cubs' offense stalled over the weekend. The team batted .197 in the first six road games, averaging three runs per game. In the first six home games, they hit .298 and averaged 5.7 runs per game. So far this season, the Cubs are batting .267 against left-handed pitching, but that includes relievers.
What the weekend series against the Astros showed is that the Cubs have to find other ways to score runs.
"This team here, basically, is not built to manufacture all that much," Piniella said. "It's built to pound a little more. With the wind blowing in, it's like playing a par-3 in the British Open. Sometimes you have to hit a three-wood. You need timely hitting, you need first to third. You look at our lineup, and that's not really the strength of what we do.
"If we played a different combination of people, we could get more that way. It's early in the season, and we have to continue to plug away."
Ryan Dempster will open the series against the Brewers on Friday, but who will go on Saturday is unknown. Ted Lilly made a Minor League rehab start on Monday night in Peoria for the Class A team. If all goes well, the lefty could be activated from the disabled list and start on Saturday in Milwaukee.
If that's the case, someone in the rotation will be bumped. But who?
"These last starts that these guys are getting are not a competition for who's going to stay in the rotation," manager Lou Piniella said Monday. "We feel good about all our starters. We're fortunate in that regard. Unfortunately, somebody is going to have to go into the bullpen. We'll have some news for you later on this week."
The assumption has been that either Gorzelanny or Carlos Silva will be bumped. Could it be any of the other starters?
"All I said is that somebody has to leave the rotation to go into the bullpen," Piniella said. "We have not made definite decisions. We'll see how Lilly is, and once we find out how Lilly is, then we can put our thoughts to the other issue. If Lilly's not ready, there's no sense addressing something like that."
Lilly threw 51 pitches in his last Minor League start, and the Cubs would like to see him go deeper. He's coming off arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder and has been slowed because of back problems.
Piniella puts up tweaked lineup against Mets
NEW YORK -- Marlon Byrd led off, Jeff Baker played second base and Xavier Nady manned right field on Monday for the second consecutive game for the first time this season as manager Lou Piniella did some tweaking in hopes of finding something that works against lefties.
"We decided to change things around a little bit and see if we can get a little more consistent offense," Piniella said. "We'll try it and see how it goes."
The Cubs struggled to score against Houston's Wandy Rodriguez on Sunday, and on Monday faced Mets lefty Jonathan Niese. They also have to deal with New York southpaws Oliver Perez on Wednesday and Johan Santana on Thursday.
This was Byrd's first game as the leadoff man. He replaced Ryan Theriot, who was dropped to eighth. Byrd is 6-for-9 against lefties, whereas Theriot is 1-for-10.
Nady, who is strengthening his arm following Tommy John surgery last year, hit fourth, followed by Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto, Theriot and pitcher Randy Wells.
It wasn't just Rodriguez who was tough to deal with on Sunday but the elements at Wrigley Field.
"I recognize the fact, too, that with the wind blowing in, it's not the easiest thing, but we need to score more than two or three runs to win games," Piniella said. "We're going to try this with a left-handed lineup. Byrd's been hitting left-handers good.
"I need to split up Nady and Soriano because when we take both of them out for defense, I get caught with two left-handers back to back. so that fixes that. Truthfully, it's much easier to bunt Theriot to second by a pitcher than Soto. We'll see how it works."
Nady has been working on his throwing mechanics with pitching coach Larry Rothschild. The outfielder didn't have to make any throws during the six innings he played on Sunday, so he was feeling good on Monday.
"I think a lot of [the playing time] will be determined by how it goes the day before and slowly, gradually, I'll be able to play back to back and then three in a row," Nady said. "Who knows? I could play one day and make five throws and not be able to throw the next day."
He called Sunday a "medium day of throwing."
"It feels good," he said. "Obviously, I haven't had to make any throws where I've had to air it out."
The Cubs' offense stalled over the weekend. The team batted .197 in the first six road games, averaging three runs per game. In the first six home games, they hit .298 and averaged 5.7 runs per game. So far this season, the Cubs are batting .267 against left-handed pitching, but that includes relievers.
What the weekend series against the Astros showed is that the Cubs have to find other ways to score runs.
"This team here, basically, is not built to manufacture all that much," Piniella said. "It's built to pound a little more. With the wind blowing in, it's like playing a par-3 in the British Open. Sometimes you have to hit a three-wood. You need timely hitting, you need first to third. You look at our lineup, and that's not really the strength of what we do.
"If we played a different combination of people, we could get more that way. It's early in the season, and we have to continue to plug away."
