Righty starting pitcher Rick Reuschel was a workhorse starting pitcher for some very bad Chicago Cubs’ teams. His best year came in 1977 when he pitched in 39 games (37 starts) for the Cubs in which he was 20-10 with 1 save, a 2.79 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Reuschel finished 3rd in the N.L. Cy Young voting in 1977 and he made the All-Star team for the Cubs that year. Reuschel has now pitched in 358 games (343 starts) in his 12 years with the Cubbies and he was 135-127 with 3 saves, a 3.50 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Reuschel is #8 in Cubs’ history in games pitched with 358. He’s also #2 in games started (343), #6 in innings pitched (2,290) and he’s #5 in strikeouts (1,367) in Cubs’ history. Reuschel was never a dominating pitcher for the Cubs (except in 1977) but he was a solid one when their wasn’t a lot to get excited about at Wrigley Field.

29-year old righty swinging infielder Jeff Baker is hitting the heck out of the baseball so far this year for the Cubbies. Baker has played in 13 games for the Cubs so far this year and he 16 for 40 (.400 avg, .990 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to Cubs’ fans as Baker has been a solid bench player since coming to the team. In his first three years with the Cubs, Baker has played in 161 games in which he is 134 of 449 (.298 avg, .793 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 9 homers, 50 RBIs and 1 stolen base.

25-year old righty swinging 2B Darwin Barney beat out Jeff Baker and Blake DeWitt for the starting job in spring training. He has played in 21 games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 24 of 75 (.320 avg, .790 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 1 homer, 13 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Cubs actually have to be a little surprised that Barney won the starting gig because he looked a tad overmatched in his first taste of the majors in 2010. He played in 30 games for the Cubs last year and he was 19 for 79 (.241 avg, .585 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. The Cubs really hope that Barney’s hot start is not a mirage, because he has really been an asset so far this year.

Righty closer Carlos Marmol might not be the best closer around, but he’s certainly the most exciting. Marmol has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for he Cubs so far this year and he is 0-1 with 4 saves, a 2.45 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has only given up 5 hits while whiffing 11 batters in his first 7 1/3 innings pitcher but he has also walked 5 batters. Marmol’s control has always been awful, but his stuff is so unhittable at times that it just doesn’t matter. As long as he has the outstanding stuff he has right now, he will close out way more games successfully than he will blow.

The Chicago Cubs have signed 35-year old lefty starting pitcher Doug Davis to a minor league deal. Davis pitched in 8 games (all starts) for the Brewers last year and he was 1-4 with a 7.51 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP. He gave up 55 hits (6 homers) and he walked 21 batters in only 38 1/3 innings last year which was related to a lot of health issues he had. Davis has now pitched in 297 games (277 starts) in his first 12 years and he is 91-101 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. The Cubs hope that Davis will be able to help them in the rotation at some point this year.

The Chicago Cubs have signed 38-year old righty reliever/starter Ramon Ortiz to a minor league deal. Ortiz pitched in 16 games (2 starts) for the Dodgers last year and he was 1-2 with a 6.30 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. He has now pitched in 274 games (212 starts) in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 85-82 with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. The Cubs will send Ortiz to the minors and try to get him up to full speed soon in case they need him at the major league level.

Starting LF Alfonso Soriano will likely never be a big base stealer like he once was, but if he can stay healthy for the Cubs in 2011, there’s reason to think he might pop 30 homers in 2011. Soriano has played in all six games for the Cubs so far this year and he is 6 for 22 (.273 avg, 1.015 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 3 homers and 5 RBIs. Soriano has always had a sweet swing and the Cubs are depending on him, Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena to give them their power in 2011.

The Chicago Cubs have placed 28-year old righty Randy Wells and 24-year old righty Andrew Cashner on the 15-day disabled list. Wells has a forearm injury while Cashner has a very mild rotator cuff strain. Wells is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP so far this year and Cashner is 0-0 with a 1.69 ERA and a 0.56 WHIP. Both of these guys looked really good in their first starts of the year and the Cubs were depending on them to perform well in 2011. The Cubs are likely going to call up 23-year old righty Casey Coleman to replace one of those guys in the starting rotation. He pitched in 12 games (8 starts) for the Cubs last year and he was 4-2 with a 4.11 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Coleman will likely do a decent job for the Cubs as he didn’t look too bad for them last year. 25-year old lefty James Russell might be moved from the pen to the rotation to fill one of the spots. Russell has pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Cubs so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. The Cubs can afford to move Russell to the rotation because they already have Sean Marshall and John Grabow from the left side in the pen.

2nd year shortstop Starlin Castro was running up to the plate against the Pirates pitchers over the weekend. Castro played in 3 games for the Cubs last weekend and he was 8 for 13 (.615 avg, 1.643 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 double, 2 triples and 1 RBI. He didn’t even whiff once over the weekend as the baseball must have looked like a beachball coming up to the plate. Castro is the main building block for the Cubs’ future and they hope he continues to roll, and I think he will.

The Chicago Cubs lost a devastating game yesterday as the Pirates beat closer Carlos Marmol. The Cubs start the 2011 season with a 1-2 record as the Pirates outscored them 14-12 over the weekend. I know it’s very early but this weekend was very disappointing for a team with very high hopes heading into 2011. It’s not the fact that the Cubs are 1-2 to start the year, but, it’s that the Pirates came into Wrigley Field and pushed them around a little bit. The Pirates have not been a decent team since the early 1990’s, so it’s not out of the question to have expected the Cubs to beat them up last weekend. Hopefully the Cubs will get back on the right track this week.