Cubs Soup

Should Piniella have moved Wells to the pen instead of Gorzelanny?

When Lou Piniella decided to bring Carlos Zambrano back to the starting rotation he needed to figure out whom he was going to move to the pen. That guy was Tom Gorzelanny. Now I don’t think Gorzelanny was going to be able to continue the pace he set for himself thus far, but it’s looking more and more like Randy Wells should have been Piniella’s choice.

After starting the year 3-0 with a 3.45 ERA, Wells has seemed to hit the proverbial wall in his sophomore campaign. He has now gone over a month without recording a win, going 0-4 in his last seven starts. The Cubs offense obviously hasn’t been helping much, but his ERA is over 6.00 during that stretch.

When we first heard about Zambrano’s return to the rotation I was expecting Wells to draw the short straw. Both he and Gorzelanny had been struggling, but I thought Wells would be less affected by a move to the pen. It’s hard to blame Piniella for his decision. I don’t think anyone would have complained much either way, but it’s now looking as though Wells may have been the way to go.

At this point, I think you give Wells another game or two to see if he can right the ship. However, I hope the Cubs are ready to switch things up if he continues to struggle. Believe me, continually moving guys from the pen to the rotation, and vice versa, is not something I agree with. But I don’t see how it can possibly hurt with the way this team is playing.

I understand that this situation is not going to necessarily make or break the Cubs, but it’s something I think we need to take into consideration when we think about Piniella’s handling of this roster. Although I don’t think the decision was easy, it’s just another call I feel Lou got wrong. Does anyone else feel that Lou’s to the point where he’s just going through the motions? He looks like he did in his last season with Tampa Bay. Hopefully I’m wrong and he’ll find a way to get this team going, but at this point I don’t see that happening.

The only thing the Cubs have going for them right now is their upcoming trip to Milwaukee. The Brewers are the one team they seem to play well. Maybe they’ll be able to turn things around up there and get some sort of momentum going before the all-star break. Unfortunately, I highly doubt it.