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To: altair19 who wrote (51079)	4/12/2006 1:59:04 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104216

A19: It seems like the Red Sox are off to a great start this year...I think there is a very good chance they'll be in the play-offs again. My Cubs are performing well when they are using good starting pitchers -- yesterday was painful as Glendon Rusch couldn't locate his pitches down and away (he is a player that I thought the Cubs should have cut loose last year...instead management extended his contract and they're paying him close to $3M this year...that's way too much money for marginal talent)....The Cubs have some of their top starters progressing well in development and recovery...Overall the team is hitting and running better than last year too. I remain cautiously optimistic on the season...It's a sunny and windy day and within a half hour Greg Maddux will start for the Cubs against The Reds...We should have a much better chance to do well than yesterday...The Cubs have also locked our all-star Derek Lee into a long-term contract. If The Cubs starting pitching becomes more consistent, then we actually could have a good season...a friend sent this to me... <<...It's from Peter Gammons' latest blog and, entitled "Loveable Winners?", it's all about the Cubs. Since it's an Insider article, I'll post some highlights: Angel Guzman, 23, once a prize in the class of a Zambrano, made a significant comeback this spring. "His velocity was back up to 95-96," Rothschild says. As he pitches at Iowa, Guzman will be closely monitored for his command, especially of his breaking ball. When asked if Guzman could help by midseason, Hendry laughed and said, "It could be by the end of this month." The Cubs believe Prior will be fine, in time. When he pulled the muscle underneath his armpit this spring, Dr. Lewis Yocum said this was yet another in the series of freak occurrences that have set him back. And one thing should be eminently clear -- this has nothing to do with a willingness to pitch with pain. It's just that with Prior's delivery, when he gets to the unloading point, there is a lot of unnecessary stress. As for Wood, there have been several encouraging signs. Everyone feels the ball is coming out of his hand far better than it has since 2003. When Kerry feels right, he is back on his legs, driving to the plate better than he has since 2003. His slider is starting to come back. Wood is coming off shoulder surgery, which was deemed "minor," as if any shoulder surgery is ever minor. What they don't know is how quickly his velocity will return (sometimes with a shoulder rehab, it takes a full year for arm strength to come back). Then there's Wade Miller, who is throwing better than he did last year for Boston but is still a rehab work in progress. No timetable. No pressure. NOTE: Wood's been clocked at low to mid-90s on his pitches, so it appears his velocity is fine. They wanted to get faster. The key piece was obtaining Juan Pierre, but Ronny Cedeno, Matt Murton, Freddy Bynum and Angel Pagan all can run. And they wanted to get more energy. "It's unbelievable what Juan brings to all of us," Murton says. Barrett, Todd Walker and other veterans also point to both Murton and Cedeno as key energetic components. "They never stop working or coming to the park with excitement," hitting coach Sarge Matthews says. "It's great for everyone."....>>