 |
 |
| Wandy Rodriguez |
Glendon Rusch |
| 0 - 0, ---- | 2 - 1, 2.90 |
Wandy Rodriguez, 4 - 2 with a 3.69 at AAA Round Rock this year, is set to make his major league debut this evening at Wrigley Field. Rodriguez takes the start to fill in for Andy Pettitte, who has been shut down temporarily so that his tight forearm might loosen up.
The team basically took Rodriguez in exchange from the Express for reliever Mike Burns, who had been doing OK in the show until Luis Gonzalez took him yard on a 3 - 2 curveball late Friday. I was personally kind of surprised that it wasn't poor Zeke Astacio who was sent down.
I may be grasping at straws here, but Rodriguez is just the kind of unknown who regularly shuts down the Astros--even in their good years. Rodriguez, not overpowering, has exceptional command, and his game is to move the ball in and out, in and out. Although the Cubs have not become the disaster that the Astros have been transformed into, their fuses are probably somewhat short after getting taken to school a little bit by the White Sox over the weekend, and I can imagine Rodriguez frustrating them a little bit.
Or I can imagine Rodriguez getting rocked--my confidence level with this team is so low, you know?
Whatever the outcome, I won't be watching it live. I've got tickets to see the first-place Marlins take on the last-place Phillies as Dontrelle Willis goes for his eighth victory.
I'll try to get home in time to review the game and the gripes of those who blame Phil Garner for the way the season has gone. . . ..