New spin to rotation
Piniella's plan focuses on more work, less rest for his top two starters
Either Piniella is showing some late-season genius or he is setting himself up for a winter's worth of second-guessing.
At a time of the season when teams generally are looking for spots to get an extra day of rest for pitchers, Piniella has plans for his top two starters -- Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly -- to work on three days' rest next week.
''Our pitchers are fairly fresh,'' Piniella said before the Cubs pounded the St. Louis Cardinals 12-3 in a makeup game Monday at Wrigley Field. ''We've watched their pitch counts all summer. We've got enough pitchers now with all these call-ups that if somebody's struggling or we have a big lead -- which we haven't had -- we can shorten somebody up.''
Though Piniella is still being hazy on his plan for the rest of the month -- after inconvenient scheduled days off Sept. 20 and Sept. 24 -- it's clear he has stacked his rotation to allow Zambrano and Lilly to pitch the final regular-season series Sept. 28-30 in Cincinnati.
This appears to be a man operating -- rightly so -- on the premise the National League Central race will go right down to the wire.
''This week here in Houston and St. Louis will tell a lot about this division,'' Piniella said before his team departed for Houston, where the Cubs open a three-game series tonight against the Astros. ''Let's hope we're up to the challenge.''
''There was some frustration,'' said Lilly, who held the Cardinals to three runs and five hits to match his career high with 15 victories. ''We expected to go out there and play solid baseball, and we didn't pitch particularly well.''
But facing the fading Cards, the Cubs erupted for 17 hits, including two home runs by Aramis Ramirez. In the fourth inning, Derrek Lee and Ramirez each belted home runs, and later, Jacque Jones, Jason Kendall and Lilly hit consecutive doubles during the rare five-run rally.
''That [five]-run inning, where's that been?'' Piniella said. ''That was a thing of beauty.''
It's no secret Piniella has been losing patience with an offense that should be providing more five-run rallies. That's why the pitching has consumed his thoughts in recent days.
Thanks to some deep thinking on the flight from Pittsburgh, Piniella was ready to unveil the latest look to his rotation. Veteran right-hander Steve Trachsel, who looked solid last week against the Los Angeles Dodgers and awful over the weekend against the Pirates, will get one more shot to stick in the rotation, pitching on three days' rest Thursday in Houston. That quick comeback makes sense after Trachsel threw just 47 pitches Sunday.
That allows Zambrano -- on an extra day of rest -- to start the opener of a four-games-in-three-days series against the Cardinals in St. Louis on Friday. Zambrano is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA at Busch Stadium this season.
Lilly will operate on a normal four days' rest when facing the Cardinals again Saturday. Zambrano would go again Tuesday against the Reds at Wrigley Field, with Lilly starting the next day against the Red.
''Both Zambrano and Lilly have done it before,'' Piniella said, ''and we're only asking them to do it once.''
Keep in mind, entering Monday, Zambrano led the majors with 3,290 pitches -- 28 more than No. 2 C.C. Sabathia of the Cleveland Indians -- and Lilly was No. 31 in the majors with 2,935 pitches.
Lilly, however, seems to welcome anything Piniella throws his way.
''I feel really good,'' Lilly said. ''That's why you prepare and work hard all season, so you can finish strong down the stretch.''
Lilly won't look ahead to his start next week on three days' rest, choosing to focus one start at a time. That means the next time out, he faces the same Cards team he handled with ease Monday.
''That's fun,'' Lilly said. ''They are going to be fired up to beat me on Saturday. I look forward to that.''
At this point, all the Cubs can do is look forward.