Pitchers and catchers report next week and I cannot wait.  As of rignt now, we still don’t know who the fifth starter will be.  We do know that our 1-4 pitchers stack up well against any other team in baseball. 
I’ll start with Carlos Zambrano, also known as Big Z.  Last year was the first time since 2002 that Zambrano did not pitch over 200 innings.  That may be a good thing for him and the Cubs in 2009.  Hopefully, his arm and shoulder will be more rested and a healthy Zambrano could mean 20 wins this season.  Last year was up and down for Big Z.  He slugged the snot out of the ball and even threw a no hitter.  He now has 6 consecutive winning seasons as a pitcher.  He’s been consistent winning between 13 and 18 games since ’02.  I expect big things from the big guy this year.

Next, we have Ryan Dempster.  He is coming off a career year and it would be hard to expect him to improve off of last season.  I anticipate 15 wins and 200 innings though.  He’s one of my favorite players because of his competitive nature.  When he first came to the Cubs he was out of shape.  Since then he has slimmed down and turned into a lean pitching machine.  He signed on to stay with the Cubs this off season and I believe he will have much success over the next 3-4 years in a Cubs uniform.  His dedication to excel as a pitcher will hopefully push his teammates to do the same. 

Then we have our sole lefty in the rotation, Ted Lilly.  I love Lilly now, but when we first signed him I wasn’t so certain.  This is a classic example of me questioning a move by Jim Hendry.  It is also an example of Henry making the right move.  Lilly is 32-17 since joinging the Cubs.  Another thing I like about Lilly is his striking resemblance to a close friend of mine named Zane.  Zane was also a left handed pitcher, but he never quite made it as far as Lilly.  If I were to post a close up picture of Lilly and Zane side by side you would think they were related.  Anyway, Lilly is a great guy to have in the rotation.  I think he will be third or fourth in the rotation and will probably win 15 games again this year. 

Rich Harden is our next guy.  His stuff is electric.  He is capable of being a number one pitcher on most any team, but he also has a history of not being healthy.  I would use him as the number four starter personally due to his health concerns.  He would probably be the best number four starter in all of baseball.  I hope he stays healthy and I know Lou won’t over use him.  If we can get 25 starts from Harden I think he will win at least 12 games.  Who knows, if he stays healthy all season we could be looking at a sleeper Cy Young candidate.  But that may be reaching just a little bit. 

As far as our fifth starter goes it’s still up in the air.  I could see lefty Sean Marshall fill that role, but I like his versatility out of the bullpen.  I think he is more valuable as a middle reliever who is capable of starting when needed to.  There is also Jeff Samardzija.  The 24 year old Samardzija has great stuff and could fill this role nicely or he could be used as a setup man.  Either way, I see a bright future for this guy and the Cubs.  There are other guys who have been mentioned as a possible fifth starter, Chad Gaudin, Aaron Heilman, and Angel Guzman seem to be the main ones.  Whoever the fifth starter is I think he will be solid.  I would prefer Samardzija personally.