Silva Unimpressive in Second Spring Outing

To say that Carlos Silva was unimpressive in his second outing of the spring would, frankly, be the understatement of the century. Silva allowed eight runs, all earned, on ten hits in just two and one thirds innings of work. He also hit a batter while striking out none. Incredibly, Silva allowed the first seven batters of the third inning to reach base. He then recorded a line drive out before allowing the double that would end his day. There was only one error, on right fielder Tyler Colvin.

This start marks the second consecutive performance in which Silva, who is on the record as saying that he does not feel that he needs to prove himself in order to make the rotation, was underwhelming at best. Sure the Cubs made three errors in his first go-round, but he also gave up two long balls and then proceeded to fight Aramis Ramirez in the dugout. This time, it appears Silva was throwing batting practice.

Silva, who came over in the Milton Bradley trade before last season was excellent in the first half last year, before his season was derailed by injuries. However, I am a firm believer that unless you are a bona-fide ace (see Zambrano, Dempster, or Garza) nothing should be guaranteed, including Silva's spot in the rotation. With Randy Wells pitching as well as he has thus far, it is looking more likely that he will be in the rotation as the 4th starter. That would leave Silva, Andrew Cashner, Casey Coleman, James Russell, and possibly someone like Todd Wellemyer or Jay Jackson to battle it out for the 5th spot in the rotation. And while none of these pitchers has set themselves apart as of yet, I like Todd Wellemeyer for the spot. In two games so far, he has a 2.25 ERA in four innings of work, allowing one run on four hits while striking out four batters. The one thing Silva does have going for him is a ridiculously inflated contract, though some of the money is being paid by the Mariners.

Todd Wellemeyer: Wellemeyer returns to the Cubs for his second stint of duty after spending last season with the world series champion San Francisco Giants. He has made 75 starts in his eight year career. His best season of record came in 2008 with the St. Louis Cardinals when he started 32 games and pitched 191.2 innings. He finished the season with a 13-9 record and a 3.71 ERA. Wellemeyer previously pitched for the Cubs from 2003-05. He was drafted by the Cubs and remains the on Cubs pitcher to record a save in his Major League Debut.