Ex-Cubs Maholm, Marquis on comeback trail with Reds

Paul Maholm was one of the Cubs' get-him-and-flip-him pitchers in 2012.

Jason Marquis was a back-end starter for the 2007 and 2008 division winners.

Today, both are trying to hook on with the Cincinnati Reds as nonroster invitees to spring training.

Maholm, 32, came in on the ground floor of the Cubs' rebuilding process but was traded away while the cement on the foundation was still wet.

He went 9-6 with a 3.74 ERA for the '12 Cubs before being traded to Atlanta on July 30 of that season along with outfielder Reed Johnson for pitchers Arodys Vizcaino and Jaye Chapman, neither of whom is with the Cubs anymore.

Maholm spent 2013 with the Braves before signing with the Dodgers. He got into 30 games for L.A. last year, but only 8 were starts because the Dodgers have a deep rotation. The lefty would love another shot at starting, and that's why he's with the Reds.

“I don't see myself as a reliever,” he told the Reds website. “I don't really plan on doing that. I want to get back into starting, and the opportunity to compete and prove I'm still a starter.”

It will be tough for both Maholm and Marquis, as the Reds have plenty of competition at the back end of the rotation with the likes Tony Cingrani, Anthony DeScalfini, Dylan Axelrod and others.

Marquis did not pitch last year as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. For his career, he is 121-114 with a 4.05 ERA in stints with the Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Nationals, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Twins and Padres.

He could be abrasive at times, but he always was a good quote for reporters, especially when he felt he should be pitching more than he was.

“It was nice to get back on the mound with a little adrenaline,” he told the Reds website recently. “It's been awhile.”

Matt Garza reinvented:

It's a “new” Matt Garza with the Milwaukee Brewers. The former Cubs starter tells the Brewers' website he has overhauled his mechanics in hopes of simplifying his delivery and avoiding injury.

The website reports that Garza has worked with his brother Michael, a former prospect and now a high-school coach, on the mechanical overhaul.

“Kind of just staying in myself, staying level,” Garza told the site. “For some reason I would get excited and have a (Mike) Fiers-type tilt, and that's not good for me. I think that's part of the reason my changeup hasn't really fully developed, and why I've had problems with consistency on my slider and breaking stuff.

“With this, it's helping me feel better about it. Staying consistent with my release and where the ball comes out. ... It's refreshing to be in control when I'm usually a guy who's rarely in control.”

Garza started 27 games for the Brewers last year, the most since he made 31 for the Cubs in 2011. But he spent much of last August on the disabled list in the first season of a four-year, $50 million contract.

“When stuff gets exposed, you leave it open for injury, and that's what I was doing,” Garza told the website. “There's so much torque coming down that mountain, that you can only hold so much so many times. We're trying to make it consistent to where it doesn't have to hold that any more, and it spreads out my whole body.”

Thinking of Mom:

Hard-throwing right-hander Andrew Cashner of the Padres pitched against the Cubs earlier this week, and when he walked off the field with manager Bud Black, a few fans might have been concerned.

But there was nothing physically wrong with Cashner, who has had a history of arm problems in his young career. It turns out he is pitching with a lot on his mind. His mother, Jane, is battling leukemia, and she recently had her right leg amputated below the knee.

“She's on a breathing machine, on a dialysis machine and on a feeding tube,” Cashner told the team website. “Things aren't very good, but there's a chance that she can fight through all of this.”

Cashner was the Cubs' first-round draft pick in 2008. Two months after Theo Epstein took over the Cubs' baseball operations in the fall of 2011, he traded Cashner to the Padres in the deal that brought first baseman Anthony Rizzo to the Cubs.

Last season, Cashner made only 19 starts because of elbow and shoulder injuries.