Russell’s first start a disaster

In the “objective” media world, we’re really not supposed to root for people. No cheering in the press box and all that.

Fair enough. That means you can’t really root against anybody, either.

James Russell is one of those kinds of players it’s tough not to pull for.

Russell, a 25-year-old lefty, made his first major-league start Tuesday night for the Cubs against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

It was painful to watch as Russell couldn’t make it out of the second inning in an 11-2 loss to the Astros.

Since Russell came out of the bullpen as an emergency fill-in, the Cubs expected him to throw only 45-50 pitches, or 45-50 “of his best pitches,” as manager Mike Quade put it.

Russell wound up throwing 55 pitches, and even though 2 of the first 3 were only bunted for hits, they set the table for a 3-run first inning, and the Astros added 2 more in the second to chase Russell.

The other day in Milwaukee, I had a chance to stop by Russell’s locker and talk with him about the start. It wasn’t just any start. It was in Houston, which was something special for this resident of Colleyville, Texas. Russell also is the son of former big-league closer Jeff Russell. Pop was in the stands Tuesday along with James’ mom and his brother and sister.

“It’s going to be a bunch of fun, the first start,” he said. “I’ll be something you remember for a while. It couldn’t be a better place. It’s as close to home as I can get this year. It’ll be cool.”

Things are less than cool for the Cubs and their rotation. They’re without Nos. 4 and 5 starters Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner, forcing the Cubs to go with Russell and another youngster, Casey Coleman.

What’s worse, the Cubs have not had a quality start since April 4, when Wells went 6 innings and allowed a run. Since then, including Tuesday, Cubs starters have totaled 37 innings and allowed 26 earned runs for an ERA of 6.32.

Granted, not all of those non-quality starts have been poor. Cashner was cruising until shoulder tightness forced him from his April 5 start. Ryan Dempster picked up a victory Monday night and was denied a quality start when the Astros picked up 3 runs in the seventh inning.

The Cubs talked all winter of “depth” and “inventory” in their starting pitching, and clearly, they don’t have it. That’s why general manager Jim Hendry signed veterans Ramon Ortiz and Doug Davis to minor-league deals.

“We’re doing what we should do — accumulating some guys down in the system,” Hendry told reporters in Houston after Tuesday’s singing of Davis.

The bullpen got a workout Tuesday, with Jeff Samardzija eating 3 innings. The Cubs will need Carlos Zambrano to go deep in Wednesday night’s series finale. Luckily for the Cubs, they have an off-day Thursday. After that, it’s three in Colorado, where the Cubs cannot afford to let things get completely out of hand.