Cubs' rotation could be changing soon
What to do now with Chris Volstad?
If most Cubs fans had their way, they'd say to ship out the big right-hander after yet another disappointing performance, this time in Thursday night's 8-7 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs got 4 runs in the ninth inning to make it a close game.
Volstad's start was the worst of a bad lot of 8 this season. He lasted just 2 innings, giving up 6 hits and 4 runs. His record fell to 0-6 and his ERA rose from an already feverish 6.92 to 7.46.
Manager Dale Sveum said after the game the Cubs would "evaluate" the situation.
"It wasn't much fun," said Sveum, whose team tied its low-water mark at eight games under .500 (15-23). "There's just no life, no command with, really, (any) of his pitches. It wasn't a real good outing at all for the situation we were in.
"We'll get together as a staff and talk to Theo (team president Epstein) and Jed (general manager Hoyer) and evaluate the situation, that's for sure. See what our options are and go from there."
How bad was it? Volstad threw 58 pitches over his 2 innings. By contrast, Phillies ace Roy Halladay (4-3) had a pitch count of 55 after 5 innings.
The Phillies sent seven men to the plate in the first, when they scored once. They batted eight times in the second, scoring 3 runs, 2 coming home on a solid single by Hunter Pence.
"Pitches out of the zone, walks in the first and second inning," Volstad said. "It's just not good. We've tried different things. Just got to keep working. There's no giving up, no quit. Never. This is going to get better. Try everything."
Volstad came to the Cubs in the off-season trade that sent wayward pitcher Carlos Zambrano to the Miami Marlins. Zambrano has pitched well for the Marlins this season, but he has gotten poor run support in some games, and the bullpen has wrecked games on other days. So far, Zambrano is 1-2 with a 1.88 ERA.
The Cubs do have some alternatives, even if none is great.
Right-hander Casey Coleman is one. He relieved Volstad and pitched 4 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 run.
"Yeah, definitely he could be one of the options, there's no question," Sveum said.
Left-hander Travis Wood is at Class AAA Iowa. He made an emergency start on May 6, putting up a quality start but getting no decision as the Cubs beat the Dodgers 4-3 in 11 innings. Wood pitched Thursday night for Iowa.
"It's a logical choice, no doubt about it," Sveum said. "We've got to make a decision quick. I'm not sure exactly when his next outing is."
When told it was Thursday, Sveum said: "Then we're in good shape."
Right-hander Randy Wells also is at Iowa. He was not impressive in 2 big-league starts this season, going 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA.
The Cubs have a left-hander, Chris Rusin, also at Iowa. He was just named the Pacific Coast League's pitcher of the week, going 2-0 with an 0.64 ERA while striking out 12.
bmiles@dailyherald.com