Cubs could carry 13 pitchers with Eyre back
CINCINNATI -- Don't rule out the Cubs carrying 13 pitchers once lefty reliever Scott Eyre comes off the disabled list.
That could happen as early as Wednesday. More likely, Eyre will return Friday, when the Cubs open a weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field.
Eyre is rehabbing in the minor leagues after coming up with a bone chip in his pitching elbow.
It looks like Sean Marshall will stay when Eyre comes back, giving the Cubs two lefties in the pen.
"I would think so, yes," manager Lou Piniella said. "I wouldn't rule out the possibility of 13 pitchers, for a while, while we stretch out Marshall. That hasn't been determined, but it's something that's been discussed."
Piniella added he hopes to get Marshall stretched out to go longer in games.
"The strength of our bullpen here is right-handed," Piniella said. "So why have the other teams load up with left-hand hitting against us and then bring in right-handed relievers?"
Ramirez still out: Third baseman Aramis Ramirez took a few "soft-toss" swings Monday, hitting a ball in the tunnel, but he said his injured left wrist still is too sore.
"It's always tough when you're losing games and you're sitting on the bench," he said. "You want to be able to help the team, especially when the team is right there. We're a game-and-a-half out of first place, and we were playing the team we're chasing."
Ramirez was talking about the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat the Cubs two of three over the weekend.
The Cardinals' Adam Wainwright hit Ramirez with a pitch Friday night. Ramirez said the wrist is too sore for him even to pinch hit.
Mum on Pie: Felix Pie started Monday against the Reds, but Lou Piniella wouldn't say how long the Cubs would work with Pie on his hitting at the major-league level.
Pie robbed Ken Griffey of home run No. 598 in Monday night's fifth inning, when he leaped and reached over the wall to make the catch.
It sounds like the Cubs wouldn't be averse to having Pie incorporate some new things at Class AAA Iowa.
"Nothing's indefinitely," Piniella said before a long pause. "We'll just leave it at nothing's indefinitely."
In their routine: The Cubs will keep their top three starters on rotation. Ted Lilly will open this weekend against Arizona, followed by Ryan Dempster and Carlos Zambrano.
Lou Piniella said he'd "work around" Nos. 4 and 5 starters Jon Lieber and Jason Marquis.
The quote: Reds announcer Marty Brennaman, who criticized Cubs fans for throwing baseballs onto the field last month, told Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News that he's fully aware many Cubs fans make the trip to Cincinnati.
"This might be the first time I ever get booed in my own ballpark," Brennaman told McCoy.