Overdue

An article where I give the Cubs best case scenario for 2006 is up on Baseball Prospectus listing the numerous reasons this is our year.

MLB.com had this sobering passage today as well:

Arms race, Part II: Mark Prior was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on May 22, 2002. Since then, the Cubs' regular-season schedule has covered 677 days. Prior and/or Kerry Wood have been on the disabled list for 248 days (37 percent) with both of them being on the DL at the same time for 52 days. At least one of the two pitchers has been on the DL for more than half the season in each of the last two years.

The longest stretches with both off the disabled list are: 103 days, from May 22, 2002, to Sept. 1, 2002 (the first 103 days); and 116 days, from Sept. 17, 2002, to July 11, 2003.

The longest stretch with at least one of them on the DL: 97 days, from April 5, 2004, to July 10, 2004. The current streak is 34 in-season days with Wood missing the last month of the 2005 season

Depressing.

As I write this newly christened starter Sean Marshall is getting hit pretty hard by the Padres giving up 6 runs in less than 6 innings. He'll get his first big league start against the Reds on April 9th.