Lou Piniella announced after Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Rangers that Aramis Ramirez will get some time off to heal his sprained left thumb. Ramirez played on Saturday (0-for-5, 4 K’s) while sitting out on Friday and Sunday. According to Cubs trainers, the injury is not serious enough to put him on the disabled list. Expect the Cubs to use a combination of Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker over at third base during Ramirez’s absence.
Carlos Zambrano threw 73 pitches during a simulated game on Monday afternoon. Piniella said that Zambrano will make his first start on the road next week, and will not be available to pitch this week against the Dodgers and Cardinals. This is not an opportune time to be down a relief pitcher with two of the National League’s best teams coming to town this week. A decision is yet to be made on which pitcher will be taken out of the rotation to make room for Zambrano.
As stated before this is a tough week for the Cubs even though all of the games will be at Wrigley Field. They will play three against the red hot Los Angeles Dodgers who have won 14 of their last 17, followed by their first meeting of the season against the first place St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs finally displayed some clutch hitting during the final two games of the Texas series, and they will need that to continue this week.
