Injury Bug already on the Attack, as Day 1 of ST Begins

Well it didn’t take long for the Cubs to suffer their first two injuries of the year, as it only is opening day of Spring Training.

Angel Guzman is one of the players are injured, as he is two weeks behind from the other pitchers as he is rehabbing from arthroscopic knee surgery that he had two weeks ago.

And Jeff Gray is the other injured pitcher, as he too will be out the first two weeks of spring, as he has a moderate groin strain.

Both players will be ready for the opening day, as both are expected to be in the Cubs opening day bullpen. Guzman will likely serve as the seventh inning guy, and Gray is expected to be eased into the set up role.

Lou Piniella hinted today that the Cubs are still looking for a veteran set up man, something they do not have in their camp right now. In recent weeks they have been linked to the Blue Jays Jason Frasor, and the Padre’s Luke Gregerson. They are also interested in Chan Ho Park, who is a free agent.

other notes from Day 1 of Spring Training…

Ted Lilly has told Lou Piniella that he will be ready by opening day. However no timetable has been confirmed, the general belief is that Lilly will return somewhere between April 15th and May 1st.

Ryan Theriot and the Cubs will go to Arbitration on Friday. The two sides are $8MM apart, and it is not likely that they will reach a deal by Friday.

When talking about what the opening day lineup, Lou hinted that the top four hitters in their lineup will likely be Theriot, Fukudome, Lee, and Ramirez in that order. However, Lou was not fully committed to Ryan Theriot being their leadoff hitter.