Carlos Zambrano’s return looming, Wells to the Pen?

As if we are surprised that the Cubs decided to move Carlos Zambrano back to the rotation, the real surprise is that we may see Zambrano start a game for the Cubs as early as the this upcoming weekend when the Cubs play the Cardinals. Now, while no timetable has been set for Zambrano’s return to the rotation, overriding speculation suggests that if Carlos feels good after his simulated game on Monday, the Cubs would then place him in their rotation and have him ready to start one of the games against the Cardinals.

The bottomline on the whole Carlos Zambrano nonsense, is that although the Cubs moved Zambrano to the bullpen because they though it would help get them more wins, it turned out to be that moving Zambrano to the bullpen was not such a good idea, and actually the move probably cost the Cubs at least a few games.

But, now the Cubs face a similar problem that they have already experienced this season, and that is Who gets dropped from the rotation.

Out of the current rotation which consists of Dempster, Lilly, Wells, Silva, and Gorzelanny, one of those five will be forced to go into the bullpen. And, to be honest one could make a case for just about each of these pitchers saying why they should remain in the rotation. Obviously, with Dempster and Lilly they are two cornerstones of the rotation, and it would not make sense for the Cubs to put one of those two in the rotation.  Wells, with the exception of the Pittsburgh game, has been nothing but consistent the whole year. Gorzelanny has arguably been the Cubs best pitcher out of the rotation this year. And, Carlos Silva is 5-0 so far this season.

With that being said, it appears that Randy Wells may in fact be the odd man out. For one, Wells has been a reliever before with both the Cubs and in the minor league system. And, Lou Piniella hinted that when considering who to remove from the rotation when Ted Lilly came back, he was deciding between Randy Wells and Carlos Zambrano. So, seeing as the Zambrano move did not work, could Lou resort to his second best option in his opinion in Randy Wells?

Nonetheless, we will know by Tuesday at the earliest, when Carlos Zambrano will return to the rotation.