MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL | CUBS NOTES
CHICAGO | Lou Piniella's quick hooks on lefty Sean Marshall seem to be pulling against the manager's goal of not burning up his bullpen too much due to shortened starts.
But, as with a lot of Piniella's strategy, there's more than meets the eye.
The last hook took place Saturday when Marshall was lifted after the leadoff Cardinals hitter got on in the sixth, despite enjoying a 5-2 lead and allowing just five hits to that point.
"We wanted to keep Marshall nice and fresh all the year, keep him in the rotation," Piniella said. "He's had some physical problems (strained right oblique muscle in 2006) in the past. Take a look -- he's never pitched 150 innings in a season.
"I think if I start pushing the envelope with him and trying to get more (innings), I think we're looking for some problems. If we can get him through a full season like this pitching, by next year, we can let him go (longer)."
Piniella sent the 6-foot-7, 205-pound Marshall to the showers with the knowledge the more durable Carlos Zambrano followed him in the rotation.
"I can do it with one of the spots in the rotation," Piniella said of abbreviated outings. "I can't do it with all five."
Interestingly, Marshall and Zambrano are flip-flopping in the rotation on the western road trip. Zambrano, who threw just 43 pitches in three innings in the rained-out game Sunday night, will work Thursday in San Francisco, with Marshall pushed back a day to Friday against Arizona.
"He wants to save on some of my pitches so I can get through the rest of the season," Marshall said.
Some supportive teammates: Thornwood alum Cliff Floyd thanked his teammates for their support while he mourned his father, Cornelius Floyd.
"These are the guys that stood behind me and backed me during all this," he said. "So many of them were present at the funeral. I'm really blessed to be able to have good people around me."
Floyd had hoped his father would recover from a kidney ailment.
"He was looking really good and he was looking like he was coming out of it," he said. "That's what hurts the most -- I really thought I would have him around more."
Floyd and long-disabled catcher Henry Blanco will be re-activated for tonight's game in San Francisco, while catcher Koyie Hill was designated for assignment and infielder Ronny Cedeno was optioned to Triple-A Iowa.
