Thursday, July 16, 2009

B. J. Ryan Signs with Cubs: Should We Care?




B. J. Ryan is a Chicago Cub, or at least he's in the Cubs' minor-league system, according to ESPN Chicago. Last year with the Blue Jays, Ryan had 32 saves and a sub-3 ERA. But in 2007 and 2009, his effectiveness has been limited by arm trouble that has brought him more walks than strikeouts.

But the most important letter in the B. J. signing is L. Ryan is a lefty.

Could the Cubs have struck gold? Or is this just Neal Cotts part deux? Time, that verbose piece of garbage, will tell. But my guess is hopeful: I think the Cubs have landed a much-needed addition to their bullpen, which already looks like the most improved part of this team.
Posted by Adam at 4:34:00 PM
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1 comment:

  1. dwag29July 17, 2009 at 10:41 PM

    Hey Adam- I don't think it'll hurt the Cubs. We need another lefty to take the pressure off Marshall and Ryan will likely be used only in lefty-on-lefty situations. If Marshall doesn't return to the rotation, he'll still be valuable as a 1-2 inning guy in the pen. Sure, Ryan will have his moments where he gives up a run and all of us will be cursing this acquisition for a day but then the next day he'll strike out some guy like Prince Fielder in a key spot and we'll think he's awesome. As long as he doesn't develop MarmolCottsitis and walk a batter every time he pitches, he'll do fine.

    The pen looks to be getting a lot better so I think this acquisition will just give us an extra arm to tap into in certain spots. Can't be a bad thing.

    ReplyDelete

Spill it.

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