Wade Miller

There has been a lot of complaining about Wade Miller among Cubs fans this spring. It seems that many would prefer Mark Prior as the number five man in the rotation than Miller. The only reason I can figure the preference is that Prior came out of the Cubs farm system and Miller didn’t.

I admit it. I prefer Prior. He is still young and smart. If he can return to the form he held a short time ago, he could return to being the number one or number two man in the rotation.

In fact, two short weeks ago I handed the rotation spot to Prior and recommended to Hendry that Miller be sent to another needy team. Lucky for me Hendry ignores my emails.

Today I am telling Hendry to send Prior to Iowa to work himself back into shape and let Miller have the spot. Miller hasn’t looked terrible yet this spring, but he has yet to shut another team down. After three outings, he has a 4.00 ERA, including the two runs allowed today. Still, he is picking up, striking out five and nine for the Cactus League.

What people fail to remember is that Wade Miller was the Mark Prior of the Houston Astros a short time ago. In 2001, Miller won sixteen games and won forty-five from 2001 to 2003. Up until his injury, he was improving as a pitcher.

The question now is whether he will regain the arm strength that made him a feared pitcher just a short time ago. It is the same with Prior. It the two of them can come together, maybe Marquis will become the odd man out.

The problem with the Cubs rotation is that they have one too many projects and one two few trusted veterans to fall back on. Carlos Zambrano is considered the horse, but Ted Lilly is untested in this league. Marquis, Miller and Prior are projects and Rich Hill and Angel Guzman are still virtual rookies.

If Lilly proves to be worth the money the Cubs are paying, and just one of the projects and one of the rookies turn to gold, the Cubs will have a great season. As it is, there are still too many questions about the pitching.