Rosenthal's Latest: Hudson, Turnbow, Laird, Kershaw

I know it's early, but...
Returning to last year's "Rich Hill vs. Ryan Theriot" debate. I see Rich Hill and all of his wonderful peripherals were sent down to AAA-Iowa yesterday. And Theriot is currently hitting well above .300 with an OBP almost at .400. Round 1 to Deke.

Didn't Javier Lopez announce his retirement? I know the Brewers have at least 3 players on their current roster that were "retired" at one point in their careers but Javier Lopez is a stretch to say the least.

"Returning to last year's "Rich Hill vs. Ryan Theriot" debate. I see Rich Hill and all of his wonderful peripherals were sent down to AAA-Iowa yesterday. And Theriot is currently hitting well above .300 with an OBP almost at .400. Round 1 to Deke."

Yes, Round 1 goes to Deke. But I wouldn't be shocked if many, many rounds went to the other way. We are only 30 games into the season, and while I'm pleasantly surprised to see Theriot playing so well, I still think Hill will bounce back. The guy has too much talent and pitched too well last year to end up completely losing it. Theriot should round out to a solid .280/.360ish line (which is exactly what the Cubbies needed), and I still think Hill ends up in the rotation in a couple weeks unless Marquis, Lieber and Dempster all somehow pitch great.

Scribble, As a Cub fan myself, I hope Hill DOES rebound. For as well as Dempster has done, I worry. And Marquis is always a meltdown waiting to happen. The Cubs WILL need Rich Hill to make a significant contribution at some point if they hope to get deep into the playoffs. Back to Theriot...I've read a few articles talking about how the Cubs have become this "OBP Machine" ever since Fuku joined the club. In one artcile, Theriot explained that in 2007, since no one else in the Cubs lineup was looking to walk or take pitches, that he took it upon himself to work counts deeper and often times lay off great pitches to hit. It amazes me that major league hitters would need a fellow player to model that behavior for them! I mean, come on... I'm sure at some point Lou or SOME coach told them to be more selective and to take more pitches. But they never did. And now Fuku comes along and now they're all the sudden being more selective and walking?! It's just strange. But I'll take it. And you're right, I don't expect Theriot to end up at his current .325/.400 clip. But I'd take .280/.360 and some solid defense, hustle and stolen bases to go along with it. Back to Rich Hill...his control seems to be WAY off. 18 walks compared to 17 K's thus far. Although he did walk a fair number of hitters last year. But if there's one thing Lou can't stand, it's walks. And will Kerry Wood still be the closer if he blows another save? He always liked to walk a few hitters as well. I think if Kerry is sporadic in May, we could see the beginning of the Carlos Marmol era as closer.