Cubs Still Searching for a Closer - Down Goes Fox!

It's Day 2 of the Post-LaTroy Era, and the Cubs' bullpen situation isn't even close to settled.

It's been clear since training camp that Joe Borowski was going to see plenty of save opportunities this season, but he's still working his way back from a broken wrist, and will probably be unavailable until next weekend at the earliest. (He has been throwing from a mound, will throw a simulated game on Wednesday, and he's eager to return as soon as possible, for what that's worth.)

Chad Fox was tabbed as the interim closer, and he nailed down a 3-run save on Sunday. It made for a great story - just one year ago, Chad Fox thought his career was over due to a nerve problem (ulnar neuritis) in his elbow, which may have been related to the stress placed on his elbow from throwing too many sliders. He was brought into Cubs training camp as a non-roster invitee, pitched well enough to make the team, and amazingly enough, had apparently landed the closer role during the first month of the season.

Well, that may be over. Fox entered Monday night's game with the Cubs leading 10-3 (an "interesting" decision by Dusty Baker, who had previously emphasized Fox's fragility, and indicated that Fox would be used as sparingly as possible), and Fox proceeded to walk two hitters, gave up a 3-run bomb to Adam Dunn, walked Rich Aurilia, and ran the count to 3-1 on Jason LaRue before leaving the game with... you guessed it, a sore elbow.

Mike Remlinger entered the game to finish out the Reds, and it's possible that he could be in line for some save opportunities until JoBo returns. Possible, but not all that likely. Remlinger is still the primary lefty in the Cubs' pen. Moreover, the main reason that Remmy entered Monday's game at all is because he'd started warming up - and Fox had sat down - when the Cubs went up 10-3.

So who's the next "interim closer", while we wait for JoBo? As we discussed below, if Dusty's paying attention, it's Michael Wuertz. But that's really asking a lot of Dusty, and we all know that Dusty likes to give prominent roles to older players. Remlinger (7.11 ERA) was born in 1966, while Wuertz (0.96 ERA) was born in 1978. As such, I assume that Remlinger will get the next crack at the 9th inning. But as a Cub fan, I really hope it's Wuertz.

Tom: Update, as of 4/26/05, 3 PM Chad Fox was placed on the DL. Details to follow.