Howdy, Howry

The Cubs brought back Bobby Howry today, and he picked up pretty much where he left off in Chicago, giving up an RBI double and an intentional walk in a third of an inning.

Actually, that's not fair to Howry. You can't blame a guy for an intentional walk. And before earning the nickname "Home Run Howry" in 2008 (13 in 70 innings), he pitched in more than half of the Cubs' games over 2006-2007 while maintaining an ERA in the low threes. He pitched similarly well for the Giants last year before running into trouble with Arizona this season.

Whether or not Howry becomes a difference-maker, I see more moves coming to the Cubs' pitching staff. There's no reason to keep Carlos Zambrano in the bullpen - salary aside, he really only had one bad start, and he's given up six runs in the equivalent of two starts' worth of relief appearances. Not stellar, but not worthy of a staff ace being in the bullpen. The problem is, there's no room at the inn as far as the rotation goes.

Since Ted Lilly is a quality starter in a contract year and can't get run support to save his life anyway, I would start shopping him for at least one quality reliever and a prospect or two. If they really need two left-handed starters in a given series, give Sean Marshall a spot start. Beyond that, I'd be a little less gun-shy about shuffling relievers back and forth from Iowa if they're not getting the job done for the parent club.

John Grabow, whose runner Howry allowed to score today, would be on that list regardless of his major league experience. His career numbers indicate he's a halfway decent pitcher, but there's clearly something wrong this season. If there are merely some kinks in his game, let him fix them where it won't hurt the Cubs instead of in the late innings with a small lead.

And while he wasn't a Cub, I offer my condolences to the family of former pitcher Jose Lima, who died of a heart attack Sunday at the age of 37. While his name appeared on an unconfirmed list of players in the Mitchell Report, Lima first became a controversial figure in 1998 when he was accused of grooving pitches to fellow Dominican Sammy Sosa to give him an edge over Mark McGwire in the home run race. While Sosa did hit three of his last 17 homers against him that year - Lima won all three of his starts against the 1998 Cubs, incidentally - McGwire tagged him for one too. Regardless, it's a sad day when someone's life ends at such a young age.