Look At Me Now!!!

Meet Shawn Camp, the anchor of the Chicago Cubs bullpen. His 2.74 ERA leads Cubs relievers and trails Carlos Marmol in strikeouts by on (37 vs. 38).

The 36-year-old righty has appeared in 48 games this season for 48.2 IP. Camp’s ERA and WHIP (1.09) are both career lows. His 11 holds lead the Cubs staff.

Much to the surprise of The Big Guy, Shawn camp is an nine-year veteran. Camp debuted for the Kansas City Royals in 2004. In 2006 he joined the Tampa Bay Rays and struggled mightly, posting ERAs of  4.68 in ’06 and 7.20 in ’07. Camp bounced back in ’08 when he caught on with the Toronto Blue Jays for the following three seasons. In 2010 Camp earned a 2.99 ERA in 72.1 IP.

Camp pitched eight years in the minor leagues before earning his first major league call up. He attended George Mason University before being drafted in the 16th round of the 1997 Draft.

Camp began the season as a 6th inning guy but quickly earned the trust of manager Dale Sveum with a 1.35 ERA in the month of May. Camp is a free agent at the end of the year, and could expect a raise from his $550,000 salary this season. Never hurts to keep a veteran arm in regenerating bullpen.

The Big Guy

Any Bullpen Hope?

Unfortunately yesterday’s inaugural blog proved too true. Matt Garza gave up 2 ER over 6.2 IP and left with the game tied 2-2.

Enter Shawn Camp, Scott Maine and Michael Bowden; or in box score lingo 7 ER over 2 IP. Camp only gave up 1 ER and still holds a respectable 3.43 ERA. However, Maine, called up yesterday to replace the waste of a roster spot known as Lendy Castillo, threw nine pitches, gave up 3 ER and recorded zero outs. Not to be outdone, Bowden came in a served up a grand slam to Hector Luna, a man with 14 career big flies.

What can the Cubs do about the fifth worst bullpen in baseball? Let’s take a look at the minors.

Trey McNutt, RHP

The 22-year-old starter ranks among the top 3 Cubs prospects according to most scouting reports. The 980th pick in the 2008 draft currently holds a 2.84 ERA over 25.1 IP in AA Tennessee. He has only reached 5 IP once this season so it is not hard to imagine the Cubs entering him into the bullpen and grooming him for a starting role in the mold of Jeff Samardzija. Batters hit .319 off McNutt last year in AA, but McNutt has lowered that this year to .194. Seems like the young guy is figuring it out. While the Cubs may not want to rush a young talent into the big leagues, bullpen fatigue may call for an early cup of coffee.

Kevin Rhoderick, RHP

A 9th round draft choice in 2010, Rhoderick sports a flossy 1.29 ERA in AA Tennessee. The Oregon State product throws a low-90s fastball, a slider in the low to mid-80s and a changeup. Rhoderick struck out 77 batters over 71.1 IP in A and AA last season. The 23-year-old relief pitcher appears to be on a rapid ascent to the bigs.

Frankie de la Cruz, RHP

The Cubs grabbed this 27-year-old journeyman at the right time. Over 13 IP last season with the Brewers, de la Cruz earned a 2.77 ERA and a solid 1.154 WHIP. Pitching in AAA Iowa this year, de la Cruz owns a 2.86 ERA over 28.1 IP. The contact pitcher has only struck out nine batters and gets a lot of fly ball outs. Hopefully Sveum uses him when the flags point in at Wrigley.

With the bullpen woes continuing to plague the Cubs, these three options may soon be called on to stop the late inning leaks.