1. Lake CF
2. Barney 2B
3. Castro SS
4. Navarro C
5. Neal LF
6. Ransom 1B
7. Gillespie RF
8. Murphy 3B
9. T. Wood SP
Four players started the game batting under .215: Barney, Neal, Ransom and Gillespie.
Hitters five through eight are all players discarded from other organizations.
The bad omen was set. Neal blows up his shoulder making a routine throw to second base. He falls down in the outfield like deer in the middle of hunting season. Then shortly thereafter, Navarro blocks the plate on Old Man Utley to record the out, but has to be carted off with an apparent serious leg injury. (Initial reports say a bruised knee).
The Cubs will have to scramble for two replacement players for today's day game. Catcher is a serious issue. Iowa was down its two catchers so infielder Edwin Maysonet had to catch 4 innings in Tacoma. That produced an emergency promotion for Boise catcher Cael Brockmeyer. In his debut, he went 1-3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. The other Iowa catcher is 25 year old Chad Noble, who started the season in High Class A Daytona, and was promoted to Double A Tennessee but was also called up to Iowa recently. The other alternative would be Double A catcher Rafael Manuel Lopez. Lopez, 25, started the season in Rookie ball, but has been promoted three times already from A, A+ and now AA. The problem with Noble and Lopez is that they have been treading water in the low minors based upon their age.
Last night's game opened another wound in the Cubs organization: depth at catcher.
UPDATE: The Cubs called up 33 year old catcher J.C. Boscan. Boscan played only a few games in Atlanta in the past three years. He is a career minor league catcher who is insurance for Navarro, who is now listed day to day with an ankle injury.
