Who has been the Chicago Cubs best pitcher of late? Not Carlos Zambrano, not Ted Lilly, not even Ryan Dempster.
Nope, that honor belongs to rookie Randy Wells. The right-hander has 23 strikeouts and a 1.80 ERA in four starts yet is 0-2 to show for it. He starts tonight in the first of a three-game series in Atlanta in place of Zambrano, who is still serving his six-game suspension and will pitch Thursday in the series finale.
As for tonight's game, the Cubs are +100 underdogs behind Wells on WagerWeb.com.
"He has pitched four excellent games and he still doesn't have a win," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.
"But if he continues to pitch like that, he's going to win a lot of ballgames."
Wells only got a look because Rich Harden went down with an injury, but he has earned the right to stick around even when Harden returns, which should be in a week or two.
The Cubs still are getting next-to-nothing from Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto and Derrek Lee, who were three big parts of their division-winning team last year. And third baseman Aramis Ramirez remains on the DL.
That offense is on pace to finish about 100 runs off of last year's total. And the Cubs aren't a good road team. The last time the Cubs were away from Wrigley Field, they went 0-6 in St. Louis and San Diego.
They're averaging only four runs on the road, nearly one less than at home, and the ERA is nearly a run higher at 4.76.
The Atlanta offense isn't much better, and the Braves expect to be without starting first baseman Casey Kotchman this series after he took a pitch in the shin on Sunday. The Braves start Kenshin Kawakami (3-6, 4.73) tonight. He allowed nine hits and four runs — three earned — over 5 2-3 innings in a 6-3 loss at San Francisco last Wednesday.
Chicago crushed Atlanta last season, winning the series 6-0 and outscoring the Braves 49-18.
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