Bobby Hill, expected to be the Cubs' leadoff hitter and second baseman for the next several years, was called up when Chicago placed Carlos Zambrano on the DL yesterday. He played second and batted in the #2 hole behind Corey Patterson in his debut for Chicago.

He came to the plate 5 times. In his first at-bat, he grounded out to first. We were watching the game and I believe he fouled off the first pitch he saw. He popped up to shallow left field on the first pitch of his second at-bat. The third time he came to the plate, he again grounded out, this time to the shortstop. However, he walked in his 4th plate appearance after running Takaki Nomura to a full count. Hill advanced to second when Sammy Sosa also walked but was stranded there when the inning ended. In his final at-bat of his first major league game, he hit a hard flyball to left but Geoff Jenkins caught it on the run.

Hill made no errors in his fielding, but his play at second was not spectacular as he failed to dive for at least one potential out. He seemed to have some first day jitters, although those should calm down over the next week. Over the course of the game, he even seemed to settle down and begin to be more patient at the plate, leading to the walk in his fourth plate appearance. Despite seeing only one pitch in his second at-bat, he managed to average 3.6 #P/PA.

As previously mentioned Hill hit second, which surprised many people as he is expected to be Chicago's leadoff hitter, while Patterson likely works better as a two or three. I generally don't object to breaking in leadoff hitters in the #2 as it serves to slightly decrease the pressure. However because they essentially had two leadoff hitters with Patterson and Hill one-two, manager Don Baylor put Bill Mueller in the three hole and used Sosa as the cleanup hitter since Baylor didn't want Hill attempting to steal while Sosa's up.

I disagree with this configuration. Sosa needs to see as many plate appearances as possible, however with his power you don't want to hit him first or second because it decreases the likelihood that there will be anyone on base for him to drive in. Hill and Patterson should be at the top of the lineup for the foreseeable future as both have good speed and can be expected to steal, so arguments about not wanting Hill running while Sosa is up make little sense.

Moises Alou and Alex Gonzalez were both sidelined with hamstring problems, so perhaps Sosa can return to hitting third once they return to the lineup. Unfortunately, I think this has as much to do with Baylor thinking Mueller deserves to hit higher in the lineup as it does with anything else. Mueller may be worthy of more plate appearances than he'll receive hitting 6th or 7th due to his normally good OBP, but Baylor shouldn't push down his #3 through #5 hitters simply because he can't make a decision on who to bat #1 and #2. He also shouldn't hesitate to use Patterson and Hill at the top of the lineup now as they need to prepare for their long-term roles.

Hill spent one season playing for Newark in the Independent Atlantic League after he was drafted but did not sign with the White Sox in 1999. The Cubs selected him in the second round of the 2000 draft and placed him at AA West Tennessee in the Southern League last season. He has very good plate discipline and speed as well as moderate power skills. Although I don't normally agree with only spending a month at AAA, the 24-year-old genuinely appears ready for the majors so there is little reason leave him down. He had a 16:19 BB:K with 28 hits, including six doubles and a triple, in 104 AB at AAA this season for a .269 BA, .392 OBP, and a .346 SLG. He also stole 9 straight bases and didn't commit a single error in 28 games.

Carlos Zambrano had to leave his last appearance due to a twinge in his right elbow. Chicago does not yet know the cause of the twinge, but they felt it best to place him on the DL. He'll probably undergo tests this weekend to determine the problem recovery time.

Another even more highly anticipated Chicago prospect will likely be called up soon. The Cubs drafted Mark Prior out of the University of Southern California with the second overall pick in the first round of the 2001 draft. He started the season in AA where he made 6 starts in which he allowed 26 H in 34.2 IP with a 55:10 K:BB before he was promoted to AAA. In his only AAA start thus far, he struck out 10 while only walking 2 and allowing 3 hits in 7.1 IP.

Prior is scheduled to start Sunday for the Iowa Cubs at home against the Dodgers' AAA Pacific Coast League affiliate the Las Vegas 51s. Cubs' President and GM Andy MacPhail will reportedly attend the game and presuming Prior performs as he has in his starts to date MacPhail will likely okay his promotion to the major league club.

Considering that there is no good way to get Prior into the rotation without pushing back his starting schedule or that of Kerry Wood or Jon Lieber, he'll likely join the rotation sometime during next weekend's series in Milwaukee. Although, I think he's more likely to pitch on either Friday or Sunday than Saturday.

Once promoted, Prior is not expected to spend any time in the bullpen. He will join the rotation and one of the current starters will move to the pen. I think the Cubs were wise to start him in the minors rather than allow him to break camp with the team. He did not spend any time in the minors last season, in large part because he was severely overworked in college. By spending a month and a half in the minors, the Cubs were able to give him some minor league experience while potentially lowering the stress on his arm and delaying his arbitration and free agency clocks. Due to his heavy college workload, Baylor will need to be very strict with Prior's pitch counts once he is called up if they want to avoid another Kerry Wood disaster.

At this point, Juan Cruz seems to be Chicago's pick to move to relief. Cruz has suffered from control problems this spring, and while Jason Bere has also struggled, Baylor would prefer to send the younger Cruz to the pen. Additionally, leaving Bere in the rotation over Cruz makes sense in order to showcase the pending free agent for a deal, as he will likely bring more in trade if he remains in the rotation. Hopefully the Cubs will be able to work out a deal soon so that Cruz will be able to rejoin the rotation.

They might find a very good fit with the Blue Jays, as Toronto could send Darrin Fletcher, who should return from his ankle injury soon, and a prospect for Bere and either Chris Stynes or perhaps Delino DeShields to shore up second until the Jays promote Orlando Hudson. A trade of this nature would be practically payroll neutral for both teams. Odds are that either Todd Hundley or Joe Girardi will spend much of the season on the DL, and Hundley's bat wasn't particularly hot when he went down with his thumb injury. Therefore the Cubs could really use another catcher as Robert Machado isn't someone you want to use frequently, though the Cubs would likely need to either trade or release Machado shortly after completion of such a deal.

A number of other highly anticipated prospects also made their major league debuts yesterday. San Diego called up future ace Dennis Tankersley to start Friday's game when they placed Kevin Jarvis on the DL. Seattle placed Jeff Nelson on the DL and called up future rotation member Rafael Soriano. Hipolito Pichardo retired and Houston called up Jason Lane. I will try to take a look at their debuts and future roles in the next few days.