The 2011 Chicago Cubs - Now With Even More Injuries!

The Cubs began the 2011 season with a full complement of healthy starters, unlike the Cardinals (sans Adam Wainwright), the Brewers (sans Zack Greinke) and the Reds (sans Johnny Cueto). Well, that advantage over our division rivals lasted all of about a week, with Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner each going on the 15-day disabled list after making only one start. I hear you saying, "fifteen days, that's not so bad. We're still in good shape, right?"

Wrong! Now comes word that Wells will be out 3 1/2 to 4 weeks, and Cashner will be out up to 6 weeks. And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse than throwing away a game against the Astros by having LOOGY James Russell make an emergency start, you see that the Cubs are looking at veteran washouts Doug Davis (career WHIP 1.50) and Ramon Ortiz (career ERA 4.93) as rotation filler to potentially throw away lots of games until Wells and Cashner return. It's almost enough to make you wish Carlos Silva were still around. But he's no longer on the market, having signed a minor league deal with the Yankees, where he's probably laughing his big fat...contract off at the Cubs right now.