TUCSON — Will it be Tom Gorzelanny or Sean Marshall in the Cubs' rotation? Who will Lou Piniella pick between Carlos Silva and Jeff Samardzija?
A decision was expected Friday on the makeup of the Cubs' pitching staff as the team determines which two among the four — Gorzelanny, Marshall, Silva and Samardzija — will be in the rotation and which pair goes into the bullpen.
One thing is certain: One of the starters will be a lefty. Gorzelanny made his final bid on Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Cubs' last trip to Tucson. His outing did not get off to a good start, as he served up a leadoff homer to Conor Jackson on a 1-1 pitch in the first. But Gorzelanny then retired the next eight batters before Jackson hit a double with two outs in the third.
"He had my number," Gorzelanny said of Jackson.
Acquired last July from the Pirates, Gorzelanny went six innings, the longest outing this spring by a Cubs starter. He gave up two runs on five hits and one walk, striking out four.
"All I can ask for is to pitch well, and I hope that's the case," Gorzelanny said. "Wherever they need me, I'll do my best. If I get to be in the rotation, I'll run with it and try to claim a spot and keep it — that's my objective right now."
Silva has given up seven earned runs on 14 hits over 11 innings in four outings, although six of those runs came in his first start March 6 against the White Sox. He's looked much sharper since that game.
Samardzija is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in three Cactus League games, serving up six runs on 10 hits over eight innings. He also pitched in a Minor League game.
Marshall, the other lefty, has a 1.64 ERA in four games, including two starts. He's struck out 10 over 11 innings, giving up two runs, both on solo homers. But Marshall is used to pitching out of the bullpen, while Gorzelanny has been primarily a starter.
Gorzelanny will wait and see.
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"I just go out there every day and believe in my stuff and believe in my talent," he said. "I try to pitch and do whatever I can to win. I had some tumultuous years the last couple years [in Pittsburgh]."
A 14-game winner in 2007, Gorzelanny went 6-9 with a 6.66 ERA in '08 and was 3-1 with a 5.19 ERA in nine starts last season before he was traded to the Cubs. In 13 games, including seven starts with Chicago, he was 4-2 with a 5.63 ERA.
On Thursday, Gorzelanny threw 73 pitches and said he still needs to build up his pitch count. Gorzelanny's still learning and is soaking up info from people like Greg Maddux, now an assistant with the Cubs, and pitchers like Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly.
"You learn a lot from the coaches," Gorzelanny said, "but you learn a lot more from your teammates."
When Gorzelanny was in Pittsburgh, there weren't many pitchers who had totaled 200 innings in a season.
"There were guys coming up and trying to make the team and everybody's out for themselves a little bit," he said of the Pirates. "You sit down with these guys [like Dempster and Lilly] and take in all the information you can. There's so much you can learn from these guys."
Thursday was very encouraging to Gorzelanny.
"I felt I was in the zone a lot and I wasn't trying to overthrow and I wasn't trying to do too much," he said. "I felt I made some major strides today. There's always more to do and more to work on."
He's finally learned that trying to blow guys away isn't the best way to get the job done.
"That's not pitching and that's not what you do to succeed in the big leagues — I'm finally realizing that after a couple years," he said. "I just want to go out there and be free and easy and not try to do so much, just rely on what I have and continue to work hard and focus on each batter and each pitch."