Just what the doctor ordered

In the midst of a 20 straight days without a day off, the Chicago Cubs bullpen was in need of a rest. The starters have not been giving the Cubs deep enough starts to keep the bullpen fresh. Today Ted Lilly took matters into his own hands. Lilly threw 7-2/3 strong innings in the Cubs 6-2 win this afternoon over the NL East leading New York Mets. He was the first Cub starter to pitch into the eighth inning since Carlos Zambrano on July 29th. This afternoons win sets up the Sunday Nite 4-letter Network Game as the rubber match of the series.

Not only was Lilly just what the Doctor ordered today, he has been all season. Since his first start of the season Lilly has given this rotation a lift when they need it. Many of us were skeptical when Jim Hendry inked him to the 4 year/$40 million deal this winter. I didn't like the deals for Lilly and Marquis and said this last winter:

Behind Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs 2007 rotation has no valid number two starter. Here's what they got: Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Marquis, & Cotts/Marmol/Marshall/Prior (take your pick).

Gulp, shows you what little I know. Lilly has been a great number two, combining with Zambrano for 26 wins (the most by teammates in the NL). As the FOX television crew pointed out this afternoon, you would be hard pressed to find a Free Agent Pitcher from last winters class who has been as good as Lilly the first four months of the season. Here is where the top free agent pitchers that changed teams last winter currently stand:

Zito - 7 yrs/$126 million - 8-10, 5.12 ERA, 1.48 WHIP
Pettitte - 1 yr/$16 million - 7-7, 3.97 ERA, 1.43 WHIP
Schmidt - 3 yrs/$47 miilion - 1-4, 6.31 ERA, 1.79 WHIP (on DL)
Padilla - 3 yrs/$33.75 million - 3-8, 6.69 ERA, 1.81 WHIP (on DL)
Meche - 5 yrs/$55 million - 7-8, 3.70 ERA, 1.29 WHIP
Suppan - 4 yrs/$42 million - 8-9, 4.97 ERA, 1.54 WHIP
Lilly - 4 yrs/$40 million - 12-5, 3.53 ERA, 1.11 WHIP
Maddux - 1 yr/$10 million - 7-8, 4.20 ERA
Matsuzaka - 6 yrs/$52 million* (does not include posting fee) - 12-8, 3.76 ERA, 1.27 WHIP
Batista - 3 yrs/$25 million - 11-7, 4.23 ERA, 1.50 WHIP
Weaver - 1 yr/$8.325 million - 2-10, 6.32 ERA, 1.61 WHIP
Eaton - 3 yrs/$24.5 million - 9-7, 5.87 ERA, 1.55 WHIP
Wolf - 1 yr/$8 million - 9-6, 4.73 ERA, 1.45 WHIP
Marquis - 3 yrs/$21 million - 8-6, 4.22, ERA 1.32 WHIP
Williams - 2 yrs/$12.5 million - 5-12, 5.41 ERA, 1.43 WHIP
Igawa - 5 yrs/$20 million* (does not include posting fee) - 2-3, 6.79 ERA, 1.68 WHIP (currently at triple-A)
K. Wells - 1 yr/$4 million - 4-13, 5.58 ERA, 1.60 WHIP
Trachsel - 1 yr/$3.1 million - 5-7, 4.97 ERA, 1.58 WHIP

When you look at this group you see Lilly so far has had the most success of any of these pitchers. FWIW, Jason Marquis has been very good when you compare him to most on this list. But back to Lilly, no doubt the Cubs will need more starts like today from Lilly as they head down the stretch. But the start this afternoon was huge. When the Cubs needed a big start Ted Lilly gave it to them.