Out of Left Field

The focus on the Cubs this spring has been on two main stories so far, one, who will be the closer (which in itself includes the story of Joe Borowski's comeback) and now no. 2, does Kerry Wood have mild bursitis, a torn rotator cuff, rickets or inoperable shoulder cancer (caused no doubt, by his bad mechanics)? All this has overshadowed another potentially big story: Jason DuBois is hitting the hell out of the ball this spring. While Jim Hendry indicated that DuBois would get consideration as a starter, while Dusty Baker had him as the supporting player in a left field platoon starring Todd Hollandsworth, most of us felt that DuBois would have to have a huge spring to get consideration as anything more than a 4th outfielder. Well, DuBois is taking advantage of his opportunity by hitting .400 with 3 homers this spring. And while the SABR heads among us scream "SAMPLE SIZE!" and the old school Cub fans warn of a new Gary Scott, let's remember that this isn't a huge surprise from DuBois. He's hit at every level of the minors, and now he's hitting in spring training (under the pressure of playing for a roster spot), so there's a pretty good chance that Jason can make the leap to the major leagues. Nothing against Todd Hollandsworth, but the best thing for this team is to have DuBois be able to start in the outfield. It strengthens our bench, as Holly is an excellent pinch hitter a very good fill in player, who's never proved durable over a full season. And it also means that Jim Hendry won't have to go shopping in the trade market for another outfielder, who would undoubtably cost more than DuBois, thus leaving open some payroll room to trade for more bullpen help if necessary.