There are six young arms in the Cubs organization that have found themselves spending time in the big leagues — often to the fans’ collective chagrin. All are right handed and all have question marks - either in terms of results, and/or familiarity.

• Mitch Atkins - had a cup of coffee out of the bullpen, now back in Iowa
• Justin Berg - finally got into a game during his second call-up
• Esmailin Caridad - showed up just in time to relieve Tom Gorzelanny in Colorado
• David Patton - the Rule 5 pick hurt his groin, ending up on a double rehab stint in Tennessee
• Jeff Samardzija - famous college Wide Receiver was demoted after being pummeled by the Phillies
• Jeff Stevens - part of the Mark DeRosa trade, has been on the shuttle a lot lately, thanks to injuries

Given their limited experience, we’re not exactly wallowing in the PITCHf/x here, but there’s enough to talk about their stuff. In some cases, we can talk about how good or bad that stuff has done against big league hitters. But we’ll start with their Triple-A stats.

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The Cubs will probably make a roster move to fill Carlos Zambrano’s next start. Even if his hamstring injury is mild, sitting out a turn is probably necessary. Hopefully no more than that.

Who are the likely replacements? No one in the bullpen is stretched out, and the Cubs are indicating it will require a minor league call-up.

A likely candidate will possess three attributes:

1. On the 40-man roster (despite the open slots, I’m still guessing this way)
2. Already able to go 5+ innings with decent results in the minors
3. Experienced pitching with an “upper deck”

I’m not saying these are my criteria, but I expect these are considerations for Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella.

Who fits the bill?

Jose Ascanio, Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, Kevin Hart, Marcos Mateo, Jeff Stevens and Randy Wells are all on the 40-man roster. Berg, Hart and Stevens are in the Iowa bullpen. Mateo just made his first start for AA Tennessee. Scratch them off the list.

That leaves Ascanio, Atkins and Wells. All are in the I-Cubs rotation. This Spring, Atkins was pegged as the sixth starter and the first call-up, so he’s immediately the front-runner.

Problem is, Atkins has been struggling. He has made five starts and worked 28+ innings. He’s stretched out, has 27 strike outs and nine walks, which is all good. He’s also allowed five home runs, has hit two batters and given up a total of 31 hits. It adds up to 6.99 ERA. He’s really not that bad, but that’s probably not going to punch his ticket to Chicago.

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