Clouds clearing for Guzman
Top pitching prospect anxious to contribute
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com

MESA, Ariz. -- There wasn't a cloud in the bright blue sky when Angel Guzman took the mound for his first Arizona Fall League start. Maybe the dark cloud that's been following the Chicago Cubs right-hander is gone.
Guzman may be the Chicago Cubs' best pitcher who has yet to appear in a big-league game. Next year could be the year.

The highly touted Guzman was 9-1 with a 2.23 ERA in 2001 at Class A Boise, and followed that with an 11-4 record and a 2.19 ERA in 25 games at Class A Lansing and Daytona in 2002. He had a terrific spring in 2003, posting a 1.13 ERA in five games. But in June that year, he needed surgery to repair a tear in his right labrum.

It's been a slow comeback. Guzman looked as if he'd turned the corner this spring, but the dark cloud returned. He wanted to show the Cubs he was OK, and in his final spring game, he ignored some discomfort in his arm and continued to throw. One pitch knocked him out. He had strained his forearm.

"It was weird," Guzman said Wednesday. "In my last outing of the big-league camp against the Diamondbacks in Tucson, you start to feel like there are some problems, but you think that's because you've been throwing every day and your arm is getting accustomed to it.

"I was having a problem but I thought it was the muscle, and I decided to start to throw," he said. "It got worse, and they shut me down."

He eventually made four starts for the Cubs rookie team in Mesa in August, then two for Class A Peoria before the Minor League season ended Sept. 5. He returned to Arizona and pitched in simulated games to maintain his rhythm, and now is starting for the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL.


I'd love to see him get healthy because he would be a great asset to the team someday.