Nice win. We still need to see the bats wake up, but it was great to see a good outing from Jake. His control wasn't quite there tonight but still pitched well despite that.
Thats what I was more concerned about with Jake. Doesn't have to be back to 2015 form but it was good to see him come out of the gate strong.
Cubs defense is just amazing. Heyward made a great catch, Almora one upped him, and then Baez closed the game with the best play of the night.
Hatch is starting at Myrtle Beach; I can't remember the last arm to start that high. Maybe Bobby Brownlie the year after Prior. Cool cool.
Yeah, the Reds were one of the original teams to draft college relief arms and bypass the minors entirely, too. Ryan Wagner most notably. Cubs, even with different regime changes, have been pretty consistently conservative. It'd be nice if Hatch emerges given the collapse of Underwood.
Zobrist really screwed Lackey this first inning. Easy double play to get us out of the inning and he just doesn't catch it and Cardinals already score 3 in the first.
I'd be more mad if Zobrist wasn't just the world series MVP. Baez needs to play second every day though.
Guys I think the time has come to address the elephant in the room. Will Kris Bryant ever get another hit in the big leagues?
I was really impressed by Lackey today. So many times you see a pitcher fall apart for the whole game after an early inning like that where his defense let him down. But he did a great job of holding it down and allowing them only one more run and two hits after that first inning.
Heyward keeps hitting dribblers and keeps getting on. Hilarious. Hopefully he'll start squaring some pitches up. Doubt it though.
Yeah that looked really bad at first. Glad he didn't catch a spike to the face or a knee square to the head.
Well Monty hasn't been especially sharp his first two times out. Looking pretty likely that he's gonna be 0-2 four games in.
That it does. But then I remember 5 months ago when we won the World Series and it helps alleviate the bad feelings.
I forgot how annoying Kirk Nieuwenhuissdses was. Fucking All-Star against the Cubs and trash versus everyone else.
Happ and Candelario both have 2 HRs in 2.5 games for Iowa. Jeimer has 10 RBIs in the last 14 innings.
So Candelario is clearly trade bait, but what do they do with Happ? Do they keep him in Iowa all year if there aren't any injuries? Do they trade/release La Stella and let Happ play a utility role for the next 2.5 years?
I think Happ is clearly in the Cubs' plans for 2017. His bat is too valuable to be sitting in Iowa all year. Could be a Schwarber-like situation. There will be injuries, there are every year--can't get through a 162 game season without some guys getting dinged. The way the team is set up, there is a lot of flexibility, and Happ can play 2B or OF. Baez, Zobrist, Heyward, Schwarber....any of those guys miss time down the stretch and Happ is the obvious guy, especially if bats are lacking. Oh, and he hit another homer yesterday. Three in four games.
Also of note: Iowa Cubs face Julio Urias today. Urias is too good to be pitching in the minors, so the Happ matchup will attract a lot of eyes.
It's possible, but it's not like La Stella is getting a ton of at bats--Baez and Zobrist are the guys who are blocking him the most. He really is committed to playing 2B long term, and there's even been rumors that he's butted heads with brass about it. He says publicly that he is open to playing outfield and the versatility will only help him, but I'm not sure he has echoed those statements privately. MLB is a grueling schedule--162 games, playing every day, it just wears guys down. There were 572 DL moves last season, and that should increase this season naturally, and even more so with the 10 day DL. Guys are going to get hurt eventually, and that will create openings for Happ down the stretch. DL moves last year: Schwarber Fowler Baez Soler Montero Ross Coglan x2 Szczur La Stella Villanueva That's basically everyone outside of Bryant, Rizzo, Zobrist, Heyward, Addy, and Contreras. Happ will play this year, and I don't believe he will be traded because next year could be Zobrist's last with the Cubs. On a side note, I thought maybe the Cubs would consider trading Schwarber, but I don't see that happening anymore--apparently the FO values him much more highly than most.
Puig makes the error and our guys make them pay by extending the inning a shitload more pitches. Can't give this team extra outs.