Cubby-Blue

The Cubs are doing what they're supposed to be doing vs the Pirates.

Game 1 vs the Pirates was a complete laugher - 9-0 shutout including Willson Contreras getting a salami as his 100th home run.
Wade Miley... he's been around and we've all seen him pitch for the Reds vs the Cubs, right?
Do you remember him as an uncommonly fast worker?
I don't.
I'd never seen him work as fast as he was working.
I was laughing at all the timeouts and step outs the Bucs were doing at the plate. 
7 innings, 1 hit, no runs no walks... the first 4 innings were 1-2-3 and he didn't give up the single until 2 out in the 5th. 
The game would have been FLYING except for the Cubs scoring 8 in the first.

I was at the game when the Cubs creamed the Pirates 21-0, but after that game the Cubs went into that funk. 
They went 6-12 during that stretch til the Pirates came to town Monday.
So I was worried about what would happen after the 9-0 laugher, and instead... well it's just the Pirates but these 2 games have made summer better in lots of ways.
First is Keegan Thompson.
5 innings, 4 hits, no runs.
He could obviously start, but the rotation... it's been better but still it's messy (and Covid hasn't helped with Stroman disappearing , although he could be back any minute).
Thompson is Mike Montgomery with what looks like better stuff and way less of that "I deserve to be a starter" head that Montgomery had.
I love this kid.
And THEN in the 6th, Norris comes in for a couple pitches and leaves with an Achilles thing.
In comes Brandon Hughes for his debut in The Bigs, and he strikes out 5 in his 1.2 innings.
He's the first guy to do that in the modern era.
He's also a 16th round pick by the Cubs, as an outfielder.
Read this from the Des Moines Register, it's a great story. 
But the point is... it's a pitcher the Cubs brought up, and it's crazy exciting because it's the kind of thing we see the Cardinals do all the time.
Couple years ago I'm at Busch with high school buddies watching the Cubs lose as Jose Quintana gives up 6 runs in the first inning.
Not a fun game, but Miles Mikolas gives up a couple and just when I think the Cubs might have some momentum, the Cards bring in a kid named Dakota Hudson for his Big League debut.
I remember saying something like, "Dakota Hudson? Sounds like a movie star, not a pitcher."
He strikes out 2 and his inning is over in a blink.
I HATE WHEN THE CARDINALS DO THAT STUFF, which is why Hughes performance gave me goosebumps.
And the other prospect making his B.L. debut, 22 year old Christopher Morel, he hits one out in his first at bat.

This game was just fantastic.

Tonight the Cubs have their first chance for a 2022 sweep. 
Please Baseball Gods, let this post not be a jinx.

Go Cubs. 

Last thing is just a quick story.
My wife and I go to one of those big, privately owned garden centers, supposed to be awesome.
And it is.
I mostly stand next to our gigantic metal push cart while she's picking out plants and dragging them over to me.
When we're checking out, the cashier sees that one of the plants has some other kind of plant growing in the pot and she says this:

I think she's joking, so I say, "SWEET!"
Had no idea she was so pissed til she dagger-eyed me.
I said to my wife, "Uh... I'll go get the car."

Tomorrow the Cubs will have 2 less guys on the active roster.

it's kinda like Jenga.
Jed Hoyer's gotta push out two guys.
And the question is... will this be about the future? 
Will it be about now?
Will he just let it go and some current players on the roster suddenly develop injuries, allowing major decisions to be made down the road?

This all started with the owner's lockout resulting in the shortened spring, and everyone agreed it would be okay to have 2 extra players - 28 - on the active roster, mostly to help the pitching staffs. 
Until tomorrow, then it's back to the normal 26.
And within those 26, teams are allowed to have 14 pitchers on the active roster until May 29th, when it goes down to 13.
Bleacher Nation article about that here.

So... it's all actually pretty complicated.
And each player is different, depending on.. stuff.
Some players, like Michael Hermosillo, are out of options.
If the Cubs decided they need to lose him, he'll go on waivers and surely get picked up by another team.
Is he part of the future? 
Some players, like Alfonso Rivas, can just flip back to the minors and no big deal.
But Rivas is at a point where everyone would like to see what he can really do, and he's been amazing.
Some players, like Jason Hayward, are established vets with big contracts who may be sort of irrelevant for the future, and actually taking a space that could be better suited to letting a kid play.
Emotions aside and no matter what you think of J-Hey, we've seen Jed do some drastic things in the name of the future.
Eating the last two years of Heyward's contract would not surprise me in the least.
Pitchers... the Cubs currently have 15, which will have to reduce to 14 so they'll definitely take at least one pitcher off the roster. 
Then, what if some other team has someone without options that they put on waivers, and the Cubs think that guy would be a good fit?
Do the Cubs pick him up?

See?
It's just two slots, but your head spins with all that might happen.
Tomorrow the Cubs will have a different look and that'll offer us a peek at what Hoyer's thinking for this year, next year and beyond.

Meanwhile in Milwaukee... ahhh never mind.

One more game there at 1:10 today, then a day off, and then the White Sox come to Wrigley.
They're a train wreck right now, matching the Cubs with just 2 wins in their last 10.
Hopefully the Cubs are catching them at the right time and later we won't be hearing, "Well the Cubs sure cured whatever was wrong with the Sox..."

This afternoon will be Marcus Stroman vs Corbin Burnes, who the Cubs beat earlier.
Stroman looked way better his last time out, and it would be so nice to see him go deep and the Cubs pull one W out of Milwaukee.
With the weird weather (tornado warning went off last night complete with sirens  j u s t  as I was putting ribs on the grill), I'll happily hang out indoors and watch.

Go Cubs.