Cubby-Blue

Happy St. Bats Day, Cub Fans.

3:05 Chi Time today.
Cubs v Rockies.
St. Bats Day.
It says it'll be 44 degrees out here in Chicago, 79 in Mesa.
Must be nice, and at least we'll get to watch.
Don't know who's starting yet but yesterday...

The last couple starts by Kyle Hendricks, he was pulled in the middle of an inning after putting a couple guys on, and his relief promptly let 'em score.
Those runs got charged to Hendricks, and raised his ERA dramatically.
Yesterday, a couple DBacks (including Matt Szczur) get on in the 4th, and Joe pulls Hendricks.
It would be really cool if he brought someone in who was dependable and shut it down right now, right?
That guy was... Tyler Chatwood?
He gets skewered, Chatwood does, and will continue to get skewered, until he gets some success under his belt.
He's also one of a number of guys on our favorite team who can make a HUGE difference this year.
You know pitchers - they get hurt.
If something weird happens and Chatwood were to return to a starting role, and that's not inconceivable, he could turn his whole gig around and be a hero.
Redemption.
Those kinds of stories are the stuff that makes you root like a human being.
If he does well in a reliever role along the way, that would be amazing.

Next, Spring Ball.
It's never what you think.
Look at Ian Happ.
He went 1 for 3 yesterday, which brought his average up to .129.
Just watch.
End of May he'll be hitting .357.

And lastly, since it's St. Patrick's Day, I'll go ahead and suggest a drinking game even though I'm long past those days.
It's about Ron Coomer.
If he had a "signature" saying, it would be something with "no doubt".
He says it more than I say "awesome".
I love Ron but this gets on me nerves.
Pat always leads with a question or statement, and Ron's answer is... consistent.

PAT: Javier Baez is one of the most exciting players in the game today.
RON: Oh there's no doubt. The way he tags guys out...
PAT: The food at Wrigley has really stepped up.
RON: I had the pizza, and no doubt that pepperoni is...

Okay, ready?
Turn on your tv at 3:05, but listen to the radio.
Each time Ron Coomer says some variation of "no doubt", take a drink of Guinness.
If he says the actual full monty "oh there's no doubt", then it's Jameson.

Happy St. Patrick's day.

More bullpen stuff for the Cubs.

RATS!
I was going to challenge you to try and figure out the meaning of this painting, but it already says "bullpen" right in the headline so I kind of gave it up already.
Okay, bullpen stuff.
Specifically, closer.
Over here, you've got your Brandon Morrow closer guy in the very first stages of actually playing baseball again for the first time since his elbow surgery.
He'll throw off a mound some time next week, expected to play in May.
And over there, you got your Pedro Strop with the Hammie.
IT'S JUST A STRAIN NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT but he'll be out of commission for a little bit.
But still... a Hammie.
Coupled with last year's Playoff Hammie, Strop now has a "Hammie History".
For you and me, this is a "thing" because I promise whenever he comes in for the rest of his career, your pet brain worm will say, "Uh ohhhh. Remember he's got a Hammie History."
Because like a guy can just be out there pitching and everything's cool and then on the next pitch you'll hear J.D. do his little "uff" noise, because he sees little things in real time that you and me need slow mo replay for.
Trainers run out, you try not to hurl.
Then they show a replay and there's a little hitch somewhere and poof... another hammie.
Hopefully that doesn't happen, and they don't rush him back.
Which brings us to the New Guy, Brad Brach.
I thought if Strop had to be Morrow if Morrow was hurt, but then Strop got hurt, then Brach would be Strop. 
Like Brach would be the third string Morrow.
But Brach had a case of mono severe enough to have his new Cub contract re-negotiated.
And so far his fastball has been hovering "in the upper 80s".
Well THAT doesn't inspire much confidence now does it?
So if Brach wasn't here to be the third string Morrow, then maybe the Cubs would turn to the guy who got the save Game 7, Mike Montgomery.
But he only started pitching in games last Tuesday because left shoulder stiffness.
Tom Ricketts is out of cash, Doug Dascenzo is retired, and Anthony Rizzo isn't allowed to pitch any more.
Which leaves Carl Edwards Jr.
I love this kid so much.
He put a pause in his delivery and so far this is his Spring:

I'll take it.
Which is what a lot of batters can't do when Edwards throws his breaking stuff.

Ahhhh, this whole article is a buncha worrying about nothin'.
Strop's going to be fine, Brach's gonna be fine, and we're going to find an early season hero(s) in the pen to help the Cubs get through that first month without Morrow.
Try this...
My wife taught me to "shop from home".
Like say I wanna make Penne Arrabbiata, but we don't have garlic.
Instead of going to the store to buy it, I'll just shop from home and use some onion.
Since the Cubs don't even have money to go to the store, Carl Edwards Jr. might be the onion.
And it'll taste just fine.

It's only Spring, but... Kyle Schwarber!

They say a Good Spring is better than a Bad Spring.
Okay maybe just common sense would say that but whatever. 
I thought I was gonna have a bad spring when the sump pump started going insane on Saturday night.
I'm trying to paint in the basement, and each time the pump goes off, the pipes sounds like the whole house is a toilet that just flushed.
My wife is the daughter of a contractor, so when it comes to anything about the house, I just do whatever she says.
Except when she's out of town, which she was. 
I had 4 plumbers in my phone (I could tell because they said "Joe the Plumber" and "Sam the Plumber"...).
I randomly called Alex the Plumber.
Unfortunately, his language was closer to his language than my language, and it took a long time to not learn anything.
Then I called Bill the Plumber and he said, "Relax, man. That's what those pumps are supposed to do."
Bad Spring averted!
And if you're Kyle Schwarber, this spring has been not only not bad, but really incredibly good, since I'm choosing to use a word other than "awesome".
16 at bats, 4 of them doubles, 3 of them singles, and 9 of them walks. 
No homers yet, but those are still the numbers of someone having a Good Spring.
And he's one of those cornerstone guys in the Big Theo Plan who could make us all forget about what's-his-face who went to Philadelphia.
That Kyle Schwarber who not only can rake, but power rake.
That Kyle Schwarber who started out as a True WS Champion Savior Guy who made changes to his stance and approach and then went on an extended K Spree but this year said to himself, "I'm going to go back to that older stance and be the guy I was."
Because that guy is, to use a word I use too much, awesome.
And if that happens, I won't take all the credit, but you could say that it goes all the way back to last September, when, at a T-Mobile autograph-signing thing on Michigan Avenue I got to shake his hand and say, "Kick some ass."
I mean... based on his Good Spring so far, I'd say he definitely took my advice.

Okay, I was just about to do a painting of Brian Duensing because he's doing so well, but then yesterday the back to back homers happened and I'm left with that feeling of how come whenever I think a guy's doing good THAT happens?
Ahhh really, that's just a nothin'.
And overall he's having a Good Spring too, which is good because when he's good the Cubs are better.

So much good baseball in the National League Central, this is going to be one wild ride.
Okay, go back to whatever you were doing.
I'll do the same.
Go Cubs.

Cubs Bullpen guessing.

I was imagining the sort of delicious idea of Jon Lester being the opening day pitcher on the opening day of the pitch clock.
What would happen?


I bet nothing.
Even if Lester went overtime and an ump awarded someone a ball that resulted in a walk, I bet the reaction would just be a glare and a shrug.
Whatever, there won't be a pitch clock this year so...

The bullpen.
I've been doing screengrabs of all the games so far just to keep up with who's pitching.
Nothing real scientific, but one would think that the guys with the most appearances would also be the guys Cubs' management is most interested in.
Not sure what'll happen with Tyler Chatwood, but he's been not really walking guys so far so that's good.
Brandon Morrow will be a month late.
The other for sure-bies will be Strop, Cishek, Montgomery, Edwards Jr., Brian Duensing, probably Brandon Kintzler, and newbie Brad Brach.
The not so sure-bies are Tony Barnette, sick slider guy Dillon Maples, leftie Randy Rosario who we saw lots last year, and then... these other guys.
If I counted right, the Cubs have brought out 37 pitchers so far not including starters.
Wow.
And we still haven't seen Brach or 37 year old comeback guy Luke Hagerty...


Pitchers so far in order of appearances:
4 appearances
Rowan Wick traded from the Pads. Had given up nothin' in first 3 appearances, but ouch... yesterday gave up 4 hits and 4 earned to baloon his ERA to 9.82.
Matt Carasiti the guy who pitched in Japan last year.
Alberto Baldonado starter in Iowa.

3 appearances
M. Zagurski "is a 36-year-old lefty who has played for 10 organizations in the United States and two in Japan."
Carlos Ramirez 
C. Brooks 
Dillon Maples the kid who zoomed up thru the minors and has incredible stuff but trouble with strikes.
O. De La Cruz the 2018 80-game suspension kid.
Randy Rosario you know from last year.
A. Webster
Dakota Mekkes
Kyle Ryan
Brian Duensing Overused and great in 2017, ineffective in 2018, he'll be AWESOME this year.
George Kontos  "33, has appeared in 350 big-league games with the Yankees, Giants, Pirates and Indians. Last year he went 2-3 with a 4.39 ERA, making stops with the Pirates, Indians and Yankees. For his career, he has a tidy WHIP of 1.15."

2 appearances
Jen-Ho Tseng 
Tyler Chatwood
Duncan Robinson 
Ryan Kellogg 
Christian Bergman 
R. Scahill 
Manuel Rondon 
Brandon Kintzler ground ball specialist trying to regain description as ground ball specialist and still wearing his Nats hat on ESPN.com.
Ian Clarkin claimed from Sox
Alec Mills you remember from last year
Carl Edwards Jr. total god can dominate any lineup and now has a new delivery
Tony Barnette went 2-0 with a 2.39 ERA in 22 games for Texas last year.

1 appearance
J. Norwood
R. Zastryzny
Duane Underwood
W. Short
B. Markey
S. Effross
J. Minch
Steve Cishek
L. Lugo
J. Tazawa
M. Meza

Anyway, who's gonna be the lucky one(s) to stick?
Guess away...

Cubs vs Brewers on WGN today at 2:05!

SO been waiting for this.
Here's Mark Gonzales' tweet of today's lineup:

Kind of an awesome lineup for a Spring Training game, right?
It'll get up to around 32 degrees here in Chicago today, so I don't really want to even venture outside.
I'm not doing anything starting at 2 besides watch.

Lots of stuff happened this week, most notably the $330 mil/13 year/no opt out contract the Phils gave Bryce Harper.
He apparently turned down $310/12 years with the Giants, and $45 mil/4 years with the Dodgers.
Harper said he wants to be with one team for the rest of his career, and for sure he got that, but...
It would be cool to actually hear the conversations between him and Scott Boras.
I imagine something like:
SB: "What's most important to you, Bryce? The city... the team's prospects... ownership..."
BH: "I just want more money than anyone ever."
SB: "Now you're talkin'."

Philly apparently still has cash for making a run at Trout later, so maybe they build a dynasty with "stupid money".
But deep down I hope for headlines out of Philly that include the words "Harper" and "struggles".

Okay what else...

Here's a look at Carl Edwards Jr.'s new delivery.
I don't care if he does a backflip before throwing, as long as it helps him throw strikes.

Jon Lester had some predictably old school things to say about some changes to the game to speed it up.
One of the reasons I'll always love the guy.

And awhile back, in the middle of talking about not taking the game for granted, Jason Heyward said something that made everyone go... WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ZOBRIST?
"...You have a team like this one with Ben Zobrist, who could very well be [in] his last year of his career. You want to go out, put your best foot forward and try to win a ring with someone like that."
He's in the last year of his 4-year contract with the Cubs, here it says he's not even thinking about retirement, so I'm... not thinking much about past this year.

Okay, time to send this thing out and get ready for the game.

Go Cubs.

Ahhh, that's better... a Cubs are on.

Hearing Len Kasper break the ice in Chicago with a voice from Arizona at 1:55 yesterday was just... so... needed.
My house is the one with the flu and bronchitis in it - not alot of joy in here. 
So it was great to get my baseball-starved ears a helping of Len and Ron yesterday.
Jen Ho Tseng got thru the first inning only giving up a single.
Then Jason Heyward started off the Cubs with a single followed by Kris Bryant pulling one out to left field.
In his first at bat of the year, Bryant homers.
You could hear the crack of the bat, the crowd go nuts, Len telling us it was way out of here...
Good God, that's what baseball sounds like!
I can't yell or laugh without coughing for 10 minutes, but whatever that was really exciting.

After the game, Bryant did a couple interviews and he has got some kind of mondo chip on his shoulder.
He talked about having time while not playing last year to go into a "Twitter hole" and read the comments people were writing.
Not flattering ones, since he was injured and not at 100%.
This is from ESPN, but you can probably find it at a thousand places online today: "The negative stuff always stands out more," Bryant said. "Negativity sells. People want to read that stuff. I think that's why I'm at where I'm at in baseball. I read one thing and it just motivates me, and it [success] just shuts that person up or proves them wrong. I've been doing that my whole life, so bring it on."

That sounds like it's been festering, doesn't it?
Hey, Yadier Molina can try to find inspiration getting mad about hearing his town it boring, but Bryant's sounds alot more serious.
His demeanor and tone and just everything him is almost always so friendly, it's cool that he let us see that hidden part that's obviously so dangerous.
Like if you're watching a Viking movie and it's Kris's army of 1,000 sword-wielding guys against another army of 1,000 sword-wielding guys, but then another 1,000 of Kris's sword-wielding guys march up to the top of that ridge over there, and everything changes.
It's scary.
I expect this season we're going to see a Kris Bryant we haven't quite seen yet, one that'll make everybody who's currently unhappy about not getting Harpado Shut. The. Hell. Up.

Okay, if you didn't get to listen, you can see the full box score over at ESPN (I could be wrong, but I do not recall them doing in-depth box scores of ST games before).

And today, well here's Carrie Muskat's tweet:


Ian Happ's making noise about wanting to see more infield time, Addison Russell playing today, Chatwood.. oh please let him throw strikes.
Turn on your radio, man.
The Cubs are on.