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Michael Kopech impresses in brief White Sox debut

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Michael Kopech postgame

Michael Kopech’s MLB debut had long been anticipated, and the young flamethrower did not disappoint when the lights, pressure and rain fell upon him at Guaranteed Rate Field Tuesday night.

It’s long been known that the trade of Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox marked a new chapter in the Chicago White Sox’ storied history: No longer would they try to tread water with talent already in the majors. Instead, they would officially commit to building from the ground up.

The White Sox, unsurprisingly, received quite the haul for Sale, and in the deal came Yoán Moncada, Luis Basabe, Victor Diaz and Michael Kopech, a right-handed pitching prospect with an electric arm and sky-high potential. Now over a year after Moncada’s introduction to the White Sox, Kopech was set to make his MLB debut on Chicago’s South Side against the Minnesota Twins. Kopechmania was more than alive, as made evident by the new Kopech jerseys lining the seats and the sizeable crowd that formed just to watch him warm up.

After allowing two lead-off hits, Kopech dialed in and sat down the next three Twins batters, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. He struck out the first two of the second inning and, after allowing two baserunners, struck out Joe Mauer looking with a 97-mile-per-hour heater. Kopech dazzled with a bevy of fastballs, but his breaking pitches showed everyone that he was more than just a thrower. The stage was set for a statement debut against a team he will see a lot of. The future had arrived and was ready to hit the ground running.

Then it started to rain.

And it kept raining.

Fifty-two minutes after the top of the second, the White Sox and Twins resumed play. Kopech, who was already 52 pitches deep, was done.

It left many disappointed and brought upon some boo-birds, but given the circumstances, the decision to cut Kopech’s night short made sense. With manager Rick Renteria still in the hospital in Minnesota, Joe McEwing was left to call the shots.

“We knew what time he came out of the game and the rain started and it was going to be about an hour,” McEwing said postgame. “He was up to 52, 53 pitches and, you know, with the rain lasting almost an hour and the delay an hour, we’re like ‘Hey, you know, let’s shut him down here and end on a positive note.'”

“I was a little bummed out,” Kopech said on his early exit. “I wanted to go a little deeper in the game. I didn’t realize my pitch count was as high as it was already anyway but either way, I got to experience the debut and, like I said, it was a dream come true.”

It’s hard to take much away from only two innings of work, but in his short outing, Kopech showed why there is so much excitement about him. His fastball was as electric as advertised, showing great movement and never dipping below 95-miles-per-hour. He supplemented a fastball-heavy night with offspeed pitches and breaking balls, displaying outstanding movement. He navigated through runners on the corners with no outs in the first and ended his night with four strikeouts.

“I thought he was unbelievable,” McEwing said. “I think across the board he shows you, not just stuff-wise but makeup-wise, he was in control of everything the whole game.”

Moncada, the other headliner in the Sale trade, would go on to hit a home run to tie the game at two in the seventh inning. Though he has yet to settle into a consistent groove, the 22-year-old second baseman is still a major piece of the rebuild and has loads of untapped potential. As has been a theme most of the season, thoughts on the future were much more important than the present, as the Twins would go on to win five to two. Kopech’s next projected start is for this Sunday, so more can be made from him then. For now, however, Kopech remains a beacon of hope for a franchise that hopes to be contending sooner rather than later.

Twitter: @crbevins50011

Hear audio from Michael Kopech and Joe McEwing:

Cubs 2018 First Half in Review

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The Cubs wrapped up the first half of 2018 with a series sweep of the San Diego Padres, pushing themselves 2.5 games ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central and commanding the best record in the National League. Unlike years’ past, the Cubs enter the All-Star break riding a wave of momentum, having won seven of their last ten and finding offensive outpours in groves. Javier Báez and Willson Contreras were named to their first All-Star games, and Jon Lester was elected to his fifth.

With the Summer Classic on the horizon, now is a great time to look at the storylines that have followed the Cubs through the first half of 2018.

Lester and the Bullpen Have Picked Up the Rotation’s Slack

The Cubs seemed to check most boxes entering 2018, but perhaps their biggest strength was their rotation. Their staff of Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish, José Quintana and Tyler Chatwood was supposed to be among baseball’s best, but such has not been the case. Tyler Chatwood’s highly touted “stuff” has not come together and has instead unwound to a through-the-roof walk rate of 7.82 BB/9 and a 5.04 ERA. Quintana and Hendricks, though strong as of late, have pitched to ERAs of 3.92 and 3.96, respectively. Mike Montgomery has started nine games and pitched very will to begin his role in Darvish’s absence, but he has an ERA of 6.00 since his first five starts. Jon Lester, on the other hand, has been simply dominant, putting together one of the best seasons of his career in his age-34 season with a 12-2 record and an ERA of only 2.58. The bullpen has also been a strength of the team, ranking amongst baseball’s best in ERA and BAA, while leading in shutouts. Additionally, such was done with injuries to Carl Edwards Jr. and Brandon Morrow, so the bullpen may improve over the next half of the season, especially if another piece is added at the trade deadline.

Yu Darvish’s Injury and Struggles

Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish were the two big fish of last offseason’s free agent class, and the Cubs elected to sign the latter. One six-year, $126 million contract later, Darvish has been a huge disappointment. Brought in to be the cherry on top of a rotation stacked with potential aces, Darvish has gone 1-3 in eight starts with a dismal 4.95 ERA. His control has been absent as evidenced by his 4.97 BB/9, and his mental toughness has come into question. He found himself on the disabled list with flu-like systems in May and shortly returned there with right tricep tightness. The second stint began May 23rd, and Darvish has not pitched since. The Cubs have shown they’re capable of success despite his absence and struggles, but the team’s investment in him means Darvish must be better.

Production Beyond the Heavy Hitters

The phrase “Bryzzo” has become synonymous with the Cubs’ last few years of success, and for good reason. Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant have been the faces of the franchise since being in Chicago, and have been two of the team’s best players every year they’ve been up, with Bryant collecting Rookie of the Year and MVP honors along the way. This season, however, has been different. Rizzo got off to a disastrous start of the season and, after temporarily bouncing back, regressed in the second half of June. While still putting up solid numbers, Bryant has not played up to his MVP potential, and his power numbers have dipped greatly. He spent nearly three weeks on the DL before returning in the San Francisco series. Despite the duo’s uncharacteristic lack of production, the Cubs’ offense has been amongst the MLB’s best, ranking in the top five in runs, hits, batting average and OPS. Javier Báez has been tremendous, slashing .292/.326/.566 with 19 home runs, 72 RBIs and an All-Star selection alongside Willson Contreras. Jason Heyward and Albert Almora have been offensive revelations on top of excellent defensive play, and Kyle Schwarber has been a deadly bat in left field. They are also getting production up and down the lineup from the likes of Ben Zobrist, Addison Russell and Ian Happ. If these contributions continue and Bryant and Rizzo reach their potential, the Cubs’ offense can become even more deadly, and that should scare the whole National League.

Shields, White Sox Power to 5-1 win over Tribe

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The White Sox have been trending up, having gone 5-5 in their last ten games entering Tuesday night. While that record over ten games isn’t necessarily “trending up” for the contenders in Major League Baseball, it’s a good start for the rebuilding White Sox, who entered Tuesday with a 22-42 record. The Sox have been playing good baseball against good teams, winning a three-game series against two MLB powers, in the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers.

White Sox manager Rick Renteria speaking postgame

The Sox continued their run of relative success in Tuesday night’s win over the division-leading Cleveland Indians, taking the second of a three-game set by a score of 5-1. They have now won five of their last eight and seven of their last 12. They even have the leading vote-getter among AL first basemen in José Abreu.

The White Sox wasted no time getting on the board Tuesday. Yoán Moncada, who had been struggling as of late, led the game off with a home run four pitches into the inning. Yolmer Sánchez followed suit by sending one of his own into the bleachers, and a Matt Davidson double brought home Daniel Palka to extend the lead to 3-0. Indians’ starter Adam Plutko was lifted after 4.2 innings of work in which he allowed eight hits, two home runs and five earned runs. The Sox would add two more runs in the fifth inning, but their first-inning outpour would be enough, as James Shields and the White Sox bullpen held Cleveland to only one run all night.

“My body feels really good right now,” Shields said following his outing. “Last couple years my body hasn’t really been up to par and, no excuses on my part, but at the end of the day my body feels good and I’m working really hard in between starts.”

“It’s really good to start the game like that,” Sánchez said postgame. “I was just looking for a fastball in and be aggressive on the first pitch.”

Shields was on, picking up his first win since March 29th in the season opener against Kansas City. More importantly the victory ended a 12-game winless streak. He went seven innings deep, allowing only one run and four hits.  Shields has actually pitched well recently. Tuesday night’s performance was Shields’s eighth quality start of the season, and he has thrown a 2.57 ERA in his last five home starts. Shields’s shortcomings have been mostly out of his control, with run support being an issue for most of the season. Tuesday night’s win was the first time Shields has received five or more runs of support since April 5th. He has excelled at eating up innings, as Tuesday marked his tenth consecutive start of throwing at least six innings pitched. His starts have reduced the stress of the bullpen, a unit that has tossed 21.2 consecutive scoreless innings and has a 1.75 ERA in June.

“It feels good,” Shields said on collecting an elusive win. “I mean, the boys came out swinging it early, get me a couple runs there… It definitely gave me a lot of confidence to attack the zone tonight against a really good lineup, so it was a good overall win.”

“We really needed him, obviously, to kind of get us those last few outs in the seventh,” manager Rick Renteria said. “This is a pretty tough lineup and we needed to be able to have some ability to maneuver and he did, he gave us that ability.”

The White Sox have shown positive signs as of late, having yet to lose a series in June and getting impressive pitching performances from Dylan Covey, Reynaldo Lopez and Carlos Rodón, three young pitchers who could very well be in the rotation of the future. There will most likely be more lows than highs, but such is expected with where the White Sox are in their rebuilding process. Shields is a competitor, and having a veteran arm to lean on and take pressure off pitchers that figure to be such crucial players in the future will be huge in the team’s development. Shields might not be part of their long-term plans, but he can affect those plans by replicating nights like Tuesday.

Twitter: @crbevins11

Hear audio from Rick Renteria, James Shields and Yolmer Sánchez.

Cubs’ Struggles Bite Them vs Bucs, But No Need For Alarm

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The Cubs entered 2018 with lofty expectations. Adding Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood in addition to completely overhauling your bullpen will do that. While Darvish and Chatwood ha

Kyle Hendricks in his postgame press conference

ve disappointed to this point in the season, the Cubs have, for the most part, lived up to their billing as one of the best teams in the National League. They have the second-best team ERA in baseball (Second only to a historically dominant Astros’ rotation), the highest team OBP and the third-highest team batting average. More importantly, they’ve been winning. They have the second-best record in the NL behind the Milwaukee Brewers and are in hot pursuit of overtaking them, having won eight of their last nine entering Sunday. Jon Lester looks like his 2016 self and even said the team as a whole has the same feel as 2016.

The Cubs haven’t been bulletproof, however. Unlike 2016, the Cubs’ struggles are more apparent and are beyond one bullpen addition. While they’ve generated hits, they haven’t consistently converted on them, leading the MLB in runners left in scoring position per game with 4.18. Their team batting average with runners in scoring position is a lowly .238 with a 22.77% strikeout rate. While on the surface pitching appears to be a strength, there are concerns with the rotation outside Jon Lester.

Kyle Hendricks was expected to be the ace of the Cubs’ loaded bullpen, but he entered Sunday with a 4-5 record, a 3.59 ERA and 12 home runs allowed (He allowed 17 all last season). José Quintana has only gone more than six innings twice, and Darvish and Chatwood have been rendered to ineffective.

The Cubs have managed to get away with their struggles on the mound thanks to their ironclad bullpen, a unit that is third in the majors with a 2.34 ERA. It is also a unit that has seen action in every game, as no Cubs pitcher has thrown a complete game this season, with seven-inning performances being a rarity.

“Mentally it was better. Mechanics, I’m just fighting myself,” Hendricks said on his share of struggles. “Just not repeating it, so that’s really where the problem’s at.”

With various underlying issues at play, Sunday’s game against the Pirates was a culmination of them, and those issues reared their ugly heads from the beginning with a Josh Harrison leadoff home run off Hendricks. Hendricks settled in for the most part after Harrison’s home run, allowing only two more hits in five innings of work. With runners at first and second in the bottom of the fifth inning, Tommy La Stella pinch-hit for Hendricks, only to ground into a double play.

“That’s part of the game right there,” Hendricks said. “Got a chance to get on the board and you got to take it. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out but nine times out of ten with Tommy [La Stella] that’s gonna work.”

The fifth-inning wasn’t the Cubs’ only chance to take advantage of runners in scoring position. Only down one and with a chance to seize momentum in the bottom of the third inning, they were unable to convert with runners at second and third. In total, the Cubs left five runners on base today, and the offense was absent for much of this series as they only produced six runs in total. Joe Maddon made sure to keep the series win in perspective, though, saying, “Two out of three ain’t bad. Anybody that is not into two out of three really needs to evaluate their baseball sensibilities.”

He’s right. Even with Sunday’s loss, the Cubs have played good baseball.

Chili Davis’s hitting philosophy has taken time to set in, as should be expected, but its intended results are beginning to take shape: They’ve averaged 4.7 walks per game since May 6th, 5.4 runs per game since May 5th and, perhaps most surprisingly, Jason Heyward entered Sunday hitting .386 with a .945 OPS in ten games since May 29th. And, above all else, the Cubs have been winning. They are now 12-4 in 16 games since May 25th, good enough for the second-best record in the National League.

If anything, their display of winning games despite struggles is a positive sign; it shows they can win in spite of some poor play. If 12-4 isn’t a display of their best baseball, then even greater things should come when that potential is realized.

Twitter: @crbevins11

Hear audio from Joe Maddon, Kyle Hendricks and Anthony Rizzo

Jon Lester continues quiet dominance in win against Pittsburgh

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The MLB has seen tremendous pitching to this point in the year, with four pitchers putting up an ERA of less than 2.o and several more following with impressive pitching. The typical big names of Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber are there, and young arms like Aaron Nola and Luis Severino are in the mix. There is one name, though, that doesn’t fit either young-stud or regular Cy Young-contender archetypes. That name is Jon Lester.

Now, that’s not to say Lester was written off from the Cubs’ rotation or that he was expected to be ineffective. But with an offseason in which the Cubs brought in such names as Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood, the ongoing emergence of Kyle Hendricks, and the hype around a bounce-back year from Jose Quintana, it was easy for Lester to get lost in the shuffle. Unlike the more attention-grabbing pitchers such as Scherzer and Severino, he isn’t blowing away the radar gun, nor is he dazzling spectators with double-digit strikeout performances. What Jon Lester has done, however, is put his team in the best possible situation to succeed, day-in and day-out, pitching to a record of 7-2 and a season ERA of 2.22.

Saturday’s outing against the Pirates was just an extension of that success.

Lester did not allow a run in his previous seven-inning start against the Mets on Monday and only gave up two hits. Saturday’s performance was much of the same as he threw seven more innings of no-run ball while surrendering only one hit on an Austin Riley triple in the third inning. He is the first Cubs pitcher to have consecutive starts of seven scoreless innings and two or fewer hits allowed since Oval Overall in 1909, and he is now 5-1 with a 1.63 ERA in eight starts since April 30. The kind of season he’s had is atypical for a pitcher his age, but manager Joe Maddon had insight on how Lester has managed to defy Father Time.

“Great delivery. He’s very athletic,” Maddon said. “It’s repetition of delivery, it’s knowing exactly what he wants to do. He doesn’t come out of his lane… More changeups, but primarily I think a strong point is his repetition of delivery.”

In terms of performance, Lester has taken a huge step forward from last season. He is on pace to exceed last year’s win total of 13 and his ERA has gone down from 4.33 to 2.22. Through 13 starts last season, he was 3-4. This year, he is 7-2.

Jon Lester during his postgame press conference

“I think the biggest thing is I feel good,” Lester said postgame. “Compared to last year with where I was at, body wise, mechanically, just kind of everything never really synced up.

The Cubs have seemed to set into a groove as of late, picking up their fourth consecutive win on Saturday to raise their record to 13 games above .500. They’re 12-3 in their last 15 games and have a +33 run differential in the same span of time. Anthony Rizzo has refound himself after a disastrous start to his season, and in his last ten games, the much-maligned Jason Heyward is batting .400 with five extra-base hits and six RBIs. While some concerns over offensive consistency still linger (Not to mention the question marks around Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood), the Cubs seemed to have found their stride as of late. Starting pitching has been solid, the offense has been producing and the bullpen has been lights-out.

“I think we’re back to ’16,” Lester said. “I think it took everybody a little bit last year to recover and get back to normal. You know, when you come off that high of game seven, you’re looking for that high… you’re trying to get up for every game and it’s just not there.”

For the Cubs, the goal has to be to continue their success. Consistency questions are still a little concerning, but a win like today shows they can still win games in spite of offensive struggles. They sit only a half game behind the NL Central-leading Brewers, who also have the best record in the NL. The Crew have fallen into a bit of a slump, going 5-5 in their last ten games and the Cubs have taken advantage by going 8-2 in their last ten, giving themselves a prime opportunity to seize first place when they square off for a three-game series this Monday. If they can ride their recent momentum, the Cubs can potentially have the best record in the NL by Wednesday.

Twitter: @crbevins11

Hear audio from Joe Maddon and Jon Lester:

 

Robinson Cano – How MLB could avoid similar situations

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The announcement last week that Mariners star second baseman Robinson Cano had been suspended for 80 games as a result of a positive test for a substance banned by MLB caught many by surprise.

Several years ago we got used to this type of headline and we thought nothing of it. We just understood it to be part of the “cleansing process” being undertaken by MLB as it sought to weed out those that had been using inappropriate “medications” to enhance their on-field performance and/or speed up the recovery process from an injury/illness.

The Cano incident surprised many simply because the majority of fans thought that the issue was behind us.

For the most part, it is. Cano’s explanation was that he had been treated in the off-season by a licensed doctor in his homeland, the Dominican Republic.

He explained that the doctor had inadvertently prescribed a drug that was on MLB’s banned substances list.

To Cano’s credit, he accepted the punishment and took full responsibility for “what went into his body”.

In some respects, while we all recognize that Cano should have known better and/or sought advice from MLB before taking the medication, it does raise some interesting questions as to how similar situations can be avoided in the future.

During the playing season, an injured/ill athlete usually seeks out the opinion of his team’s doctor. As he/she is employed by the player’s team, the doctor has a conflict of interest. Does he/she treat the athlete as an independent doctor would in terms of diagnosis/treatment/prescribing medication or does the doctor subconsciously take into account who signs his/her paycheque? Is the athlete the doctor’s patient or another employee of the team?

So why put the players and the doctors (and even the teams) in these uncomfortable situations?

MLB needs a solution to this problem and it needs it quickly. If MLB was serious about closing this type of loophole and avoiding any more instances like the Cano situation, I believe there is a fairly straightforward solution.

If each of the 30 MLB teams each contributed $600,000 per year (essentially the cost of the 25th player on the roster and slightly above the current MLB minimum salary) into a pool, MLB would have $18 Million from which to hire 26 independent doctors to oversee all player injuries/illnesses during the season.

MLB should hire a newly qualified doctor in each major league city (with the Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox, Angels-Dodgers and Giants-Athletics doubling up). Doctors in the four metropolitan areas where there are two teams would be paid $750,000 per year. Doctors in one team markets would be paid $500,000 per year. That would account for $14 Million of the $18 Million in funding from the teams. MLB would be responsible for funding the MLB doctor’s equipment and for securing premises for the doctor’s consultations.

During the season:

Any player requiring a prescription of any type in order to treat an illness or an injury would be required to visit the MLB doctor in whatever city the player’s team happened to be at that time. As an example, if a Reds player required prescription medication during the season when the Reds were playing in Milwaukee, the Reds player would be required to visit the MLB doctor based in Milwaukee for the initial consultation. If the MLB doctor felt that medication was required, he/she would prescribe accordingly, taking into account MLB’s current guidelines for approved/banned substances. If the MLB doctor felt that the injury/illness was beyond his/her comfort zone and a specialist’s opinion was required, the MLB doctor would refer the player to a local specialist with whom he/she had a professional relationship. The specialist’s fee would be drawn from the $4 Million still left in MLB’s medical pool.

If a player tested positive for a banned substance and it was determined that the MLB doctor had issued the prescription, then the player would be absolved and MLB would deal with the doctor as it saw fit, perhaps terminating his/her contract.

After the Season:

Once the season is over, if a player chooses to visit a doctor other than one of the MLB doctors (either for personal preference or for geographic reasons), then the prescription would have to be approved by MLB in New York, (by fax or by e-mail) before the athlete consumed the prescribed drug.

Who Wins Here:

Everyone. The player because he can be assured that the doctor prescribing the medication is independent from both the player and his team. MLB because it would know that medications were being prescribed correctly, as such prescriptions would be issued by MLB employees. Team doctors win as they would no longer be put in a position of deciding whether they were treating a patient or just another employee of the team that employees the doctor. The MLB doctor wins because as a new graduate it is an opportunity for him/her to essentially start a practice and establish themselves in a community; he/she has the off-season (and when those doctors in one city teams have no MLB games in their cities) to lay the foundation for his/her own full time practice and enhance their studies if they were considering specialization.

Initial contracts with the MLB doctors would be of varying lengths, but once the programme is established, the MLB doctors would be on three year contracts, requiring MLB to hire 10 doctors a year.

So simple, it’s puzzling why it hasn’t been proposed before and put in place.

Weekend Sports Report – 9/22/17

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with Packer Dave and Steve Leventhal

Bob LeGere of the Daily Herald joins us for a look at the Chicago Bears – Pittsburgh Steelers game.  We’ll also discuss the Packers-Bengals and other key NFL matchups with Jeff Rich.  John Pouler gives us his take on the pennant races in baseball, and a view of this week in the English Premier League.  Our fantasy football expert Mike Perlow goes through his favorite choices in DFS this Sunday.

Hear interviews from Clay Matthews, Jr., Jordy Nelson, John Fox, Mike Glennon, Mike Tomlin, Matt Ryan, Marvin Lewis, John Harbaugh, and Jim Caldwell of Detroit.

Don’t miss the cameo from Chris Berman.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:34 — 51.8MB) | Embed

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Cubs: The Future is Bright

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Mets Sweep Cubs in NLDS
Mets Sweep Cubs in 2015 NLDS

The clock struck midnight on the Cubs season as the Mets swept them out of the playoffs in the NLCS. While the 27th out was being recorded, the fiancé and I turned to the DVR to catch up on a past NCIS episodes from the previous week. After the episode was done, she turned to me and simply stated:

“Well, you are taking this Cubs thing well.”

I understood her confusion considering the emotional toll the Blackhawks loss to the Kings in the 7th game of the conference final had on me two years ago or the Bulls giving up against the Cavs last year in the playoffs… and not to mention the Bears every week of my life.

I imagined she was expecting an exhale of unsuitable language, followed by me stomping around the apartment with smoke coming out of my ears but that was simply not the case with the Cubs this post season. I was fully content with how this year went for the Cubs and was not going to tarnish a brilliant campaign by dwelling on the most recent loss.

In 2007 and 2008 the Cubs were swept in back-to-back post seasons by the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. Whether the Cubs were a better team than their opponents is beside the point, those Cubs teams were under so much pressure to win it all, that they fell victim the pressure from a fan base that was looking to forget a 100+ years of bad baseball. That pressure forced those teams to lose sight of the fact that they were just playing baseball which paralyzed those players when it came time to perform.

Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon
Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon

“Don’t ever permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure.” – Joe Maddon

Joe Maddon has a cornucopia of great quotes from his brief time as Cubs skipper but the above one is his best. Many people think that he was only directing this quote to his players and coaches but it was also for Cubs Nation. As a fan of the Cubs, one should enjoy Maddon’s outlook as he has been laying a foundation of confidence for his team so when there are bumps in the road they can overlook them and move on to the next step.

The next step is developing a core of young players for the future while adding pitching depth to bolster a mediocre starting rotation. Thanks to some great drafting by Theo and Jed, the Cubs future is just getting started thanks to the talents of Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Solar, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo.

Just getting started? At worst, the Cubs will have the services of Bryant, Schwarber, Russell, Baez and Rizzo for the next 6 years. Oh, and Solar for 5.

Anthony Rizzo GW Home Run
Anthony Rizzo GW Home Run

This team is primed for multiple trips to the playoffs as they arrived on the scene a year early and making the “final four” in their first year is a great start.

Stay tuned Cubs fans… there is more to come.

On a side note, Cubs fans should be unfazed by other team’s fans “trolling” them on social media or in person because it’s not worth their time. Any baseball fan worth their salt can see what the Cubs are building and know that winning is in their future.

@WesEvans12

Indescribable and Impossible: Cubs in the Playoffs

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Indescribable and Impossible: Cubs in the Playoffs:

An eerily empty Cubs scoreboard
An eerily empty Cubs scoreboard

When you sit in the Chicago Cubs press conference room following a game, you can hear a whole host of different sounds.  You can tell when a faucet is turned on somewhere, as the pipes whistle, when the only air conditioning in the entire stadium is turned on, and when Kris Bryant hits a walk-off home run, you can not only hear, but feel the hundred year-old stadium brace under the pressure of 40-thousand-something fans vibrating with delight.  I’ve felt that.  I’ve felt the pure delight Chicagoans young and old have exuded with in response to the fact that for once, it feels like, for once, their team is freakin fun to watch.  For once!  For once, in the bottom of the ninth, the benefit of walking six blocks to their car to beat only about half of the traffic, doesn’t outweigh seeing what Addison Russell or Kyle Schwarber or Jorge Soler might do to try and win them a game.  I’ve been there, I’ve seen it.  I’ve also seen what it has been like for old farts who have bought season tickets, grumpily, year after year, decade after decade, only to see 50 or 60 or 70-win seasons, who threaten every year to sell them.  I have seen those same loyal, grumpy old men this past year religiously check ESPN, fiddling with their phones, to check the scores and standings of a team littered with 20-somethings who nothing of that pain of a Cubs fan. Those same old, jaded, embittered men who by August in the seasons past, whispered, “the Cubs suck,” to themselves and their daughters after series of disappointing and embarrassing losses.  I’ve seen all that.  You’ve seen all that.  But what I’ve never seen, and what I am still trying to convince myself actually occurred is what the Cubs did last Tuesday, what happened last Tuesday.

 

Clark Street following a Cubs playoff win
Clark Street following a Cubs playoff win

Now the Wild Card game wasn’t that surprising.  Jake Arrieta was Jake Arrieta.  Not that it’s not incredible, not that it’s not amazing what he has been doing, but by now, people are simply expecting incredible out of him, fair or otherwise.  Clark street filled with people, the bars loved it, playing walk-up songs, blowing the horn, popping champagne.  But again, that was mostly Jake Arrieta.  It was surprising that Schwarber and Fowler were the sources of offense, and not the de facto “faces of the franchise” Rizzo and Bryant, but all in all that win went to Arrieta.  And we’ve seen Clark street a mess with the Hawks fans before, Bulls fans, and all sorts of other viewers of big Chicago evenings and events, so it wasn’t all that different.

In terms of optics, Tuesday, wasn’t discernable from the previous Wednesday, when the Cubs took down the second best team in baseball.  But in terms of feel, the two were a world apart.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs, in game four of a best-of-five series beat the St. Louis Cardinals.  I repeat, on Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs beat, in the playoffs, to move on, at home, the St. Louis Cardinals.  The St. Louis Cardinals.  Yeah, those guys, the bane of the Cubs existence (besides themselves), for as long as they have been in existence.  The frickin St. Louis Cardinals.  See? I’m still trying to convince myself.  

Regardless of your sentiment for the Cubs, if you are a fan of sports, the momentousness of this feat is something downright fun to watch.  The loveable loser, the baby brother not capable of anything, slayed the dragon.  A bunch 20-somethings who knew and know no better exercised the demons of those loyal to the Cubbie blue.  

It was as if someone was directing the whole thing.  The white W towels were distributed as fans walked in the gates.  Stars like Kerry Wood, Billy Williams, John Cusack, Eddie Vedder, Rob Manfred, and even Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, Harry Caray (in spirit) were all in attendance, looking on with as much enthusiasm as the school teacher next to them.  Fans’ stomachs both fluttered with excitement and flipped with dread-filled anticipation.  Tears leaked from the eyes of men who’ve only cried once or twice in their lifetimes.  And children sat and bounced with excitement, not fully understanding what they were witnessing.  Upon seeing Hammel give up two runs in the first, few were discouraged.  It wasn’t unlike Hammel to do such a thing. The Cubs have an unfortunate penchant for giving up early runs.  He made up for it when Maddon made the surprising decision to keep him in to bat in the bottom of the second.  Driving in Starlin Castro with a single, Hammel himself eventually scored along with Kyle Schwarber off of a three-run, first pitch homer from Javier Baez.  As the lead swung from favoring the Cards by two to the Cubs by two, off a shot from the rookie everyone expected one from sooner or later, towels were whipped so hard, half the fans probably lost them.  As gladly as Cubs fans cheered when they scored, the equally happily jeered when the ump asked for the ball back from John Lackey, as it was the second time in the postseason that there had been questions about him doctoring the ball.  “Lack-ey, Lack-ey, Lack-ey” chants rang through the stadium.  After taking out the incredibly frustrated Hammel, Travis Wood eventually came in and later gave up the lead, few breaths were held. And rightly so.  The following inning, Anthony Rizzo clocked one, giving the Cubs the go-ahead run.  Even with all the back and forth, the loudest shot was yet to come.  Leaning back in his armchair, bobbing to a rest in his stance staring right field and Kevin Siegrist down, Kyle Schwarber squared up and smacked the ball straight out of the park with a “clock” like the sound made when a driver meets a golf ball. Gaping silence, and then a volcanic eruption of noise followed.  In the manner in which legends, myths, and lore are composed, the homerun ball wasn’t discovered until the following day, when a Cubs employee was sent to retrieve it.  Upon finding it atop the new right field scoreboard, the Cubs decided to put it on a pedestal, encase it plexiglass and leave it there throughout the postseason.  Upon Rondon recording the final out, the home Wrigley crowd, for the first time, celebrated at home.  The street was absolutely filled with Cubs fans outside the stadium, on Clark street, as the few Cardinals fans in the stadium covered their red with their coats swiftly and quietly excused themselves.  The electric awe that gently reverberated following the win throughout the stadium, and throughout all of Wrigleyville, as the team celebrated, their families came on the field, and fans stood around, unwilling to stop basking in the possibility that what had just happened was real.  Chicago was soaked in it.  

Fans congregating outside Wrigley Field following their victory over the St. Louis Cardinals
Fans congregating outside Wrigley Field following their victory over the St. Louis Cardinals

And ever since, in the week following, that is all that Cubs fans have known.  #WeAreGood, the Cubs are even telling themselves.  They too, are realizing that, convincing themselves that indeed, it might be possible, that they are good.  The team with one of the best batting averages in the majors with runners in scoring position, the team feels nothing but clutch in big-time situations.  It feels as though the Cubs are almost destined, have no possibility except the impossible, to win, for it feels that is all they know right now is to win.  

As Joe Maddon put it, “Everything came together at the right time-it’s indescribable.” Every Cubs fan hopes and impossibly believes that perhaps, this time, for once, everything will come together, and it will be beyond indescribable.  

It’s (Un)official: Cubs Season a Success

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It is, unofficially, safe to say that regardless as to how the rest of the season goes, the Cubs have had a successful season.  With the understanding that the team was built for success further down the road, most likely in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the Cubs have done enough to garner such an evaluation.  However, with the overwhelming success the Cubs have had this summer, it appears that everyone from fan to front-office man for the Cubs could not have projected this level of success.

JoeMaddonTheoEpsteinFirst, one can take a glimpse at the roster. The big names most expected to be everyday contributors surprised many by not being there, due to injury or other extenuating circumstances.  Baez has been in triple-A most of the year and upon being called up in early September, has done well, but still lacks a robust home run line many thought would accompany him on his trip from Iowa. Luckily, his strikeout totals have not followed him either.  Soler has been hurt and is questionable to return for the playoffs.  His season also has been overshadowed by the shocking success of the rest of the roster.  Though the belief in Starlin Castro had begun to wane in the minds of fans, usually due to a citation of the lack of discipline he has displayed at times throughout his career, few thought he would struggle as much as he has.  However, the unexpected success on both sides of the ball from Addison Russell has picked up the slack, allowing a motivated Castro to step up in pinch-hitting and second base spots.  Though many were excited about Rizzo, few thought his strikeout totals would be so much lower, his RBI counts would be so much higher, and his physicality would improve at such a clip, as evident from his increase in stolen bases and growing defensive prowess. Chris Coghlan’s resurgence since his rookie of the year performance in 2009, along with his positional flexibility has pleasantly surprised many as well. To the surprise of many fans who knew nothing but the name “Bryant” for the first half of the season, whom also, without a doubt, has made big-time plays in big-time moments, Kyle Schwarber has impressed, heavily.  His maturity at the plate combined with his willingness to play a new position, Schwarber has blown away many Northsiders of both the devout and casual persuasions. The biggest shocker though, has been of course, Jake Arrieta.  Lester was supposed to be the ace.  Arrieta was supposed to be good, but most students of the game and of the Cubs, thought that he could still be good but it would be nearly impossible to continue his success from last season. The fact that he has thrown a no-hitter is a(n amazing) thing in itself.   The fact that he has the most wins in the National League and has a sub-two ERA are things of a different type, a Cy Young (at least conversationally) type.  

When looking for other reasons as to how the Cubs have recorded success, you can look at the schedule.  The team has won almost twice as many series as they have lost. In addition, they have swept seven opponents including the likes of potential playoff squad, the New York Mets (swept them twice, once in a four-game series), their divisional rival Milwaukee Brewers (twice, once in a four-game sweep), and defending World Series champs, the San Francisco Giants (four-game sweep), four times in which they completed a four-game sweep. But equally impressive is the fact that they have only been swept twice all season.  Furthermore the Cubs have had many little win-streaks of anywhere from four to nine games throughout the season with their longest losing streak totalling five.  Despite their ability to stack wins, the Cubs really haven’t been streaky in their losses.  The boys in blue haven’t collectively been in a legitimate slump this season, despite a roster filled with relative inexperience.  A testament to Joe Maddon’s managerial talent, the Cubs resistance to stringing losses together is an especially impressive feat due to fact that the pressure is always on in the NL Central.   

This aversion to spiraling out of control could help them weather any storms that come their way in the playoffs. The problem presumably will be winning the one-game playoff. The hope is that Arrieta will make that if not easy, at least a little easier. If the Cubs do fall short though, that’s what it will be called, “falling short.”  Things will have “gotten in the way” of their success.  The Cubs overachieving narrative, juxtaposed with the youth of their roster makes them a squad with potential, which is why this year has been and will continue to be identified as a successful one, regardless of the final outcome.  Because this is a team with “potential.” People weren’t expecting this, so the pleasant surprise is enough success to appease most involved parties.  The unfortunate flipsides of potential, prospects, and unexpected success are the expectations that accompany them.  With the pressure on from defending World Series champs, good teams like the Nationals, and divisional monsters like Pittsburg and St. Louis, the Cubs know something about stress.  But the stress of being booed for flyouts, one-run innings, and being on the other side of all those one-run, or walk-off decisions, might be a different kind of pressure than the Cubs are used to, one from an expecting fanbase.   So for now, the Cubs will bask in their success this season, but one hopes that Maddon, Epstein, and Hoyer continue to be as savvy as they have been, as they have their biggest season in at least a decade coming up next year, one characterized by expectations galore.