Carlos Villanueva Doesn’t Care for the Rockies and Other Bullets

carlos villanueva the stacheI’m usually up fairly early in the morning, so the British Open – with its being-in-Scotland-and-a-bunch-of-hours-ahead thing – is suiting my sensibilities. I can have it on in the background while I work. Much less distracting than SportsCenter saying stupid things about sports. (Why do I keep watching SportsCenter?)

  • Last night wasn’t the first time that the Rockies have gotten to Carlos Villanueva. “I guess I’m glad we only play them twice this year,” Villanueva said, per Cubs.com. “Because you know what, it was basically a photocopy of last time. I tried some things different today, it seemed to work somewhat the first couple innings, but it’s a team that’s given me trouble throughout my career for some reason.” For his career, Villanueva has an 11.57 ERA over 13 appearances against the Rockies.
  • Dale Sveum is crushin’ on reliever Pedro Strop, who has been lights out since the Cubs acquired him from the Orioles in the Scott Feldman trade earlier this month. Watching him, the stuff is obviously there. And, so far with the Cubs, the command/control has been there as well. I suppose that’s probably the big thing for him. If Kevin Gregg is dealt in the next 10 days, Strop and Blake Parker might have a little battle to take over the closer’s role.
  • Matt Garza continues to impress his teammates as this trade rumor process plays out.
  • David DeJesus was due to start playing games yesterday in Mesa with the rookie league team, and, although his game got started, it was quickly rained out. I don’t think there are too many rainouts in Arizona, but it would figure that it would happen in DeJesus’s first game when time is of the essence.
  • Friday night’s Pearl Jam concert, which was awesome by all accounts, generated a lot of buzz. Here’s Rolling Stone’s take on the concert, which will instantly make you wish you were there. And, yes, they did play ‘(Someday We’ll Go) All the Way.’:
  • I guess I shouldn’t say the concert was awesome “by all accounts,” because some Wrigley neighbors were annoyed that the concert, which was delayed by a thunderstorm, went well past the night event curfew. The Cubs made the (I think reasonable) decision to resume the concert and finish it out rather than have to (1) turn loose a bunch of any concert-goers late at night in a storm; and (2) reschedule the concert and “inconvenience” the neighborhood on a second night. The Cubs even checked with a community group on the fly before making the decision, so I think they’re in the clear here.
  • A comprehensive profile on Mark Prior, if you can take it, and an update on his progress in trying to return, once again.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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