The Taylor Family had an impromptu big breakfast/dance party this morning. What do you guys want for breakfast? Pancakes? Ok, I can make those. Hey, how about some eggs and bacon, too? Peaches? Should we put on some music? Oh, hey, that’s Britney Spears! Let’s dance while we eat!
I offer no quotation marks there indicating who said what, so as to protect the innocent.
The Cardinals are currently a game behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, a gap I’d rather not see them bridge on the strength of today’s game against the Cubs. That is to say, it would be nice to see the Cubs beat the Cardinals today, perhaps knocking them a game further back, and locking up a series win for the Cubs.
While glancing at other races around baseball, I’m struck by the four-game lead the Angels have opened up on the A’s in the AL West. The A’s are perhaps the poster child this year for the “going for it” mentality, whereas the Angels have mostly rested on their roster (plus adding Huston Street), and that’s despite losing Garrett Richards. I still think the A’s have the roster to come back, but a four-game gap at the start of September is pretty significant. A great race in the AL Central, too, with the Tigers and Royals tied atop the standings. Like the Angels, the Royals did very little to upgrade their roster, while the Tigers made perhaps the biggest move of all, picking up David Price. Then there’s the NL West, with the surging Giants just 2.5 games back of the (evil?) Dodgers. Lots of exciting playoff bits to follow as we head into September, even if they don’t (yet) include the Cubs.
Anthony Rizzo’s back issue still isn’t being termed anything more serious than tightness, though he’s going to miss today’s game, too. The hope is he’ll feel better by tomorrow, and he tells Cubs.com that although swinging the bat is OK at this point, running is not. Nobody wants to see him have to shut it down for the rest of the season, so taking a few days right now will hopefully be the best long-term move.
Read this Cubs.com piece on Starlin Castro as a young man, as a leader, and as a guy trying to get past losing a cousin, one of his best friends, and two other friends in a car accident earlier this month. I don’t really have a comment. I just want to put a hand on his shoulder and give it two pats.
Of Felix Doubront’s Cubs debut, catcher John Baker says he appreciated that Doubront was willing to just go with whatever pitch Baker called for, even when it was, for example, four or five changeups in a row. (Cubs.com)
Zac Rosscup, who had a really rough outing last night, was technically optioned back to AAA Iowa before the doubleheader to make room for Felix Doubront, but then was summoned “back” as the 26th man (specially permitted for doubleheaders). He’ll go to Iowa for today and be be back on Monday, presumably, when rosters expand. Maybe he won’t actually physically go anywhere. Procedural roster moves, FTW!