Mike Olt Showing Off His Power and Other Bullets

mike olt!Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate the holiday, in whatever fashion. We decorated plastic Easter Eggs last night, and picked up last-second Easter baskets for the kiddos like dutiful, busy parents. And now we go about the process of figuring out how to steal some of their candy …

  • After yesterday’s 1-4 with a homer outing, Mike Olt has some really weird numbers this year: he’s slugging .515, but hitting just .212. If he qualified, that .303 ISO would be 7th in baseball. Olt has just seven hits, and three of ’em are homers (one double). He also has a .200 BABIP. And a 28.6% strikeout rate. And a 2.9% walk rate. And just 35 plate appearances. I don’t think you can make heads or tails of any of that. It’s just weird, and a very small sample. Oh, and, for what it’s worth, all three homers have come off of lefties, and he’s striking out less than half as often against lefties.
  • You may have noticed that Anthony Rizzo departed yesterday’s game in the 8th inning. He was dealing some back soreness, and, with the four-run lead, the Cubs thought it wise to let him sit the rest of the way (Cubs.com). He expects to play today, but, if he takes the day off, no one could blame him – back issues can linger, and get progressively worse if they aren’t nipped in the bud.
  • Whatever that nosebleed situation was, Albert Almora got it cleared up with a minor nose procedure (Daytona News-Journal).
  • Jake Arrieta is expected to make his final rehab start tomorrow at Daytona, and he discusses what he’s looking to accomplish (ESPN Chicago).
  • Hey, that’s neat: Little Cubs Field.
  • The Cubs will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day at Wrigley tomorrow, and there will be a photo gallery.
  • Jeff Sullivan digs into whether “aces” are getting more favorable strike zones than anyone else, and he doesn’t find the data to support that old saw. Add that to the growing evidence that, when it comes to umpires calling inconsistent strike zones (i.e., calling balls strikes, and strikes balls), what matters is the catcher’s ability to frame pitches.
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    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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