Anthony Rizzo is Awesome and Other Bullets

The first of two sets of Bullets which will come during the BNBlogathon …

  • Given his walk-off, two-run homer in the 10th, you can understand that almost everything written about yesterday’s win over the Cardinals is a lovefest for Anthony Rizzo. And that’s fine with me. Here’s a good example from Doug Padilla, in which you get a good sense of Rizzo’s youthful enthusiasm, which is awesome. “This is the best,” Rizzo said. “This is something I’ve always dreamed of doing since I was a little kid. I’ve never done it before. Not in the minors, not in Little League, not ever …. This is awesome.”
  • Bryan LaHair knows he’s been struggling for quite some time, and obviously he’s not too thrilled about it. “It gets frustrating,” LaHair told reporters. “You try to tell yourself over and over again that (you’re better). Sometimes you try to do too much. It’s not a good feeling, but at the same time I know the kind of hitter I am and it takes time. I feel like I’m starting to see the ball a little better.” Here’s hoping.
  • Dale Sveum on closer Carlos Marmol’s ugly success over the past few months – strictly speaking, he hasn’t blown a save since April 24: “Look, he’s done the job. You look at every closer, you look at every night no matter if a guy is throwing more strikes or whatever, the winning run is going to get to the plate no matter how it is. One-two-three innings in the last couple of innings, they’re very, very difficult to find. I don’t care if the guy on the mound never throws balls at all. He will give up a hit. It’s just the way it is.”
  • A Matt Holliday quote that will, at first, piss you off, and then will make you smile: “We can’t be playing well and come in here and lose to the Cubs,” Holliday said. “We can’t lose this series. But we did. The only way to get better is to play better. We didn’t get the result we were looking for.”
  • A few Iowa moves: Blake DeWitt (back) and Rafael Dolis (sore knee) have been placed on the disabled list at AAA Iowa. The Cubs picked up former Tigers outfielder Jeff Frazier to make some time in Iowa.
  • The MLBullets at BCB are, surprise, surprise, trade focused.
  • 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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