NEWSLETTER
Don’t miss out before tomorrow night: each of our partners at DraftKings and FanDuel have no-brainer deals going on for tomorrow night’s NFL opener. At DraftKings, you can get the Chiefs as 101 point underdogs, and at FanDuel, you can get the Chiefs at +2500. With sports gambling arriving in Illinois (and mobile signup available through September 18), they’re obviously making a huge push to get people signed up. Hence, the ridiculous deals, plus the huge sign-up bonuses. Thanks for checking them out, and you’re welcome for the no-brainers.
• Anthony Rizzo received his 2019 Gold Glove last night at Wrigley Field in a very 2020 ceremony:
Golden boy. pic.twitter.com/KAu9B8QZUs
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 9, 2020
https://twitter.com/WatchMarquee/status/1303486474009161728
• A comment after watching another Reds game with Nick Castellanos in the outfield: I’m not saying advanced defensive metrics are useless in a small sample, but I am saying that Castellanos and Jason Heyward are in a near-tie right now in UZR/150 and DEF in right field right now. So.
• Speaking of Castellanos in the outfield, it’s been weird how brutal he’s looked for the Reds this year in the few Cubs-Reds games we’ve been able to see him out there. Terrible reads, poor footwork, slow reactions. It could just be a Kyle Schwarber situation, where some high-visibility moments that look really bad are obscuring a guy who is otherwise playable out there. He certainly looked playable last year in RF for the Cubs. But if this is truly who he is out there, it’s a lot easier to understand why – in a pre-DH world – the Cubs weren’t sprinting as hard as we wanted to extend Castellanos or re-sign him in free agency. (Of course, if they’d known the DH was coming and STILL didn’t seriously make an effort to keep a guy like him who really wanted to stay? Well that would suck.)
• And speaking of Castellanos helping the Cubs, this was a huge moment in the game, and Alec Mills made him look very silly:
https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1303512335831707649
• If two-out RBI get you to heaven, David Bote is going to ultra-heaven:
David Bote leads the #Cubs with 14 two-out RBI.
He's tied for the team lead with four game-winning RBI. pic.twitter.com/ZzmOV28mrN
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 9, 2020
• Today is Roberto Clemente Day:
On this Roberto Clemente Day, here's a beautiful story from @JesseSanchezMLB about the everlasting love and legacies of Roberto and Vera. https://t.co/asuWfU0lZZ
— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) September 9, 2020
• Remember Rafael Dolis? If you’ve been deep into the Cubs weeds for a while, you probably remember that he was a semi-vaunted pitching prospect who projected well as at least a quality reliever because he had a power sinker that was one of the best I can remember seeing in the Cubs farm system over the years. The thing was like a Zack Britton offering, but from the right side: 97 mph and DARTING down on batters. If Dolis could have just put it where he wanted, he probably would’ve succeeded on that pitch alone. Alas, Dolis got three years’ worth of shots to make the Cubs’ bullpen in 2011-13, but the command just never showed up, which meant his elite groundball rate tanked in the bigs, his walk rate exploded, and his strikeout rate was virtually nothing. It was a total bust situation, and Dolis was let go by the Cubs after that 2013 season. Dolis gave it a go in the Giants and Tigers farm systems in 2014-15 (you’re gonna give an arm like that a shot for a change of scenery), but washed out. That’s when he went international – first in the Dominican Winter League and then Japan – and exploded. He started striking guys out like crazy, and stopped walking everyone.
• This year, now 32, he finally got a shot to return to the states with the Blue Jays, and he’s posted a 1.77 ERA through 20 appearances. He’s popping up all over my Twitter feed thanks to the Pitching Ninja. And it’s not hard to see what changed – he’s still got the great sinker, but holy crap he’s got an unbelievable slider and split change now:
https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1295070846407630849
Rafael Dolis, Filthy K (with 2 Swords). ⚔️⚔️ pic.twitter.com/AGMaWYwlib
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 9, 2020
Rafael Dolis, Filthy 87mph Splitter. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/OtD28gngPX
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 31, 2020
• The writing has been on the wall for a while, but I would say this locks it up that MLB is going to take over MiLB operations next year:
Breaking: Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Conner to retire after 2020 season. O’Conner spent 28 years with MiLB office, 38 years working in pro ball. The 11th MiLB prez, O’Conner’s office might be eliminated during ongoing negotiations between MLB and MiLB.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) September 8, 2020
• You’ll find debates, even within the industry, about whether it’s a good or a bad thing that MLB will centralize and take over MiLB. I tend not to like that the urgency of pushing the sport stops being as spread out among interested parties, but I do think there could be some dramatically improved pushing of the minor league teams if they were propped up by MLB operations, support personnel, marketing, and money. (The reduction in teams from 160 to 120, by the way, is already a virtual lock.)
• Reiterating the two deals to snap up before tomorrow night:
A reminder of the no-brainer bet at DraftKings for the Chiefs opener Thursday night. You can get the Chiefs PLUS 101 POINTS. Yes, it's real, and yes, you're welcome.
Thanks for checking it out and supporting BN with your attention – go here: https://t.co/7PVIv4qpMu pic.twitter.com/HcgbSR4XnG
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) September 9, 2020
Bet $5, Get $125 on The Chiefs To Win With FanDuel Sportsbook in Illinois https://t.co/8yzzLdpqXv
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) September 7, 2020
