NEWSLETTER
I haven’t watched the new ‘Spider-Man’ trailer yet because I’m trying to save it for a time when I can really sit and enjoy it. Yes, that’s how lame I am: I’m treating a 2-minute(?) trailer like it’s a whole dang show I have to turn into event TV.
•  If the Chicago Cubs are going to beat a team down in the standings these days, it better at least be really fun (and end a 13-game, record-setting, home losing streak … woof). So, mission accomplished last night, with a late comeback and then a Rafael Ortega walk-off.
Rafael Ortega.
So hot. So cold. pic.twitter.com/qRz99hjI6M
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 24, 2021
•  Bonus love to Michael Hermosillo on his first hit at Wrigley Field being a big one, a double to the wall that tied the game in the 8th. Just give him some leash to keep making starts and making adjustments. All I’m saying.
•  Also, Ian Happ does deserve quite a bit of attention for his big night, which came on the heels of a stretch where he’s actually having a lot of success. His year on the whole still represents a terrible level of production (.195/.301/.361, 83 wRC+), but I do want to point out that over the last seven games, he’s done nothing but rake – two homers, four doubles, four singles, three walks, just three strikeouts). Video game shit for the last week, albeit against rough pitching staffs.
•  Before we go too far, it’s worth noting that until this streak, Happ was hitting just .176/.284/.321 with a 69 wRC+ in mid-August. That does underscore how crazy hot this past week has been, but one blistering week doesn’t change much. I tend to think Happ is still going to receive at least fringe non-tender discussion if he doesn’t (1) finish the year very hot, and (2) do it in a way where we can isolate what actually changed, and project that it’s some kind of fix that carries forward into the future.
•  As noted last night, Nico Hoerner did not “re-injure” his oblique on that swing that took him out of his first rehab game, but David Ross put his timetable at “hopefully” he can be back in a rehab game in “maybe a week or two.” (Cubs.com) So, like I said, it’s still going to be a while before he’s back, if he comes back this year at all.
•  Yesterday afternoon, I was talking in a text thread with some friends about the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen going forward, and I was giving out some Manny Rodriguez love, as I am wont to do. I just really like the guy. I decided then I was gonna note something about how good he’s been since that White Sox series where he got hit around a bit. And that was before he stepped up last night with a great appearance to help lock down last night’s win! Since the Sox series, Rodriguez has gone six straight more-or-less perfect appearances, dropping his ERA to 2.70, improving his K rate to 28.6%, and dropping his walk rate to 7.1%. Fun fact? Each of those last two number exactly match his rates at Triple-A Iowa. The other thing he’s carried over from the minors this year? An impressive groundball rate thanks to a brutal (in a good way) two-seamer:
Manny Rodriguez, 97mph Two Seamer movement. pic.twitter.com/2boEaG8AEG
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 24, 2021
•  He got the whiff there, but that’s actually been pretty uncommon with him on the two-seamer this year, which has been more of a groundball contact pitch off of which he plays the four-seamer and the slider for whiffs. His 57.7% groundball rate would be 15th best among all relievers if he had enough innings to qualify (which is not to say he could keep it up over a full season like those guys have, but only to give you context for how good it presently is). There’s a reason the Cubs surprised everyone and added Rodriguez to the 40-man roster a couple falls ago straight out of A-ball so he wouldn’t get plucked in the Rule 5 draft. We’re seeing that reason, and I think he’s probably going to be competing for the closer job as soon as next year.
•  Speaking of which, make sure you read Bryan’s early take on the Rule 5 eligible prospects whom the Cubs might protect (surprisingly or otherwise) this year.
•  Random Giancarlo because good god:
There is only one batter in baseball who can do this crazy shit. pic.twitter.com/tOcb4CQXxe
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 23, 2021
•  Old friends came to Wrigley Field last night:
Former #Cubs Aramis RamÃrez and Geovany Soto are at Wrigley and just threw out a first pitch, preceded by a highlight video. pic.twitter.com/6yeQqOiq0P
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) August 23, 2021
