NEWSLETTER
Nick Madrigal HOMERED today, so you know it was a wild one. The Cubs wound up winning 15-9 over the White Sox, in a game that totally counts because it is the White Sox. It was a parade of hits for both teams, including for a whole bunch of youngsters who got in some action.
• Drew Smyly got knocked around, but I still default to my thinking on veteran pitchers who’ve already locked down their role on the roster: you just can’t learn much from Spring Training results. He might be in trouble this year! He might not! Either way, I don’t think today – especially against that lefty-killing White Sox lineup when you’re just trying to get your work in – tells us much in any direction. Let’s see how he looks starting this weekend when it counts. Given his success in his younger years, his injuries, and then his periodic awesomeness/awfulness in the last couple years, I really have no idea what to expect from him. But, among other things, the Cubs *HAVE* to give a lot of leeway this year to their many fliers (from this and last year).
• It’s been a tough spring for Ian Happ as he rehabs from the (minor) elbow procedure, but he sure as heck got into one today as part of a three-hit game:
Happ smash. pic.twitter.com/2GFbtOAkW1
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 4, 2022
• Willson Contreras EXTENDing his arms, which is always a good SIGN:
https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1511093182687240199
• Not a homer, but Nico Hoerner showed a touch of that power that we need to see keep developing:
https://twitter.com/CubsZone/status/1511089484217126917
• Seiya Suzuki can record hits other than homers – he had a couple singles on the day, and his spring OPS is up to .938 (which doesn’t matter, but just to counter the folks who were worried that he was having a BAD spring):
https://twitter.com/CubsZone/status/1511093349897445376
• We got to see reliever Ethan Roberts, who has looked nasty this Spring, learning live that he was making the Opening Day roster. It came RIGHT after this actually-kinda-scary moment:
What an athlete. @EthanXXVI
(📸: @WatchMarquee) pic.twitter.com/HLpDtuEiwz
— Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) April 4, 2022
• Thankfully, Roberts said his hand was fine – it was the one that shook David Ross’s hand as he learned he made the team – and he was just overjoyed by achieving a dream:
Just had the most wholesome interview with Ethan Roberts. Just delighted to make the team. Said he's been visualizing this moment since he was 12. Called his wife who pulled over the car to chat. He was beaming entire interview. Started by saying, "Y'all doing as good as me?!?"
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) April 4, 2022
“It’s just life changing for me … it’s something I’ve been dreaming about for a long time.”
Ethan Roberts on making his first @MLB roster. pic.twitter.com/5zuUN2fszp
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 4, 2022
• It would’ve been impressive to make this play deep in the hole even without the slip:
Nico Hoerner almost made this play! 👀
(📸: @WatchMarquee) pic.twitter.com/crr3yaQytb
— Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) April 4, 2022
• And yet another almost-injury play from the game:
ouchie pic.twitter.com/xwyIISKsvH
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 4, 2022
• Thankfully, it seems like everyone came out of this game injury-free. Put ’em in bubble wrap, and ship ’em to Chicago. In Spring Training tradition, you can tentatively expect tomorrow’s Cactus League finale to feature very few regulars.
