The Plan Remains the Plan with Kyle Schwarber and Other Bullets

Jun 19, 2015

The Brother-In-Law is getting married tomorrow, and the various wedding things start today. The whole Taylor Family is in the wedding, so that means there’s a fair bit for us to do today and tomorrow. In turn, that means you might not see me around here as much as usual the next couple days. You should see normal posting, though. Be good.

The Cubs outscored the Indians in that series 20-10, but lost two of three games. That’s just baseball, and it’s also what happens when you score 17, but also score three runs in two games. Such is the Cubs’ inconsistent offense, even with Kyle Schwarber in tow.

Speaking of which, yes, it’s still the plan for him to go to AAA Iowa after Sunday’s game, and, no, I don’t think anything Schwarber does with the bat in the interim will change things. It’s not like it’s a surprise that he can hit (through just two starts, by the way). Remember: this is a guy whose AA performance compared favorably to that of Kris Bryant. The front office knew there was a chance he would come up and hit very well – indeed, they were hoping he would! that was the whole point! – and they still were unequivocal in the plan for Schwarber. He’s coming up to help out and to get a taste of the bigs while the Cubs are in AL parks, and then he’s heading to AAA Iowa to keep working on catching. Absent a couple surprise catching injuries, I don’t think anything could (or should) change that plan. The only change you could see is that the Cubs might want Schwarber back up sooner rather than later in, say, mid-August. But even that might have more to do with how his work at Iowa is progressing over a two month stretch than a few games in mid-June.

This quote from Jason Hammel at ESPN made me chuckle: “This is the best group of young kids I’ve ever been around, for sure. When you’re bad for so long, you get the cream of the crop.” Drafting high has certainly helped the Cubs, though the front office continues to deserve credit for targeting the right young players when they had opportunities.

Two Cubs prospects in the Dominican Republic have been suspended for testing positive for a PED: right-handed pitcher Assael Aquino and right-handed pitcher Luiz Escanio. Each player will turn 23 next month (i.e., likely not significant prospects), and neither was a major signing that I’m aware of.

Joe Maddon says the effective velocity of Tsuyoshi Wada’s fastball is much higher than the actual velocity when he throws it in the right spot (CSN) – and that’s probably why he threw so many fastballs in his successful start on Wednesday.

Oh, Anthony Rizzo, you’re so silly.

Speaking of silly, Pablo Sandoval was scratched yesterday because he was caught liking pictures on Instagram during a game while in the bathroom. Yes, that’s a real sentence. Technically, Sandoval’s actions weren’t a violation of MLB’s social media policy, because he didn’t make any posts, he just clicked like. Yup, that’s also a real sentence. Joe Maddon’s thoughts on the subject include not doing it, using good judgment, and not getting caught (CSN).

written by

Brett Taylor

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.

The Plan Remains the Plan with Kyle Schwarber and Other Bullets

Read More

more cubs news

Latest News

more cubs news

Most Popular

Most Popular

Latest News

Most Popular

Most Popular