The Cubs Can’t Lose Today and Other Bullets

May 24, 2012

The Cubs can’t lose today! Or will they find a way?

Speaking of the Cubs’ now nine-game losing streak (their longest in a decade), Jeff Samardzija offers a simultaneously hopeful and sobering thought: “This is really going to show our team character here in the long run. The next team you play is not going to take it easy on you, and the team after that is not going to take it easy on you. You’ve got to fix it, and fix it quick.”

David DeJesus and Darwin Barney discuss the circumstances of their collision yesterday, which allowed two runs to score. It looked to me like it was one of those plays where it was a tough play for each player, neither is certain he can get there, so neither can call for it. Thus, they collide. And that’s pretty much what each guy said about the play after the game. Just bad luck.

Carlos Marmol looked so good in a simulated game yesterday that the Cubs might move up his return to game action by a day, letting him pitch for AAA Iowa on Friday. Marmol is recovering from a strained hamstring (and, let’s be honest, he’s also recovering from “terrible pitching”), and the Cubs haven’t said when he’ll return. He was DL’d back on May 12, so he could return any time on or after May 27.

Also on the injury front, Steve Clevenger caught yesterday’s Iowa Cubs game (for four innings, anyway), and seems to be continuing to recover well from an oblique strain/rib cartilage break.

Phil Rogers says big-time shortstop prospect Javier Baez is “close” to being assigned to A-ball Peoria. Baez, 19, has been killing the ball in extended Spring Training, but it was starting to look like he was going to have to wait until short season Boise starts its season in June before being assigned. It’s still possible he’ll play a few weeks in Peoria before then being “demoted” to Boise.

Kerry Wood’s single-batter finale, striking out Dayan Viciedo, wasn’t exactly how the Cubs had drawn up the plan for his final appearance. Wood was going to get more time, but after he struck out Viciedo, the game was still close, and the next batter (Alex Rios) had bad numbers against lefties. So Jamie Quirk, who was subbing for ejected Dale Sveum, made the switch.

Inspired by some brilliance in the comments, we’re going to have a #CubsHell party on Twitter this afternoon. If you’ve got an idea of what life is like in Cubs Hell, tweet it with the #CubsHell hash tag starting at 3pm (or whenever you feel like it – but I’m not committing to going full force until this afternoon). Also, follow Bleacher Nation on Twitter if you don’t already, so you can be in on the shenanigans. An example from BN’er Edwin: “In Cubs Hell, Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg are the only two pitchers in the bullpen.” Outstanding.

A post on the Message Board offers a hilarious Tony Campana/Superman Venn Diagram, and this awesome gif of Campana’s diving slide:

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.

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