Andrew Cashner is Looking to Shove Things and Other Bullets

andrew-cashner-cubsEveryone’s getting over a cold in the Taylor household, which means lots of laying around and lots of Disney Junior. Except for The Wife, who is running a half marathon instead. Seriously.

  • Former Cub Andrew Cashner might be just a touch excited about facing the Cubs today. He told CSN that he’s looking to “shove it up [the Cubs’] ass.” From reading the rest of the piece, you’ll get a sense that Cashner was having a little fun in his comment, though he really does continuously seek to prove that folks who doubted he could start long-term were wrong. That was part of the reason the Cubs dealt Cashner to the Padres in a deal that brought back Anthony Rizzo (the other reason was that, well, they really liked Rizzo). Cashner has found decent success as a starter in San Diego, though I’d argue that the deal still looks good for the Cubs in hindsight.
  • Welington Castillo is expected to start today, after missing a few days with sore ribs. I guess I just figured Dale Sveum wanted to get Dioner Navarro some extra time. Good to hear that Castillo’s injury isn’t serious.
  • James Russell agrees with Dale Sveum that any issues he’s facing this year are not tied to being overworked (per the Tribune). Imagine that: a baseball player not wanting to say he’s playing too much baseball. Yes, it’s possible that Russell isn’t worn down after being the most used pitcher in baseball over the past two years. But, it’s also possible that the dude needs a break.
  • Mike Olt went 4 for 4 with a homer last night at Iowa, which is a long-awaited great game for the third base prospect. His numbers this year are still awful, but his BABIP since coming to the Cubs was below .150(!), so there’s probably at least a little bad luck in there.
  • Jed Hoyer says the front office has been pleasantly surprised at just how good Javier Baez has been since his promotion to AA (per CSN). It sounds like even they didn’t expect this level of absurd awesomeness.
  • Reliever Chang-Yong Lim, who is working his way back from 2012 Tommy John surgery, was reactivated at Iowa, and pitched a scoreless frame last night. He’s been dealing with a shoulder strain, per Tommy Birch. The Cubs signed Lim to what amounted to a two-year minor league deal last offseason, and, depending on the contracts’ requirements with respect to the 40-man roster (i.e., does he become a free agent again if he isn’t added to the 40-man at some point this year?), the Cubs may want to try and get a look at him in September.
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    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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