Catch a Ball, Win a Shove from a Cardinals Player and Other Bullets

Apr 04, 2014

The home opener is here! A reminder for folks in the Wrigleyville area today, feel free to stop by the Captain Morgan Club (southeast corner of the park) before the game, because that’s where I should be holed up with Myles and other BN’ers. At the game, I’ll be in the right field bleachers, as close to the wall and the right side corner (if looking from home plate; so next to the LED board) as possible. After the game is still slightly TBD, but the tentative plan is to go to Yak-Zies on Clark. Stop by any and all of those places to say hi. I’ll be in a blue BN shirt (likely overtop a sweatshirt) with blue and yellow shoes.

Good news on the roster move front: Alberto Cabrera, DFA’d at the end of Spring Training when he didn’t make the bullpen and was out of options, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to AAA Iowa. You never know when Cabrera might return to the big team – he still has a quality arm – so it’s nice to know he’s still in the organization.

Yesterday, Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams missed out on catching a foul ball when a fan – who didn’t reach onto the field – beat him to the catch. How did Adams deal with that frustration? By shoving the fan. What’s the punchline here? The fan should be honored by the touch? The Cardinals are the best shovers in baseball? Nope, it’s this: Adams shoved the fan the right way.

As Luke mentioned in this morning’s Minor League Daily (it’s back!), Jorge Soler left last night’s Tennessee opener shortly after legging out a double in his first at bat. His manager reportedly said it was due to some “hamstring tightness,” which is usually code for “he was feeling something in his hamstring short of serious pain, but we wanted to get him out of there anyway.” That’s a reasonable approach, given Soler’s hamstring issues in late Spring Training. Hopefully this is just a precaution, he misses very little time, and is back out there without issue next week. If anyone needs ample and immediate playing time, it’s Soler.

Carlos Villanueva is still scheduled to start on Sunday, despite pitching twice in the Pirates series (Cubs.com). Ricky Renteria and the front office are going to discuss their options in advance of Sunday’s game, though. You’d rather not have to futz with the roster, and Chris Rusin just pitched last night for Iowa (so he wouldn’t be available).

Best anecdote from a marathon game ever: John Baker tells Cubs.com that, because Wednesday’s game went nearly 6 hours, and into the wee hours of the morning, the movie he’d earlier rented at the team’s hotel had expired by the time the game ended. So he didn’t get to finish ‘Wolverine.’

Hat tip to The Wife on this one: want to propose to your lovely at a Major League ballpark? Well, dig deep, because it can be very expensive. The Cubs are fairly middle-of-the-pack, when you consider the venue ($175). Otherwise, it ranges from a modest $39 at PNC (Pirates) all the way up to an *INSANE* $2500 at Dodger Stadium (presumably because of the abundance of faux-lebrities that want the attention?). You know how much it costs to propose to your girl in the car after she’s fallen asleep on the ride back from dinner? Savvy business man right here. It’s also very hard for a groggy girlfriend to turn your proposal down at that point, too. Savvy life planner right here.

I knew Junior Lake was looking impressive in left field so far this year:

Stat of the Day: @Cubs LF Junior Lake is the surprising early overall leader with 4 Runs Saved. The speedy Lake cost Chicago 4 runs in 2013.

— John Dewan (@FieldingBible) April 3, 2014

That tweet came halfway through yesterday’s game, when Lake had played a little more than two games’ worth of defense. Saving four runs in that time is absolutely insane. That’s an above average *season*.

Speaking of Lake, on his wardrobe malfunction yesterday, he told the Tribune how he realized he was in the wrong jersey, “[Justin Grimm] said, ‘Hey, you have the wrong jersey. I looked and said, ‘[bleep].'” Sometimes, you just gotta look down and say bleep, man.

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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