At Some Point, Someone Will Get a Save Opportunity and Other Bullets

pedro strop cubsNo spoilers, but … that thing that happened on that show? Yeah. Boom. In your FACE!

  • Ricky Renteria isn’t committing to a new closer yet – and there was once again no need for one yesterday – but has indicated that any of Pedro Strop, Justin Grimm, Hector Rondon, or Blake Parker (i.e., every righty in the pen not named Jose Veras) could get a chance. (Cubs.com)
  • Speaking of those guys, I’ve seen some folks questioning the usage of Blake Parker in a one-run game in the 7th yesterday, rather than Strop/Grimm/Rondon. Setting aside the fact that Parker is a legit reliever whom you’ve got to be able to trust in that situation if you’re going to have him in the pen at all, my read from some of Renteria’s comments about the pen yesterday (see the recap here) is that he was trying to give those guys a rest after appearing in so many games already this year, thanks to the long extra inning affairs. We all want to see wins early, but I don’t think anyone wants to see important long-term bullpen pieces breaking down later in the year because they were taxed too heavily early on.
  • Renteria discusses Edwin Jackson. I discussed his outing yesterday here. That is all.
  • I mentioned this weekend that outfielder Jae-Hoon Ha had returned to action after offseason wrist surgery, and that his placement at AAA Iowa was going to be a little tricky thanks to the need to get each of Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, and Matt Szczur regular starts (and the presence of Chris Coghlan) … well, he was almost immediately sent down to AA Tennessee. At bats may be slightly easier to come by there, but Ha was already Rule 5 eligible last year, so he’s approaching minor league free agency. If he’s going to break through as a bench outfielder for the Cubs, it may have to be soon.
  • If you missed it yesterday, Javier Baez is on the DL at Iowa with a sprained ankle.
  • Jeff Samardzija weighs in on the lack of compensation for college football players, who generate a crap-ton of money for their schools and the NCAA.
  • The Cubs will wear number 42 on Tuesday in New York to honor Jackie Robinson, though there will be the obvious nod to Mariano Rivera, too. (Cubs.com)
  • Does it count as prospect porn of the day if I said it myself? …
  • written by

    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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