I woke up in the middle of the night last night – probably one of the kids stirring – and I immediately thought to myself that I had to come up with something to put in this space. It was a pretty odd impulse, given that I usually just open up a new document for the Bullets, and start typing. Strikingly little thought goes into what goes up here in the morning. But, for some reason, I was gripped by a feeling that I just had to think of something good. This was, like, 2am. Obviously I didn’t come up with anything, or I wouldn’t be recounting this bizarre meta layer. The end.
Jed Hoyer endorses the way Ricky Renteria has been managing his roster with respect to the starting lineup. “I think Ricky has done a nice job with Mike [Olt],” Hoyer told Carrie Muskat. “I get it — I think people are excited to see him and people love homers. It’s fun when he’s in the lineup. I want him to play, too, but I also think matching him up and finding the right matchups, you want to make sure there are days when [Luis] Valbuena is in the lineup. There are days you really want [Darwin] Barney in the lineup because he’s our best defender. There are a lot of factors at play. Frankly, I think it’s helped Mike in the long haul adjusting to the big leagues and getting comfortable here.” I would say it better if I could, but I cannot. That’s pretty much exactly what I believed to be happening, and fully support that approach. I suppose I’d add only this: Olt will play more and more (just as he has been) as the season goes on, and particularly as he demonstrates that he’s getting increasingly comfortable.
Hoyer offers this on the pitcher W/L stat (Cubs.com): “The wins thing to me is frustrating, because in general, it’s a stat that we’ve all moved away from.” In other words, Hoyer is telling folks to stop writing about the W/L stat because the W/L stat is stupid and nobody who actually works in baseball gives a hoot about it. I am so very glad I killed the win on this site before the season started. It was overdue by about 10 years.
Mark Gonzales asked Hoyer about pitching prospect Gerardo Concepcion, the polished Cuban lefty on whom the Cubs spent $6 million a couple years ago, but who almost immediately struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness. Hoyer offered some general thoughts about how well-thought-of he was at the time, and how he’s dealt with some injuries since then. Concepcion isn’t quite entirely back on the radar.
BN’er Michigan Goat is fighting MS – in more ways than one – and he needs your support. Check out his story, and learn more about what he’s going through/trying to accomplish.
The Ricketts Family is getting political, with Cubs board member Pete Ricketts winning the Nebraska Republican gubernatorial primary yesterday, and board members Laura Ricketts and Todd Ricketts each heading up a SuperPAC. To them, individually, I say: go forth, God bless, do what makes you happy. As intelligent, passionate, affluent people, political involvement is something of an inevitability. But, because I care about the Cubs, I do think about how the organization could be impacted. As we saw with the original Wrigley funding/Obama attack ad flap, there can be very real consequences borne by the Cubs when the political efforts of its owners touch upon the team’s world. There is also the potential for bad optics/bad stories, with unscrupulous media tying the political actions of a Cubs owner to the Cubs, as an organization, and damaging the brand in that way (“Cubs Owner Vetoes Cheese Bill, But Team Still Serving Cheese”). Although I am smart enough – and I think that you, dear reader, are also smart enough – to understand that these are entirely separate issues, I just get nervous about the political interplay here, especially in a city as, eh hem, political as Chicago.
The marquee at Wrigley Field is green now (though it’ll be back to its usual red eventually) …
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.
Cubs vs Braves — Six of the Cubs next ten games come against the Atlanta Braves, and the first three are on the road starting tonight. And while the Cubs did recently get Seiya Suzuki, Cody Bellinger, and Justin Steele...
Meaning no offense to Kyle Hendricks, but if you had to choose a veteran right-handed in the Cubs' rotation to face the Atlanta Braves this week, you're probably going with Jameson Taillon. We may never know if that was part...
There is something about seeing Cubs players homer with pink bats that makes me smile extra wide. I suppose it's PROBABLY at least a little because this is one of my favorite Cubs memories: https://twitter.com/ChiSportsDay/status/1788291377333170611 Javy Báez, with the pink...
It's Mother's Day. I'm hanging with the family. I don't feel like being as pissed off as a game like that threatened to make me. So I am QUITE relieved by that 10th inning (and the fact that the Cubs...
I'll just presume he was sending this one out for mom. And I'll also presume that the knee is indeed feeling good. Home run number nine on the season for Christopher Morel: https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1789713524052087082
CUBS LINEUP — The Cubs have played thirteen series so far this season, and this is already their eighth rubber match. Let's see if Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs can bring this one in. Chicago Cubs Lineup: Nico Hoerner, SS...
No surprises here, as the decision to start Kyle Hendricks this afternoon against the Pirates was made yesterday, but the news has officially hit the wire, and here it is. Kyle Hendricks Activated Kyle Hendricks is returning from his short...
Happy Mother's Day to the mothers among you, and to the mothers in my life! I'll be doing some extra family stuff today, so I'm gonna cruise through these Bullets ... Up front, because this was certainly the thing most...
The Sunday TBD has been D'd, and it's going to be Kyle Hendricks coming back an outing early. Instead of making another rehab start at Iowa, Hendricks is going to be activated from the IL to rejoin the rotation tomorrow:...
The Cubs came within 90 feet of keeping that ridiculous game going. No dice. Stupid game. Early on, it just kinda seemed like the Cubs might lose a perfectly normal - bad, but normal - game. Justin Steele did not...
The Baltimore Orioles (26-13) are favorites (-170) on the moneyline when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays (18-22) Monday at 6:35 PM ET, live on SNET.Baltimore's Corbin Burnes and Toronto's Jose Berrios have been named the starters for this...
The Detroit Tigers (20-20) are favorites (-173) on the moneyline when they take on the Miami Marlins (11-31) Monday at 6:40 PM ET, live on BSDET.Matt Manning will get the ball for Detroit while Miami will counter with Sixto Sanchez.Tigers...
The Chicago Cubs (24-17) enter Monday's matchup with the Atlanta Braves (24-13) following their 2-1 series victory over the Pirates. The Braves, coming off of a series win against the Mets, are listed as -146 favorites for Game 1. The...
The Philadelphia Phillies (28-13) are favorites (-128) on the moneyline when they take on the New York Mets (19-20) Monday at 7:10 PM ET, live on NBCS-PH.Philadelphia's Cristopher Sanchez gets the start, and he'll go against New York's Sean Manaea.Phillies...
The Tampa Bay Rays (20-21) are the underdogs on the moneyline (-101) in Monday's contest against the Boston Red Sox (21-19). Game time is set for 7:10 PM ET on NESN. The Rays are favored against the spread in this...
The Chicago White Sox (12-29) start a three-game series against the Washington Nationals (19-20) on Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field. First pitch is at 7:40 PM.The probable pitchers are Trevor Williams (4-0) for the Nationals and Chris Flexen (2-3) for...
The Texas Rangers (22-20) look to end a stretch of three losses as they play the Cleveland Guardians (25-16) on Monday at 8:05 PM ET.The probable pitchers are Michael Lorenzen (2-2) for the Rangers and Tanner Bibee (2-1) for the...
The Pittsburgh Pirates (18-23) kick off a three-game series on Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers (24-16). The contest starts at 7:40 PM ET at American Family Field.The Brewers will give the nod to Colin Rea (3-0, 3.29 ERA), who is...
The Oakland Athletics (19-23) open a four-game series against the Houston Astros (15-25) with a Monday meeting at Minute Maid Park. First pitch is at 8:10 PM ET.The Astros will give the nod to Spencer Arrighetti (0-4, 8.44 ERA), who...
In a thrilling announcement that has the horse racing community buzzing with anticipation, Mystik Dan, the celebrated winner of this year's Kentucky Derby, is confirmed to compete in the upcoming Preakness Stakes. This decision marks a significant step towards the...
NEWSLETTER
I woke up in the middle of the night last night – probably one of the kids stirring – and I immediately thought to myself that I had to come up with something to put in this space. It was a pretty odd impulse, given that I usually just open up a new document for the Bullets, and start typing. Strikingly little thought goes into what goes up here in the morning. But, for some reason, I was gripped by a feeling that I just had to think of something good. This was, like, 2am. Obviously I didn’t come up with anything, or I wouldn’t be recounting this bizarre meta layer. The end.
