The Cubs lost on the back of the offense being held down all day, but that was still a pretty fun game to watch. Dallas Beeler made it debut, and pitched pretty darn good. He effectively mixed four pitches – sinker/two-seamer, cutter, change, curveball – all at different speeds, and all for strikes.
My it’s-just-one-start-so-caveats-aplenty analysis is that Beeler has stuff that will play at the big league level, though the lack of a wipeout pitch is going to limit his upside. That’s no knock, though, because guys who can command the strike zone and throw four pitches for strikes are few and far between.
On the day, the offense notched just three hits and two walks. Mostly it was Gio Gonzalez pitching well, and then a great bullpen doing its thing. Can’t really be too bummed about this one, as far as shutouts go.