So, the good news is that I’ve basically kicked the fever. The super high spikes (above 104) abated by the end of Monday, and Tuesday, I felt pretty darn good. A lot of that was tied to heavy ibuprofen/Tylenol usage, though, which led to stomach pain overnight, which, in turn, led to a miserable day yesterday. Mostly, it was a really bad headache – the kind behind my eyeballs that really, really hurts when I look to one side or the other – and that’s spilling over into today. But I’m trying to ween off of the pills (which could be part of the problem – I’ve been eating ’em like Tic Tacs since Sunday), so, for now, I’m just dealing with it.
Paul Sullivan spoke to Scott Boras about his client, Kris Bryant, and his present position as a AAA Iowa Cub, rather than a Cub of the Chicago variety. Boras’s thoughts on the subject are predictable, but I actually found him to be a bit more tempered than usual. Sure, he said that most teams would have Bryant up at this point (debatable), but he also said that it’s a business, and Bryant understands. Boras got into whether it makes sense, from a development and preparation standpoint, to call up Bryant for September, and get him ready to play in the bigs on Opening Day. Self-serving, of course, but I will say that if the Cubs felt it was best for his development to take that path, then yes, you forgo that extra year of team control to make it happen. As it stands, however, it remains perfectly plausible that the Cubs believe Bryant still needs to work on his defense, and adjusting to mature pitchers adjusting to him at AAA before exposing him to the bigs. And if he keeps doing the right things, that promotion should come in late April/early May next year – and the Cubs will get an extra year of team control.
Mark Gonzalez with a great read on C.J. Edwards as he prepares to finally return to game action after missing three months with a shoulder injury. Therein, Edwards says he’s been up to 94 mph in his bullpen sessions, throwing his normal breaking stuff.
Jeff Sullivan drives home the point: yes, the Cubs have a lot of prospect talent that seems to overlap, but, no, that doesn’t mean they have to make any trades. I know you’ve heard it a dozen times by now, but it’s worth another look.
ESPN’s Chris Crawford ranked the top 20 prospects for dynasty purposes (that’s a fantasy baseball term that basically means: dudes who are really good, and whom you’d want to keep for a long time), and the Cubs show very well: Kris Bryant is on top, Javier Baez is fourth, Addison Russell is fifth, and Jorge Soler is 16th.
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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NEWSLETTER
So, the good news is that I’ve basically kicked the fever. The super high spikes (above 104) abated by the end of Monday, and Tuesday, I felt pretty darn good. A lot of that was tied to heavy ibuprofen/Tylenol usage, though, which led to stomach pain overnight, which, in turn, led to a miserable day yesterday. Mostly, it was a really bad headache – the kind behind my eyeballs that really, really hurts when I look to one side or the other – and that’s spilling over into today. But I’m trying to ween off of the pills (which could be part of the problem – I’ve been eating ’em like Tic Tacs since Sunday), so, for now, I’m just dealing with it.
