The Javier Baez Adjustment Period Continues and Other Bullets

javier baez featureI’m headed home later this morning, so I won’t be around much in the comments today. Normal posting will continue, however.

Speaking of the comments, it looks like you guys had some fun last night during the game, eh? 850 comments in the game thread, many of which feature an avatar of my face and a meme of me looking, as I often do, ridiculous. Well done, friends. I laughed a lot in reading through that page.

  • Between the two games yesterday (if you include the first half of the first game, which was played on Tuesday before the tarp issue), Javier Baez didn’t put a ball in play. In the first game, he struck out twice and walked twice, and in the second game, he struck out four times. Baez’s K rate ticked back over 40% with the performance, and he continues to be victimized in particular by high fastballs out of the zone.
  • Rick Renteria tells Cubs.com: “[Baez is] trying to make adjustments. You see him, he’s very conscientious in the at-bat. It’s a matter of re-zoning and getting pitches in his hitting area that he can do some damage with. They’re little hiccups that will continue to arise that we have to deal with.” For the record, there is no reason to be concerned right now. These struggles are not only predictable and expected, but they’re probably a good thing for Baez long-term. And wouldn’t you rather he was facing this down period now, heading into the offseason, when he can come in next year with some adjustments ready to go?
  • Sahadev Sharma spoke to, and writes about, Edwin Jackson on his struggles this year and his stint on the DL. Jackson understands the situation he’s in, and wants to do more to feel like he’s earning his contract.
  • Who replaces Jackson in the rotation while he’s on the DL? With and off-day on Monday, the Cubs could skip the spot for now, if they wanted, but I suspect instead that it’ll go to Jacob Turner. He was the fill-in “starter” yesterday for the resumed game, and Rick Renteria told the Tribune that the Cubs are trying to stretch Turner out for the possibility of starting. Turner threw more pitches in the bullpen after his 34-pitch outing yesterday.
  • Sahadev Sharma writes more on Turner here.
  • Travis Wood said it himself about last night’s start – at least there was only one walk (ESPN). Unfortunately for him, everything the Giants hit seemed to be down the line (plus a homer), so there was plenty of damage to go around.
  • Josh Vitters is back on the disabled list at AAA Iowa after he broke a finger (Cubs.com). It’s been a terrible year for the 24-year-old, who is hitting just .213/.268/.339. His 26.5% strikeout rate is uncharacteristically high.
  • Discussions are ongoing to resolve the MLB.tv blackout issues that plague folks who want to be able to watch in-market games online. It remains likely, though, that you’ll still need to have a cable/satellite/etc. subscription in order to qualify to avoid the blackouts (because the RSNs that pay enormous dollars for broadcast rights don’t want to see the value of those deals undercut by folks who can just watch MLB.tv instead).
  • The Feline Football League is a non-baseball sport I can get behind.
  • 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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