More Good Signals About the Cubs Going Forward and Other Bullets

wrigley marquee featureI’ll spare you any details, but I was so sick last night. Just awful. Came over me quickly, and I couldn’t even watch the game. This morning, it’s like nothing ever happened. Feel 100%. So, of course, I’m just pissed that I missed last night’s game. Sounds like it was about as good as it gets.

  • Get this: the Cubs are now guaranteed to finish no worse than .500 in August, even if they lose both games today and then again on Sunday. That’s a pretty incredible feat when you consider that, in recent years, August has represented the start of a deep, dark dive for the Cubs in the post-Trade Deadline portion of the season. Despite trading away Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel, Darwin Barney, Emilio Bonifacio, and James Russell, the Cubs are playing better now than they have all year. Like I mentioned before, the best part is that they’re doing it with guys who will actually be around next year and beyond. One month is a small sample, but still: this is a very positive signal for 2015.
  • For the record: in 2012, the Cubs were 8-21 in August. In 2013, they were 8-20.
  • In the late afternoon yesterday, Twitter exploded with rumors of a Kris Bryant call-up. That was, of course, nonsense, given everything the front office has said again and again. Even trying to trace the rumor back to the source was virtually impossible – it was just a bunch of people saying he was coming. There was no report originating the rumors. It was as if the rumor created itself out of nothingness. It was the Big Bang of promotion rumors. I love me some Twitter, but that was pretty ridiculous, y’all.
  • Furthering the ridiculousness, Jed Hoyer was forced to confirm that nothing has changed with respect to Bryant (Cubs.com), who will finish the season at AAA Iowa and then probably take some time off. Bryant has been awesome, and will probably be awesome. But just resign yourself to the fact that it won’t be until next year – probably late April.
  • Last night’s game recap at Cubs.com is full of great quotes from the young players who are in the process of emerging, and making games like last night’s what they are.
  • The Cubs will honor Jackie Robinson West at Wrigley Field on Monday, which should add to the incredible atmosphere (it’ll be Jorge Soler’s Wrigley debut).
  • Following up on yesterday’s comments from Jed Hoyer about going to a six-man rotation, it does indeed sound like Felix Doubront will be that sixth guy after his doubleheader start today. So, it’ll be Doubront, Turner, Arrieta, Wood, Hendricks, Wada for now.
  • Are lefty starters with similar velocity as righty starters actually more valuable than those righty starters? This is pretty interesting, from Eno Sarris.
  • If you missed Jorge Soler’s two bombs, you can watch them here.
  • 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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