You could argue that today’s win can’t be perfectly emblematic of the Cubs’ 2014 season since, you know, it wasn’t a loss. But so much of today’s game was a representation of the good and the bad for the Cubs right now. The decent start from a young arm. The great bullpen succession of quality power arms. Some nice hits from young guys like Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara, and also a bunch of strikeouts (including one by Anthony Rizzo on a pitch that hit him – so 2014, man).
73-89.
You’ll take that, all things considered. The Cubs avoid losing 90 games for the first time in four years, and they finish on a kind of upswing heading into an important, and potentially exciting offseason. If there were a scale upon which you could measure the optimism merited by a team that finishes a season 16 games under .500, this Cubs team would be right at the top.
And sitting atop that mound of relative optimism? It’s this guy, who finishes the 2014 season the way he played it: by freaking dominating.