Weekend Catch-Up: Tough Losses, Bullpen Hope, Rule Change, Wrigley Work, More

bn baseball featureSo, this weekend – from a Cubs baseball perspective – kind of sucked. If you missed out on the games, you missed out on some disappointment.

But there was a lot going on …

Friday, May 1

  • Javier Baez is back at AAA Iowa.
  • In Friday’s Bullets, among other things, we talked about the Cubs’ approach at the plate.
  • I looked at the Cubs’ startling lack of double plays so far this year.
  • Luis wrote about the Cubs’ incredible roster turnover in the last few years.
  • There’s reportedly a big rule change in MLB, with drafted players now eligible to be traded immediately after the World Series.
  • With the arrival of May, I looked back at where things stand with the Cubs. Their schedule has been pretty tough so far.
  • The Reds announced that righty Homer Bailey is going to get Tommy John surgery.
  • The Cubs managed to beat the Brewers 1-0 on Addison Russell’s first big league homer.
  • Saturday, May 2

  • Looking back at Jon Lester’s great start from the day before.
  • Jorge Soler has been struggling with his discipline at the plate, so Joe Maddon tried to give him a boost by leading him off.
  • The outfield renovations at Wrigley are coming along nicely.
  • Luis wrote about Kris Bryant’s influence on the Cubs’ lineup.
  • Nothing went right for the Cubs in Saturday’s loss – both in terms of bad luck, and in terms of their own bad performance.
  • Logan Schafer’s grounder to shortstop that wound up a “home run” pretty much summed the day up.
  • Sunday, May 3

  • The offense is unquestionably struggling, but things will ebb and flow.
  • Things have been going well in the minor leagues so far, and we’ve got the video to prove it.
  • Justin Grimm is beginning a rehab assignment at AAA Iowa, which is great news.
  • And there’s another reliever in the mix, with the Cubs claiming Anthony Varvaro on waivers, and DFA’ing Joe Ortiz.
  • The Cubs lost a real nut puncher on Sunday to close out the weekend. Aramis Ramirez played the part of Brewer hero.
  • 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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