Anthony Rizzo’s Off-the-Field Prowess and Other Bullets

Nov 24, 2015

Was talking to The Little Girl about the difference between “cinnamon” and “synonym” yesterday, and when you say them together enough in quick succession, you can no longer say either of them correctly.

Entering the 2015 season, pitching prospect Corey Black was among the young arms whom many thought could emerge as big league bullpen pieces by the end of the season. But he struggled to adjust to his new role in the bullpen at AA Tennessee, and it wound up being a tough year for the 24-year-old righty – notably, the strikeouts did tick up in the pen, but the walks didn’t come down. There’s still big league reliever upside there because of the good fastball and the stuff, but the Cubs didn’t add him to the 40-man roster last Friday, meaning he’s exposed in the Rule 5 Draft.

I mention all of that because of this great read at Cubs.com on Black, who worked with Ryan Dempster, a special assistant with the Cubs, on his conversation to the bullpen. Here’s hoping the Cubs are able to retain Black into 2016, and he breaks out.

He does seem like a boss who gets it:

This is also our annual reader survey issue, and Tom Ricketts wins the vote as MLB owner our readers would most like to work for.
— Eric Fisher (@EricFisherSBJ) November 23, 2015

Anthony Rizzo’s Walk-Off for Cancer had a Make-A-Wish story in it, which is a cause close to my own heart. Baseball players are in a special position to have such a huge impact in peoples’ lives, and it’s always so wonderful to see when they do.

Rizzo also did a Q&A yesterday on Twitter, with some enjoyable results. Among them was a back-and-forth with @Cubs:

@ARizzo44 Us. #Squad pic.twitter.com/ywhE77pUB6

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 24, 2015

The squad looks incomplete? https://t.co/PLpccjtYdR

— Anthony Rizzo (@ARizzo44) November 24, 2015

@ARizzo44 pic.twitter.com/iFABH6di5B

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 24, 2015

I am so impressed by this youngster, who plows through the national anthem despite a serious case of the hiccups. It’s also really funny, but in a sweet way.

The Sporting News with the nine worst decisions in MLB this year – I was pleased to see no Cubs mentions.

Cubs on Amazon: OFFICIALLY licensed LIGHT up personal Cubs fan. All of those words have meaning.

Off-topic, but worth it:

That … is Jon Snow. https://t.co/353KjZWLLB

— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) November 23, 2015

written by

Brett Taylor

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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