NEWSLETTER
[adinserter block=”1″]The Cubs took down the World Champs today 5-2 in a Spring Training game (Box Score), which I’m pretty sure means they are now, themselves, the champions of the world. Parade’s tomorrow.
Jon Lester pitched well, as he so often does, yielding relatively little hard contact, and giving up two runs in five innings of work (5 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts). The rub with Lester’s day, as it so often is, were the fielding and baserunning misadventures. To be fair, the stolen bases that took place while Lester was in the game were as much on David Ross as on Lester (a delayed steal, and a failed attempted pick-off at second base), but the fact that runners can be all the more aggressive on the bases, comfortably, is the broader issue. On the field, Lester threw a comebacker away, which ultimately led to a run. He also yielded, aggressively, to Anthony Rizzo on a bunt that Rizzo threw away. I could totally be wrong, but from where I was watching, it looked like Rizzo had no angle on the throw to first, whereas Lester may have, if he’d fielded the ball.
And, as is so often the case, Lester’s day on the whole was good. The fielding/throwing issues are, even when they rear their head as loudly as they did today, not necessarily a huge problem. It’s just that, well, they keep coming up. I’m still no more or less worried than I’ve ever been.
Some other things …
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