[adinserter block=”1″]No, the Chicago Cubs didn’t win yesterday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, and, yes, Robinson Cano’s three homers probably marked the most impressive homer-related thing in yesterday’s game. But the Cubs still hit four homers of their own, and dang it, I’m gonna enjoy them.
Before leaving the game with side tightness, Dexter Fowler kicked off a four-homer party for the Cubs yesterday in the very first inning:
A nice oppo-pop from Fowler, which I feel like is not something we saw a lot last year. It’s hard to see if/how he felt the tightness in his side on that swing, but he does generate a whole lot of torque.
A couple innings later, Jason Heyward crushed one:
That was a beautiful job of waiting back on a bender, and then smacking the hell out of it. Heyward has power. No question about it. The question for this year – and the years past in his career – is whether he can get a little more loft on the ball, which will allow him to better utilize that power.
Addison Russell hit his team-leading fourth homer (tied with John Andreoli):
That pitch caught a little more of the plate than Paxton intended, but it wasn’t over the middle – and Russell still yanked it deep to left center. He’s got power. No doubt about it.
And Matt Szczur, who’s trying to win a bench job, closed out the party:
That’s a really tough pitch to go down and get, hit hard, and keep fair. That’s over 350 feet down the line at Sloan, so, even if it looked like it, that homer was not a total cheapy.
[adinserter block=”2″]While he’s not been able to totally translate it to power in-game yet in his career, Szczur is one of the most ripped guys you’ll seen in the game, so he should have a little assistance in generating power (it’s not all about strength, but that helps). And, since Szczur already walks a bit, doesn’t strikeout a ton, and runs really well, it’s pretty much only the lack of power that holds him back from being able to be a big league regular, especially when you consider the defensive ability.
I don’t know how the roster will shake out just yet – it depends a great deal on how healthy Javy Baez and Dexter Fowler are – but it sure would be nice not to lose Szczur on waivers to a rebuilding club that is willing to give him a shot (because why not? Why wouldn’t the Phillies, for example, grab him?).