Weekend Catch-Up: The Somber Schwarber News, Lots of Wins, Solid Debuts, More
What an up-and-down weekend that was, eh?
Did you miss anything?
Friday, April 8
- Munenori Kawasaki has opinions about ghosts.
- Anthony Rizzo had himself a huge game.
- The minor league seasons are underway!
- The importance of quality depth.
- Javier Baez won’t be returning to the Cubs for the home opener after all.
- A look at John Lackey’s debut performance with the Cubs, and why he got hit around so much.
- The news we were all waiting for finally dropped, and it was terrible: Kyle Schwarber has a torn ACL and LCL, and is out for the season.
- The Cubs couldn’t hold onto a lead late, and lost to the Diamondbacks.
- Rotation questions, Star Wars questions, and much more from Michael’s Ask Away.
Saturday, April 9
- Minor league scores and Sluggo for Mayor.
- A strange double baserunning goof for the Cubs.
- Among Saturday’s Bullets, Joe Maddon’s decision to have the Cubs pitch to Paul Goldschmidt in a situation that arguably cost them the game. It really wasn’t a terrible decision.
- Unpacking the loss of Kyle Schwarber, and how the Cubs – and Schwarber – move forward.
- Another young positional player gets an extension: it’s Brandon Belt.
- I thought this was an especially fascinating look from Luis on how Dexter Fowler might be improving offensively – in short? He’s pulling the ball a lot more.
- The Cubs got to Zack Greinke early, and the pitching made it hold up.
Sunday, April 10
- Among the notes in the Minor League Daily on Sunday, some bullpen arms going multi-innings.
- The Cubs’ offense has been explosive, even without relying on the long ball.
- Ben Zobrist has had a good start to his tenure with the Cubs, showing off his offensive versatility.
- The Cubs took out the D-Backs 7-3 to win the series, and Jake Arrieta went boom.
- Michael looked at five more movies – particularly recent ones – in his Baseball Sunday series.
