WBC Fun, Hendricks Innings, Schwarber Breakout, Bryant Cover, and Other Bullets

Whew, what a morning. I don’t even mean just the Matt Szczur, David Ross, World Series movie, Tim Anderson extension stuff I’ve already written up. (Although, you know, read that stuff if you haven’t already.) I mostly mean that I was up until almost 2am ET watching the crazy PR/Netherlands WBC game and enjoying the aftermath, and then I’ve been also taking care of The Little Girl, who is home sick today after doing a heavy dose of puking last night.

So now we try to power through the Bullets before more news/vomit happens …

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  • The big baseball story today is Team Puerto Rico’s win in the WBC semifinal last night over Netherlands (featuring so many Javy Baez moments). That means the undefeated PR club will head to Wednesday’s championship game, and will face the winner of tonight’s Team USA-Team Japan match-up. I don’t know why I’ve found the WBC so much more compelling this year than in years past, but I’m really into it (not unlike the players). Here’s hoping Team USA pulls it out tonight so that we get a killer match-up in the finale (not that Team Japan isn’t great, but, well, I’m from the United States, so I want to see my team in it).
  • Kyle Hendricks is aiming to hit the 200 innings pitched mark this year (Cubs.com), which seems like a lock if he stays healthy and vaguely resembles himself from last season. Hendricks hit the 180.0 IP mark in 2015, despite some issues going through the order a third time in games. Then he increased to 190.0 IP in 2016, despite making only 30 starts. This year, with health, that 200.0 IP mark should be in reach.
  • Today is an off-day for the Cubs, by the way.
  • Mike Montgomery may not “win” the fifth starter job out of camp, but he does have a locked down roster spot, which is not something that has always been the case for him. He talks about that, and Patrick Mooney gets into all that he’s learning from being with the Cubs here at CSN.
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  • Koji Uehara may be as well known for his celebratory slaps with teammates as his devastating splitter. He hasn’t busted it out on his teammates yet, but he says the intensity is building for the regular season (Cubs.com). If you didn’t know, this is him:
  • Jonah Keri writes about six breakout candidates for the 2017 MLB season (rookies are not eligible, neither are players who’ve already broken out at some point), and Kyle Schwarber makes the list, together with James Paxton, Christian Yelich, Byron Buxton, Alex Bregman, and Daniel Norris. Schwarber is going to be a popular pick for Comeback Player of the Year, too.
  • Last night, we dug in on the Cubs’ 5th starter race, if you missed it.
  • A very important movement happening in the DR:
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  • Lookin’ good, Kris Bryant:
  • Javy Baez gave us a wonderful and useful GIF last night:
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  • And one more time on Javy’s ninja slide:
  • Good line from Team Puerto Rico/Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor:
  • Luis has your Bears Bullets over at TYL.
  • Some shavers and trimmers are a deal of the day at Amazon today, gentlemen.
  • 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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