When I got downstairs this morning and readied to head out the door with The Littlest Girl for an appointment, I was greeted by something waiting for me at the door.
Something surprising. Alarming, even.
A gift, no doubt, from one of our cats.
It was a dead mouse.
I’m not too proud to admit here in this space that mice in the house are a peculiar problem for me, having suffered through some traumatic experiences with them constantly raiding my bedroom at night when I lived in a dive-y house in law school. They were relentless, unmoved by my threats, and unthinkably bold. It shook me.
So when I saw that present this morning, I almost entirely freaked out. The Wife had to remove the carcass from the premises (sorry/thanks, dear). It was a shameful display of immasculinity. But, I mean, I took care of a giant spider for her last week, so we’re square. Also, I can do 1000 pushups using nothing but my eyelids so whatever do you even lift bruh.
Back to your regularly scheduled Bullets …
We are impatiently awaiting word on Jake Arrieta’s hamstring tightness/cramping/please-nothing-more. As of last night, there was hope nothing more would be needed when he wakes up this morning, but we’ll see if the Cubs opt to go for an MRI nevertheless. I’d expect we’ll hear soon enough.
Javy Baez discussed his eye and thumb injuries here at ESPN, describing the former as “seeing dark” in his left eye for a few minutes after hitting his face on a defender’s knee, and then things went back to normal thereafter. That sounds odd and not great, but I suppose if the trainers saw no reason for the concussion protocol, and if Baez felt normal so quickly thereafter, then all is probably well. As for the thumb, Baez apparently jammed it on that same head-first slide, and it turned up swollen yesterday – he hopes it’ll be good to go today (Cubs.com).
Don’t expect Baez to change his all-out style of play, though, because he and Joe Maddon would be more concerned that thinking about that kind of thing while Baez is playing could actually put him at more risk for injury (CSN). I see the philosophy there, and you also don’t want to take away the instinctive abilities that make Baez truly special. You accept the risk together with the good stuff.
Leonys Martin made his Cubs debut yesterday … on the mound. I haven’t seen anyone able to find the answer of when the last time a position player made his debut for a new team as a pitcher, but I’ve gotta believe that was an extreme rarity. Perhaps even more surprising was the fact that Martin was out there pumping a 91 mph sinker without any visible effort whatsoever. The command was wholly lacking, but maybe he’s got some tips for Kyle Hendricks on that easy gas. Brooks had him topping out at 92.7 mph!
(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
Joe Maddon and Chris Bosio declined to get into it with Brett Anderson after the former Cubs lefty seemed to take a shot at the team on Twitter by suggesting that they “tinkered” with him in ineffective ways (Tribune). Instead, each said positive things and wished Anderson the best. But Maddon did add this: “I hope he wins 20 games next year. I mean that sincerely. But when a player has a tough year, it’s on the player.”
(Also, I can’t help myself whenever I see a mention of pitcher wins, even if in a totally inoffensive context: Anderson’s “record” with the Cubs was 2-2, so I guess he was an average pitcher …. )
In this last stretch, it took the Dodgers as many losses to win 1 game as it took them in the last stretch TO WIN 52 GAMES. That is so very baseball, my friends. Remember it the next time a good Cubs team is losing some games.
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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NEWSLETTER
