Cubs Holiday Uniforms, Lester’s Legs, Old Friends, and Other Bullets

March 20, 2018, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

I’ve started doing physical therapy as part of the foot surgery recovery, and I’m told I still need to be in the boot for a little while. That was a discouraging revelation.

Holiday uniforms have been unveiled, and SportsLogos.net has the scoop here. A look at the Cubs’ set:

MLB has unveiled its special holiday uniforms and caps, and here's the #Cubs set, via SportsLogos.net. I think the Mother's Day cap works especially well this year.

A post shared by Bleacher Nation (@bleachernation) on Mar 20, 2018 at 5:46am PDT

I like the looks, though I wish the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day uniforms had some more coordination with the caps. Looks kinda odd an unbalanced.
Having returned to facing live hitters yesterday, Pedro Strop is planning to pitch again on Thursday, Sunday, and Tuesday in order to be ready to go when the season opens in nine days (Sun-Times). If he truly feels good to go at that point after a calf injury slowed him, then by all means, bring him to Miami. But if he needs a little extra time, here’s hoping the Cubs play it safe with such an important reliever.
I think Brandon McCarthy is making a very good point here about competitiveness:

I understand the reasoning behind service time manipulation. But in the era of two wild cards, it no longer makes as much sense for a large portion of the league's fans to be cool with it happening.

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) March 20, 2018

… however, I think it’s only fair to point out that it isn’t *entirely* irrational for fans to get behind service time games, if that’s what the CBA encourages teams to do. Why? Because extensions for star players are never a guarantee. Which means, if the fan is willing to forgo a few weeks of watching that young player, and risk an extra loss or two in this season, then the fan gets that player under his favorite team’s control in his prime for an entire extra season. Fans aren’t *solely* buying an ownership line here. Most Cubs fans barely remember those first two and a half weeks of 2015, but they’ll certainly remember the 2021 Kris Bryant season with the Cubs.
Jon Lester’s got legs:

This picture from the @Cubs really underscores just how strong Jon Lester's lower half is. He has always generated solid velocity without a whole lot of wasted effort.

(I totally wanted to say #thicc in there somewhere but I didn't.) pic.twitter.com/zLjHjlPU8R

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 20, 2018

Even more accentuated in pinstripes pic.twitter.com/VTUQ9upAfg

— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) March 20, 2018

Old friend alert:

RHP Felix Peña has 15 strikeouts in 9 innings for the #Angels this spring. Seems like a pretty strong case to make the opening day roster. He can also pitch multiple innings.

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) March 20, 2018

Pena, 28, was the quintessential has-the-stuff-but-can-he-command-it AAA reliever. You could see his fastball and slider combo as clearly big-league-caliber, but when he got shots with the Cubs, he just couldn’t quite put them together consistently enough to stick around. Sometimes it takes going to a new organization, with new voices, and new approaches, to get something to click. Maybe that’s what will happen for Pena (it’s also possible it’s just typical Spring Training noise).
Over at The Ten-Yard Line, a look at the mock drafts rolling out after the first wave of free agency:

Roster Changes Throughout the NFC North are Reflected in the Latest Mock Drafts https://t.co/6fMoNobYDg pic.twitter.com/CLHHuGHrAD

— The Ten-Yard Line (@TheTenYardLine) March 19, 2018

Also, this is about as insane as ranking Wrigley Field the 10th best ballpark:

LOL, Wut? Mitch Trubisky Was Excluded from https://t.co/gqDnCxeFHN’s Top-32 Quarterback Rankings https://t.co/eA9jHVdzyF pic.twitter.com/6jk9Xczp8W

— The Ten-Yard Line (@TheTenYardLine) March 19, 2018