Weekend Catch-Up: Taking It to the Rockies, Questions for Yu, Baez Unbelievable, Much More

Take a series from the Rockies at Coors Field? That alone makes for a good weekend. And if you throw in the cascade of possible injuries the Cubs seemed to avoid yesterday, and it was all the better.

Friday, April 20

• Among Friday’s Bullets, enjoying the Cubs spraying the ball all around.
• Taking a closer look at Jon Lester fantastic performance against the Cardinals.
• Cubs pitching prospect Oscar De La Cruz finally had a start befitting his stuff.
• Old friend Jake Arrieta had one of the best starts of his career.
• Jon Heyman took an early look at the top free agents coming, and where they might wind up.
• Javy Baez is producing incredibly well this year, which yielded yet another player comp: Manny Ramirez.
• Eddie Butler hit the DL with a groin strain, and the Cubs brought up Luke Farrell.
• Bits from around the league, including MLB wanting to get in on the gambling pie (if it’s legalized, that is).
• The Cubs roasted the Rockies 16-5 to open up their series. That included a three-run shot by Kyle Schwarber, and an oppo shot by Javy Baez that looked just like the one he had in his big league debut.

Saturday, April 21

• Enjoying Javy Baez’s four-hit night, and the big swing the game had on the Cubs’ offensive prospects for the year.
• Pitching prospect Adbert Alzolay had also had a good night on Friday, taking a no-hitter into the 6th in his AAA debut.
• Among Saturday’s Bullets, the excellence – but impermanence – of the Javy-Albert duo at the top of the lineup.
• Ben Zobrist headed to the disabled list, and the Cubs called up utility prospect David Bote.
• One horrible inning blew things up for the Cubs, who lost to the Rockies 5-2.
• The game did have a couple nice moments, though, including the first career hit for David Bote and an awesome over-the-shoulder catch for Albert Almora.

Sunday, April 22

• On the prospect front, yet another quality pitching prospect with a good outing (Javier Assad).
• Among the Bullets on Sunday, Willson Contreras offered a surprising theory on what happened to Yu Darvish in the 5th inning.
• The Cubs managed to hold off the Rockies 9-7 in one of the stranger games you’ll see. And they won it on a “walk-off” wild pitch overturned call.
• The game featured incredible catches by Albert Almora.
• It also featured Kris Bryant taking a 96 mph fastball off the head, which forced him from the game. Early signs, though, did not indicate a concussion.