Imagining the Cubs Still Had Their Prospects, Willy Gets Hitched, and Other Bullets

May 4, 2018, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

May the Fourth something something.

To be sure, I think it’s interesting and notable to see how well a handful of former Cubs prospects are doing on their current teams:

Imagine if the @Cubs still had these guys, too! #MLBCentral pic.twitter.com/8F47sXsZm0

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) May 3, 2018

… but I also think the “imagine if” part is kinda silly. As soon as I imagine a universe where the Cubs have held onto those guys, I see the Cubs losing Game Five of the World Series in 2016 (if they get that far) without Aroldis Chapman’s ridiculous effort. And then I see the Cubs losing Game Five of the NLDS in 2017 without the same from Wade Davis, and the 109-plus-year drought continues.
Maybe the Cubs didn’t have to deal Jeimer Candelario, but even if they hadn’t, what does his life look like right now? Is there even a spot for him on the Cubs’ bench, let alone a place for him to actually play regularly? There simply isn’t. It wouldn’t happen. Ditto Christian Villanueva, whose untimely broken leg and lack of options are what set him free, not really anything the Cubs did or didn’t do. Good for these guys. Keep doing well. I don’t think there’s any sense of “imagine” if they were still around, because they either wouldn’t be playing, or would be at AAA.
I suppose it is mildly interesting to think about what the conversation would look like right now if Gleyber Torres were still around and raking at AAA while playing solid shortstop. Can you imagine the calls for a change? And the pushback against those calls?

Albert Almora offers up some thoughts on and context for how he makes his incredible catches in center field. Although he is being more aggressive out there this year, he also does think actively about how to protect his body in the process. To me, that’s so key – you want a guy to make spectacular plays, but there’s no catch (outside of the World Series, I reckon) that’s worth losing a player for a couple months or more. That’s not to say Almora can guarantee his health when he’s out there making catches against the wall or diving all out, but I do like that’s he’s aware of that issue, even as he’s currently only 24.

.@albertalmora squeezed a full season's worth of highlight-reel catches into about three weeks. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/ipkEA6l4Pb

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 1, 2018

Good use of the off-day for Willson Contreras – he got married:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiVGGbZHo91/?hl=en&taken-by=willsoncontreras40

And he gets a bobblehead next week!

This @WContreras40 Bobblehead is spot on. #CubsPromos

Get yours before next Friday's game against the White Sox! https://t.co/vDXSNsHvMY #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/fKCc8kJeQE

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 4, 2018

A great set of notes from Sahadev Sharma at The Althetic, including the new bat Jason Heyward is using (the axe handle bat).
This is fun:

Dillon Maples just struck out the side in the 9th for the @IowaCubs. Hit 99 mph on the radar gun twice. Maples has now struck out 19 batters in 8.1 innings this season. That's 20.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

— Alex Cohen (@voiceofcohen) May 3, 2018

The dude has a strikeout rate around 50(lol) percent, though his walk rate is near 20(oh my) percent.
Part of why the NBA’s social media policy is so liberal about the creation and spread of highlights:

Snacks ➡️Meals

Interesting thoughts from
NBA commissioner Adam Silver on why the league encourages the promotion and posting of highlights on social media. pic.twitter.com/o3j9H9AniB

— Front Office Sports (@frntofficesport) May 3, 2018