The Cubs made it through their 11-games-in-10-days stretch without *too* much wear on the bullpen, thanks in large part to a rainout mixed in, plus great, long-ish outings from Jose Quintana, Yu Darvish, and Jon Lester. The pace at which the key middle relievers are being used is still gonna need to slow lest they be crushed come August, but that’s why you hope the rotation now starts to lengthen a bit. Enjoy the off-day, arms.
Good use of a mound visit by Anthony Rizzo yesterday after Yu Darvish walked the pitcher in the 4th inning. Of the visit, Rizzo told ESPN, “He’s walked the pitcher a couple of times. He was pissed. I’ve gotten to know him. You just go over and calm him down a bit. I said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll score some runs for you.'” Darvish’s description made me chuckle, as I’m imagining Rizzo actually saying it this plainly: “I was trying to calm myself, letting the frustration come out. I was thinking of saying something out loud, to get it out of my system, and Rizzo came over and said the same thing, ‘You look very frustrated. Let’s keep it together.'”
Yu Darvish, Ride the Wave:
Yu Darvish, speaking through a translator after his first win as a Cub: “One win is much better than zero wins, so hopefully I can now ride the wave.”
We’ll have more on the actual substance of Darvish’s outing soon.
This section of Buster Olney’s latest really chapped my hide: “Cubs catcher Willson Contreras is a rising star and an emotional player who gestures, points and shouts. Not surprisingly, opponents often complain about his body language, suggesting that he’s just trying to call attention to himself. Contreras is well aware of that criticism, and a couple of weeks ago, he said quietly, ‘I hope I can get to know players on other teams better, and that way, they’ll get to know me better.’ Staffers in the Cubs organization explain that Contreras is just hypercompetitive and doesn’t mean to show up anybody.” There is no part of what Contreras is doing that is “trying to call attention to himself.” He’s a guy who runs constantly at a high gear, which means his reactions are going to be big and bold – good and bad. That’s really all there is to it, and it’s good for the sport for those guys to leave it all out there. You can GTFO here with anonymous shots at Contreras.
Which, by the way, is why I wasn’t really gonna get all on Amir Garrett for his reaction this weekend in striking out Javy Baez. He was excited to get a guy who’d hit a grand slam off of him the last time they squared off. The Cubs didn’t mind Garrett’s excitement either. Their only beef was that he was screaming and celebrating at Baez. That is more likely to invite a response, which Garrett got from Baez, and that’s when the benches cleared. As Rizzo put it:
Anthony Rizzo felt Amir Garrett went a little too far by staring down Javy Baez: “Do it for your team. Don’t do it against the other team. That’s where we get a little upset because we celebrate all the time. We’re not ones to talk about guys celebrating and enjoying the moment."
Schwarber mentioned in the spring that he thought his catching days were probably behind him, but now it sounds like he’s even more in the “acceptance” stage:
I’m sure it’s happened before, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen Schwarber refer to himself as a “former catcher.” pic.twitter.com/a99jr7Y7dp
If you were among the folks wondering what was up with Chris Coghlan, who signed a minor league deal with the Cubs and then kinda disappeared, Tommy Birch reports that he is indeed still in extended Spring Training, but he has been working through shoulder soreness. Coghlan, 32, had a brutal year last year, but in the 2.5 years from 2014-2016 when he was actually with the Cubs, he was always good. Having him available as a depth outfield option in the second half at AAA? That would be some kind of luxury.
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.
For the second straight night, the Cubs are jumping all over the Astros in the first inning. After a couple hits from Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ to get things going, Michael Busch hit a sac fly, Christopher Morel walked,...
What a road it's been - continues to be - for Cubs outfield prospect Brennen Davis. The former top prospect was on a rocket ship to Triple-A in 2021, and then mostly lost the last two years to various injuries....
So much for all those words of optimism and negative X-rays. After colliding with the outfield wall last night, Cody Bellinger fractured his rib (Update: It's actually TWO fractured right ribs) and will hit the injured list today. Chicago Cubs...
CUBS LINEUP — The Chicago Cubs took Game 1 against the Houston Astros in convincing fashion last night. So tonight, they'll go for the quick series win against Spencer Arrighetti at Wrigley Field (it'd be a good idea to win...
Ed. Note: Since this article was published, a CT scan revealed a rib fracture for Cody Bellinger, who is now on the Injured List. You can find all the details of that news in our most recent article right here....
With Cody Bellinger headed to the Injured List with a rib fracture, the Cubs are in need of another outfielder: center field prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong is coming back up to the big leagues for the second time. https://twitter.com/670TheScore/status/1783217891195625709 Crow-Armstrong, 22,...
Hey, we're just having some early-season fun. So allow me to present the 'Mike Tauchman Is Clearly Better Than' list. As of this moment, Mike Tauchman has ... ... a higher wRC+ (151) than Pete Alonso, Fernando Tatis Jr., and...
Name a player hotter than Kevin Alcántara right now. Go ahead, I'll wait. (He's already raking again today. Literally as I type this.) More on Alcántara's big day and the Smokies home run parade last night in today's Cubs Farm...
Just three starts into his San Francisco Giants career, Blake Snell is heading to the injured list with a left-adductor strain. Oof. You hate to even say it — and who really knows if this was related — but early...
In 1997, I was a miserable Chicago Cubs fan. I mean, that was true a lot of the time, but I mean it in a very specific way that year: the Cubs had started the season 0-14. They had literally...
The Milwaukee Brewers will take the field against the Pittsburgh Pirates (13-12) on Thursday. The game begins at 12:35 PM ET on BSWI, with the Brewers listed as -124 favorites on the moneyline.Milwaukee's Freddy Peralta and Pittsburgh's Mitch Keller have...
The Chicago White Sox (3-21) will try to end their six-game losing streak when they visit the Minnesota Twins (10-13) on Thursday at 1:10 PM ET on BSN. Sportsbooks consider the Twins to be -252 favorites for the contest, while...
Expect a display of power when Kyle Schwarber (6 HR) and the Philadelphia Phillies (15-10) take on Elly De La Cruz (7 HR) and the Cincinnati Reds (14-10) at Great American Ball Park at 1:10 PM ET live on BSOH....
The Boston Red Sox (14-11) and Connor Wong (2 HR in his last game) are underdogs (+133) on the moneyline for their matchup with the Cleveland Guardians (17-7) on Thursday at 1:10 PM ET on NESN.Cleveland's Triston McKenzie gets the...
The Chicago White Sox (3-21) carry a six-game losing streak into a road contest against the Minnesota Twins (10-13) at 1:10 PM ET on Thursday.This contest's pitching matchup is set, as the Twins will send Simeon Woods Richardson (1-0) to...
The Seattle Mariners (12-12) face off against the Texas Rangers (13-12) on Thursday at Globe Life Field at 2:35 PM ET.The probable pitchers are Luis Castillo (1-4) for the Mariners and Andrew Heaney (0-2) for the Rangers.Mariners vs. Rangers Pitcher...
The Boston Red Sox (14-11) play on the road against the Cleveland Guardians (17-7) at Progressive Field. The matchup is set to begin at 1:10 PM ET on Thursday.The Guardians will look to Triston McKenzie (2-2) versus the Red Sox...
The Philadelphia Phillies (15-10) and the Cincinnati Reds (14-10) square off in Cincinnati on Thursday. First pitch is at 1:10 PM ET at Great American Ball Park.The Phillies will give the ball to Zack Wheeler (1-3, 2.30 ERA), who is...
The Kansas City Royals (15-10) host the Toronto Blue Jays (13-12) for a home game at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday. First pitch is at 2:10 PM ET.The Royals will give the ball to Cole Ragans (0-2, 4.32 ERA), who is...
The Houston Astros (7-18) and the Chicago Cubs (15-9) play at Wrigley Field on Thursday at 2:20 PM ET. In this contest, the Astros have the chance to end a four-game skid.The Astros will look to Justin Verlander (1-0) versus...
NEWSLETTER
