The Moment the Cubs Broke Yadi’s Spirit, Offensive Production, Rosario’s Success, and Other Bullets

Hey, Happy Father’s Day to the fathers among you!

It was a great wedding weekend in Chicago, meeting some of Michael’s gracious and affable family and friends, and getting a little time away with The Wife. Just great. Didn’t hurt that the Cubs won both games on Friday and Saturday, but I’m pretty sure it would have been a lovely time nevertheless.

  • Speaking of the win last night, you gotta love a little comeback and late win. To be sure, Ian Happ’s two-out double that gave the Cubs the lead in the 7th last night was awesome:
  • … but the best part, by far, was the reaction behind the plate:

  • That, it seems, was not where Molina wanted that pitch.
  • Jason Heyward credits his hands (and I’d add wrists) for the turnaround in his offense game (Cubs.com), as he’s better able to hit the ball with authority when he’s quick with his hands, rather than trying to use his arms to generate power (you can picture the difference, right? Think about how arm-heavy his swing has been in most of his time with the Cubs (and I immediately think of the wrist injury he suffered in his first month with the team in 2016)).
  • Heyward is one of 10 Cubs regulars, and every single one has been an above-average bat this year:
  • Randy Rosario had another scoreless appearance last night, lowering his ERA to a ridiculous 0.66. His .143 BABIP and 91.7% LOB rate will not last forever, and his 17.7% K rate and 13.7% BB rate look pretty crappy on paper. Moreover, he’s giving up a lot of hard contact and very little soft contact, so that, too, is not good. The one thing he definitely does very well, though, is keeping the ball on the ground – his 60.0% groundball rate is elite.
  • Theo Epstein mentions – as you might expect – that Rosario does a good job getting downward movement on his pitches, allowing him to go right after guys (NBCS Chicago). Hence the groundball rate. Still, I’d brace yourself for some regression soon enough.
  • Speaking of the relievers, this is indeed interesting and surprising:
  • You already know who the “1” is without checking, of course – it’s Steve Cishek, with 33 appearances, tied for 18th most in baseball.
  • Some Father’s Day goodness from the Cubs and Kris Bryant:
  • https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1008333438225543168

  • With a hat tip to Cubs.com, a big congrats to Anthony Bass:
  • written by

    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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