I will endeavor to maintain the positive attitude that I found earlier this morning when looking at the state of the Cubs with more distance from last night. I think I can probably make it as far as the first scoreless inning the Cubs put up tonight with the bats …
Speaking of offensive problems, today is the day Kris Bryant could wind up on the disabled list:
Bryant was not available off the bench tonight because of the shoulder. The Cubs expect to evaluate him again Tuesday and decide at that point whether to put him on the 10-day DL (and take advantage of the three-day max backdate).
It’s a bad sign that, after three days of rest and then reportedly hitting off the tee before the game (when the hope was that he’d be able to pinch hit after doing so), the Cubs decided Bryant was not available for the game. That means he’s still feeling it, and it’s kind of hard to imagine that suddenly going away overnight. Here’s hoping for a big change from last night into today. The Cubs could really use Bryant’s (healthy and typical) bat right now.
Joe Maddon’s concern last night with the offense was their proclivity to chase out of the zone (Cubs.com), and he’s not wrong, as I count 15 swings out of the zone last night against Kenta Maeda, alone. Now, Maeda deserves some of the credit there, because he had some good stuff working last night, but the Cubs also need to make sure their aggressiveness early in the count is tied to truly going after THEIR pitch. I’ll never be angry at the approach if a guy swings at a meatball fastball on the first pitch and grounds out. It’s when a guy swings at the first or second pitch in the AB and it’s off the plate that you get a little frustrated.
Maeda also got 19(!) whiffs last night. The Cubs were clearly off, and Maeda was clearly on.
Chris Gimenez, on the failed bunt that turned into a double play and cost the Cubs a chance at scoring in the 5th inning:
Chris Gimenez on failing to execute on a bunt: "I'm furious at myself for not getting the bunt down because that's something I've excelled at that. There is no excuse. I told Schwarber that was completely my fault."
It’s been a slog so far at the plate for Gimenez, who was obviously not brought in for his bat, but hitting .115/.200/.115 even as a backup catcher to whom pitchers like throwing the ball is a problem. It’s only 30 plate appearances (with a .150 BABIP), so I guess whatever, there could be plenty of flukiness baked in, but it’s also possible that he’s entering the twilight of his ability to be a passable big league back-up catcher. We’ll have to keep an eye on it.
Meanwhile, at AAA, Victor Caratini is hitting .337/.434/.517, confirming that there’s simply not much for him to do with the bat in the minor leagues at this point. He’ll either be able to hit in the bigs or he won’t. That said, the glove could always use continued development (that’s not a shot at Caratini – it’s true for basically all young catchers), and I’m not saying it’s time to switch those two back.
Scott Boras, who’d have as much incentive as anyone to say that his client wasn’t playing enough, suggests to The Athletic that the way the Cubs and Joe Maddon have been deploying Albert Almora so far in his career is just fine. Like I’ve said before, I find it very hard to be critical of Maddon when (1) he’s got 10 “starting” players for 8 daily spots, (2) Almora is thriving under the current setup, and (3) Almora is making 2/3 of the starts in center field.
A look at Jon Lester’s season and career, and, although I wouldn’t say it’s his best season, I would say that – given the necessary changes in his game, given his age – it might be his most impressive:
I’m not sure Lester can keep pulling off the EXTREME disconnect between his results and his peripherals, but I do believe he can keep being a successful starting pitcher for the Cubs. Hopefully continuing tonight.
My God, this quote from Mike Borzello, who helps on the game-planning: “[Lester] goes to some dark places when he has a bad inning, let alone when he struggles in a game or two. I deal with him all game long and there are certain times I’ll get the stare into the dugout on a pitch, maybe we chose to try, that doesn’t work. As that ball is hit, on his follow-through, he’ll look right at me in the dugout. That probably happens at least twice a game. Maybe once. It’s never zero. I want to run into the tunnel.”
Yu Darvish is a good man, providing steak and lobster to both teams at his minor league rehab stop last night:
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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