Even Cubs Teammates See Javy Bein’ Javy, Strop’s Celebration, Fowler’s Foot, and Other Bullets

I developed a tight/sore spot in my lower back – the top of my left butt cheek, to be very specific – on my drive to Chicago last weekend in advance of the Blogathon, and then it never really resolved, presumably because of the nature of that activity and then the drive that followed it. It’s not making me miserable or anything, but it’s so freaking annoying as I sit to type.

  • I could keep going on about how incredible Javy Baez’s offensive season has been, or how incredible his slides are – he showed off both things yesterday – but I want to hang on his defensive play in the 8th for a moment. With a runner on third and one out, Baez was playing back at second base when he got a soft, bouncing liner hit his way. I’ll let David Bote take it from there (Cubs.com):
  • “That’s Javy being Javy. He read it, he saw that it was a line drive, saw that the guy on third froze. He noticed that and in a split second made the adjustment to go home, and [the runner] was out by eight feet. It wasn’t even bang-bang. He saw it, he read it. I don’t think he was pre-planning that. I think it was just him playing baseball. He has that thought in his head, ‘If this happens, I’m going to do this, and if this happens, I’m going to do this.’ It’s special, the instincts he has, and the talent backs it up. He’s one of those few guys who is fun to watch. It really is.”

  • Speaking of being fun to watch Javy, happy Javyversary:
  • One of the fun background aspects of watching yesterday’s extraordinarily tense 9th inning? Knowing that *if* the Cubs got out of it with the win, Pedro Strop was going to lose his mind on the mound. They did, and he did:
  • Maybe the best part there is how Strop knew it was over before the crowd reacted. He knew he’d executed his pitch. Also, just TRY to tell me his hat bothers you in that moment. Hats to the freaking left.
  • (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)

  • I’ve seen what Yu Darvish is going to do today described as a simulated game, or just as a bullpen session. To me, those are different things, since the former would involve facing some batters, while the latter would not. I think maybe it’s going to be more like a simulated simulated game – i.e., pitching “an inning” in the bullpen, sitting down like you would between innings, and then getting back up for more – which is why the two different descriptions are out there. Obviously we’ll see in a couple hours, but I’m just offering my best guess.
  • That’s it. I can no longer support the Cubs’ trade deadline approach:
  • Veterans are exempted, eh:
  • Dexter Fowler still wasn’t playing well, but he was playing far better in the month that followed the dismissal of Mike Matheny, so I am bummed for him that he just broke his foot. How it happened is something of a warning, too, I guess: he first felt it when he fouled a ball off his foot in the 6th inning, but kept playing. It got progressively more sore, and then two innings later, while running the bases, he felt the “pop.” It makes you wonder if the break (or a more severe break) could have been avoided if he’d been pulled right away.
  • Hi, Willson!
  • https://www.instagram.com/p/BmCWSn4jqJn/

  • This is pretty awesome, especially when you start to think about all that would have gone into the lead-up to this moment:
  • Speaking of awesome, this might be the best screenshot I’ve ever seen:
  • Fanatics’ big MLB gear sale today ends today, so get on it:
  • 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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