No Choking, Thoughtful Use of Pitchers, Rizzo’s Huge Day, Javy’s History, and Other Bullets

It is concededly extremely difficult to think about anything beyond today’s game against the Brewers. That includes work, which, for me, is writing about the Cubs. So I’m in quite a bind …

  • For as anxiety-ridden as I felt yesterday, I know it’s going to be even worse today. Even my own efforts to say “oh man, it’s cool, it’s double-elimination, so even if they lose today, it’s probably fine” are not actually working to chill me out. It’s not too early for a beer or eight, right?
  • For the most part, I think folks have moved off of the “Cubs choked” narrative, but just in case you haven’t:
  • In order to tie the Cubs at the end of the year, the Brewers had to win SEVEN in a row, and lose just SEVEN in all of September. If the Brewers do not pull off that incredible run, they do not tie the Cubs.
  • Both Joe Maddon and Craig Counsell have conceded that they will have tomorrow’s game in mind when managing today (Cubs.com). In other words, if things get really ugly really fast for one of the teams, they might not absolutely burn every possible arm just to try to keep things to a seven-run deficit or whatever.
  • To that, I would add that it is very unfortunate Steve Cishek had to come into yet another game yesterday, especially one that wound up being a five-run win. I suspect he’s a guy who may be held back a bit and deployed only if it’s late and the Cubs have a very good chance to win.
  • Interesting, indeed:
  • (Photo by Andrew Weber/Getty Images)

  • Anthony Rizzo knows Cubs fans will have the team’s back today:
  • And how about Rizzo’s big day? He went 4-4 with two 2B and a BB, and increased his slash line from .278/.372/.459 (121 wRC+) to .283/.377/.466 (125 wRC+). Pretty amazing for Game 162.
  • Historic Javy:
  • I’d tell you all about the final numbers in Javy Baez’s incredible season, but today’s game counts as a regular season game. So it’s still going!
  • Elsewhere in Chicago sports, the Bears were freaking incredible yesterday:
  • Coffee, towels, speakers, and Halloween decor are among the Deals of the Day at Amazon today.
  • 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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