Bryant’s Beautiful Shoulder, Infield Rumors, Cardinals Prospect Suspended, and Other Bullets

December 15, 2018, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

Welp, got in a car accident yesterday. Fortunately The Littlest Girl, who was with me at the time, is fine. I am also fine, except for burns on my hand and arm from the airbag. The car, however, is not doing so well. So that’s a project I didn’t want to have to take on.

How about this great news from Cubs Insider on Kris Bryant, via his dad: Bryant is already swinging the bat with his old, un-modified swing, and he’s totally pain free. Although I don’t like leaning on the “improvement will come from within” mantra when it is offered as a reason not to take advantage of offseason transaction opportunities, I believe it’s absolutely true that if the Cubs are going to be a 95-win team again next year, they’ll have to have a lot of improvement internally. And no player has the ability to be more impactful in his improvement over 2018 than Kris Bryant.
Interesting rumors yesterday for the Cubs, with them in on utility infielder Daniel Descalso and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. While you could to all kinds of extrapolating on those, I tend to think the Cubs just like Descalso as a utility guy whose bat may bit in the midst of taking off, and whose presence on the roster would give them cover and flexibility with respect to Addison Russell’s suspension and possible trade. Tulowitzki, similarly, could just be a cheap potential option to cover the Cubs when they’ll be without a middle infielder. With a tight budget and needs in the bullpen, these moves just make sense from a roster build-out perspective. And, sure, if they happen to afford additional flexibility to make trades (like moving Ben Zobrist, as much as we might not want to see that as fans of his), then that’s probably more of an option rather than a purpose.
A big corner-turning moment four years ago today:

"Jon is the perfect pitcher to lead our rotation where we want to go."#OTD in 2014, the @Cubs signed @JLester34. The rest is history. pic.twitter.com/HxIzFkZxSv

— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) December 15, 2018

Matt Szczur has found a home for 2019:

The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed Matt Szczur to a 1-year Minor League Free Agent Contract with an invite to Major League Spring Training. He has been assigned to Reno. pic.twitter.com/ZeeW0gOHEN

— Reno Aces (@Aces) December 14, 2018

Speaking of complicated, related transactions:

Even if they were willing to lay out the cash, I can't fathom you get two generational free agents to sign on to the same turning-the-corner team. At *best* you could convince one of them to be *THE* man. https://t.co/NXpUawj1hD

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) December 15, 2018

I don’t get any SCardenfreude from this, because I just think it’s bogus that these kids are so harshly punished for weed:

#Cardinals High-A pitcher Griffin Roberts suspended 50 games for a second violation after testing positive for a drug of abuse, per #MLB. Roberts, 22, was viewed as a quick-moving pitcher from Wake Forest after being a competitive balance pick for the #stlcards this year.

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) December 14, 2018

I’d like to apologize to the St. Louis Cardinals Organization and fans for violating MiLB’s drug testing policy for cannabis. I’ve taken full responsibility for my lack of compliance and have accepted my 50 game suspension. My focus now is to get back on the field and compete.

— Griffin Roberts (@Griff_Roberts) December 15, 2018

If you hit it in the hot tub on the fly, it’s an automatic grand slam:

Just finished building an infield in my backyard #NoExcuses #NoDaysOff #StriveForGreatness pic.twitter.com/Y1yRpRhA49

— Jose Ramirez (@MrLapara) December 14, 2018